I love our new used minivan.
Right now I'm sitting in the front seat blogging away as my husband takes us to our exciting destination- the Festival of Books in LA.
I'm on my iPhone, by the way, so I have no idea how this will look when I post it.
But that's not important. What's important is that my husband is throwing out what I like to call "Chris' fascinating facts" while my children fight in the back seat.
For example, "Did you know that cruise ships have jet engines now?"
Fascinating facts (and he's got hundreds of them) are actually more pleasant than what's gone on the in the seat behind me. I didn't know an 8 month old and a 4 year old could already know how to do the whole sibling fighting thing in the car.
And I didn't know a 4 year old could find so many things to cry about.
Both kids are sitting next to each other. My 4 year old has burst out crying and said (five times now) "ow! Ian pinched me!"
The first time she spit at him (!) and I gently said, "Don't spit at your brother! He's just a baby, honey, he doesn't know he's hurting you."
After the fifth time, both my husband and I threatened to turn the car around. It's then that I remembered we have a whole other back seat. Which is where I will move my daughter when we stop for gas.
I love this car.
By the way, the other thing my daughter was crying about was that she wants to wear her Rapunzel hair (a long scarf I tucked into the back of her dress so she can pretend) into the book festival. This may be a battle I choose not to fight. So if you go to the festival today, you may see a small blondish girl trailing a long scarf out of her dress singing about being in a tower and having a dream. That would be my child.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Just Go To Bed!
I'm not blogging about how difficult bedtime is around my house.
Although it is a challenge.
This time I'm blogging about Children's Literature.
How many of you (the eight people that read my blog) are familiar with Mercer Mayer's 'Just Go To Bed!'
I adore that little book.
I love how the little creature-what is that creature anyway?-has so many stories going on in his head and plays pretend through the whole book while his Dad tries to get him to go to bed.
But you know what I love most about this little book? I love that the illustrator of the book drew these little creatures looking slightly frazzled.
Because whenever I get up in the morning, or during lunch time, or when I've lost the baby's new sippy cup again, or when my daughter throws a fit because she can't watch 'Little Einsteins' one more time,...you get the idea...I think of those frazzled looking creatures in the book and I feel a bit better. Look at those creatures. You'll see what I mean and you'll never look at the book the same way again.
And by the time bed time rolls around and I'm ready to say "Just go to bed!", I know there is some parent out there experiencing the same thing because Mercer Mayer wrote a book about it.
Although it is a challenge.
This time I'm blogging about Children's Literature.
How many of you (the eight people that read my blog) are familiar with Mercer Mayer's 'Just Go To Bed!'
I adore that little book.
I love how the little creature-what is that creature anyway?-has so many stories going on in his head and plays pretend through the whole book while his Dad tries to get him to go to bed.
But you know what I love most about this little book? I love that the illustrator of the book drew these little creatures looking slightly frazzled.
Because whenever I get up in the morning, or during lunch time, or when I've lost the baby's new sippy cup again, or when my daughter throws a fit because she can't watch 'Little Einsteins' one more time,...you get the idea...I think of those frazzled looking creatures in the book and I feel a bit better. Look at those creatures. You'll see what I mean and you'll never look at the book the same way again.
And by the time bed time rolls around and I'm ready to say "Just go to bed!", I know there is some parent out there experiencing the same thing because Mercer Mayer wrote a book about it.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Man and Woman Buy A Car
Our Jeep finally gave up and said, "I'm through with you guys. I'm done. No more." At least that's what it said in my head.
We were faced with two choices.
Go shopping for a new used car, or pay the huge amount of money it would cost to fix the Jeep. Usually shopping appeals to me. You would think that since I have been shopping for new used cars on the internet for over a year now, I would be excited about the prospect of finally getting my hands on a different car. But the Jeep just picked the wrong week to quit. We've been so overwhelmed with work and the kids, that we were both just exhausted at the idea of looking for another car.
Onward we moved, though. Like good little soldiers we toughened up and started searching on the Internet for cars. I made a list of used cars within what I thought our price range was and I handed the list over to my husband and told him to "get to work" on getting us a car.
Enter the good, the bad, and the ugly differences between this man and this woman who have sworn forever to love and cherish each other. I am happy to say that not once did we fight like cats and dogs over this, but I did feel like crying every now and then.
My husband is a researcher. My husband is slow to make a decision. My husband would take a year to find the perfect car for us if he could.
I am impulsive. I hate negotiating. Enough said.
We test drove a few cars. We narrowed down our choices to three. We got cornered with sales people a few times trying to offer us their best deal. We walked out. The first time we walked out, I nearly had a panic attack. I've never done that before. Walk out. I was afraid I'd hurt the nice car salesman's feelings. I was afraid someone else would snatch up my car.
My husband sent my head reeling when he said the Internet said that in order to get the best deal, you have to walk out more than once.
By the time we had selected the car we wanted, I was nearly curled up in a fetal position on the floor. We had gone back and forth about mileage, year, model, and make, of cars. We (my husband, let's be honest) had entertained the idea of getting the Jeep fixed (to which I said, "YOU can get the Jeep fixed. I'm not driving that car anymore." ) My husband assured me that the negotiation of the car we wanted could happen by phone.
"You do it," I said.
Now here's where testosterone kicks in and men are in their element. Exhausted as he was, my husband managed to talk them down $1,600 from their original asking price. By the time he was down to negotiating the last ten dollars, I was so anxious I threw my hands up in the air and said, "Just take the deal."
He did it. And now we have a MiniVan. We have a Minivan that has an engine that's already giving us problems and the back passenger door won't open. My husband's taking it to the mechanics at the dealer today. Thank goodness we have a warranty.
I bet my husband finds something to negotiate about anyway.
We were faced with two choices.
Go shopping for a new used car, or pay the huge amount of money it would cost to fix the Jeep. Usually shopping appeals to me. You would think that since I have been shopping for new used cars on the internet for over a year now, I would be excited about the prospect of finally getting my hands on a different car. But the Jeep just picked the wrong week to quit. We've been so overwhelmed with work and the kids, that we were both just exhausted at the idea of looking for another car.
Onward we moved, though. Like good little soldiers we toughened up and started searching on the Internet for cars. I made a list of used cars within what I thought our price range was and I handed the list over to my husband and told him to "get to work" on getting us a car.
Enter the good, the bad, and the ugly differences between this man and this woman who have sworn forever to love and cherish each other. I am happy to say that not once did we fight like cats and dogs over this, but I did feel like crying every now and then.
My husband is a researcher. My husband is slow to make a decision. My husband would take a year to find the perfect car for us if he could.
I am impulsive. I hate negotiating. Enough said.
We test drove a few cars. We narrowed down our choices to three. We got cornered with sales people a few times trying to offer us their best deal. We walked out. The first time we walked out, I nearly had a panic attack. I've never done that before. Walk out. I was afraid I'd hurt the nice car salesman's feelings. I was afraid someone else would snatch up my car.
My husband sent my head reeling when he said the Internet said that in order to get the best deal, you have to walk out more than once.
By the time we had selected the car we wanted, I was nearly curled up in a fetal position on the floor. We had gone back and forth about mileage, year, model, and make, of cars. We (my husband, let's be honest) had entertained the idea of getting the Jeep fixed (to which I said, "YOU can get the Jeep fixed. I'm not driving that car anymore." ) My husband assured me that the negotiation of the car we wanted could happen by phone.
"You do it," I said.
Now here's where testosterone kicks in and men are in their element. Exhausted as he was, my husband managed to talk them down $1,600 from their original asking price. By the time he was down to negotiating the last ten dollars, I was so anxious I threw my hands up in the air and said, "Just take the deal."
He did it. And now we have a MiniVan. We have a Minivan that has an engine that's already giving us problems and the back passenger door won't open. My husband's taking it to the mechanics at the dealer today. Thank goodness we have a warranty.
I bet my husband finds something to negotiate about anyway.
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