The environmental cost of children

How my children are not eco-friendly:

From the uneaten food I throw out regularly, I think my kids must hate all living beings, farm animals in particular.

From the emptied out boxes of unused Kleenex strewn all over my house, I think my kids must really hate trees.

From the excessive water play and toilet flushing, I think my kids must really hate the notion of water conservation.

From the sand and grime my kids trek through the house, causing me to use the vacuum more than anyone ought to in one day, I think my kids must really LOVE hydro!

From the amount of colds and infections my kids have had in their few years on Earth, I think they must really love big pharma!

From the number of outings my kids insist on having on a daily basis, my children must really love Big Oil!

Our full potential?

A whirlwind week has just flown by and the reality and a semblance of normalcy has returned:

Kids fighting, rain, laundry, dishes, high fevers, you name it, we've got it!

Amidst all the chaos and bedlam I am struck with the realization that my baby boy, my baby that really not that long ago, was growing inside me, will be turning four. Ya think, I'll be saying the same when he's about to turn 40 (assuming I live that long, probably!).

It's amazing. Absolutely amazing to see how much they develop and grow in such a short time. I mean, look at yourself. what have you learned in four short years? That's what I thought!

If we are capable of so much at such a young age, why do we stop? Imagine what we could accomplish if we continued to learn and develop at such a pace? I suppose if anyone ever tried they'd be encouraged to slow it down, lest they make the rest of us look bad. Shame really.

Pierced Ears

When I was a baby, my Mom had my ears pierced. At what age, exactly, I am not sure. In fact, I'm sure I wasn't a 'baby' in the traditional sense, but I was young. Under 5 maybe?

Nowadays though, piercing a baby's ears is akin to mutilation. A comment on a recent blog read: "seeing a baby with pierced ears makes my stomach churn". Come on people, really. Pierced ears is so horrible? Now the writer of blog said she couldn't get her daughter's ears pierced because she didn't want to see her in pain, she remembers getting hers done and that it hurt like the dickens.

I remember a friend of mine piercing my ears when I was a teenager. A shot of Brandy, a safety pin, a potato (so the safety pin didn't pierce my neck) and some ice. Done! It wasn't that bad. In fact it wasn't bad at all. And I have an extremely low threshold of pain. So, I'm thinking that if you go to a professional place to get it done it probably won't 'hurt like the dickens'.

Having said all that, I will probably wait until Little Miss is a bit older. Maybe 5. Maybe 7. I'm not sure. Why wait? Quite simple. It's bad enough when I go shopping, even for me, I end up buying really cool clothes for Little Miss & Little Mr. Man. Once her ears are pierced, I won't stand a chance of getting anything! At least now, if in the jewelry store, it's all about me!