What's next?

When my kids were infants and then toddlers, I spent many hours checking out toys to see if they had a part that could come off and get lodged in their throats. I checked recall lists to make sure that a toy we owned wasn't on any of them.

I removed all strings from jackets so that it cold not strangle them. And all my blinds had the cords tied up so that they couldn't get near them and hang themselves.

As they got older, I began to relax a little. Until now.

Earlier this year, I discovered that the Mag Stick Magnetic toy had been recalled. We had a set of these and normally I wouldn't worry because my children are past the mouthing stage. But I have caught both of my boys at one time or another with some small toy in their mouths. It terrifies me that not only could they choke on one of these magnet balls but, if more than one magnet is swallowed, it could cause intestinal perforation.

Then the whole lead scare started. In June, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the single biggest recall of toys containing lead paint. The culprit- Thomas and Friends wooden railway toys. In August, Fisher Price recalled 83 types of toys including including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters -- because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead. And then in September, Mattel, the parent company of Fisher Price, recalled 675,000 Barbie accessory toys for the same reason.

And it looks like there is no end to the toys that are being recalled. Aqua Dots has now been discovered to be covered with a chemical that metabolizes the same as the date rape drug.

As if it wasn't already hard enough to find toys with some educational value to them, now as a parent we are forced to consider if the toys we buy are secretly a ticking time bomb slowly poisoning our children.

As I was Christmas shopping this year, I had to really think about the toys that I was sticking in my cart. Normally, if I saw a toy in the dollar section at Target, I would have thrown it in the cart without a second thought. This year though, I was reading labels to see if it contained those taboo words "Made in China". It's a scary thing that nothing seems to be safe anymore.

Now that the lead issue has been bradcast by the media and people have become more aware, youwould think that the numbers of dangerous products would be diminishing from store shelves. But a Michigan based environmental group has found otherwise. They test 1,200 toys and found that 17 percent had lead levels that exceed the federal recall standard of 600 parts per million.

If you are like me, you will want to check out the list of toys that are not made in China published by Toys R' Us. While you still have to be careful about what you buy, this list can provide you with a starting point. Another good website that lists toys by brand or type along with a listing of any chemicals found in them is www.healthytoys.org.

If you want to see if any toys you already own have been recalled, go to www.toyinfo.org. They have a list of recent recalls as well as links to the government website that has toy recalls as far back as 1974. Another great reference site is www.leadtoyrecalls.com.

If you feel so compelled, check out www.momsrising.org to sign a petition to stop the manufacturing and distribution of toxic children's products.

Christmas Pictures?

I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XTi. It only took me 3 months to make the decision as to what camera to buy. I had to do a lot of research and price shopping before I felt ready to make the leap.

I took the kids down to the beach the other evening to get our Christmas pictures. We were delayed by the rain but it turned out we got to see a beautiful sunset. The pictures turned out pretty good in theory. When I actually printed them out, they were a little "spotty". Not sure what caused that but I guess I have some things to learn about the camera.

Here are a few of the pictures I took. Maybe with a little Photoshop help, I can make at least some of them printable so that I can use them for my Christmas pictures. I sure don't want to have to go through the whole photo shoot process again.

The pressure's killing me...........

It happens every year. I run myself ragged trying to get all of my holiday stuff done by December 1st. Then December 1st arrives and every year, I disappoint myself by not having it all together. You would think that by now, I would come to the realization that no way am I going to have my shopping done, my Christmas pictures taken (much less the cards mailed) and my tree and house decorated by the first of the month. Every year I get close. This year was no exception. As of Friday, I only had 3 Christmas presents left to buy. Pretty good, right? My Christmas pictures are taken (never mind that I just now figured how to get them off of the camera).

But here lies the BIG problem. We started a huge redecorating project in our family room that has taken way longer than anticipated. So not only do I not have my tree up, my furniture isn't even in the right places and the walls are only half painted. Well actually the tree is up. It's in a bucket of water on our back porch. But it's not in the house and decorated.

So why don't I stop giving myself this deadline? Or why don't I move it back a week or so? I don't know. Maybe it's the type A personality that makes me want to be in control of it all. Whatever it is, it is driving me mad. So maybe this year as my New Year's resolution I will make a commitment to myself to let it go next Christmas. No deadlines, no pressure. Just have fun.

Let's face it though, the chances of that happening are about as good as us having a white Christmas. So maybe instead I will just start my shopping January 1. That way I stand a better chance of having it all done by December 1.

The Incredible Hulk

The other night after dinner, I sent the kids upstairs to get a bath and change into their pajamas. As I was finishing up in the kitchen I heard someone stomping down the stairs. I turn around to find Harrison storming into the room wearing his Hulk underwear. He looks at me and says "What the heck happened to these?" At this moment it was all I could do not to lose it. Here is what he was wearing............

My first thought was how ironic that he was wearing shredded Hulk underwear. I mean isn't that what happens when David Banner becomes enraged and turns into the Hulk? Could this be a sign of things to come? Are those fits of outrage something more than a 5 year old's tantrums? Could he be the next Incredible Hulk??????

It won't hurt.............

I had to take Holden to the doctor this afternoon. He developed a nasty cough over the Thanksgiving holiday and it just didn't seem to be getting any better.

Holden has a deathly fear of shots. One mention of going to the doctor invokes a paralyzing fear in him. He starts chanting "no shots, no shots" until I assure him that we are going only for a check-up or sick appointment.

Last year when Holden had an ear infection that would not clear up, he had to get a shot of Rocifin (actually 2 shots, one in each leg). I tried to explain to him that if he would relax and take a deep breath, the shot would not hurt nearly as bad. Of course telling him that just sent him into a fit. No amount of reasoning would calm him down. Two nurses came in to give him the shot and when they couldn't control him, they sent me out of the room and had two other nurses come in to hold him down. I don't know which was worse - the humiliation I felt that my child was making such a scene (which by the way the whole entire office could hear) or the sound of his pain. A half hour later we were on our way but the memory of that lingers in his mind.

So today as we were sitting in the room waiting on our doctor, Holden reminded me that he didn't want to get a shot (like I really needed reminding). Harrison looked at him and said "Holden, Mom said if you don't tinsel up, it won't hurt. And I didn't tinsel up and she was right." When the doctor came in we were both laughing. Holden did end up having bronchitis. Thankfully no shots were involved.

I am so thankful

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family and I went to my grandmother's house as we do every year to celebrate the holiday with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. We always have quite a large crowd with lots of food.


Even though I am a bit late, I thought that I would make a brief list of some things I am thankful for.


In addition to my family and health, I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1. My friends (both old and new)
2. Freedom of Worship
3. Freedom of Speech
4. The soldiers who fight for our freedom and their families who sacrifice so that they can
5. Teachers who get way less praise and appreciation than they deserve
6. My husband who works hard so that I can stay at home with our children
7. My dad who stood in line for 2 hours and was able to get my kids the one present they really wanted for Christmas
8. The smiles and laughter of my children, the feel of their arms as they hug me tight, the trust I see in their eyes and the peacefulness on their faces as they sleep.
9. My mom who never hesitates to offer her help
10. The roof over my head
11. Clean water and food on my plate
12. My Dansko clogs
13. Warm coffee on a cold day
14. My birthmother who made the unselfish decision to give me the opportunity for a better life than what she could have given me
15. A beautiful sunset
16. The crashing of the waves on the shoreline
17. My favorite sweats
18. My pillows
19. The first flowers of spring
20. Rainbows and the promise they stand for
21. Days when absolutely everything goes right
22. For the rain after a long dry spell
23. Libraries
24. Technology
25. Hope
26. Forgiveness
27. The future

And on that note, I would like to leave you with these thoughts. I can't take credit for writing it but I wholeheartedly agree with it.

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

Christmas Wishes

This year for Christmas, we decided that our children needed to get less than they have in years past. It seems that each year the gift giving has gotten bigger and bigger to the point of ridiculous. They would end up with so much stuff that they couldn't possibly appreciate what they got.

So David and I sat the children down and explained that this year we were going to allow them to ask Santa for 4 things. We gave them the option of combining a wish for one large thing. After a few whispering sessions (and some good old politicking on Haley's part) they each decided that it would be good to combine one wish each and ask for a Nintendo Wii (which of course cannot be found, but that's another story).


With that said, each child now had three wishes left. So in order to make sure those wishes got fulfilled, I told them that they should come up with a list to give to Santa. Holden, being the sweet, kind hearted child that he is, came down to breakfast the other morning and told me that he wanted to trade one of his wishes in and ask that Santa give a toy to a homeless child. It's moments like that when you know that you have done pretty good job at raising your child. It made me so proud that he would be so selfless. Knowing that he only had four wishes and he had already used one, he was willing to give one of his away to some child who needed a gift more than he did.


On the other hand, Harrison didn't quite comprehend the whole trading wishes thing. I asked him what he would like for Christmas and he mumbled something about socks. I thought that was kind of odd that he would be asking for socks, even though he really needs some so I asked if he wanted socks for Christmas. He replied, "No I want to trade my socks for some toys." I guess he'd rather have bare feet and some new toys.