Thursday Thoughts

1.  Is it just me or does it seem that more and more businesses have adopted the practice of advertising on the streets?  Pizza, taxes (I've written about this before...), furniture, you name it-there is probably a sign somebody is holding somewhere looking like a fool whilst trying to gain your business?  Do they really work?

2.  I was shocked last week when talking to a mother of a brand new baby, that I wanted to tell her to "Enjoy every second of the newborn stage, it will go all to quickly."  When did I become a newborn lover?  I think it was when I was pregnant with Joshua.  And though I am making every effort to enjoy every second of the other stages, I still look forward to the day when diapers, sippy cups, and car seats aren't part of my day-to-day life.

3.  I have made a greater effort to enforce certain chores with deadlines at our house.  I am tragically aware of the consequences of poor work ethics.  I will do my best to teach a good work ethic to my children. 

4.  One of my favorite novel settings are the Amish community.  I think we can learn much from them.  Though they are far from a perfect people, I think faith, forgiveness, simplicity  (not to mention,good home-cooked meals) could eradicate a lot of problems in our society.  (I would also love wearing a dress everyday...)

5.  I am not very good at mopping my floor regularly.  I have no set day or time frame in which I mop.  Grossly, it usually finally happens when my feet stick in more than one place, too many days in a row. 

6.  I tend to see the glass half empty instead of half full.  Is it a personality flaw to be more pessimistic than optimistic? 

7.  I am consciously making an improved effort to laugh more.  I wish laughter came to me far more naturally.  I am working on it, it makes our home a much 'lighter' place.  Since when did I become so ornery that laughing has to even require a level of consciousness?

8.  I am constantly coming up with fabulous new ideas in an effort to make my kids more obedient, work harder, and get along better.  Many last no longer than the first couple of days.  Why do I keep trying?

9.  I am so tired of paperwork.  Getting my mail used to be a highlight of my day.  Now I avoid going to the mailbox any more than twice a week.  The paper annoys me.  I stand outside at my garbage can, while sorting my mail.  Close to 90% probably never makes it into the house!!  The kids backpacks each day after school, are just as bad... I try to remain guilt free as I throw away carefully written spelling tests, art projects, even report cards...  (Of course, some are keepers.)

10.  My husband works A LOT of hours.  Though I am grateful beyond words that he is gainfully employed, I complain a little too much. I know, I know, I am contradicting number 3.  Come to think of it, I work even more hours of the week than he does... Least he gets to leave his workplace each evening...

11.  Though I am by no stretch of the imagination an environmentalist, I do wish I remembered the re-usable bags I keep stocked in the car. But with the effort it takes to get the baby, the toddler and sometimes the kindergartener into the grocery store, who has the energy to think about saving the planet?

12.  Sometimes I daydream about living in a big city, as a young single girl in her 30's, with a corporate job and a hobby of shopping.  I am about as far removed from that daydream as possible!

13.  I think homework should be banned.

14.  My brother would be very disappointed in me, but I am becoming an uninformed citizen as far as politics go.  I've retreated into a shell and often times know very little about what is politically, going on around me.

15.  Joshua's John Deere at the Farm lift the flap book that we read at least three hundred times a day, is soon to have the same fate as some of the other books...behind the couch.  Isn't that positive parenting?  I am trying to help him broaden his literacy interests.

I wish I could say some of these are jokes, as today is April Fools Day.  But they aren't. This is me.  Besides, I think April Fools Day is dumb.  You won't see any joking from me.  Maybe I should reconsider my feelings about April Fools Day, maybe it would help with number 7...

And those are my thoughts for today, Thursday.
What are yours?