This past week, I took Diva and Jumpshot to Barnes and Noble to get books. For some reason, there were teenagers everywhere! Turns out they were choir members who were there to perform. Diva and Jumpshot thought it was great.

I went to the Barnes and Noble website hoping to find a full calendar of events. I did find a calendar, but it doesn’t have every store event, like the choir performances. I did find out the local store has as event for kids every Friday night though.

Visit Parenting.com for cute cake ideas. From race cars to fish tanks, I can’t wait to try one of these.

Although I’m not a Yo Gabba Gabba fan, I saw that next week all kinds of celebrities and musicians will be on episodes next week. Weezer, Weird Al Yankovich, Sarah Silverman to name a few. And apparently, it’s not just next week but all season long. Check out the entire list at FilterMagazine.com.

Have a great day!

I’ve been working A LOT lately, and I am still hacking up a lung. I just read though that honey is a very good cough suppressant. Unfortunately I’m not a huge fan, so I’ll have to figure out how to make is palatable.

James is also recovering from a cold. He got to take a day off of work and got to take a 3-hour nap. Can you hear the jealousy dripping?

Speaking of jealousy, our Jumpshot got his first taste this week. A girl he’s liked for over a year has a boyfriend. He spotted them hugging. He said the sight of them tortured my body. Poor guy. He now refers to her as the girl he used to like. We’ve all been there, buddy. I got him an Icee to help take his mind off it.

Diva is planning a toy garage sale. I agreed to it one of those moments I was saying yes to everything because she was talking incessantly, and I thought she would forget. I was wrong – again. She’s also reading! It’s all so very exciting. She gets so proud of herself, and I’m proud of her too. And the day has come that she has dreaded for years – homework has begun. She’s actually enjoying it – like I told her she would.

Manchild has a new favorite word – underwear. Apparently it’s the funniest word ever. He uses the word all the time and just laughs and laughs. He’s also getting a little sneaky. He hid half his sandwich behind his back and made me believe his finished the whole thing.  Everyone else saw it and laughed at him, which is the worst thing you could do. Now he thinks it’s funny, and he’ll keep doing it.

Jumpshot has started track practice, and the first meet is next weekend. I’m booking my scrapbook day on the 20th, so I’ll have some more layouts to show you.

Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward an hour next week. It’s my least favorite day of the year.

Have a great week, everyone!

I’m a huge Lauren Graham fan from her role of Lorelei Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls. So I was happy to hear she landed a role on the new show Parenthood. I had seen a couple promos and thought it should be good.

James and I watched the premiere on Tuesday night.

I thought it was good. The characters are all identifiable. I love the big family. It makes me miss mine.

First off, the show struck a nerve and sparked a little controversy on our couch-island paradise. The patriarch of the family (Craig T. Nelson’s character) wants his grandson to be tougher and insists he participate in a sporting activity with him. It ends with the kid getting a bloody nose.

I live with an ultra-competitive husband. It’s not that I’m not competitive, but when it comes to the children, I often let them win but not always. James has a different point of view. It’s hard for him to let them win.

It’s also important to him to be tough. Our Jumpshot has great determination, but he’s very mild-mannered. His passiveness worries us in the rough-and-tumble boy world. James thinks it would be good for him to be in a fight. Apparently boys need to be in a fight. I did not know this. Maybe I misunderstood.

So there we are a quarter of the way into the show and already tense. The rest of the show is wrought with challenges the family members face, which produces a lot of scenes with tears.

I am not a big crier over TV shows. But all the crying made me tear up. The parents’ heartbreak of finding out something was probably wrong with their son drove my tears over their banks, and I sat on the couch and cried.

I cried for the single mom trying to do the right thing while battling her teenagers’ angst. I cried for the mom whose demanding career choice left a chasm between her and her young daughter. I cried for the teenage son who so desperately wanted a father. I cried for the parents who were about to face every parent’s nightmare that something was wrong with their child.

I’m not sure if I’m going to watch the show again. I might just be a little too sensitive to handle it.

Did anyone else watch it? What did you think?

Yesterday when I woke her up, she didn’t make a move toward the door. She just rolled over. So I prodded her again. It’s Sunday! she protested. I hated to break the news to her. It’s Monday.

Waaaaaaaa! Yes, tears over Monday morning. I can’t blame her. I didn’t get a weekend, so Monday was a bit painful for me as well.

This morning, I was greeted with tears again when I woke her up. Not a morning person myself and being sick as well, I put James in charge of getting Diva up. She always responds better to him in the mornings anyway. It must be a daddy/daughter thing, I thought.

I went to the kitchen to fix Toaster Strudels for the kids. I love our fancy toaster that allows me to toast a whole box at one time. As I’m putting on the icing, James comes in the kitchen with a satisfied look on his face. Some people (namely me) would call it smugness.

So I had to ask him how did he do it. His secret? He stashed away some bacon from the breakfast he made over the weekend just for the occasion when waking up and facing the world was just too unbearable for her little soul.

Bacon.

Bacon and sausage always rights her mornings. Are you seriously bribing our daughter with bacon?! Proudly, James admitted, Yes I am.

So I started thinking, Why should I be judgemental about that? We bribe our kids over all sorts of things: toys for being good at the store, snacks for eating all their dinner, and prizes for good grades.

Do bribes really work? Sometimes. At least in this case, it made our morning peaceful.

Tell me, do you bribe your kids? Does it work?