<p>Dontcha love that magic mister, the one that sends waves of bliss into the alley whenever required? Thin envelopes, bruised feelings, hormones, parent-abuse, evil neighbors-- whatever has you down, this IS the place to come for restoration, sympathy, laughs, and high-proof alcohol. </p>
<p>Would that the whole world could regain its equilibrium as quickly as our bunch of sinners can.</p>
<p><em>feels like a mom when all the kids are getting along</em></p>
<p>Guess what, I’m heading into the kitchen too. In ten minutes there will be HOT COOKIES for everyone!! </p>
<p>Very fortifying after a shopping spree, so long as nobody tried on bathing suits. :eek:</p>
<p>Rum balls…nice idea, but not nearly high proof enough. </p>
<p>paying3: Is there a groan smilie?</p>
<p>My son’s friend said I was cool once! We were in a pizza joint and I started making playing flute tones on the straw (you can fold it and get different intervals, you know.) She was amazed and said HER parents would never let her do that. I said something like in the kind of restaurant I frequent it’s almost always appropriate.</p>
<p>My oldest daughter a few years ago told me that her friend said I was pretty cool. She was complaining about me, and her friend said, actually, I think your mom’s pretty cool. One time it happened!</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m the cool mom because I went to Woodstock, endlessly fascinating to kids friends. </p>
<p>I also got asked all the questions kids didn’t want to ask their parents.
One of D’s friends asked me, “So how big is an erect ***** anyway?” Well, it so happened there were some objects on the family room table so I could say bigger than X but smaller than Y." These situations were routine here.</p>
<p>Just got home from work. Thanks for the cookies! Have mine with milk, brandy alexander, haha.</p>
<p>Mythmom, I get the same x rated questions… I guess some of us JUST DO.</p>
<p>If I’d gone to woodstock it would be too much for my S, he’d be permanently hyperventilating with worship. (He thinks I’m cool because I’ve seen the Wu Tang Clan… as an opening act for someone else!)</p>
<p>LOL!! That beats the Away message I posted here that my D had left aimed at me and saying she was performing at a “celebrity burlesque club.” Your D’s message is a keeper…print it out.</p>
<p>SBmom…what kind of cookies? I need a whole bunch of virtual cookies right now…today I went back to visit my ole friend Jenny Craig.</p>
<p>RE: embarrassing our children. I started when my children were young telling them that I knew exactly the kinds of things I could do to embarrass them, and offered to show them at many points in their life. They KNEW I was perfectly capable of it, which was the best part. Older D (the one in college now) always told us that we were cool parents, younger D? I don’t think she’s quite so convinced. We’ve all agreed that Dad is just wierd.</p>
<p>Hm. Seems to be the definition of dads. Though my kids have been known to debate the fine points of weird, quirky, odd, strange, eccentric. I couldn’t follow it all.</p>
<p>My antics stopped embarrassing them, and they started looking upon me as entertainment for their friends, especially D who had a slightly more sophisticated circle. I think she would have charged money if she could, you know like kids charge for seeing their baby siblings.</p>
<p>H embarrassed them though with his absentminded professor thing. He also always said just the wrong thing in front of D and boyfriend – nerves I think.</p>
<p>My H once asked the boy who was picking up our then 16 year old D for a movie if they were planning to see the “Barney Movie.” He was trying to be funny. It is a family classic.</p>
<p>I’ve been buried in work but just stopped in to check on everyone. In one of my less lucid moments I signed on to co-sponsor student council, temporarily forgetting that a major obligation was all of the Homecoming festivities–a week of craziness culminating in a day of athletics followed by a dance that lasted forever, but the kids seemed to have a lot of fun, and I survived.</p>
<p>We’re having a GORGEOUS autumn around here. The annual baurnmarkt (don’t know if I spelled it correctly; it’s sort of a farmer’s market but with a little more hoopla) took place at the end of our street on Sunday, and we got six varieties of schnapps. Anyone want some? Take your pick: peach, pear, apple, black currant, cherry, or brombeere (don’t know exactly what that is, but the picture on the label looks sort of like a blackberry).</p>
<p>Mathmom, if you put an away message on your AIM that says something provocative, would that work? (A la, “be the change you want to see…?”) I am sure we can think of some that would get our kids to sit up and pay attention, if not IMMEDIATELY communicate. </p>
<p>I will begin with a few ideas:</p>
<p>“I am wearing a midriff baring top, low cut jeans and a thong.”</p>
<p>“I am at the animal shelter, giving away the dog.”</p>
<p>Actually, my youngest outdid my H and me, embarrassing his older sibs whenever he wished to. We stand in awe of him.</p>
<p>Example: we had moved to a new town and S-1 was finally making inroads to social acceptance at the h.s. by l0th grade. One busy evening, all 5 of us went out for a GREAT dinner together at a fastfood joint. Walking up to the place, S-1 looked in the glass windows, then urgently whispered to us, “Hey there’re some kids from school in there, so be cool, ok?” H and I reassured him we’d play fair.</p>
<p>S-2, a preteen scamp, waited until we were all inside, threw open his arms and hollered, “Okay, everybody: Group Hug!”</p>
The only reason I IM him is to tell him to turn on his phone.</p>