Posted on

Merry Christmas From Jenny!

If you are related to Jenny, if you’re her kids’ teacher, if you go to her church, if you have ever laid eyes on her, or if you even stumble across this blog… your house is going to smell great this year, because look what Jenny’s giving you for Christmas!

glade candles

That’s right. Jenny’s on a Glade candle kick again.

You may remember this post, when Jenny told us about buying 12 Glade candles. Or this one, in which she bought 10. Or in any number of other posts, in which, according to my rough estimation, she purchased at least 51 additional glade candles.

And you may also remember this post, in which I gently encouraged Jenny to SEEK HELP for her disorder.

But, alas, she did not heed my warning, and she is at it again.

That stash in that picture up there? She tells me that she got paid about $14 to buy them. You know, by using coupons and witchcraft and other assorted trickery.

I think she probably stuffed them under her shirt and took off.

And guess what she’s doing right this minute?? Going to Target to buy more.

The girl is nuts. Nuts, I tell you!

So Merry Christmas from Jenny. I hope you have some matches.

*****
If you’d like to become addicted to get some Glade candles for free too, check out Marcy’s post here! NOT that I am promoting hoarding (*ahem*JENNY*ahem*).

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Fail Whale

Today could very well prove to be my ultimate (to date, I’m sure there’s more to come) parenting FAIL.

I drop Kate off at my grandma’s on my way to work in the morning, and then my grandma takes her to school. As I left this morning, Kate told me she wasn’t feeling well and that her throat hurt and her back hurt (enter my suspicion – throat and back ailments aren’t a typical combination). She seemed ok, so I headed on, but about halfway through my commute she called again to tell me she wasn’t feeling good (despite her nutritious breakfast of cinnamon rolls and ice cream, which of course was the only thing that could possibly make her throat feel better). We agreed that Grandma would take her temperature, and if she didn’t have a fever, she’d go to school.

Great.

Except she called me again about 15 minutes later, still insisting that she didn’t feel well and she couldn’t go to school. I could, of course, be totally wrong about this, but I really do not think she is sick. Moms can tell these things, right? Yeah, famous last words. So in any case, we decided she would go to school and I said if she still felt bad there, she could have the secretary call me. I am banking on the fact that once she gets there, she will be fine.

However.

After I got off the phone with her, I checked my calendar and wouldn’t you know it, today is the day Kate will get the H1N1 vaccine at school. This day totally crept up on me. I was planning to prepare her for it, but I totally didn’t, and I was afraid that if I called her and told her after all we had gone through debating her attendance today anyway, that it would be a giant disaster.

So now she’s headed to school as we speak (or I type), blissfully unaware of the fact that she’s going to be vaccinated today. Unless, of course, she does know about the vaccination because of school announcements (the same way she found out about the skating party last week that I was conveniently not going to mention), and that’s where this entire problem is coming from.

Or maybe she is sick, and I didn’t believe her. And if she is sick, she shouldn’t be getting the vaccination. And that, my friends, would be a parenting fail of epic proportions.

Post to Twitter

Posted on

WFMW: The Great Toy Purge of 2009

Ok so I can’t exactly say that the Great Toy Purge of 2009 works for me, because I haven’t exactly done it yet. I plan to, but I’m not sure how.

Which is where you come in.

I am making my Works For Me Wednesday post a backwards WFMW, because I need to know what works for you.

We have a full, finished basement, and while it is big and a wonderful space for the kids to play, 99% of the time it is a complete disaster. There are toys everywhere. (BTW, I swear we do not buy our kids lots of toys. I think they are like gremlins and multiply at night). I would show you pictures but I’m too embarrassed. And really, the kids have no idea what toys are down there and they can’t even enjoy the space, seeing as how they can’t walk through it.

So, my goal is to purge the basement of all the outgrown, broken, or generally unused toys before the influx that is bound to happen at Christmas. What I’d like to do is buy one of these for the basement (and one for my dining room, while I’m at it), so that everything has a home and can be nicely organized.
ikea expedit
The Ikea Expedit. Isn’t it lovely?

So here’s what I need to know from all of you smart readers:
1) How ruthless should I be in the toy purge? Or, I guess, how do I decide what to keep? (I have the “well we may need that someday” syndrome)
2) What should I do with the toys I decide to get rid of?
3) What’s your toy organization secret?

Basically, what works for you?

Because what we’ve got going on now… it doesn’t work for anyone.

I can’t wait to read your tips!

*****
For more Works for Me Wednesday (this week is a holiday edition!), visit We are THAT Family.

Post to Twitter