Showing posts with label sanity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sanity. Show all posts

Saturday, November 1, 2014

My 2014 Halloween Recap & Tale Of One Stupid Mommy (ME)

My tummy hurts, my head hurts, my Weight Watchers scale hurts. When my daughter wasn't looking, I ate EVERY SINCLE SNICKERS BAR from her Halloween stash last night. I have a Candy Hangover.


In hindsight, I was not the smartest puppy last night.


As I was unwrapping the bars, I knew they were bad. I'm aware of the dangers of sugar. I know I have to watch my diet. 

But Snickers is milk chocolate, nuts, and caramel – the tri-fecta of candy sin. 


And they taste SOOO good! Lily got distracted by some neighbors who were throwing a bonfire on their front lawn (Can you can hillbillies?) and my hand, on automatic pilot, started transferring the good stuff from her bag to the pillowcase I'd brought for overflow. She got so much candy, she has no idea what's missing.

So I took it. It's fair trade. She's taken some of my sanity. I took her candy. And now I'm paying for hit. Deservedly so.


In the rest of the Halloween Recap:


  • As Junior was getting ready for his stint as a hitman, he realized that with his hair slicked back, he looked more like an FBI guy than Tony Soprano, so he went with it. He grabbed one of dad's old wallets and made up a pretend FBI ID. I was happier with the FBI than Mafia. I dropped him off at a friend's house and got a call later that they were playing poker for candy and the party had turned into a sleepover. His sleepy, cranky presence is due back at the house any time now.

  • Lily trick-or-treated for an hour, with a hundred kids who'd been dropped off on my block, before she got bored. She then gave candy out for a bit before we went over a friend's for pizza where she did gymnastics all night. So she wore her $25 Wal-Mart costume for a grand total of 90 minutes. 

  • Many of those kids were accompanied by parents who were walking around with wine in their coffee cups (Was I the only parent on the block sober?). Seriously? When did parental public drunkenness become part of Halloween?


    I deserve to be laughed at...


  • A few kids who came to my door asked if I had “peanut-free, gluten-free” candy. No. This is not a store, Kid. You get what you get and don't get upset. Sort it out later and throw out what you can't eat. That's the way its been done for decades.

  • While there were a lot of Frozen characters, I was delighted that none of the girls was sporting the harlot-style costumes of a few years back. I remember answering the door to see a budding Britany Spears who would not have looked out of place in the Red Light District. Her father was behind her beaming at his darling daughter's costume, looking more like a pimp than anything else. That was noticeably absent this year – thank God!

  • The dominate candies this year were Snickers, Hershey Bars, Laffy Taffy, and Skittles. Baby Ruth and Butterfinger seem to have taken a nose dive in my neighborhood.

  • The kids must have taken wrappers, etc. with them when they left. My street is wonderfully clean of all by leaves falling from the wind and rain swept trees.

And the best part  of Halloween for me was seeing my candy-crazed daughter dive, not into chocolate or taffy, but gleefully rip the top off a bag of dried apples someone had given her. Nice choice, Honey!


Pure candy sin!


Too bad Mommy wasn't smarter. This Candy Hangover I have? It's justified pain, caused by my own greed. But know what? I have a hunch I'll be doing it again next year. Because for just one night a year, the sweet release of candy, is okay.


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After my tummy feels better, I'll begin writing my next post.  In the meantime, please click on a few of my sponsors, please.  Thanks!  


 

Sunday, October 12, 2014

DID I Turn Off The Stove? Sanity-Saving Ways To Hep You Remember If You Did

DID I remember everything I needed to?!!!



Update:  The other morning as we're leaving for school, my daughter yells, "Mom:  did you remember to turn off the toaster oven?  The stove?"  Love that! 

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I am famous, or infamous, in my family for pulling out of the driveway and pulling right back in again, afraid that I'd forgotten to turn off the stove, left the back door open, etc. I've heard too many stories of people who did that and worse - left candles burning, only to find the fire department waiting when they returned home. So here are some ways to help you remember that you did, in fact, turn off something important:

  1. When my daughter was very into the Rainbow Loom, I had her make me some rings. I use one of them, along with a plastic ring she got at a birthday party.  Every time I light a burner or turn the oven on, I slip one of those rings on my finger. It reminds me that that appliance is on and has saved me many times from forgetting that it was active.  You could also put a loose rubber band around your wrist as a reminder. 

    These rings help me remember when the stove is on.

  1. Put your cellphone near the appliance. You're not going to bed or out the door without your cellphone! If you put that item near the candle or stove, you're going to 1) think it's weird that your phone is there, alerting you that something is unusual 2) retrieve the phone before and, hopefully, remember why it was there.
  1. Say out loud “I have turned the oven off.” You will remember the sound of your voice and how insane you felt when you spoke to no one. 


    Hearing your own voice will help you remember


  2. Leave a checklist by the door. This is especially helpful for when you're going away. My checklist includes making sure no major appliances are running, no candles are lit, no cups have been left near the computer (the cat likes to knock them over), etc.

  3. Get your family in on the act. After I've checked, I'll ask my husband or teenager to double-check for me. Two sets of eyes are better than one.

  4. Give a neighbor a key to your house so that you can ask THEM to check for you. I've done this for others as well.

  5. Put your purse or wallet near the appliance. Like #2 above, you're not leaving your house without your ID and cash. When you find it, you'll know why it was there.

    When you remember your purse, you'll remember to check your appliance.


  6. Give the house a once-over before you go to bed. Check every room. The time will be well spent and you won't wind up getting out of bed to check.

  7. If you're worried about whether you've left your car doors/window open (hubby did this one time – ALL the windows and the moon roof - and it almost ruined his new car), check before you go to bed. I've gone outside many times in my jammies just before retiring, only to find out my daughter, unbeknownst to me, had left her window open a sliver. Thank goodness I checked!


    Remembering is sometimes hard.  Everyone needs tools to help!


Everyone is so busy these days, it's no wonder we don't forget more! It's always better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully, using these tips will save you some worry and reassure yourself that you're smarter and more aware than you think!

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I'm so happy you stopped by! 
Please come again!