Head's Up

I have totally fallen off the face of the blogosphere...apparently that ninth kid finally pushed me over that threshold of being able to juggle things as well as I used to.  Or something like that.

But I felt it my duty to inform you of the following:

Just because your 2yr old is obsessed with Blue's Clues and he is oblivious to anything else going on when that fabulous blue dog is within sight does not mean that the Blue's Clues method (turn it on when you need him occupied for a minute) is foolproof.

Case in point-The Blue's Clues method failed me this morning when I attempted to pee without company.  In slightly over 100 seconds my very inquisitive toddler managed to climb on to the counter, insert the tea kettle in the microwave, and send it for a spin.  In a feat of irony, he didn't just hit cook, he managed to cook the thing on the beverage setting.  I don't think I even knew our microwave had a beverage setting.

Microwaves do not like tea kettles.

(Don't worry honey, the microwave still works.  And the kettle handle only caught fire a little bit so the melting is minimal and it will still work just fine as well.)

(Oh, and just to clarify, no we don't drink tea, we just use the kettle for boiling water.  We are big into hot cocoa.)

Election

Overheard from the kitchen this morning...
"Guess who is going to run for president one day?  This girl!!"
"And guess who is going to vote for you?  This guy!  Wait, can you make cereal and candy cost less?"
"Uh, no.  I couldn't do that."
"Oh.  Darn it."

I have some very tender feelings about results of last night, from the national to local results.

Who I voted for in any of those elections isn't the point.  Whether my candidates all won, all lost, or a combination of both is also not the point.

The most striking thing to me is the division.  So many races so close to a 50% division, being decided by a very small (relatively) number of people.
I hope and pray that our leaders, from our small towns to our great nation, can look to this and realize that they have serious work to do.  It reminds me of when I ask children to help choose dinner and one says "pizza!" and the other screams "tacos!", while neither one is willing to take a few seconds to sit down and talk and realize that while those may be their first choices, both of them-and the rest of the family-would be thrilled with chicken.  As parents we teach even our young toddlers how to compromise and cooperate, I don't find it a far stretch that the same should be expected of those elected to lead the greatest country on earth.

That goes for us as citizens as well.  We have some serious work to do.
I have been shocked by the hate spewed from both sides of the aisle over the past few months.  How sad it is to see the name calling and the accusations, the blatant lies and fear mongering, the immature choices of "mature" adults.  

As I explain to my children this morning the results of the elections we have so closely watched, I will again remind them of the conversation we had in depth on Monday night.  Just like at school we respect our teachers even if we don't necessarily like them, we expect them to be respectful of all of those elected to lead-both those we voted for and those we didn't.  Name calling, gloating and complaining will get us no where.  Compromise and cooperation, learning from mistakes, being willing to admit when we are wrong, and moving forward with faith are the recipe for success-in all aspects of life.

And when it comes down to it, the most important things in life for my family will be what we do in our house, not what happens in the white house.