Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Rock and Roll Heaven

Ok. Cardigan Lodge has its internet up.
Now I can find out if any aging rock stars have died in the past three days.

song: Rock and Roll Heaven • artist: Righteous Brothers

Friday, June 22, 2012

Parenting Is...

singing "Rock A Bye Baby" to a finger puppet mouse.

Eyes Like Yours

Hey. I'm too hot to think of something clever to write. Come to Arts Alive tomorrow. Check out H, he'll be drumming with Lisa's group at 1:20 while the belly dancers perform at 3 PM.

song: Eyes Like Yours • artist: Shakira

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Too Hot

Have we really become a nation of people who feel the need to leave their cars running at all times? I saw a man leave his car in the post office parking lot today and run into the P.O., not merely to quickly check his box mind you - but to stand at the window and await a transaction.
 suppose I should be gratified to think that we live in a town where this man feels his vehicle is save idling in a parking lot (Isn't Falmouth Nice?). On the other hand it was a company car so maybe he didn't give a hoot whether or not it was stolen, merely that it was still cool when he got back into it.
People sit in parking lots and idle in the winter in order to keep the heat on. In summer it's to keep the AC going. Come on folks, live a little! There's nothing like a little sweat or a good shiver to let yourself feel alive. It seems like we've all become a little to used to climate control while the planet's climate fluctuations continue to increase.

song: Too Hot • artist: Kool & the Gang

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Yoda

Summer vacation will be a breeze if C & H sleep in every day until after 11. It's 12:57 and H is still in bed, which tops his previous record for sleeping in (12:45) set last November.
Maybe we should watch Return of the Jedi every night.

song Yoda • artist: Weird Al Yankovic

Star Wars

Yes, I concede. Star Wars is MUCH cooler from the perspective of a seven-year-old boy.

song: Star Wars (Main Theme) • artist: John Williams

Monday, June 18, 2012

School's Out


song: School's Out • artist: Alice Cooper

Saturday, June 16, 2012

What's Up

Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss
I Am Not Going to Get Up Today by Dr. Seuss

So which is it?

song: What's Up • artist: 4 Non Blonds

Friday, June 15, 2012

The Hurt

Hurt So Good -  John Cougar Mellencamp
Hurt So Bad -  Linda Ronstadt

So which is it?

song: The Hurt • artist: John Mayer

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Take a Chance on Me

Alas, C did not win the lottery which took place yesterday to award the two remaining green anoles to lucky members of Mrs. Morris's third grade class.
I'm not sure if I should be sad or happy.

song: Take a Chance on Me • artist: ABBA

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Parenting Is...

Having to explain the transient nature of balloon animals.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Stop in the Name of Love

Ah the internet. Does it bring us together or drive the wedge in further?
Does bemoaning the Mommy Wars help solve anything or does it just further emphasize that the Mommy Wars exist? It seems to me that nowhere do they exist better than on the internet.
Working moms who think stay at home moms are rich b*tches who play tennis all day and leave their kids with nannies. Stay at home moms who think working moms don't love their children and leave them in substandard daycares in order to pursue their careers. Yes some people think these things. Some people think all kinds of ridiculous and scary things. But do a majority of people really think these things?
The internet is a great resource for finding things out, but just about any crazy theory you have can be backed up by something you find on the internet.
Some people have observed that I use song titles in my blog posts and wonder how I am able to come up with so many titles. I say there's no shortage of song titles to fit any scenario. If my sons tried to flush the cat down the toilet I'm sure I could google "cat down the toilet" and +lyrics and come up with an appropriate song title.
I have a Facebook friend who posts often about the dangers of unsecured windows in apartment high-rises. Every week, sometimes twice a week, there are stories about children falling out of windows. It there a recent epidemic of kids falling out windows or has this always happened but now we can scan every newspaper in the country to find stories about it?
These two stories illustrate the point that you can find whatever you want to find on the internet. You want articles about lazy stay at home moms? You got 'em. You want stories about apathetic working mothers? There's plenty. It's so easy to leave careless comments on articles that go back and forth on the debate, the internet can't help but stir this pot. Working moms and stay at home moms have always existed and both camps question their choices - it's only recently that those of us who are only able to see things in black and white have become able to join the debate and comment on each and every story that comes along to either illustrate why our point of view is right, or justify why the other camp is wrong.
So when BlogHer runs a story titled "Working Moms Don't Choose For Their Babies to Die" I feel like this heartbreaking story is crushed under the weight of its title; a title I call sensationalism. The title is meant to stir up anger and outrage even if that's not the intention of the writer. Honestly, are there stay at home moms out there who really think this? The title would have you believe it's true and not only that - that it's the way lots stay at home mothers think. Yes, someone made an uncaring comment but this headline is fanning the flames.
Furthermore, BlogHer used the title in their weekly e-mail that's sent to subscribers - just in case you missed it the first time around. I know it was a terrible situation and an uncaring comment, but saying this has to stop while throwing the story out there to be commented on again - it just repeats the cycle.
Sometimes, the best way to stop something is to first stop ourselves.

song: Stop in the Name of Love • artist: The Supremes

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Parenting Is...

when you get to be a hero for finding the bed-time stuffed animal.

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Yes We Have No Bananas

Me: How come you haven't been buying bananas?
Him: The kids haven't been eating them.
Me: But I like bananas.
Him: Oh. I didn't know you liked bananas.
Me: We used to buy bananas before we had kids.
Him. We did? I can't remember anything from before we had kids.
Me: Me neither. But I think there was bananas.

song: Yes We Have No Bananas • artist: Frank Silver and Irving Cohm

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Was A Sunny Day

... until I hung out the laundry.

song: Was A Sunny Day • artist: Paul Simon

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

St. Stephen

I know it's bad form to list the names of your children on your blog. I know this because I have never done it and when I finally looked around at other people's blogs I noticed that they never do it either.
So this little story might lack some punch with names being omitted to protect the innocent but here goes.
As a general rule boy names do not go in and out of fashion like girl names and while I don't think we gave our children common names, I don't think we gave them exceptionally uncommon ones either. Sure, S may be the exception, but it's a good old fashioned New England name. Look back 150 years and this town was swarming with Ss.
That being said it was my eldest son who was crushed to learn recently that while all three of his brothers share their names with saints, he does not. Not only that, there's a Saint Joanne and a Saint Ken. Of course there was a Saint Joseph and a Saint Margaret (his maternal grandparents). There's even a Saint Vivien (his paternal grandmother) - and a Saint Leo (the cat).
I'm waiting for the day when he uses this information against me. I'll ask him to behave and he'll retort, "Whadda you expect? I'm no saint!"

song: St. Stephen • artist: Grateful Dead

Monday, June 04, 2012

Rumbleseat

The Tao of my Twins: Lesson #14

The most desirable car seat in the mini van is always whichever one my brother is already seated in.

song: Rumbleseat • artist: John Mellencamp

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Express Yourself

Clean, Protect, & Invigorate!
Invigorating Clean Multi-Protection!
Invigorating Sensation!
Invigorating Mint
!
The above trumped up claims all appear on the same label of mouthwash. I added the exclamation points since EVERY WORD ON THE LABEL IS IN UPPER CASE.
It's like some junior advertising copy writer just discovered the word invigorate and felt the need to use it everywhere.
I pointed this out to Ken, who bought said redundant mouthwash.
He replied, "Yeah, but I only paid 99¢ for it."
Invigorating Savings!

song: Express Yourself • artist: Madonna

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Recommended Pages (A Facebook List Poem)

Betty White
Beach
The Bible
Boating
Maya Angelou
Dirty Dancing
Reba McEntire
Art
Walt Disney World Resort
Dalai Lama
Fenway Park
Cooking
Coffee
George W. Bush
The Biggest Loser
Sense and Sensibility
Baking
Home Goods
Clean House
Musical Theater
The Hobbit