Paging common sense!

On the way home from school one day, Marshall asks me why tractor trailers don't have signs on the back that say "Wide Left Turns." I told him that it was because every vehicle in the US makes wide left turns because we have to cut across two directions of traffic, therefore it is impossible to make a tight left turn. (I don't believe that turning from a one-way to a one-way happens often enough to matter) Don't lorries in the UK have signs on the back that say "Wide Left Turns?"

Either way, I though it was a neat question for a kid to ask, probably not so much if an adult asked. I mean, common sense and all that, right?

Jo asked that out loud the other day while driving down the street.

Facts of life

You know how old people start eating dinner earlier and earlier until they wind up eating dinner at like 4pm? My old dog has been trying to get us to feed her dinner long before her scheduled dinner time (6pm). I mentioned this to my husband, who had never made such an observation about our elderly fellow humans.

Twice in the last week, he has commented, in one case rather grouchily, that we should not be eating anywhere near 8pm - that's way too late. And so it begins....

Ponderings...

• Is handing-down underwear between brothers nasty? Gavin doesn't really seem to care (or notice - observant, that one) but I sometimes wonder if it is something I should be doing. The underwear aren't stained, but they might have the occasional hole and may be a little dingy (men are almost as rough on underwear as they are on shoes). I would have been grossed out if I had to wear my sister's old underwear (no offense, sis). Is this because I am a female (and thus have standards)? Gavin would rather run around nekkid anyway so if I'm going to put him through the injustice of having to wear britches at all, what does it matter if they have someone else's skidmarks in them?
• Is it rude to breastfeed at the dinner table? We were having our usual Sunday evening family dinner at home and Rowan just would not stop fussing. In the interest of actually being able to hear our conversations (he is by far the loudest of my boys, during the baby stage anyway - Gavin is one of those REALLY LOUD TALKERS), I fed him right there at the table. I doubted he was really hungry but there are few ills that a boob won't fix. Nobody else seemed to care but it still felt weird to me. Granted, I can't pee without someone coming in and busting out a month's worth of soliloquies and they will probably need years worth of therapy for as much as they've seen my boobs in the last 4 months but still...

I'm sure there's more but we'll cross that bridge later. I've probably traumatized you enough for one day.

Answers

To answer some of the questions that were posted to my Facebook:

To Johan:

Of course he wants to go! A party's a party fer sure!! Gavin was allowed to send out 5 invitations to his own party and this kid was one of the ones he invited. Plus, there was recently an after-school activities thing and Gavin actually chose gymnastics (mainly because that's what his future wife was doing, but still). Even with the appreciation Gavin has for gymnastics, his 6 year old brain wouldn't (and didn't) pass up the allure of Chuck-E-Cheese. Then again, when giving him his choices for a birthday party, I didn't include any gymnastic centers in the list. Even if I had, I HIGHLY doubt he would have chosen it.

I honestly don't mind taking Gavin to the party nor do I mind contributing to the shelter. I think it is a wonderful idea! I guess I was just rubbed the wrong way about it.

Perhaps this kid went to someone elses birthday at the gymnastics center and really enjoyed it. I'll admit it's possible that I'm misguided.

All things considered though, there will probably be sugar- and gluten-free carrot cake served at the party and they'll give out Whole Foods gift cards instead of goody bags. On the other hand, Gavin will see how good he's got it and my nomination for mom of the year will be assured!

As an aside: did you know that if you accidentally leave the "m" out of gymnastic (because you are typing one handed while you nurse) then it becomes gynastic and that's just terrifying.

To Auntie B (I love that!):

I see your points. I haven't explained to Gavin about the gift thing but I will let you all know what he says about it when I do.

Well I never!

Gavin came home today with an invitation to a birthday party for a little boy in his class (they invited the whole class) - incidentally the same little boy whose mom RSVPed to Gavin's party a few weeks ago and never showed up. A couple of things struck me as odd.

For starters, the party is being held at a gymnastics center in town. I'm sure they have tumble parties or whatever but it seems odd to me that a 6 year old boy would choose that for his party. I guess it's better than a 12 year old boy choosing that for his party, huh?

Also, included in the Spongebob invitation was a folded up piece of paper asking us to bring an unwrapped toy for this little boy to give to the Women & Children's Rescue Mission in lieu of a gift for the birthday boy. While I applaud the effort (and honestly, I do) it seems kind of Mommy Dearest to me and we're not talking Joan Crawford rich here. This is a middle/lower class suburb in Virginia and I think there is a better way to teach social responsibility than to deny a 6 year old birthday gifts (who here thinks the parents voted for Obama?). I have a hard time believing that he chose this on his own. Even if he is all for it (and he very well may be) I would bet the farm that his parents urged him to do it.

Then again, M & G don't play with most of the stuff that they got for their birthdays anymore, so maybe (probably) I'm talking out of my ass.

Maybe I'm feeling guilty. Like maybe I should have made my kids give their gifts to charity. Heaven knows Marshall chokes up when he asks about the less fortunate, so I'm sure he would have done it ("happily done it" is perhaps too strong a sentiment). But then again, Marshall chokes up at lots of things.

Still, I'm kind of cheesed and feel put-upon. What was the point in adding the little note in the invitation? So that us other parents would feel guilty about it? I mean, they could have quietly taken all the gifts to the mission after the party without letting everyone know. It's almost like they're boasting or something. I almost feel horrible for saying that.

Am I also supposed to feel guilty if I don't take Gavin to the party? Like I'm shorting the needy children one less toy? I mean, this child didn't come to Gavin's party, even after his mom said he would be coming and I still don't know why. It's weird, I tells ya!

So what say you? Should I take him to the party? Am I being a snot about the charity thing? I am navigating uncharted waters with both questions here.

Gavinisms #1

"Fear my raft!" - Said to Marshall as they started up a round of Mario Kart Wii.

Testing....

I'm going to be planning some "featurette" kind of stuff. I have some ideas (goofy though they may be) but what is funny to me is ridiculous to others. Feel free to give me criticism, constructive or otherwise. I can take it!

Some of these "featurettes" (I'm not sure what else to call them) will be weekly, some will be daily, some will be "fly by the seat of my pants" in frequency. I am still nursing an infant after all.

Some of it will be funny, some profound, sometimes a mix of both. Sometimes it will be about life, sometimes the corporate conspiracy, sometimes it will be about my kids, sometimes it may be about someone else's but it won't be just a mommy blog, despite what the name implies (feel free to give me criticism about that too). Do bear with me though - sometimes my kids are the only other humans I converse with in a day but now that we're heading into spring, my honest-to-god soccer-mom transformation will begin so that'll bring a whole new level of lunacy.

But either way, I promise to try and at least make it always interesting.