How to Build a Snowman

Did you think you'd see instructions here? Nah, you can head to eHow.com for that kind of stuff. I'm always inside nursing babies, so I rarely get to go play in the snow. This is what Aron and the kids made one day recently, though. More proof in my case for him being an excellent father.

Toddler Eva Stripping Wallpaper

You can't ever really start a kid on wallpaper scraping fun too early. And I just keep giving birth to little wallpaper strippers, so it all works out.

Kids With Cell Phones

Yes, I know I beat this horse to death and then some. But when I go to an elementary school dance and see all the kids with phones it drives me nuts. I mean, parents, do you not have a clue? Don't you know that you are not only paying for phone calls and texts, but also (usually) for Internet service? I remember my best friend and I during school (6th grade) cackling at looking up the word "crusty" in the dictionary. Dear God, if we'd had cell phones, we would've been looking up all kinds of naked people and probably instant messaging all kinds of pedophiles.

I always thought my dad was overprotective as heck. Turns out he actually had a clue, which kept me pretty darn safe throughout my childhood and kept me molested-free. Who knew?

*Updated to acknowledge that some parents do opt out of the Internet service on their kid's cell phone.

Security for Valentine's Day

So, what are you asking for or giving for Valentine's Day?

I told Aron I'd like an external hard drive so I can store all our digital photos in our fireproof box.

Hey, security is romantic. Sue me.

How Much Does the Tooth Fairy Pay?

Originally posted 2/13/2010

Joel is 8 1/2 and just lost his second tooth. He gets a buck from the Tooth Fairy for each tooth he loses. He knows kids who get 10 bucks for EACH TOOTH LOST. Even if there's only one child in the house, why would the Tooth Fairy make the other Tooth Fairies look so bad?

And why does a kid need that much money for a freakin' tooth? I mean, I got Jack Squat when I started my period, and I lost a lot of blood. Too much information? How much do I get when this toothpick comes out of my foot? Oh, I know: I get to go back to cleaning my house and chasing my kids. Hmmmm. Maybe I don't want this toothpick out after all.

See what a good writer I am? I correlate tooth fairies and toothpicks somehow in one post.

*Edited to add: Man, I hope my kids' friends don't read this blog or I'm in trouble. The other night Aron was out of town and I forgot that Michael had lost a tooth (he doesn't make a big deal out of things). So the next morning the Tooth Fairy did not come :-( The next night, however, somehow the Tooth Fairy snuck a buck under the pillow while he was brushing his teeth and he found the money the next morning. Slick!