The Easy Way Out.

I thought my PMS had started to clear up until last night while Logan and I sat on the porch (he had an actual night off!) and began talking about how I'm gaining weight and how I don't really like running anymore. I'm tired of the Runners Trots.

Logan will kill me for saying this. Logan thinks nothing of running and in mile 4 crapping himself and then at the finish going to the port-a-john and discarding his soiled underwear. We're kind of coming from totally different ends of the spectrum because I would think a lot of very negative things about crapping in my pants and then throwing my underwear away at the end of a run.

You would think we might have learned to not discuss fitness with each other because every single time we do I feel like my husband is an image obsessed art director in the appearance obsessed world of agency advertising and I end up slamming doors and calling him names and going to bed. Mad. Which according to our marital therapist, is okay sometimes. I think she meant it was more ideal than beating a dead horse until 5 o'clock in the morning because prior to her telling me sometimes it was okay to go to bed angry, that was my not incredibly effective approach.

So yes, PMS is still weighing me down a bit and also weighing me down is the fact that I've really gotten fat again. Unfortunately I feel uncomfortable in my own skin when I am this weight so I have to do something. However, I also hate to make sacrifices as Logan pointed out last night. He also pointed out that this is how I approach my whole life. I don't like things to be too hard.

And it's true I suppose. I don't like to crap my pants, I prefer an easier method of exercise. I don't want to live on Turkey Jerky for a year until I lose so much weight I don't even look like myself like Logan did. But still he does have a point. I like solutions which are livable and since I tend to like things to be 'easy' the solutions that are workable for me are those which are easily worked into my life.

I remember explaining my in ability to endure to a therapist as I decided what I wanted to do after high school. I had just been surviving the first 16 years of my life. I felt exhausted and like I couldn't endure anything else which was unpleasant and perhaps that is why I am so incredibly lazy about everything.

Speaking of lazy. I think on the kid vs mom summer front I am simply going to have to be 'one of those moms' who schedules activities. I don't want to because like I said, I'm really lazy. But if we sit in this house I become increasingly angry at how my children are unable to entertain themselves.

Many of your suggestions were helpful, but mostly they made me feel tired because as Logan pointed out, I like the easy way. The easy way would be to hire a nanny to entertain them!

Instead I am going to write out a schedule and every single day we are going to do something. On the list so far:

The zoo (again....I'm starting to HATE the zoo)

The DIA ($4 admission for adults, $1 for kids!)

The COSI in Toledo (think of all the burned daylight in the car driving to Toledo!)

Free kids movies on Wednesday at Star theaters.

Park Pals

Playgroups

I am trading sitting with Chrissy and her excellent kids (who are perfect matches for my kids) I may ask her if I can have her kids like 4 days a week just because 2 of my kids + 2 of her kids= maybe 1/2 a kid.

Hiking at Cranbrook

Out to lunch once a week.

We'll try the park by ourselves but again, my kids have no idea how to play so that's just begging for disaster.

Our library is closed so we're going to go to every library in the area. We started yesterday.

Maddie is signed up for a zoo camp, Max already attended his.

They have a week of vacation bible school at the end of July.

Logan is hoping to get a week off so we can go up north for a week (if we can use the cabin....pray). Please let this happen.

I think I'll sign maddie up for an art camp at the pottery painting studio in town, maybe we'll stop by today since it's payday. That will kill two mornings.

I want to go to the gym everyday so that will kill an hour at the end of the day, the witching hour.

There are 8 weeks left of summer vacation. If we can get Logan a new car this year and a new computer, perhaps next summer I can have enough money saved for day camp.

Because I like the easy way out.

Comments

[halloweenlover]

Ok, I have to say it, EWWWWW on the underwear thing.

Everything else you suggested sounds great. I don't even have kids and I am hating summer vacation for you. I used to kill lots of hours at the library when I was little, so I think that is a particularly good one.

Good luck! I hope today is looking a little bit better!

[Heather]

I like the easy ways too. I think that makes us smarter. I mean really, if given and easy way or a hard way, why would we take the hard way? That wouldnt make sense! Like my life isnt hard enough with daily activities as it is, i wouldnt compound it by making it HARDER! Gawd........... He sounds just like my husband.

Activities with kids sound good. Looks like you might have you a little routine going on there....

You will make it through this summer, i have confidence in you !!

[debi]

Blimey, your kids holidays are long! I have trouble coping with the six weeks mine get, and it's no wonder the summer is looming like a mountain (err, sorry I'm projecting my worries!).
If it's any cheer I'm reading your blog each day to figure out how I'm going to stay sane when mine start their holidays in a couple of weeks. Good luck, my thoughts are with you :o)

[Carrie]

Toledo also has a great zoo. Unfortunately, the Detroit Zoo membership doesn't transfer (I think) but it's worth it to go. And Mudhen's games (baseball) are fun and cheap there, too. Not a bad hop from our area.

[Christy]

Oh, WOW, can I feel your pain. I've been posting entries like yours for the past several weeks. It's getting to the point where the sound of my children's voices makes me want to eat my tongue.

I gotta add - give yourself a break. You aren't a bad mom if you don't have these scheduled activities all the time. There's nothing wrong with letting them figure out for themselves how to play. Last summer I just got some jars of kids' paint & took them outside. I told them to gather rocks & stones & then let them loose on the deck to paint stones. They did it for 4 freaking hours. It was magical. Or give them a bucket of soapy water & a paintbrush & let them "paint" the patio door or their trucks or whatever.

I must say, as sorry as I am that you're going through this, I am glad to find somebody who has a vitriolic hatred of summer as I do. My youngest (of 3) has Down Syndrome & has therapy every day (2 on Thursday! WHEE!) and the thought of trying to work in interesting & fun outings is akin to piercing my own septum. Just rent the Colin Firth version of "Pride & Prejudice" & tell the kids they can't bother you till it's over. Six hours later, you'll feel better & they'll have learned the true meaning of "boredom".

[Jeff]

Oh, my. Well, I give you mad props for honesty.

But I'm really writing to say you might get some excellent time-using ideas here. Don't miss the "More to Do" links in the sidebox, or the Day-by-Day Summer Calendar.

Also, don't forget the Toledo Zoo -- better than the Detroit Zoo, plus blissful windshield time!

[Jeff]

I see that Carrie already posted about the Toledo Zoo. That's confirmation!

Also, it's probably too late to help, but the Tastefest is going on downtown, and they apparently have lots of kid-related stuff.

[pinky]

I wonder if there is still an inordinate amount of goose shit on the grounds of where Cranbrook has its day camp.

Just wondering.

(Pinky, Potawatomi, waaaaay back when)

[melissaS]

Pinky! No way! I worked there and had the Pots for a couple of summers. Also the Tillamooks.

Jeff: Tastefest with kids is for chumps. We're going tonight with my favorite robotic mother, Leslie and her husband And we're seeing my sister play with her band!

9pm! I can't remember which stage....but look it up. Her band is Troy and the Stepsisters. Los Lobos is playing tonight too! Weeeeee!

[Miranda]

That sounds like fun! I'm about to renew my Cranbrook membership just to get out of the house and go somewhere fun. The Ann Arbor Hands On Museum is da bomb. My kids loved that place when they were younger and I probably could get them to like it for a morning.

It does get easier as they get older, as long as they don't have a zillion camps you have to drive them to. We are doing the nearly zero organized stuff summer and while I want to die most evenings, it's been worse.

[Tara]

I have to tell you, I have spent the last week or so reading all your previous posts. I enjoy your writing so much. I am living many similar experiences that you write about, and normally I can form better sentances.
Anyway, I am in the same boat weight wise, and I , too, prefer a life of the easy way/choice, simply because, being on call 24/7 is hard enough. I so wish I could be comfortable in my own skin. I try to remind myself that this time period is finite, (I guess thats the same as this too shall pass?). My son is 6 and my daugher is 2, and some kind of routine is the only way I can manage, otherwise its 2:00pm and everyone is still in their pjs.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm going to have to raise my bar to meet your activity schedule (we haven't taken any special summer field trips yet). Our big daily outing is to my gym and then the coffee shop, which I can usually stretch until 12:00, then lunch, nap, something, early dinner, and hopefully early bed 8:00 at the latest. Then I am up till midnight, because its the only time I can just sit, and do whatever I want, which is usually nothing (save for enjoying my adult beverage), but still, no one is asking me for anything.
I don't know how else to express my thoughts with out sounding like I'm in 8th grade, so, what I'd like to say is, I think you're great.

[Laurie from Maryland]

I am all about the easy way out. That is why my daughter is at summer camp at school with the professionals, while I am at work. If I were home all day with her, we would watch TV all day and fall into a stupor. Which is not necessarily a bad thing in my mind -- I spent most of my adolescent summers glued to the All My Children, One Life to Live, General Hospital line up! -- but I feel guilty doing that with my 6 year old.

Hang in there. I love your blog and I appreciate your honesty. After a long day at work, I took my daughter to a party at Chuckie Cheese's yesterday, which I hate more than any other place on earth, and I thought of you. All the other parents looked happy -- I thought that Melissa would at least understand why I felt as though I was about to jump out of my skin. Good luck burning daylight over the holiday weekend.

[Mir]

Okay, I realize that my previous suggestion was probably not all that helpful. Here are some others (equally unhelpful, because I am nothing if not predictable), culled from Things My Kids Like To Do That Require Minimal Intervention On My Behalf:
1) Give children a stack of magazines and some scissors and glue and posterboard.
2) Send children outside with a handful of small plastic figures (we like insects, but occasionally when we're feeling world domination-ish we use the dinosaurs) and a stopwatch. Have child 1 hide the figures and time child 2 in finding them. Then switch.
3) Send children to the driveway with a bucket of sidewalk chalk and tell them they can come back in when they've colored the whole thing.
4) Give children large empty cardboard boxes and a couple of markers and tell them to construct a town in the back yard.
5) Tell children they have to play outside for at least half an hour before they can watch any more TV, dammit. (Whoops, that one is the one that _I_ like, not my kids....)

[notdonnareed]

One thing that *might* make trips to the park more successful: bubbles. My son (just turned 4) loves bubbles. He can't quite figure out the wand kind, so I have to buy the straw kind, but you can buy those in bulk from a party supply store. It's a great way to attract other kids, too, because they like to pop the bubbles. We often do that when I just want to sit in the shade and drink my coffee (spiked with Bailey's, natch).

[Ann]

ok, now I feel lazy...

[kelly]

oh my god...logan is my husband.
work acoholics - runners - stating we want
to take the easy way out - while they are
off doing their things...bastards!

i am at the same point with my weight too.
i look in the mirror and want to throw up,
but of course i continue to munch down
the chips at little mexico! bring on the
food.

good luck on the activities front. my kids are
old so it will get better, it really does!

have a great weekend
kelly

[PaxilMama]

Kudos to you, Melissa, for coming up with so many ideas. Me? I'm so lazy and lookin' for the easy way out that I was wondering if Jeff could find ME a Day-by-Day activity guide for Everett, WA... I can't quite get there on my own.

[Flippy]

Even better, TouchaBubbles (http://shockingfun.com/product/TOUCHBUBBLESCLEAR) - they retain their shape and they're fun to play with. Not like the dish soap bubbles that we had when we were kids.

[Sarcastic Journalist]

Running isn't for everyone. I think you're doing a good job with trying to find activities for the kiddos. Don't be too hard on yourself!

Perhaps you can try walking or an aerobics class or swimming?

You can get these types of flippers that the swim team people use and it makes swimming laps FUN. I hate swimming laps. Once my email works maybe I'll send you a link.

You'll find what works for you. Don't give up!

[Lynn]

I feel like you are writing about me!! I am also ready to have a breakdown and school just ended last week. My son is also not capable of doing anything by himself. He constantly needs to either have the friends over (great, 4 more annoying kids to add to the mix, that don't even belong to me), planned outings and the like. Ahhhh, why are kids like that now? We weren't, we just went outside and played all summer.

I am constanly changing my position on the whole situation. One minute I think, "Fine, they will just have to learn out to occupy themselves" and the next I am thinking, "I can't deal with this, I will just have to plan a million and one things to do this summer so that we all stay sane".

You are not alone. I also like the easy way. I say kuddos to you for getting the money situation under control. I am still working on that one (I say this 2 weeks after I spent almost $8,000.00 on a tummy tuck!! Ha!!).

Love your blog, hang in there,

Lynn - mum to Jeremy (4.5) and Eden (2.5)

[ELB]

Why is your library closed? Does it have a summer reading program? Exercise is bullshit. I think you're totally cute.

[Tara]

yeah-i like the easy way out too. i hear ya!

[Penny Pressed]

If you wanted the easy way out, you would not have become a mother. Motherhood is not for the lazy, not for the weak, and definitely not for those who faint at the sight of blood/vomit/poo. (Then again, considering your husband's running techniques, maybe bodily functions aren't a problem for you people.) Being a mom involves a tremendous degree of sacrifice, and at the end of the day if you don't feel like sacrificing a little more, that doesn't make you lazy--it makes you HUMAN. Also, I hate to exercise more than anyone, but I love to ride my bike. I ride with the kids, and not only does it get them out of the house and tire them out, I don't feel so guilty with that second piece of pie. Then again, I never really did. (Who wants to sacrifice that? I gave you people my boobs--KEEP AWAY FROM THE PIE.)

[steph]

My hubby is the same size sinice we met....about 17 years ago.....I hate him for it. I have balooned with both kids and even though my youngest is 5 I blame both the kids for my stretched out tummy. I don't dare blame the taco bell burritos that I'm loving a few times a week.

I love you in a very non-stalker way. You ROCK and say the things most of us are thinking....

runners trots....ewwwwww..can't believe Logan can put up with that!!!

Get on speed and you will melt away...but your awful cute the way you are now!!!

[Sarcomical]

you know...i think i'd pass on crapping my pants, too. so i don't blame you.

but i like things to be easy also. unfortunately, my husband and i are EXACLTY alike this way, so neither one of us motivates the other. EVER. for ANYTHING. so i guess in that case you're lucky.

[Rachael]

Suggestion for things to do: In my area there are a lot of community festivals and fairs. Some of them are generic, educational, or ethnic-specific. They're a pretty good place to drag kids, though, because they're free, there's a lot to do/look at/eat. If you have a community paper, these events are usually listed there.

And, runner's trots... ew.

[Heatheranne]

I like the easy way out too. Life is so much better when it's easy. And the kid thing? I'm banging my head against the wall trying to entertain a twelve year old. He's already tired of the swimming pool because I used to make him go down there with me every day so he could play with the neighborhood kids and I could drink with the neighborhood moms. The zoo isn't as cool for him as it used to be. Trying to get him to classes is a big fight. So, what the hell do you do?

I don't know where you are in Michigan, but are to too far from the lake? We're going to spend Thursday night on the lake at a cheesy hotel then spend the day at Put in Bay. Then Friday we're going to the Great Wolf Lodge. Finally, my twelve year old is excited about something! It might be a fun little get away for you. And our cheesy hotel isn't too expensive, and it's right by the water with it's own beach and CABANA BOYS. Yeah baby!

[Lori]

If my brother or I ever told my mom we were bored we were immediately put to work doing chores. Washing dishes (even though the dishwasher was right there for God's sake!), picking dandelions out of the yard, folding clothes (and re-folding when they weren't right), picking dog crap out of the yard and washing the car were just a few of the things we were assigned if we ever uttered the word "bored." Using the word "bored" was akin to saying the f*word in church.

Our favorites were building a fort using an old bedspread, teaching ourselves poker from the book I think was called "How to Learn Just About Anything," or running around outside or our very favorite; smacking each other when mom wasn't looking.

But really I'm just sad that there are so many child labor laws because if you could farm them out and collect some cash on the side it would kill two birds with one stone.

[styro]

OMG runners shit their pants? JESUS CHRIST. So much for that 5K I was gonna train for. FUCK THAT. (PHEW, OFF THE HOOK. YESSSS!)

I used to be a summer camp counselor for 3-6 year olds. Send Maddie and Max to me for a week. Do you want the popsicle-stick eiffel towers and macaroni art, or should I just post them both lovingly in the "circular" file? :)

xoxoxo. Oh and PS with the PMS: mine is awful, I told my doc and now i only get 3 periods a year. And usually I skip one or two of 'em. HOORAY year-round BCPs! I'm going to die of fifty types of cancer, but at least I won't die in jail, a convicted murderer.

[Lil' Sis]

You're totally going to blow me off for Los Lobos, aren't you? You're only going to catch the last half of my set. Bitch.

-miao.

[melissaS]

Los Lobos starts at 8 you start at 9! We'll be there! YOU are the reason we're going to the taste fest we wouldn't miss it for the world.

I'm bringing the rebel even.

[Torrie]

Who DOESN'T like to take the easy way out?

[traci]

COSI is on our summer to-do list as well, as are the zoo(s), AA Hands on Museum, parks, community fairs, blah, blah, blah.

Sounds like you have a great night lined up, I wish we were going. Enjoy!

[tpon]

I have to admit that your recent blogs ahve started a bit of a "discussion" at casa t'pon on overscheduling kids, competition to keep up and my tendancy towards the lazy way.

Thank you for being so honest... it warms the hear to know that i am not the only one out there baffled by that driving needs to DO stuff all the time and to overacheive every freakin' day.

[jenB]

point form, because dude I AM LAZY

- get a picture of your sister in her "thoughtful" pose!
- you are hot! but i understand the weight thing
- you are fucking NOT LAZY, your life is certainly not the easy way out. nor is mine or most people's
- my gym has child minding - 2 bucks for 2 hours. just a thought.
- i can barely not shit my pants just sitting here, let alone running.
- i love you in a TOTALLY stalker-ish way

[Monica]

Are you serious about the running/port-a-potty thing? He really does that? And admits it to you? Hmm...well, I'd have to pick your way of doing things.

[Alison]

You know after reading over the other entry and now this one, I am grateful for one thing: this blog and the entire Internet for that matter! At least we can bitch and moan to thousands of people and know that we are not alone. I think about my mother who had two of us, one year apart because my dad thought that would be easier on her! HA! Anyways, I wonder, how did the mothers then do it? They did not even have NOGGIN! And the husband thing - trying to solve instead of just listen to out bitch fest - I think it is programmed into them at marriage. Why can't you just listen to me and know that this bitching is what is making me feel better - not you trying to solve my problems. But, poor things, they don't know any better. As far as what this summer schedule looks like: morning - errand of some sort, library, Barnes and Noble, something, then home for lunch and nap. Afternoon - swingset or swimming. Once in awhile throw in the Zoo or the Aquarium, or a petting zoo, or the beach. Only bad thing about that is that then they come to expect it everyday!! Melissa, you are not a bad mom, only an honest one - you are better off than the ones who grit their teeth and tell you how great their lives are (think Brie from Desperate Housewives). Simply reading these posts has made me feel better (or maybe it is that misery loves company!!)

[Jen]

This is my first comment!

Anyway, I was at the pool today (with an extra - ughhhh - 4 of them) and every mom there seemed cranky and irritable with her kids (myself included). Is there something going around this summer? Best of all, can we blame the Bush administration for it somehow?

[Kellie]

I have a 2 1/2 year-old so I don't have the summer break thing, but I can imagine. Right now I don't mind spending my days with him, but it was rough for a while. So many moms I talk to loathe the summer break. I tell my mom that and she thinks they are nuts. She said it was her favorite part of the year. Wierdo. Maybe her body was invaded by aliens.

[SuzanH]

I just shipped my daughter off to her grandparents for 5 days. I'm a wee bit happy. Although I feel like a monster for getting cranky with her just before she left.

[Ada]

Now, the first thing that comes to mind is,

"What? He's just throws his underwear AWAY? Now, THAT'S the easy way out".

Tell him to take those babies home and wash them by hand. Throwing out perfectly good underwear just because you shit your pants is inexcusable.

Mr Pants, you should be more thrifty. Your kids need daycamp.

[brook]

Maximum calories + minimal effort = survival. It's a biological imperative. Logan's the one unnatural one.

As for the summer break thing, you can't win. I feel guilty because I read my SIL's emails filled w/daycamps and projects/trips and millions of friends and here I am leaving my children unsupervised for hours while I unload haywagons, and try to stay half a step ahead of the weeds and the rodents. They're forced to forage in the garden for food and as for "special activities" hell we homeschool and I hate "special activities" and all that theme based crap.

Hang in there.

[christy]

Yeah. What kind of lazy-ass freak show doesn't want to crap her pants. What a dumbass. But I do agree, throwing them away: LAzy.

Although I hate the scheduling thing, too it seems to work on all those super nanny shows. And those kids are fucked up.

PS - Do I win the potty mouth award? What's with the cussing today?

[BeckaJo]

Okay, you know what? I'm going to offer an incident from my childhood.

When I was five, we moved. My family completely changed their lifestyle. We went from having a live-in nanny to two working parents. I had no idea how to entertain myself. (Hell, I could barely wipe my ass!)

One summer day my mother lost it. "Go the FUCK OUTSIDE and don't come back in until I call you!"

I went. I cried. I sat bored on my little ass. And then I found things to do. I distinctly remember realizing, "I have an imagination!"

Your kids are old enough to entertain themselves. If they won't do it themselves, MAKE THEM. Give them toys and leave the room. Tell them they can't leave the room until you get them. If they chose to spend the time crying and complaining - well, that's their choice.

Obviously you can't do that all day, but for an hour or two? It won't kill them to have to find their own activities. Even if they think it will.

[Jez]

I think the P(ain in the ass) M(uthaeffin) S(ummer) has set in here too. I had a mini meltdown on my 6 year old last night after a hellish week. Sometimes you just gotta let them see the snakes jump out your head and they'll back off.

From the looks of your summer to do list, I would hardly call that the easy way out. YOU may be the one needing a new car after the tires fall off of yours from all that running around. You are FAR from lazy.

[SueFromOhio]

Melissa, maybe those of us in the 'area' can get together at the Toledo Zoo with our maniac children and really show them who has the best animal show! BAHAHAHA

Anywho, T-Zoo rocks and they have a 'dragon' exhibit going on right now. If you're kids are into the museum, that's an awesome place to go too! I don't know why you're going south when you have FRANKENMUTH-THE CHRISTMAS DEATH-WISH TOWN right there in MI...no offense, but I'm STILL having nightmares....hehehehee I'm looking forward to bringing the kids up to Mackinac Island...

OH, if you're into getting 'tagged' let's see your top 6 list of songs from your life...

[Lauren]

Wait a minute - your husband can't be bothered to go to the port-a-potty so he craps his pants and YOU'RE the lazy one? Oh .. I don't think so ..

the bubbles suggestion is a good one ... (as long as you don't forget to spike your coffee!)

[Strizzle]

Oops, he crapped his pants.

[lb]

Good plan on the activities. I think you misunderstand the activity-packed moms. They don't do it because they are some kind of super moms who love activities. They do it because, like you, they can't stand the thought of being stuck in the house with whiny offspring all day. At least, that's why I do it! I like to think that it's harder for kids to hit a moving target, so that's why I tend to keep us on the go-go-go a lot. Good luck with it!

[momdotcom]

Ah Logan...piss her off and she tells the 'Net the "crapping your underwear and throwing it out" story...

LOLOL. Melissa, my kids got out of school on Wednesday afternoon at 12:30. I dreaded THAT DAY. It is now SATURDAY and I don't know how many times I have said to my son (9 years old): "Is THIS how it's gonna be ALL SUMMER? Cause if it is....mommy doesn't know WHAT she'll do!"

(OK, OK, there may have been some 'for chrissakes' in there as well)

My husband and I call him the 'Border Collie' because he has so much energy and is sooooooo....busy and needs constant stimulation AT ALL TIMES that by the end of the summer, through sheer boredom, will end up chewing off his own leg.

Thank God my daughter is a mellow Golden Retriever.

[Flippy]

Is it just me or everyone using IE? The formatting is messed up and everything that was in the right column is now at the bottom of the left. It's mostly fine in Netscape though.

[April]

Ummmmmmm...maybe Logan is un-natural with the pants-crapping? I have run up to 10 MILES (emphasis because I can't really believe it myself) and have never once crapped my pants. And I take "cleansing" tablets which make my bottom system a little unpredictable. I have never heard of anyone else crapping their pants either. So Logan clearly is fucked up in the pants department. And seriously - he needs to wash those out. Boxer briefs aren't cheap.

[amy]

Your plan to hit the gym sounds PERFECT. Not only will you be burning up calories, you will be working out the frustrations stay at home kids bring AND getting a much needed break from them. You are SO worth it.

[Lil' Sis]

This comment will be deleted, I'm sure. LIS TOTALLY BLEW ME OFF FOR LOS LOBOS! YOU HEARD IT HERE BEFORE THE FACT! I KNEW IT! You better have some damn fine photos, because I SANG, goddamn it!
je t'aime.
-miao.

[jess]

my brother has been a runner for twenty years and has always had the trots. It has been common language in my life for years. We always mapped our runs around places with toilets and if an "accident" happened we blamed it on a 'freaky' deer sighting. Summer sucks, unless if your like me, you totally give in.

[mamaloo]

gah, my kid isn't even a year old and summer is killing me too. I am so bored with trying to keep him entertained. wheee! only seventeen years of this to go!

[MelissaS]

April: 20-50 percent of runners are afflicted with the Runner's Trots. Usually he plans his runs around toilets, he knows all the parks in the area with restrooms. But in a race he isn't in charge of the route and therefore runs into problems.

Little Sister: Not deleting but we did not blow you off for Los Lobos.

[Joe C]

I remember hearing the sports commentator on tv..."Oh no!...She's bleeding!...She must have cut herself!" Then the female sportscaster.."Uh, no John...I don't think that's what happened"....I pissed myself laughing while they dropped the subject entirely.

A comment from a radio dj the next day:

"In sports, distance runner Uta Pippig set a record by winning her third consecutive Boston Marathon, despite suffering from both her period and diarrhea throughout the 26-mile run. In addition, Pippig also set a record for causing the most spectators to throw up at a Boston Marathon. "

One word for Logan.....Depends!

[momdotcom]

three beautiful little words: YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLING...

[Lily]

I love you too in a totally non-stalkerish way. I think you are funny as heck. My husband calls his own penchant for laziness, and I think will like this b/c it's a high compliment, "ECONOMY OF MOTION." I laughed my butt off the first time I heard him use that. But over the years, I've come to see it his way. He knows what he wants to get worked up about and what he doesn't. I'm more the Type A type and call my stuff "systems" but it's all based on laziness too -- just dont' want to do stupid boring things multiple times. Anyway, you're the best. I agree with the mom who said, people who schedule a bunch of activities do it precisely because they want to distract kids. My mom sent us to summer camp just to get us out from underfoot, and I HATED it, I wanted to just stay home and read -- but hey, her vote counted most. Good luck!

[No Blog Loser]

Honey, the easiest way to parent is to have kids that know how to amuse themselves. Drr, I would hate summer vacation too if I had to entertain my kids all day. They can't play at a playground?!? That ain't right.

[No Blog Loser]

Oh yeah, if they say they are bored either give them chores to do or have them sit in a chair and look at the wall for a few minutes. THAT is boring and they will quickly find something else do to.

[Nicole]

Hmm...what about doing a Penpal program? It seems there are several of your faithful readers out there with children who seem to be suffering from similiar problems. Would having the kids (or readers) write letters to each other help? I imagine having a six-year-old compose a legible letter may take some time and the younger children could send pictures (with translations possibly) or dictate letters to older siblings. Plus, it's something for the kids to look forward to during the week and it's cheap (37 cents a stamp).

[Anne B.]

I know I'm late to the party on this but did you know AMC movie theaters has free movies for kids during the summer? Here in Dallas they are Wednesday mornings. Movie starts at 10:30 and they play to the summer camp crowd so get there early :)