Classifieds

WANTED

MWF (married white female) desperately seeking

Chevy's Sombrero. Left behind after a fun-filled

birthday dinner for DH (dear husband). Must have

forgotten it after enduring LHI (long haired indian)

dubbed "Apache Hendrix" and his heinous versions

of 1980's hits. CW (confused waitress) singing Happy

Birthday to my 3YO(year old) instead of to DH could

also be to blame for my TML (temporary memory loss).

DH insists you don't take Sombrero home. MWF contends

that you do. FDA would agree with MWF(...hello...lice!!!!)

REWARD for those who agree with MWF.

Fortified

Sometimes it's nice to do something different for Family Home Evening. Actually... let's be real.... sometimes it's nice to actually have Family Home Evening. We try really hard.

Sometimes.


We could definitely try harder. We always make sure that we are together on family nights but tend to justify baseball practice or a trip to the grocery store together as our activity and lesson.


But I've come to realize something. It doesn't always have to be about scripture reading, service, or family meetings. I need to stop feeling guilty when I don't plan ahead for a lesson and a treat. (Although that is the ideal goal.)

What we did last night was a treat in and of itself. It's something we've never done before but turned out to be a huge success. It was simple. It was fun. And although it wasn't something that taught my children to strive to be better people and it didn't teach them anything about Heavenly Father, church doctrine or the prophets... it definitely brought us closer together and strengthened our love for one another.

We built a fort.

And cuddled inside of it while reading books.

And sang songs like "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", "Three Blind Mice", and -upon Reef's request- "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen.

And ate peanut butter/milk chocolate chips right out of the bag.

And we were happy.

And strengthened.

And fortified.

I miss the cartoons of my youth. Smurfs, He-Man, The Snorks, Gummi Bears, Scooby-Doo....

I can tell when my 3 year old has been watching too much Sponge Bob because every sentence ends with the word butt.
"Is it time for a bath?.....BUTT."
"Look at the fire engine!.....BUTT."
"Can I have a snack?....BUTT."
I never even used to let my kids watch Sponge Bob. I guess I've become way more lax in the raising of a 3rd child. But sometimes the good mom outwins the lax mom I turn off the tube in the middle of Patrick mooning the patrons of the Krusty Krab or when Sponge Bob and Patrick are going on a "panty-raid" at Mr. Crab's mother's house...... (I'm NOT making this up!!!)

Every time we come across Max & Ruby I can't help but think.... where are their parents? Ruby is always the one taking care of Max and I think they have a grandmother that comes around once in a while but the only other adult figure is the "Bunny Scout Leader" who really never is shown, only talked about. Do they not have parents? It seems very trivial but this is something I often wonder about.

I used to think you couldn't go too wrong with a kid show on PBS but I've noticed that when Reef watches too much Caillou he talks like a baby. And Mercedes seems to think that Caillou only teaches little ones how to throw a temper-tantrum.

Dora & Diego certainly don't need any censoring but lately Reef insists on praying in Spanish. We let him do it the first time he asked and it was really cute to hear his "version" of Spanish but now it's just becoming disruptive. He's recently begun to enjoy Nio-Hao, Kai-Lan so it's only a matter of time before he starts begging to pray in Chinese.

And Olivia? That show is just down right disturbing to me! And I'm not just saying that because of the whole overblown Swine Flu scare. Pigs in clothes prancing around on their hind legs? And it seems just about every episode has Olivia plotting some way to harm or get rid of her younger brother. The theme of that show seems to be sibling rivalry which I think we experience enough on our own without Nick Jr.'s help.

Don't even get me started on Yo Gabba Gabba. Who hired that acid-tripping writer?

But really I guess these annoyances and perplexities are something I can overlook. I have fond memories of eatting breakfast while watching Captain Kangaroo, The Polka-Dot Door, and The Great Space Coaster. Do I really want to rob my children of their own breakfast-time memories? Of course not. Now if you'll please excuse me... Back at the Barnyard just started.