The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[arouetta]

They drew for prizes at the program and they held up this plastic tube thing that you talk into and it makes your voice louder. I immediately got a sinking feeling and said, "oh no" and John looked at me and then they called Aislyn's name. Save our souls.
On the bright side, I might be psychic.
John said it's my punishment for talking in Church. God is smiting me.

And this is exactly why I wonder why xylophones are still being sold for babies. Surely the human race would have learned by now to not give a baby a wooden wand and an object that makes a LOT of noise when whacked with a piece of wood.

 

[Alicia88]

They're sold so people can get petty revenge. "Oh, Susan made a snarky comment about my outfit. Let's get the xylophone for little Jimmy's first birthday."

 

[NewYork1303]

My uncle always bought my sister, me, and my cousin obnoxious gifts since he had decided never to have children and his siblings wouldn't be able to get him back.

 

[debbila]

My uncle always bought my sister, me, and my cousin obnoxious gifts since he had decided never to have children and his siblings wouldn't be able to get him back.

What gifts did he give you kids? Do you remember any of them, and did you like them?

 

[arouetta]

It's not always petty revenge. I've seen some kids holding phones or tablets where some loud obnoxious song is playing over and over, and it's keeping the kid's attention, and if you listen to the words it's teaching good lessons, but omg....no, worth spelling out...oh my god whenever I hear one of those I want to rip out my ears followed by the parts of the brain that process sound. I don't get why any parent would want to subject themselves to those things over and over.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

No cartoons for a week sounds like a good punishment. Whenever she wants to watch them she'll think about what she did.

And remind her why she can't watch the cartoons.

Isn't she a little young to be getting this sneaky?

Nope. They're born that way. Although, if you catch it quick and deal with it firmly, they learn that "sneaky" does not have a payoff.

RE: growing up. OH BOY...just wait for puberty. I remember my sweet little boys. Then one day, the older one went to shower. When he unzipped his jeans, I could hear his hormones fizzing from the living room, and there was heck to pay for the next 8 years. My sons are just 13 month apart, so where one went, the other wasn't far behind.

They're sold so people can get petty revenge. "Oh, Susan made a snarky comment about my outfit. Let's get the xylophone for little Jimmy's first birthday."

LOL, one of my dear friends once made a snarky comment about my boys being noisy (and they were, normally so), and that HER son was so very quiet! He got a junior drum set for Christmas that year. Cost more than I could really afford, but SO worth it!

Inspection is over, and she didn't find ONE THING to complain about! Thank goodness I remembered to vacuum the cat tree. She actually wrote me up a few months back for "cat hair on tree."

 

[Alicia88]

Those annoying somes are better to hear that a screaming baby and sometimes, it's the only way to get things done around the house. I don't know how parents coped without technology. Housework took 10 times as long and it had to be harder to occupy the kids. I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the house AND my schoolwork AND the kids even with all the modern convenience. If not for my grandma coming over to snuggle the baby, I don't think I could do it.
A drum set is a truly evil gift. I love it!
I can't believe you were written up for cat hair on the cat tree. That's ridiculous!

 

[Alicia88]

OMG she's such a little opportunist. I had errands to run today and while I was at the grocery store, I saw they had a sale on lunchables. 10 for $10. So, I got some. We got home and I gave her one. She knows she's supposed to eat the other food before the cookies. That's always been the rule and it's never been an issue before. Well, Aedan started crying so I went to get him. When I came back, she'd already eaten 1 cookie and started on the 2nd. I took it away and got after her. She tried satsaying she forgot. She didn't forget. It's always been the rule. So I told her since she got into the cookies first, if she didn't finish the lunchable, she was going to time out. And if she ever pulled that again, I wouldn't just take the cookies away and give them back - I would throw them in the trash. I swear, it's always something with this kid!

 

[nansiludie]

OMG she's such a little opportunist. I had errands to run today and while I was at the grocery store, I saw they had a sale on lunchables. 10 for $10. So, I got some. We got home and I gave her one. She knows she's supposed to eat the other food before the cookies. That's always been the rule and it's never been an issue before. Well, Aedan started crying so I went to get him. When I came back, she'd already eaten 1 cookie and started on the 2nd. I took it away and got after her. She tried satsaying she forgot. She didn't forget. It's always been the rule. So I told her since she got into the cookies first, if she didn't finish the lunchable, she was going to time out. And if she ever pulled that again, I wouldn't just take the cookies away and give them back - I would throw them in the trash. I swear, it's always something with this kid!

Just my opinion, I don't see those little snack packs as a meal just as a snack, does it really matter if she eats the dessert first then the rest of it? Having a specific order to eat food especially if its not a full course meal just doesn't seem reasonable to me. Back when I was a kid there was an order and if I didnt follow it, I got in trouble, needless to say, that made me skip meals and to this day, I still do. Alicia, IMO I think you should just pick your battles. eating a snack pack doesn't really rank high on that list for me. I don't mean any offense but just perspective on a person who has lived it.

 

[Alicia88]

We rarely do lunchables because they're not the healthiest but it is her lunch for today. And I stick to the dessert last rule all the time. I like to be consistent.

 

[Katie M]

Just my opinion, I don't see those little snack packs as a meal just as a snack, does it really matter if she eats the dessert first then the rest of it? Having a specific order to eat food especially if its not a full course meal just doesn't seem reasonable to me. Back when I was a kid there was an order and if I didnt follow it, I got in trouble, needless to say, that made me skip meals and to this day, I still do. Alicia, IMO I think you should just pick your battles. eating a snack pack doesn't really rank high on that list for me. I don't mean any offense but just perspective on a person who has lived it.

I agree. My parents made me eat the main meal before any dessert. What did I do at school? I ate my ice cream cup before the rest of my lunch. There will ALWAYS be an opportunity for a kid to do that.

 

[Alicia88]

I guess I wasn't as much of an opportunist. I had the dessert last rule at home and I still followed it at school. Shoot,I even follow it as an adult!

 

[nansiludie]

I guess I wasn't as much of an opportunist. I had the dessert last rule at home and I still followed it at school. Shoot,I even follow it as an adult!

Did you get punished severely if you didn't follow it? I think rules regarding food might be best off a little less harsh but thats just my view on it. As long as she eats the rest of it or eats it later is it really that big of an issue? I think if its gone about the wrong way, its going to make things worse in the end and not better...

 

[Alicia88]

I wasn't punished severely, but i didn't get dessert if I didn't eat the other food. I was raised to eat a balanced diet and I still do that. I'm not overweight, never have been, and I'm pretty healthy. I think children need to be taught to eat right. Obesity is a huge problem these days and I think at least part of it is due to children being allowed to eat whatever they wanted and not given healthy, balanced meals. We raise children in the hopes that they'll take the lessons we teach them to adulthood so they can live healthy, successful lives. I knew a severely obese girl when I was growing up. She was over 400lbs in middle school. She invited me over for a sleepover once and I leaned why. They never had meals together. Their cabinets and fridge were stocked with quick and easy junk. The only rule was, when you're hungry, help yourself to whatever you want. She now has major health problems and weight more than ever and has trouble sticking to a diet and losing weight because she was never taught to eat right.

 

[NewYork1303]

What gifts did he give you kids? Do you remember any of them, and did you like them?

Oh yes. He gave us a lot of noisy things like toy instruments, recorder sets, xylophones, things like that. He also gave us those giant stuffed animals, that always drove my mom insane.

 

[Willowy]

I have a friend who has a very. . .fraught relationship with food because her parents had a lot of rules about food, like almost to the point of controlling every bite she took. She's not quite to the point of an eating disorder but close. And I would probably classify my dad's extreme pickiness as an eating disorder. His parents had a lot of food rules too.

My mom never had any rules about food because she thought her parents' food rules made her binge-eat as a teen. So we had literally zero food rules, except that she didn't buy some things. But if she did buy them we could eat/drink them whenever we wanted, unless she had it set apart for a special reason. I can't think of any harm that caused us but probably it was more annoying for her.

I'm sure there's a middle ground between all the rules and no rules. I tend to lean on the side of fewer rules about food, just because so many people have eating issues.

 

[Alicia88]

I don't go overboard with rules. She has to at least try everything. At least one bite. If she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to finish it. And no dessert unless she eats the meal. She gets to choose her breakfast and most of the time, she chooses lunch and dinner from options that I give her. I don't let her change her mind after I've started cooking or given her the food.

 

[Willowy]

I haven't found a comic that made me laugh so much for a long time. Poor Miles. He really was sort of a sad sack, wasn't he?

For fans of Star Trek/Dilbert: CHIEF O'BRIEN AT WORK

 

[Alicia88]

I'm sure you guys have all the lip sync challenges police departments are doing. Well, I've found the best one. I think everyone should see it. It's a really important message and very well done.


<iframe src="Facebook" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

 

[Alicia88]

But, apparently it can't be embedded. Hopefully you can watch it on facebook.
P.S. It made me cry ugly tears.