Junk Mail Paybacks

We just figured out a way to payback junk mailers for all the trouble they cause us with piles of unwanted junk mail. Not only is it a waste of paper, it's a waste of my time. I seriously have an entire extra large garbage bag full of junk mail every week. So here is the solution:

When you get junk mail, open it up and look for a postage paid return envelope. Then fill it up with as much paper junk as you can stuff inside. Be sure to make it extra heavy, since they will be the ones to foot the bill. My children are very artistic and I have an overwhelming pile of colored and painted pictures. I figure since I can't possibly keep them all, I might as well share them. So I throw in some "free" childrens artwork (and trust me...sometimes the artwork is pretty messy with extra glitter and globs of glue!) The kids love it too! They are always really excited to open junk mail and search for those postage paid envelopes. And lets not forget, we are helping to keep the post office in business too (and I am always happy to do my part!)

Happy Birthday, Mom

Remembering back to my teen years, I like everyone else, swore I would one day be a better parent then my mother was. For starters, I would never force my children to sit at the family dinner table (at every meal) and eat such horrible foods like: Pork chops, Au Gratin potatoes, corn on the cob & rolls Or Mashed potatoes w/ gravy, baked chicken, biscuits and a side salad. After all, It was a little known fact that ALL of my friends were given the luxury of eating Top Rammen Noodles or Microwave Pizza and their parents clearly loved them more, because they were allowed to eat alone in peace. I can't even remember one time when I ever came home and had a break from mom's obsessive meal cooking/ family togetherness time. Get this: she honestly FORCED my sister and I to drink MILK at every meal! There was no changing her mind. She was so stubborn and set in her ways. My friends weren't held back with outlandish parental rules, the kind that seriously affected my social life. My mother must have really had it in for me. She did the most cruel thing when I was dating boys. She refused to let me leave with them unless they actually got out of their car and worse they had to say hello to my mother! What a nightmare! I had personally witnessed how my friends' boyfriends were allowed to pull up to their house and honk the horn a few times and off they went in peace. My mother had this strange cliche about allowing boys in my bedroom. She allowed me no privacy and insisted that the door remain open at all times. My mother was a little over the top with the "family togetherness" stuff too. While ALL my friends galloped around Europe free from over powering parents, I was forced on yet another "Family" trip. It didn't matter rather it was Disney Land or a trip to the coast, we were forced to sleep in the same hotel room and even still, we had to eat together at the SAME table! I remember telling my mother how I would do things so differently then how she was doing them.

But then...... Okay this is the part of the story where the mother says, "I told you so!" Well, being a mother myself now, I have come to understand many of her choices. Maybe they weren't so outlandish after all. I believe I turned out well. Actually, I think I turned out very well. I've seen and heard from some of my "parentally challenged" friends and let's just say that maybe they had a little too much freedom and privacy! What were those parents thinking when they let their 13 year old kids run free in a country that allows kids to drink and smoke (and trust me, they all did it too!). It's strange how I use to try so hard to do things so differently then how my mother did them, but now it seems I am constantly trying to live up to all of the things she did. Try as I might, it's not easy having a full cooked meal on the table EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (I'm not talking about microwave meals either!).

I know it's natural for everyone to have some regrets about their childhood and even their parenthood, but even though we had many tough times, I can only thank one person for who I am today. She not only gave me life, she gave my life purpose and meaning. At times we could barely stand to be in the same room together. We definitely had our share of fights too, but I know in my heart that all of the challenges that we suffered through truly made me a stronger and better person today. I believe that our Father in Heaven knew what lessons I needed to be taught in life and there were many! Being that he is perfect in every way, I know that his choice to have me born to my mother was his divine plan. A perfect plan in every way. So how can I ever hold any regrets or bad feelings about my childhood? I simply can't. I love every part of my life and I am thankful to the woman who gave it to me.

Happy Birthday mom, I love you.