Just read

I am a firm believer in education. I don't think you can go wrong investing in any type of education for your child. There are so many good educational programs out there; art classes, music classes, overseas education, scouting, acting, dance, and sports.

However, the most important educational keystone starts at home and is the easiest thing to do. All you have to do is read to your kids! Anything! You can read science or fashion magazines, fiction, non-fiction, bios and informational flyers. As long as it holds their attention. I scan yard sales, thrift stores, and used bookstores for children's books. I rarely pay over .50 cents for a book. Occasionally, I do buy hard to find children’s classics new at the bookstore because they are hard to find used. People tend to keep their favorites at home. They don't want to let go of old friends. I bet you have a book that you fondly remember from your childhood. If you don't, I feel really bad for you! Some of my best memories are my dad reading "The Hobbit" and "Little House in the Big Woods" to me before bedtime.

I recently found out the county that we live in offers a literacy program called, “Dolly Parton's Imagination Library” to every resident preschooler. Basically, a book is mailed to the child every month until they turn five. This is to encourage literary and to help parents help their children discover a love of reading.

The program is offered in over 40 different states and many Indiana counties. What I found interesting is that some people have a skewed opinion of this program. After an article appeared in our local paper, a local citizen wrote:

"Applause for Dolly Parton, and for Cass County for creating the potential for its children to develop love for reading and appreciation of literature; however, before those books can become effective the children need to learn to read and comprehend the material."

My response was:

"Children’s books can be very expensive, especially the "classics". Our family participates in this program, and I can't wait for the book to arrive every month. It is an opportunity for me to have lots of books on hand that my son loves to read. He is only two, but he loves to go get books from his special bookshelf and bring them to me to read to him. He also "pretends" reads to himself. To Mr. Willett who posted "before those books can become effective the children need to learn to read and comprehend the material." I think Mr. Willett is missing the point. Building a love of reading starts at an early age, not just when a child is "able to read and comprehend." By that time, it might be too late!"

Even though this program is offered and administered in our area by the United Way, it is intended for all children to have this opportunity, no mater what their income. I have recommended this program to many of my neighbors, and some think it is some kind of charity program for "poor" people. This isn't the case; it is just intended to promote literacy. If they don't want to accept "charity" when they send in their registration form, they can gift the program $30. So if you live in Hendricks County Indiana, or in another location that offers this program, by all means take advantage of it. Your kids will love it, and you will love getting free books!

Post Holiday

I'm in a post holiday letdown mood. Today was not a good day. I felt like everyone was a grouch, and they kept sending "bad energy" my way. And I don't even believe in all that jazz.

My first mistake was going to Wal-Mart. That is usually enough to put me in a bad mood. I wanted to use some of my leftover Christmas money to buy a humidifier. My house is dry as the Sahara desert. We wake up in the morning with killer dry mouth. Your lips feel like you have been licking sandpaper all night. So I wanted to buy one of those massive, easy care units to leave on permanently, in hopes that some moisture would return to Death Valley.

Purchases in tow, I walked my big tummy and cart to the nearest checkout lady. She didn't have any customers, and was standing at the end of her aisle. She saw me coming, smiled, and said, "I can help you here." Then, from out of nowhere, a woman with a HUGE cartload of groceries flew around me and cut me off. I just started in disbelief at the vixen. Well, whatever. A nearby aisle was also open, so I just diverted there. I just couldn't believe that someone could be so rude!

So soon I was checked out and on my way out the door. Now, you know for some reason Wal-Mart is incredibly insane about security. If you buy batteries or VHS tapes in the electronics aisle, you have to pay for them back there. They won't let you out with your 3.99 batteries. I guess I can understand they have a lot of losses on DVD's and CDS, but for gods sake let me pay for smaller items with the rest of my groceries.

Anyway, I'm pushing my cart out the door with my kid playing happily. I have in my cart the three items I have purchased which include the humidifier and two white bath towels. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a disembodied voice starts giving me instructions to stop. This mechanical voice scares the crap out of my kid, who begins wailing at the top of his lungs. I continue on my way, as these stupid security gates go off on a regular basis. I have never actually seen anyone ever stop for one. All of the sudden, I am practically grabbed by the crazy old coot greeter who declares, "You have set off the security alarm," In a crappy rude way. He glances suspiciously at my bag.

I sigh, and hand him the receipt. Meanwhile, my kid is still screaming, this time at the crazy old coot. "You see," I say, "I just bought these three things and I paid for them." I was thinking he would just let me go, but NOOOOO.

He mumbles something under his breath, grabs my humidifier and receipt and says, "I'll be back." What? Can't you SEE I bought the damn thing? I have a PROOF OF PURCHASE! Anyway, I stood there, fuming, while the little man ran off with my merchandise and receipt, while my kid continued to wail. Sigh. Some days you just can't win.

What seemed like decades later, the man comes back, gives me my stuff, and indicates that I'm free to go. It's great to know that I won't get arrested for attempted humidifier and or towel robbery!

My child is still upset, and I across the palatial parking lot. I stick him and my purchases in the car, noticing that I was not parked in a convenient location to the cart return. Normally, I always return my cart, but as my child was screaming his head off, and I wasn't feeling that great due to being 8 months pregnant, I felt this was an okay time to just leave the cart parked between the aisles. As I left the cart, a middle-aged man comes up to me, gives me a crappy look and then points to the cart return. "It's just right over there," He says accusingly, waiting for me to return the cart.

I just stared at him unbelievingly. "Right," I said, heading for my car.
He sighed, gave me A LOOK, and them proceeded to grab my cart and head for the return.
"Thanks!" I said brightly, closing my car door.

When I got in my car, it hit me what a colossal jerk that guy was. Plus, my kid was still crying. I put my head down on the steering wheel, took a few deep breaths, and then started feeling around the back seat for kid snacks and a sippy cup. A few gulps later, my kid was quiet, and I was headed home, away from the crazy people in a post-holiday world.

When you assume you make an a$$ out of yourself

I have a problem with assumptions. I am quick to assume things are the way they should be. Have you ever heard the saying, "When you assume, you make an a$$ out of yourself?" I have done this on more than one occasion.
I've heard of people coming up to a women and asking her when she was due, assuming that she was pregnant. Then they found out they just made a huge a$$ out of themselves because the woman is just FAT!
In work situations, this can be disastrous. If you assume something is correct mistakenly, but never double check, it can lead to disaster. I learned early on to double check items, if only to keep my boss from asking why I "assumed" something was true. Well, it made sense to me.
So funny story, when we moved into our new house, we were pleased to find that the new fancy smancy fridge had a filter. Our water is really hard here, so we have been using it a lot. My husband commented the other day that he thought we needed a new one because it seemed the water quality was decreasing. I agreed.
Then we had some family over for dinner. Our cousin commented that the water tasted icky. I told her to use the water from the fridge because it was filtered. She said she did, and it still tasted funny.
The next day, I went to pull the water filter out. It has a little plastic cover that encases it in the fridge. I snapped the clasp open, and was shocked to discover that there wasn't even a filter in there! The compartment was empty! It had a little blue cap on the back that said bypass cap. Ha ha ha. I laughed so hard.
So, I know this may be a boring story to you, but I found it hysterically funny. We have been using this fridge since September. We have commented many times how nice it was to have filtered water cold from the fridge. We assumed that we had a lovely new fridge feature. But the joke was on us. The cheap bloke who sold us the house never put one in the fridge after he bought it.
Needless to say, I used some of our Christmas money and ordered a new filter today. It should be lovely when I finally get it installed.