Mama's Musings

[Slow News] Gratitude Galore http://bit.ly/veDvG

[Slow News] Taming Kitchen Beast http://ping.fm/0z6EC

Kitchen Beast

Today I fought the battle with Kitchen Beast and lost.

It seems no matter how much sponge whippery I conduct, there is just no taming it. Pots, pans, sticky unidentifiable goo...terracotta-colored tiles dotted with crumbs, cackling wickedly as they foil my plans for a tolerable level of cleanliness.

I am not talking absolutes here. There are indeed degrees of neatness. Some people have a high scum tolerance. They can overlooked days-old bread standing at attention, the plastic bag open with flies buzzing above it. Ewww.

Others scrub their floors daily for that extra sparkle.

I am neither one. I just want my feet not to crunch when I walk across the floor. Okay? It's not asking much, but it is asking something.

So when my kids dash off after lunch in a collective state of amnesia as to where the dishwasher is actually located (behind them), I get ancy. Kitchen Beast prowls beyond its cage and does a Happy Dance, knowing my upper-hand is slipping fast. I run for the wash rag, swirl around in fury and stare it down into obedience. That's usually around the time my husband gets home. Something tells me he has a secret pact with Kitchen Beast because everytime he's home, the kitchen is at its worst.

While the rest of the world mocks me for my yearning for order, my family smiles complacently and says, "Yes, Mom..." then just when I'm not looking, the dishwasher has been emptied and filled with that which had littered the countertops.

I am indeed not alone. Perhaps befriending Kitchen Beast would be the first step?

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Kids Say the Funniest Things

Our dinnertable conversation gave me cause to reevaluate how I transmit the message that eating raw foods is good for you. Encouraged by their jovial reception to other jokes I had made during dinner, I proceeded to sing a song in rhyme:

"You cannot have a Snappple,

But please, dear, eat an apple!!!!!"

I accentuated the word apple with an extended vibrato.

"Mom," my ten year-old daughter replied with a quick roll of her eyes and a grin, "if you promise to speak in rhyme for an entire week, we'll leave you alone for the same amount of time."

"Sure!" I quipped, feverish with play.

"Here's a test. What rhymes with orange?"

Looks like they'll be plucking my nerves like an orchestra harpist until they grow up after all...

[Slow News] Faith prevailing http://ping.fm/907K5

Be the Change

Ghandi said be the change you want to see in the world. It's a worthy message, something I'm trying to teach my own kids. Dave Carroll applied his musical talent to change airline policy. What will you do to be the change?

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