Parenting Sites 411

I got the idea of this from Mom’s Daily Dose’s writing challenge today.  Yes, it resembles an awful lot a meme and I just posted a meme on Tuesday.  But there’s some truth here and an opportunity to visit some great blogs who are writing on this very topic.  And that topic is:

What are the three things you wish for your kids to experience in their lives?  Is it different for your sons and daughters?

This brought out a lot of deep introspection for me.   And I realized that I was going to have a hard time coming up with just three things.  But then again, it’s not very hard to narrow it down to what is most important.

I’ve said for many years that I hope none of my children have to endure the infertility and loss that we had to suffer through.  When my oldest son was diagnosed with an undescended testicle when he was just 4 years old, it was no question whether or not we wanted the doctor to operate and fix the issue.  By operating, we would reduce his chances for not only testicular cancer later on but possible infertility later in life.  Not that it wasn’t hard to see our baby (yes, they’re still babies at 4 years old) go under the knife, but we knew the benefits far outweighed the negatives.  If there was anything we could do to limit his anguish later on down the line, we would do it happily.

I also wish for my children to enjoy financial stability when they become adults.  Money isn’t everything.  It isn’t even half of everything.  But having a decent job, a decent home to live in, decent cars to drive and a decent amount in your account to cover the important stuff is a big deal.  We made a lot of mistakes with money when we were younger that we’re paying for now.  So I hope that I might be somehow able to prevent my own children from making those mistakes. It makes a difference.

Lastly, I wish for my children to have happiness.  I know that life cannot be happy all the time.  But I want them to have enough happiness and love to fall back on when the times do get rough.  I want them to have wonderful families, each other and a strong sense of self.  I want them to be able to fight for themselves and for what matters to them when it counts.  It might sound trite to wish love and happiness for your children, but love and happiness themselves are definitely not trite.  You don’t miss those things until they’re gone.  So I hope my children never know what it’s like to be without love and happiness.  It’s what makes this life we’re living worthwhile.

So what do you wish?

I saw this meme over on Lizarita’s blog and I couldn’t resist.  Mostly because I need to POST something and when I’m all blocked like this, a meme is just the thing to get me going again.

1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now?
Good question.  I’m pretty sure it’s some generic type of shower gel.  Oh, we also have baby wash in there as well.
2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?
Yeah, no.  It’s October, remember?
3. What would you change about your living room?
I’m kinda over the green we painted on the walls.  I’d put a gate up blocking off the kitchen.  Put the DVD player/DVR in the entertainment center.  Get rid of this goshforsaken carpeting once and for all.  This is a pretty long list.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?
Clean.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t dirty dishes in the sink. Ahem.
5. What is in your fridge?
Oh geeze.  Three kinds of milk, juice, soda, various and sundry condiments, lunchmeat, hot dogs, refrigerated dough, butter, cream cheese, bagels, cheese, yogurt… do I have to keep going here?
6. White or wheat bread?
Wheat.  Or, in Harry’s case, whole wheat white, from Wonderbread.
7. What is on top of your refrigerator?
A bunch of dead plants.
8. What color or design is on your shower curtain?
It’s a pale pinkish/purple with light purple embroidered vines on it.  Goes with the whole purple motif I’ve got going on in there.

9. How many plants are in your home?
Alive and non-fake? 0.

10. Is your bed made right now?
Ha!  Ha, ha, ha!  That’s a good one.
11. Comet or Soft Scrub?
Like Lizarita, we’re big Lysol fans for cleaning bathrooms and such.

12. Is your closet organized?
Yeah, no.  Not even CLOSE.
13. Can you describe your flashlight?
Flash… light?  Riiiight.  I think there’s got to be one around her somewhere…
14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Plastic, if I can.  And I try to only use one glass a day to cut down on dishes.

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
Nope.  Kile makes his own iced tea since he’s the only one who drinks it.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
Is the Pope Catholic?  At least we can park one of our vans in there.

17. Curtains or blinds?
Mostly blinds, but we have curtains in the living room and kitchen.
18. How many pillows do you sleep with?
2 under my head and 2 body pillows to support the body.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Nope. Though we do when we have a newborn in the house, just very dim.
20. How often do you vacuum?
Uhm.  Often enough?
21. Standard toothbrush or electric?
Electric.
22. What color is your toothbrush?
Pink.  Of course!
23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?
Yep, it’s got grapes on it.  Or it did before it became covered with weeds and other debris.

24. What is in your oven right now?
A light?  An oven rack or two?  Other than that, nada.

25. Is there anything under your bed?
Nothing I want to know about, that’s for sure.
26. Chore you hate doing the most?
It’s a toss up.  I hate cleaning bathrooms.  I don’t much care for dishes either.
27. What retro items are in your home?
If we have anything retro in here, I can assure you that it’s not on purpose.
28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?
No.  Well, unless you consider the loft a separate room.  But then, I don’t use that computer anymore so I guess the answer is no.

29. How many mirrors are in your home?
Let’s see… 4.  Not too many, huh?
30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home?
If we did, I’m sure we would have spent it by now.
31. What color are your walls?
In which room?  The living room is sage green, the kitchen has one wall that’s a neutral tan (we need to paint the rest sometime), the loft is a pinkish tan which looks a lot better than it sounds, Liam’s room is pale yellow, our room is various shades of purple and Harry’s room is blue with a dark, dark blue ceiling (with glow in the dark stars on it!).  He’s also got a rocket ship painted on his wall.

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home?
Yeah, not that I can think of.  Even the dogs don’t really count.
33. What does your home smell like right now?
Nothing.  Maybe a little like diapers but I hope not.

34. Favorite candle scent?
Lilac.
35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now?
Of course I have pickles!  I’m pregnant!  They’re store brand, which I always prefer when pregnant.
36. What color is your favorite Bible?
It’s pink and black.  My in-laws gave it to me.
37. Ever been on your roof?
Nope and I hope I never am.  This is a two story house, after all.

38. Do you own a stereo?
My cd player broke ages ago.  Our DVD player/home theater system plays cds, does that count?
39. How many TVs do you have?
Operational and non-operational: 4.
40. How many house phones?
2.  And they suck.  I never answer it unless it’s someone I want to talk to.
41. Do you have a housekeeper?
Don’t I wish!
42. What style do you decorate in?
College-chic.  We’re still a little in that post-college garage sale modge podge stage here.  A lot of hand me downs.

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?
Solids. Or wood.
44. Is there a smoke detector in your home?
A few.  Hopefully, one or two even work.  (I’ve had to take batteries out because of bleeping alarms in the middle of the night)

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip?
This is assuming that all the people and animals are safely out of the house?  My laptop (all the photos on the hard drive!), other photo albums, the diaper bag and my purse.

My sweet friend Cass tagged me for this meme and it is perfect for this blog. Thanks Cass!

I have to admit that favorite kind of blog to read is the family or parent blog. I want to know that others are dealing with the same stuff that we are or are paving a path that we will be heading down soon. It is great that so many parents are willing to have a voice in this blogosphere and share their family stories.

Here are the rules:

1. Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content string. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra linkback.
2. Copy the list of originals below COMPLETELY and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.
3. Take the adds from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals” list.
4. Add no more than 5 new parenting or (Mommy/Daddy) blogs to the list in the “My Adds” section. (I’m having a hard time limiting it to five!)

My add ons:
Three Sons and a Princess
Moot Thoughts and Musings
A family runs through it
Uglyhead
Parenting Toddlers

The originals:

Lala Girl
The Bookworm Broadcast
Parenting Sites 411

Cass Knits
Geni Desu Yo

No Average Mom
Notes From The Trenches
Busy Mom.net

Groovy Mom
Coffee Time
My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings
Toil

The Ridiculously Mundane and the Oh so Humdrum…

My Single Mom Life
Tips From The Money Goddess
Army Mom: New Jersey

Melissa’s Place

blogroll, parenting blogroll, meme