Just sit anywhere, for the love of Pete...

How come my kids wanna fight to the death over who gets to sit in certain places?



It's not like their dad and I model this behavior. They've never once seen me burst into tears because their Dad sat down at a particular chair at the dining room table. They haven't ever walked in on Dad and Mom pushing and shoving each other for a place on the couch. And I'm pretty sure their Dad hasn't ever thrown himself to the ground and kicked and screamed because Mom was riding shotgun.



And yet, here's an actual conversation:
"I call pistol!" (pistol is the seat behind shotgun. the fact that they've taken it upon themselves to name it that shows you just what kind of freaks we are dealing with)
"Too late!! I already called it!"
---weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth---
"No way!!! I was totally here by the door and I called it!!!!"
"Ahhhhhh, but see?? I called it first, IN MY MIND."

Quote of the Week...

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."

--Dave Barry

Hope hubby isn't jealous...

I love Lost.

Every week drags by until my lovely little addiction stops in and gives me some attention. I giggle like a school girl when I realize it's Thursday night...and I keep my past seasons' DVDs right by my television should I need a good Jack/Locke/Sayid fix to get through the day.

Lost, I don't understand you. I can't even pretend to. You tease and taunt me and even though you mock me with your mysteries I can't give you up. All I know is that I need you the way Sawyer needs to give people nicknames...

Quote of the Week...

"We must constantly remember it is not our situation or problems that make us unhappy; it is our failure to properly resolve them."

--Marvin J. Ashton

I just don't get it...

I hate those shows where they show people falling down, or tripping, or in some other way doing something embarrassing. I never get it when people laugh at stuff like that. It never even occurs to me to think that it's funny.

I'm not saying that it isn't funny. I am just saying that it isn't funny to me.

I have always been oddly sensitive that way. I find it very uncomfortable to see people in painful or embarrassing situations, whether physical or emotional. If someone falls down in front of me, my first impulse is to make sure they are okay, whereas many people (including, quite possibly, the person who fell) can't help but laugh.

Emotional pain is even more of a problem. I wouldn't watch "Napoleon Dynamite" for ages because I thought it was a movie where a geeky kid got bullied and made fun of the entire time, and the thought of watching that made me unbelieveably uncomfortable.

I was never bullied-much-as a kid. But I remember watching other kids get bullied and trying to seek them out and be friendly to them and make them laugh. The times I have stooped to being hurtful and unkind, I ended up feeling like such an awful person. As I look back over my younger years, it's the times I was sarcastic or openly distainful of someone else that really come back and haunt me. The times I thought I was being clever or going for a laugh are not remembered with fondness.

So now, as an adult, I guess that has stayed with me. I never want to be responsible for another person feeling humiliated or ashamed. I find that the older I get, the more deeply I empathize with people. The more I wish that it was in all our natures to be more tender with one another's trips and falls.

Now, please don't think I don't have a sense of humor. And please don't think that I look at people who DO laugh at things like as though they are bad or wrong. I don't.

I just don't get it.

Quote of the Week...

"It's the most unhappy people who most fear change."

--Mignon McLaughlin

Quote of the Week...

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

--Walt Disney