Random Musings

• The term "salad" means a green salad. Lettuce, veggies, dressing, etc. Apparently this is not common knowledge. To some, the term "salad" encompasses dishes of many ingredients, that can include, but are not limited to: pasta, potatoes, jello, even cookies. I like a nice jello salad as much as the next girl. But it throws off the balance of a meal when, instead of some green veggies, we have an interesting concoction of Snickers, apples, cream cheese, and Cool Whip. Snicker salad? Really?
• I need to pay better attention to what day it is before I decide to return something to Walmart. A certain group of folks around here gets paid on the first and third Fridays of the month. And if you go shopping on one of those days, or the three days immediately following, you're in for extra crowded stores. And a very slow moving line at customer service. Where they do MoneyGrams. Which take approximately 5 hours each to process.
• I have morphed into a desert girl, who needs a sweatshirt at soccer practice after the sun goes down. Even though it's still 78 degrees.
• At some point in the last six months, I have stopped asking myself, "What should Lincoln be doing at this age?" I have no clue what an 18-month-old should be doing. I have become blissfully forgetful. But I do know that Lincoln is hitting his own milestones like a champ.
• I'm trying to find out what the going rate for a tooth is these days. Bree has her very first loose tooth, and is excited about the Tooth Fairy's impending visit. This is important information, which involves a little math on my part. I'm calculating: ((number of teeth per child)*(number of children in household))/total years devoted to said tradition. And I almost forgot to factor in peer influence (though home-schooling my prove an advantage there). I can't remember how much I received as a kid. I just remember sometimes getting little plastic baggies full of random change (possibly a sign that the Tooth Fairy was unprepared and/or unconcerned with being consistent). 
• Is parenting theory changing? I have just recently become aware of a movement towards not punishing children or putting them in time-outs. Which, of course, I immediately scoffed at. Then seriously considered a second later. Because, while Bree has always had a desire to do the right thing regardless of our parenting mistakes, Mason has been quite a bit trickier. He is so clearly needing something we aren't giving him. So, as difficult as it has been to turn our backs on time-outs, we are instead giving him more positive attention, and using his behavioral infractions as an opportunity to reinforce our love for him, and acknowledge his feelings. It is taking some time to get used to. It may be too soon to tell if it's working, but I think the overall atmosphere in our home has changed for the better.