Probably Not a Good Idea.

So tonight, as my husband and son were doing a bit of improvised Tae Kwon-do, he told my son to try and kick him in the head. Before I could warn him that might not be such a good idea he changed his mind and said, "Try and kick my hand." That could have been a close call.

It did however remind me of a story from my childhood. I was about to receive a shot, probably an immunization or something and I did not want it because I was afraid. I mean, what child actually WANTS and shot and is brave about the whole thing? My guess? NONE. Anyway, her plan to ease my fears? She told me to bite her arm as hard as I could. I followed her instructions and while I did not break any skin or cause bleeding, I DID bite her REALLY hard and she immediately regretted her suggestion.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise?

During my grade school years my mom invoked upon my sister and I an early bedtime. She had her reasons; such as having to work early in the morning and needing to have us up, dressed, fed, and ready for school before she left for work. She has also confessed that it was also partly due to wanting some quiet time before she went to bed herself. To my sister and I this early bedtime was a big injustice especially since on several occasions during the summer months (when I was 9 and she was 6) we would go to bed and hear the neighbor kids playing outside the window. In fact, my mom found us on more then one occasion looking out the window at them. There were also many, many times when giggling would bring my mom in to see what we were up to. Most of the time it was utter silliness that we had made up to keep ourselves entertained until we were tired. I'll bet that most nights we stayed up giggling for a good while before falling asleep, even after my mom hung a blanket in the window to help block out some of the light. ;) Needless to say my kids will have a 9:00-9:30 bedtime in grade school and something later in Jr. High and High School.

Fowl Anyone?

When I was a toddler for whatever reason I would not eat chicken. Stubborn; as toddlers are, this caused my mom to come up with a brilliant idea! The next time we sat down to eat a chicken dinner that she had prepared I asked if it was chicken and she told me that it was not chicken and that it was in fact fowl. Seeing as how a chicken is a fowl she wasn't exactly lying to me. The result of this little white lie was that I took one bite and told her how much I liked fowl. Mom 1, Toddler 0=Battle won!

Baked Potatoes to Cucina Amore

In my younger years my parents had a very tight budget and as a result we ate a lot of baked potatoes for dinner. Now don't get me wrong, we did have other things to eat as well such as poforts (a hot dog slice lengthwise and topped with cheese and mashed potatoes, surprisingly tasty!), chicken, and pasta. All very basic run of the mill type meals with no frills. So can you imagine how I would feel when in my teenage years I would come home to some gourmet meal a la Cucina Amore? I will tell you how I felt, like my mother and her roommate were nuts. My sister and I would walk in the front door after school and if we heard the tell tale italian music of Signore Nick Stellino's show Cucina Amore we would immediately get on the phone and try to make dinner plans with our friends. Unfortunately the adults got wise to us and made the rule that if upon arriving home and we did not already have prior plans for dinner then we had to eat what was prepared. You can't expect a child who was fed very basic foods growing up to embrace gourmet cooking readily and wholeheartedly, it won't go well. ;)

Haircuts at Home

My mom, the ever creative woman that she is, somehow got the idea to cut the hair of my sister and I at home. Not having much experience with hair cutting and wanting to try the bowl cut or page boy cut on me, she once employed the use of an actual bowl. Finding that to be a bit difficult and not yielding exactly the outcome that she wanted she found the tape was a much better tool for cutting things like bangs. She would simply stick the tape across our forehead just above eye level and cut along the bottom of the tape. Voila, results of her creativity can be viewed below.

Dino Pal

Picture this; a beloved blue plush brontosaurus approx. 3 feet high and 5 feet long sitting discarded on the curb. It is lying in wait for the trash man to come. Down the stairs from her room comes a little tow headed girl of about 2 1/2 years of age. Looking around the room she notices after a bit that her dinosaur is missing. She asks her mother where it went and her mother replies (while feeling guilty and hoping that her daughter does not look out the front window and to see it sitting on the curb while the garbage man picks up the garbage) that it has gone to dinosaur heaven.