madameblogalot

Have you seen the show Punk’d? I guess it is a sort of 21st Century Candid Camera where (usually well known) folks are set up to have practical jokes played on them. My kids like to watch it sometimes and earlier this year were caught up in all out prank war. So when my son left the country this summer, his sister had the grand idea to “pink” his room. She made a sign for his door that said “You’ve been punk’d pink’d”. Then she proceeded to use pink sheets on his bed and couch. She hung pink streamers and balloons from the ceiling. She decorated with all kinds of pink accessories, from stuffed animals to clothes to wrapping paper. Then she filled the floor with pink balloons. All in time for her brother’s homecoming. He loved the joke! I’ll post pictures on another blog soon.

Planning a move this summer? Whenever we have moved in the past, we always “moved ourselves.” We got the boxes and the truck and loaded and unpacked ourselves. This seems to be more economical than hiring a moving company. I do have to say that getting boxes these days seems to be rather a chore! Going to a retail store and asking for boxes just doesn’t seem to work very well, unless you can come in at the time they tell you they will give you the boxes.

That is why I was happy to see that moving box kits are actually available. I have to say that I am not sure I would have thought about ordering boxes. But it seems like it is more than that. These boxes are made just right for all your stuff. There are kitchen kits and assortments ranging from 1 bedroom to the deluxe package for large homes. These kits include bubble wrap, wardrobe boxes, dish protectors and tape. And instead of waiting for the right time to get boxes, you can order these and have them shipped right to your door. And there are several money saving moving packages going on right now.

After just writing about a new tool that we are trying to use in our family, it is amazing how quickly we fall back into our old habits of relating and dealing with each other. In less than 24 hours, I have become the terrible mother who yells and cries instead of dealing calmly and factually and the way I’d like to see my kids act. Alas, today was one of those days where I completely failed. It makes me want to run away. So needless to say, I need to regroup and start again. Hopefully I will remember the more effective tools next time before I start to explode…

As parents, our job is ever changing as our kids grow and change. We have struggled through our kids’ teenage years, but we have always tried our best. And when things get really tough, we are not afraid to ask for help. This week, we learned a new parenting tool, that, at least for now, seems to be pretty effective.

In a tough situation, it was suggested we treat the nearly adult child with love and respect and appeal to the child’s innate intelligence. We saw that as a good approach, but were still a bit unsure how to proceed. Our tutor had us come up with a plan that used the “I think, I feel, I need” approach. We asked our child each of these questions and we too in turn went over the statements from our own perspective. Though the conversation could have become volatile very quickly, our teenager told us it was greatly appreciated that we treated the situation as an adult and that we offered love and support.

While I doubt we are completely through with every detail of our tough times, I know that this approach is working for us right now. And that seems to be about all any parent of any teenager can ask for!

My husband and I had a nice little vacation last week, just the two of us. It was a much needed get away. Today, when I came across the website for a Costa Rica resort, I wanted to take a look. As the site began loading its gorgeous photographs, my husband walked in. He took one look and asked if I was planning our next trip!

The Florblanca looks like a lovely destination. The photos of the sea and surrounding beaches look truly inviting. The villas look like a place I would never want to leave! The open area overlooking the jungle hosts a two person hammock just right for relaxing together and enjoying the sights and sounds. The bathroom looks like an amazing garden area. The Honeymoon House offers personal beach access and a complete kitchen. Rates start at $350 and the current special states when staying four nights, the fifth night is free.

Activities include lovely beaches, walking and jogging trails, cycling, yoga, fishing, swimming pool and what looks like the ultimate in luxurious relaxation. Though I did not see it listed, it looks like it would be a gorgeous place for scuba diving as well.

I found this post that I had written over a year ago. Its sentiment still rings true with me…

I do not advocate lying. I don’t like lying to people to protect them, even kids. I don’t mean that we have to tell them everything in an effort to be honest, but I think if we lie, we end up making things worse when the truth does come out.

I have tried to live an honest life and to be up front in dealing with my children. As they age, I think they can handle more truth about how we live and feel as people. I wonder though in my honesty (I am not talking about brutal honesty) if I am hurting my children. Am I giving them too much information too soon? Am I hurting them by telling the truth about how certain actions make me feel? Is it unfair or will it help them to see how their actions affect the people around them.

It is such a delicate balance in rasing kids. As I strive for honesty, I ask for it from my family in return. I hope that I am not causing too much stress when I tell my kids the truth about their actions, whether that be good or bad.

One thing my daughter had trouble finding to her liking while decorating her room was window treatments. She didn’t like most of the curtains we found. They were too heavy or too gaudy or just plain did not meet her tastes. But my mom was able to find some sheer panels that have worked perfectly for her. While these are great in her room, most of our windows are covered with cheap blinds, which work perfectly well for us.

I love the blinds because they blend in with any decor and color scheme. It is easy to find blinds in nearly every color and they are one of the cheapest window treatments to utilize. They are easy to use and maintain. I used to be pretty good about taking them down once a year to spray them down with the water hose! This has gone by the wayside, but all in all our blinds have held up well.

It seems that you can do just about anything with duct tape. Our neighbor even used duct tape as a border in his room. When my daughter saw that, she had to give it a try, of course using different colors. So for her birthday she got three colors of duct tape-black, lime green and turquoise. She has used these as a border around the top of her walls as well as to cover her closet door in a diagonal direction. It looks pretty cool! While several folks told us it might stick to the sheetrock and be hard to remove, we have found just the opposite to be true. The tape began coming down within a month. She has now gone back to add wallpaper glue to the back of the tape to help it stay attached to the walls.

Living in an area where oil refineries and chemical plants are abundant in every neighboring town, and even having close family members who work in such places, you think I would be aware of what the employees are exposed to each day. But while at physical therapy the other day, I heard some men talking about their work places. One was retired while the other still works at a refinery in the area. They were talking about the harsh chemicals they work with.

In the conversation they talked about the stains and odors that get on their overalls and how these items have to be washed separately from other clothes. I never thought about the chemicals getting onto their skin either, until I saw some super heavy duty work gloves. These are not the kind used to work on the car or in the garden, these are PVC-coated-liquid-proof-vinyl-coated gloves . The kind that are resistant to chemicals, oil and grease and also abrasive resistant. These are the kind of gloves to hold up to the harsh elements of every day life in oil refineries and chemical plants. That is some heavy duty strength for some heavy duty jobs!

I’ve heard the saying that everyone’s an author, especially in today’s world of daily blogging. When I saw that you can get your writing analyzed to find what author you write like, I had to join in! When submitting two posts from this site, both a sponsored post and a non-sponsored post, I was told that I write in the style of:

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Since I did not know who this was, I had to look it up. Doctorow is a Canadian born sci-fi writer and notorious blogger. Some of my other blogs are apparently written in a different style, as those post submissions tagged me as other authors. If you want to analyze your writing style, just click the highlighted link in the box.