Kids Are Good For Your Health

As I was writing this post on my Last Ten Pounds blog, I was reminded yet again how my kids have improved all aspects of my life, not just my health (in the case of that post, they help me out by being the "candy police" - if they weren't following me around watching everything I do, I'd be eating more of the Halloween candy ;-)

Having kids is almost like reliving your youth, with the added bonus that you can abstain from those parts of youth you were happy to leave behind.

Like for instance, because of my kids and their school skating trips, I'm forced to lace up and learn the sport myself, only without the self-conscious worry and peer related stress I would have had as a pre-teen. A friend of mine enjoys the same music as her twelve year old, but listens to the songs she likes, rather than the songs that tell other tweens that she's "cool". You get the idea.

LOL not to mention the fact that I could write an entire blog, never mind one line in one post, about the increased physical activity I've had since having kids. So although some days it feels like they've taken ten years off my life, in reality they've probably added ten years :-)

How Much Does The Tooth Fairy Pay?

Good question. I think it depends on zoning in their region (or something), or their local of the TFU (Tooth Fairy Union).

This was us (me and friends over visiting with their kids) backpedalling and scrambling for a story when our kids, two of whom each lost a tooth that day, started comparing payout rates.

(oh geeez!!!)

Visiting boy: "I get $2.25. So I've made $6.75 so far."

Visiting girl: "I've heard some people get ten bucks a tooth!!"

Me: lol "we can't afford that!"

...OOPS!!

Me: "Um, because, uh... then if our tooth fairy paid ten bucks a tooth then we'd have to buy bigger birthday presents. Not that we only spend ten bucks on birthdays, but uh... oh, you know. I think our tooth fairy, uh, invests the extra tooth money in tooth paste research."

(not sure how that went over)

My daughter: "Hey! I only get $2.00 per tooth!"

Me: "uh, honey don't forget the stickers you got, too, with the first tooth. That's like getting an extra $0.25. Then there were the hair clips with the second tooth! Don't forget about that."

There's no way to equalize tooth fairy payment amounts across the board, but it does pay to have some kind of story ready, for when the kids start comparing. (Oh yes, and never ever ever forget that it's the tooth fairy who pays ;-)

Ha! Listen To Your Mother - She's Usually Right

So there ;-)

I was right - it's raining today. Drizzly hazy stuff that not even an umbrella can protect against. Blech.

I'm trying not to gloat (about the being right thing) - it's wasted on a five and four year old anyway (better used with Hubby ;-)

Instead I tried to turn it into a lesson:

Me: "See? Aren't you glad I made you go outside yesterday in the sunshine? Look at it now! Yuck!"

Alyssa: "Yes but today we could use our umbrellas, Mummy!!"

It occurs to me now what my problem has been all along: I expect them to think like adults...

5 Things I Am Thankful For

I have the two most wonderful brats-oops-I-mean children in the universe, so limiting this list to five things will be hard. In no particular order, here are five things that popped into my head:

1) Lil J's sweet singing voice (he just finished singing "Gone Fishing" from Thomas The Tank Engine).

2) Barbie and Lightning McQueen laptops... now the three of us are at the table, each with our own laptop ;-)

3) Good manners and inside voices!!!

4) Glorious good health :-) :-)

5) Hugs xoxoxo

6) 6,342,874 other things at least...

Pajama Day

It's sunny though. Beautifully, glaringly, shade your eyes or lose your vision sunny. Is it wrong of me to force them to go in the back yard?

Winter is just around the corner, with rain rain rain and oh yeah, rain. So what if it's a pajama day, with no school, preschool, skating or swimming lessons? (Ya gotta have a pajama day now and then. You know, the days when you have no obligations or commitments, and they really can stay in their jammies all day, and then change into fresh ones for bedtime?) It's a rare treat in this nutty, over scheduled life that we lead.

But not today. I know that once they're out in the roomy, grassy expanse of the sun filled yard, the urge to run will take them over and they'll be happy that I made them get dressed. (I'm still waiting for that day when they'll figure out that Mommy is usually right about these things.)

What the heck... maybe I'll even join them and go work in the garden.