All posts by latchkeymom
latchkeymom

They Surprise You

 

My children are very lazy.  I blame myself.  In my desire to live in a manner different from which I lived in as a child, I want everything to look nice.  Neat.  Problems don’t exist in tidy houses.  Of course I realize this is usually the opposite, but it makes me feel in control.  As I am outnumbered, I really need to feel in control of our chaos.  I like things done right, which means my way, so I have a problem delegating my household chores to those I live with, who are shorter than me.

As my writing commitments become greater (yay!) this has become a problem.  A good problem, but a problem.   I simply have less time.  I need help.  I expect certain little people to start doing their part:  clear the table, pick up their clothes, put away their toys and make their beds.  This has been met with great resistance.   I’ve been shocked by the reactions of my four lazy, entitled little people.  Aside from the irritation I feel for their unwillingness to do what I say to help me, I fear that I’m going to be sending them out into the world lacking some very valuable skills.  So I soldier (nag) on.

I told them that they had to clean out the car, because quite frankly, the inside of the car is disgusting.  I’d like to emphasize that they and all their stuff transform our vehicle into something I really can’t let people see (or smell).  Imagine my surprise when I walked outside to check on them and saw this:

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Maybe there’s hope for them after all.  That, or they just like to play with the hose!

This Makes Me Sad

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My youngest, my baby (who’s five), fell on the stairs yesterday.  It was awful.  When I saw all the blood on him, his pjs and the toy cars he was holding (which didn’t let go of before, during or after), I screamed.  Not cool.  Rookie mistake.  I scared the bejesus out of him.  I wasn’t the only one who was scared.  Daddy actually made the trip to urgent care with me, because it did not look good.      Continue reading This Makes Me Sad

And the Oscar Goes to…

I love the Oscars and I’ve watched every year since 1980, which was the year that celebrated Kramer vs. Kramer, a movie I loved (I was a weird kid) and the beginning of my Meryl Streep adulation.  The incomparable Johnny Carson hosted – I miss you Johnny!  I was also excited that the girl from Smokey and the Bandit (my point of reference, since I’d not seen Norma Rae) won Best Actress.  The next year I sang along with Irene Cara as she performed FameCoal Miners Daughter was one of my favorite movies, so it was very exciting for me when Sissy Spacek won Best Actress.  At the time, I had no clue who Robert Di Nero was, but he’d gained and lost a lot of weight so I thought he was the bomb.  Apparently that was a great strategy, because over the years many actors have emulated him in their quests for the golden statue.   Continue reading And the Oscar Goes to…

Jane Porter Visit

 

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My first interaction with Jane Porter occurred during the summer of 2008.  I’d just finished FOUR of her books (Odd Mom Out, Mrs. Perfect, The Frog Prince, and Flirty With Forty) and was enamored with her storytelling.  Author stalker that I am, I checked out her website, where I discovered three things – they were making Flirty With Forty into a movie starring Heather Locklear;  Flirting was loosely based on her life;  and she had a blog (I love author blogs).

The first blog I read was also a contest, which I promptly entered.  Low and behold – I WON!  Yay me!  I received a gorgeous beach bag and a thick, hot pink beach towel…both of which I still own and use.  The beach bag was filled with candy, a Starbucks card and three beach books (not hers, either).  How generous is that?  Honestly, I’m unaware of any other authors who regularly give away so many serious prizes (and if you know of any….let me know, so I can stalk and win).   Continue reading Jane Porter Visit