all you need is love

All children need to know that they have support, love and people they can talk to. Whether that is a parent or a sibling it is knowing that someone who loves you and cares about you actually cares about your life and the ups and downs that come along. In life, you will have lovers and haters, and it is nice to know the difference.

Last week I was with a little girl who I recently started to babysit. She was telling me a story about a school project and to me it seemed genuinely insignificant, however I could tell it was important to hr so I stayed in tune and listened to what she had to say. At the end of our conversation she told me "You were the only one who would help me with that, thank you." It took about 5 minutes out of my day, and not even because I was driving her home from school whether she was telling me that story or not.

Some things that are important to others, are not important to you, but you have to think about the person, and their value.

believe in yourself

torture

e harmony

I do not believe in "online dating". But if you get to this point. Go for it.

mismatch

Why are parents sending their kids to school with LUGGAGE? I am so happy I am no longer in elementary school.

FAIL.

split personality

drama queen. rebel red. wicked white. forever cool. mischief maker. smarty pants. surfer chick. goodie two-shoes. sweet and sassy.

Because we remember swim lessons and day camp and beach houses.
Because we forget bad boyfriends, missed birthdays and lost bracelets.
Because we like to eat, drink and laugh, but we hate to do the dishes afterwards.
Because you have better hair, but I can karaoke.
To celebrate all the reasons that bring us together... and because we think middle sisters sometimes deserve a little extra attention...this wine's for you. Share it with a sister soon.

blah blah blah

I understand that SOME PEOPLE do not want dirty shoes in their house. I understand that SOME PEOPLE have white carpet. I understand that SOME PEOPLE are too lazy to clean up after others. BUT IS THIS REALLY MY PROBLEM? Maybe I am taking this a little over board. If I go to a house and see this sign, of course I will remove my slippers, regardless of my lack of pedicure, I will respect your wishes. If I walk into a house and see a pile of shoes, and the hostess has removed their shoes, I will do the same. If I walk into a house after walking in the mud and or rain I will remove my shoes. Anyways this is not my point at all. My point is to teach your children to notice things like this. When they start going to friends houses they need to respect the way their family lives and not just act the way they do at home. Today on the radio some mom was complaining that her new boyfriend yelled at her son for eating in the car. Well is he allowed to eat in your car? Did anyone give him warning that this was not allowed in this car? Sometimes it is not the child's fault, maybe they need to be asked once, or maybe you need to let them know. "When you are at another persons house or in another persons car you need to respect their rules, and if you aren't sure if something is allowed or not, ASK." It is as simple as that. You cannot expect your children to know how to act in every situation, but you can prepare them.

bffl

Friends fit in all sorts of different categories. There are friends who you have known forever, and whether you see them all of the time or not, you stay friends. There are right now friends, who are fun but may not be here too long. Friends from work that you don't really socialize with outside of school functions. Friends from school who you have a lot of memories with that you may not have that much in common with anymore. There are family friends, who like it or not you kind of have to be in their lives. Then there are the friends that are not really friends at all, you wouldn't confide in them or go to them for comfort, but you just can't find it in you to cu them out completely. There are so many different kinds of friends that you meet in all sorts of different ways and love for all different reasons.
When your children introduce you to their friends, realize this. You may not get the best first impression of them, but for one reason or another, your child wants that person in their life. At least for now. You may grow to love them, you may not. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully you did your job and your child can know what kind of people are quality.

cute and crazy

First of all, do not get your child an exotic pet. If they still want a chimpanzee when they live on their own, they can get them for themselves. Dogs and cats are a handful in themselves. Especially if you have more than one pet. Personally, I live in a home, not a farm, and I do not think people should have a million pets especially if they work, and go to school. Pets need a lot of love and attention and are more work than you or your children think. Even if you had pets growing up, it is more than likely that your parents did a lot more work than you thought they did.
Is your child responsible enough to have a pet? Maybe, but most likely not. This may be a biased point, but I really am against children under 18 having their own pet. Have a family pet, but it is false hope to think your child will do everything necessary for a pet, besides of course a fish like mine Oliver and Twist. They are adorable and easy but even I waited until I was 21 to take on the responsibility of a pet.

Recently in my neighborhood there was a dog running a muck. This happens from time to time, and we pick them up, read their collar and either call their owner or just drive it home. This time was different, this dog did not have a collar. My sister and I walked the dog through our neighborhood to see if anyone recognized it, no one did. It was an adorable chocolate lab and I had half a mind to keep him. Just when I was walking him out to my car to take him to the vet to be scanned to see if maybe he was micro chipped, his owner, a boy about 16/17 years old pulled up the street, screeched into my driveway and jumped out. I wanted to lecture him on responsibilities, but I figured he would probably get the wrath of his parents upon his arrival home.
Second point- It will just become your dog. Either when your child goes off to college, (they do not allow dogs in the dorms). Or when they decide that their dog is too much work, the dog will be yours. So if you do get your child a dog, make sure you are willing to do most of the work, eventually it will happen. My sister at 16 bought a cute little Sharpei puppy that she named Francine. She loved that puppy, but when Francine became a dog, she became my dads best friend and they go on a walk EVERY morning. My dad loves Francine and even if my sister wanted to take her back now, 5 years later, I am pretty sure he wouldn't let her. LOVE HAPPENS.

"give it to me now!"

A SPOILED CHILD GETS WHATEVER THEY WANT AS SOON AS THEY WANT IT FOR NO DESERVING REASON WHATSOEVER.

No one wants there child to be like Veruca Salt. She was a bad egg.

A bribe is different than spoiling a child. When you need your child to go to the doctor, you can bribe them and tell them if they go through it nicely without complaints, they can have a balloon. This is not harmful.
When you are potty training your child and you reward them for their efforts and success, this is not a spoiled child.
All children should be spoiled with love and affection and attention, things are not important.

kids will be kids

You know all of those commercials that make it seem like you need to do something about all of the germs your kids carry? Shut up commercials. Keep a clean home, not only because of germs, but because it is a more pleasant place to be. Your kids are going to get sick, and that is good. If your kid doesn't get sick, they do not get out enough. Let them play in the mud, let them play with other kids, send them to pre school. They may come home with chicken pox, a fever, a sore throat, or just dirty. They may come home with full blown pink eye in both eyes and an ear infection all in one day. This is part f being a parent, no one ever said parenting was easy. If someone did say that, they weren't doing it right. Anyways people get sick, people get hurt, people get dirty. It is part of life, and you need to support your kids and let them live in it. I know the couple days of having a sick kid can feel like hell, but hey, look at your child, it is so worth it.

i love my blog

but...


I LOVE THIS BLOG MORE






<3

the worst thing a parent can say to a child.

OR THE BEST
"When you tell your child, I am not mad at you, I am not upset, I am disappointed in you."
Yes, I am taking this from Jersey shore. Yes, this is what Snooki heard from her dad when she got arrested. But it is absolutely something that everyone can relate to. Every dumb decision I have made, my parents have been there, they may not have agreed with me, but they are always there. No matter what I know that they will be there for me, hopefully I do not royally screw it up. However, there is a look, when I know that they are disappointed. It is the worst look EVER. Even worse than the look is when the words come out of their mouth. So don't just say it unless you mean it, because it does make us think when we are 14 or 24.

tongue tied.

don't lie.
i am being honest.
i have got caught in a lie once or twice.
it sucks.
don't do it.

Modern Family is a wonderful show. If you do not watch it I will sum up a little portion so I can validate my point. The two gay men took their daughter on a play date so that they could get on the good side of the owner of a wonderful restaurant to get a reservation there. So they are at the play date and the mom goes into another room to take a phone call, over the baby monitor they hear her flipping out on someone over the phone. She asks them to watch her son briefly while she runs down to he restaurant. While she is gone they realize that a drink in their diaper bag leaked, they tell the mom that her son had gotten a hold of their daughters strawberry drink and spilt it. She freaks out because he is allergic to strawberries. Before she stabs him with his EPI pen they have to come clean. Now they can never go to that fancy restaurant, reservation or not.

funny people

So Parks and Rec, I LOVE IT. I do not religiously watch it due to it being on the same time as Grey's. They are both so different, but so wonderful. Anyways I loved this because there was a date and the guy said he had never had a bad date, they either go great or absolutely great. I LOVE MISTER POSITIVE. He had an amazing reason why to be so positive. Anyways relating this to real life, obviously sometimes we are down in the dumps, but really is one bad day of work, or one traffic jam going to ruin our lives? No.
Tonight on the office they talked about New Years resolutions, and Michael Scott tried to get everyone to stick to theirs. This is exactly why I hate New Years resolutions, they are dumb and no one sticks to them. Anyways I am going to try to be more positive. Sometime I do not want to go to school, and sometimes I get a small cold, but I am generally healthy, I have a great life, and so many fabulous people in my life. Who says you have to watch Baby Einstein to have your brain function. Cheesy television is inspirational.

On another note. This girl was on the Tonight show the other night. And she is hilarious off of Parks and Rec as well. She said she sent her sister an 8 foot TEEPEE and a Trampoline because there was nothing her mom could do about it half way across the country. It is so true, Once your children are older, and possibly making more money than you, they can do outrageous things. Hopefully they are harmless like sending funny huge gifts... you raise them to be who they are. TAKE IT.

peaceful

This was just such a picture perfect friend moment. I love Ellie and Jules, they are amazing friends, they understand each other, and they drink plenty of wine. The things a girl needs most t geth through everything else in life. LOVE comes in all shapes and sizes, and the strongest bonds hold you together through it all.

questionaire

Today in class my teacher had us do an icebreaker activity. Don't worry, I am not going t get personal. One of the questions we had to ask each other was what our favorite activity to watch was... Most people said some sort of sport. One guy, who I now want to be friends with said "Karaoke". I wasn't going to lie, I indeed hate watching most things that do not involve inappropriateness or food, and he took the best answer. (Not that I had thought of it anyways). And so my answer was "Thursday night television." My teacher looked puzzled. I explained myself, "I love television, I have shows every night of the week, Mondays I watch cake boss and sometimes although I hate to admit I watch chase, Tuesdays I watch What Not to Wear, Rachel Zoe and Flipping Out while waiting for Parenthood to be on, Wednesdays I watch Modern Family and Cougar Town, but Thursdays are the creme de la creme, Thursdays most importantly is Grey's Anatomy. and then of course along with that is Jersey Shore, 30Rock, Community, and The Office (which is going downhill). Fridays I watch Say Yes to the Dress and 4 Weddings. So while to some people this may not be an activity, it is mine, and I even will go far enough to say it is my favorite activity." He looked pleased with my answer and then said "I look forward to reading your paper next week." Oh great, what have I gotten myself into. Now just because I am lazy, my teacher thinks I am going t be a creative writer? OH GOD. But then I realized, I do love to write, although I definitely do not know when to use a colon or semi colon. But after all this is all how this blog came to be, one because of my love for the drama on the T.V. and two because I absolutely love nothing more than comparing real life situations to make believe ones.

my rocks

cough cough

I will probably blog about this numerous times. SMOKING KILLS. This subject comes up on the day to day. For instance my aunt lives in a nice neighborhood in Redondo beach, but what is not so nice? Her neighbors are
Smokers. Outside of her house you can smell breathe and feel the smoke. DISGUSTING. Is that somewhere you want to raise a family? No, definitely not. Then just today, my friend saw a man light up a swisher when he was just a table away from an infant. HELLO! Going back to school this week, the first thing I think of is where will I study outside in this beautiful weather without smoke in my face? I wish people were more respectful. Do we learn nothing from the truth commercials? I mean, really.

friends

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO GO THROUGH IT WITH ENEMIES. BUT IT IS ALSO TOO SHORT TO SPEND TIME CARING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO DON'T REALLY MATTER.

Yes, I said it, some people do not matter. At least not to me. While I may throw a punch in someones honor... it may just be a principle of the matter situation. For example, boys need to treat all ladies like princesses, whether the girls are going to put out or not. Anyways back to friends, I have heard this saying "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." I do not know about this. I do not think I want to live around/with someone in my life who i despise. Which brings me to definitions, I know who my friends are, they are the amazing people who are always here for me, even when I do bad things, and they know I would never do bad to them. However when it comes to enemies, what is that? There are people I dislike and do not want to see on the day to day, but an enemy? I do not think I have those. Whether you are screwing my ex, or just a rude person without manners, I do not hate you, I do not wish ill upon you, I simply just do not think you matter in the big picture. Everything happens for a reason, I guess.

lessons lived, lessons learned

would you know what to do if you were trapped in a meat freezer?
I know this is a highly unlikely circumstance, but sometimes life gets you in a pickle and you think later about all the things you could have done to make things easier. whether you are seven or seventy seven you can always learn a little. Things you and your children should know...
-Emergency contacts (your children should not only know your home information but at least one other persons phone number.)
-Change a Tire (by the time they are 16, at least show them how, or get them AAA and a cell phone.)
-Basic First Aid (a band-aid may not be any help if the wound is not cleaned and may actually cause worse infection.)
-CPR (older children who are responsible for their siblings or other kids, even for short periods of time, should know what to do in case of an emergency.)
-Swim (obv.)
-Remove a bee stinger (weird, but I have had to do this at least a dozen times)


[These are not necessities to live, but they are definitely helpful hints.]

Picky Nicky

There is a children's book called Picky Nicky. If your child is a picky eater, read it. I know a lot of picky eaters, and I definitely have my opinions on the matter. Growing up my mom made one thing for dinner, we either ate it or we didn't eat. I had to try everything, and yes some things I disliked, but it didn't kill me. I believe that parents make their children picky by allowing them to choose every meal and dictate what the family will have for dinner. It is ridiculous.

smart

Smart is a relative term. There is book smart and common sense smart. No matter what your child turns out to be, they are a product of you, and you should be proud of them. In modern family, the older daughter is the pretty, popular one. The middle daughter is the smart one. And the son, well he is just goofy. Anyways, the older daughter is studying one afternoon and the father is at his last straw trying to help her, so Luke, the brother says he will help her. He asks her a question and she doesn't answer, so he sprays her with a supersoaker. It works.
The middle daughter is the opposite, her parents have to force her to take a break because she would study all of the time. She gets the second highest grade in her class and makes a comment about her parents lack of intelligence. Her parents turn this insult around and compliment themselves, saying even thought they are not doctors or professors, they made this genius child.
Anyways, "you get what you get and you don't get upset." A good motto for most situations... you do not choose your family, they are given to you. You can also use this for kids when they are refusing to eat anything but mac n cheese. Picky eaters are made picky by their parents.

OH EM GEE

I do not have kids, but I can only imagine what it is like to have someone else to live for. I know that life is so much bigger when you have someone who looks up to you and someone who you feel responsible for. My goddaughter Lianna is now 8 years old, REALLY? Stop growing. I want you to be a little girl forever, but I am here for her and she knows it.

Spontaneous

Two years ago we had a kegger in the park. It started on a friday afternoon, and we all brought food, and there were 2 kegs and it was just a relaxing fun fall afternoon. In the same park there was soccer practice going on, so we kept to our corner until it was over. When the practice was over the coach walked up and said, "fill me up". We were expecting a lecture or something of that sort, but he explained that we were very respectful of their time and space, and he remembers when he was young. This made me very happy. I have thought about this recently because of "noise complaints" my friends have gotten at their gatherings. I understand if it is a weeknight and 2am and you work in the morning, complain away. But if it is a weekend, or a holiday, just take a second to think about your college life, and get some ear plugs.

funny

a better me

2011 is here, and so far I love it. Many people make New Year’s resolutions, promises they can’t keep. I decided against that, I have set a goal for myself, not for 2011. Recently, I have been frequenting the gym; we will see how long this lasts. For those of you who know me well, you know that the gym is the least likely place to find me. However since New Years (coincidentally) I have been going regularly, and am very proud of myself. I will not lie and say I love the gym, however, I do love the way I feel after the gym. When I come home to a warm shower and feel absolutely refreshed.
Anyways, I am getting off topic. I am not really going to the gym for a reason that anyone my age thinks of. Yes, I want to look fabulous for my birthday in March, and be able to wear a bikini this summer without being self conscious. My number one reason for going to the gym is to have a healthier lifestyle. When I am older and I am a mom, I want to be able to keep up with my children and grandchildren.
Yes, oddly my future family is what is motivating me, and motivation is all that I needed.