10 Things I Learned This Week, Vol 150

It’s been a week of big emotions, lots of laughs with the best of friends, hits, misses, and simple, everyday moments. One of those moments? Realizing that this is the 150th time I’ve sat down to reflect upon the silly things that happen each day that bring humor and insight to my life as a mom, a writer, and a friend. The first time I wrote one of these, I thought, “People will love this!” (Though looking back, I can only hope they’ve improved with time…) And, while I’m not sure “people” do, I do. So thank you, thank you for reading—and laughing—along…150 times later.

Lesson #1: After four plus years of bad PR pitches I finally feel redeemed. I got an email this week with the subject line, “Enter our messy kids competition!” and I was like, wow, finally somebody who gets me.

Lesson #2: When you’re learning to spell, absolutely everything should be phonetic. Which is why, from now on, Little has declared he will be spelling his name with a “K” instead of a “C”. Please make a note of it should you be getting him, say, a monogrammed sweatband for his upcoming birthday. (Although he plans to send out change-of-name notices to those he regularly corresponds with. Like his teacher.)

Lesson #3: In kindergarten, not only do you do things like ignore all vowels when writing and change the spelling of your name, you also get certificates for things like graduating from “Personal Space Camp”. In Little’s case, that certificate also came with a lot of questions (and laughter) from bruised up family members about how that was physically possible.

Lesson #4: If you ask Little, you’re not trying if you don’t get so dirty on the playground you actually cannot wash the dirt off your knees at the end of the day.

Lesson #5: While the Fuel Up To Play 60 Team (which is an awesome partnership between the National Dairy Council and the NFL) didn’t have to convince my boys that they should eat well and get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, they did give them a real thrill by inviting them to do football drills with a 49er trainer. (It was almost as exciting as Pink getting to meet the cardboard California cow. Almost.)

Lesson #6: While I’ve always thought of it as more of a torture chamber, I had a whole new perspective about trying on clothes when Pink kept asking if we could go in the “dress up room”.

Lesson #7: After taking Pink with me into the dress up room, I’m thinking I need to have a much better understanding of how iPhone photos are stored in this mysterious cloud thingy.

Lesson #8: Once you reach 3rd grade, decorating for Halloween with smiling scarecrows instead of blood, guts, and RIP signs is the equivalent of hanging a huge sign in your front yard that says, “I’m a baby!” Or so I’ve heard.

Lesson #9: Apparently Little and Pink think that, “I’m going to take a quick shower,” translates to, “See how many rules you can break in 5 minutes,” when their conscience (aka Big) is off at basketball tryouts.

Lesson #10: While technology has come a long way, those people at Google still have some serious work to do when I search for “youth USA soccer costume” and most of the links are women (younger than me, but not “youth” per se) wearing very little red, white, and blue, and flashing a whole lot more than a smile. (Though I’m pretty sure Little has a whole new appreciation for Halloween this year.)

Gear up (or cover up) and get ready for some festive fun. It may still be 90 degrees (in California), but the leaves are a-fallin’ and the goblins are a-callin’. (Yes, I’m referring to my kids. Gotta run!)