I’m kind of like Thomas Edison.

Because I always have very bright ideas.

And by “bright,” I mean “awful.” But at the time, I think I am having a good idea. Looking back, though, it’s always obvious that it was a very bad idea all along.

For example… I was at the mall the other day and needed to change Sam’s diaper. I went to the restroom in the department store where I was shopping, but it was closed for cleaning. (This, by the way, is the same restroom that I was unceremoniously kicked out of by the cleaning man while I was trying to nurse my only-a-couple-weeks-old baby a few months ago. Remind me to stay out of there.) Anyway… back to my bright idea.

So since the closest restroom was closed, I decided just to take Sam out into the mall and change him in his stroller. Great idea, huh? Oh, have I mentioned that I knew that this was a poopy diaper? Yeah. So I sat down on a bench and turned the stroller toward me, and took Sammy’s diaper off. It must have taken me an inordinate amount of time to reach for the wipes, though, because by the time I turned back to my son, pee was everywhere.

And still coming out.

He peed on his stroller, himself, my knee, my shoe and the floor. It was awesome. The old people sitting on the bench across from me were giving me dirty looks. You’d think old people would just make googly eyes at the baby and think pee was cute, but apparently not so much. I think they were afraid they were going to slip and fall on the pee when they started their next mall-walking lap.

I finally got us both cleaned up the best I could, but Sam’s stroller seat was soaked, so I had to carry him and push the stroller all the way to the car. When I got home, I told Andy all about my trials and tribulations and, though he would never say it, the expression on his face very clearly said “What did you think was going to happen when you decided to change his diaper in the stroller, genius?” And I have to admit, he has a point.

But it seemed like a good idea at the time…

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WFMW: Flickr

Well as you may know from reading this here blog, I went on a little trip last April courtesy of Sony, and I came back obsessed with taking pictures! For several years, I had been uploading my photos to an online storage site, but I had been displeased with its slow upload and even slower photo editing programs. So, after I came back from my trip, I got myself a Flickr account. I could not be happier with Flickr! They make uploading, organizing, and editing photos so easy. Sharing your photos with friends and family is also as simple as sharing your Flickr website address with them – no more sendng out a mass email to tell them to click on a page and create a username and password – NONE of that!! I have been able to do a lot of fun, creative things with my photos thanks to Flickr, and I love having them organized in different categories. It makes it easy to find a specific photo when I need to. I also use Flickr code to share photos here on the blog – many times it is easier than uploading the photos to our blog.

So, Flickr works for me! You can check out my Flickr photostream here. Check back often for updates!

For more great Works for me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

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Oh, the Gosselins.

Stop by our house at any given time of the day, and I can tell you what will be on television. We no longer hear Dora screaming talking about her latest adventure, and even the refrain “You get the best of both worlds” isn’t as omnipresent as it once was. No, what you’ll hear coming from our tv is this:

“It all started with the two of us. Then we had our beautiful twin girls, Cara and Madelyn. We were so thrilled, we decided to try for just one more and ended up with six.”

Jon and Kate Plus 8. TLC’s hit reality series about a couple who has twins and sextuplets. Kate (my Kate, not the show’s Kate) is obsessed. I am not exaggerating, obsessed. And the funniest thing? Andy and I love to watch it, too. It’s the first show that the three of us have all actually enjoyed.

It is an interesting show… just watching how a family with eight kids manages to do anything is fascinating. I mean, can you imagine cooking for all those kids? Going to the grocery? Taking them to the dentist? Let alone taking plane trips to Utah and driving to Disney World. (Did you hear that, Jenny? Eight kids at Disney! I know that’s your idea of heaven).

A few weeks ago, there was a special episode in which Jon and Kate answered questions that many viewers had, including something I had always wondered about – where are the grandparents? Kate’s vague answer about how some grandparents are involved and some are not and theirs are in the “not” category didn’t satisfy my curiosity, so of course I Googled it.

And, as sometimes happens when we Google things, I learned more than I wanted to know.

Apparently there is a movement going to try to have the show taken off the air. People are concerned for the kids and feel as though it’s an invasion of their privacy… some even calling it child abuse. There’s a blog that is dedicated to disecting every detail of the show and reading all sorts of things into it… a little over the top, if you ask me. Not even (my) Kate is obsessed enough with the show to watch it with the sound off in order to assess the family’s body language.

Learning about the controversy surrounding the show has taken an edge off my enjoyment, that is for sure. I can really see both sides of the story – I can understand the concern for future consequences that the kids might face for having every moment of their lives caught on videotape. I think that’s something that all of us bloggin’ mommies have struggled with to some degree. And Jon and Kate are definitely profiting monetarily from the show, but really I’m not sure that is cause for condemnation. Can you imagine trying to feed and clothe eight kids on one income? Why not ride this wave while it’s here?

I also wonder if some of the criticism is simply because viewers don’t like (the show’s) Kate. She’s tough and straight-talking and OCD. However, if I had eight kids you would find me under the covers curled up in the fetal position sucking my thumb. So I can understand why she is a bit stressed at times. But it does make me wonder if she is treated so harshly because she isn’t Mary Poppins.

So basically, I don’t know where I stand. I want to give Jon and Kate the benefit of the doubt and to believe that they have the best interest of their kids in mind. But, I don’t want to participate in the exploitation of children either.

So, readers, what do you think?

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