Wanna Look Younger?

I was amused by this ad in today's paper. Your feet will feel 20 years younger - all the while YOU will look like you're ready for the nursing home.

A Tough Break

Lauren vaulted over her horse yesterday instead of onto it, and though she did hang on for a little bit, fell. Her ankle swelled immediately and it looked as if she had a bad sprain. Xrays were called for just to be safe, and surprisingly, they found a crack or break in the ankle. She'll get a cast tomorrow. Sadly, this puts her out of riding her horse for awhile, though I will be surprised if she doesn't try riding with a cast. She won't be making the Bluegrass Open competition, however at the end of March.

When they called to tell me that she'd injured her foot, (God forgive me) I thought "I hope it's her left foot". She plays the piano beautifully, pedalling with her right foot. Of course it was her right. God has a sense of humor like that. Perhaps she'll learn something really interesting about piano from this.

The trip to the emergency room was interesting. Now, one of our favorite shows is House, so I know that the littlest symptom can have meaning if you can believe a TV show, which you can't. But, as Dr. House says, it was a boring case. Obviously, she had either a sprain or a broken ankle. Yet, the questions they asked:

Do you smoke? Not with my ankle.
Do you do street drugs? Would anyone tell you if he/she did?
Do you have liver disease? And this would affect my ankle how....?
Heart disease? Not yet, but most people get it eventually.
Been out of the country? Yes, but the ankle was broken domestically.
Last period? Oh, that's why she broke it - PMS. She was just off kilter.
Favorite color? Allergic to dogs or shellfish? Email address?

So, Lauren will be off her feet for awhile. That means that Anna and I will have to pick up her chores. This week, she has two pet sitting jobs in addition to her barn chores at home. She complains that her rear hurts from sitting so much while I fantasize about ways to painlessly break my ankle so that I can put my feet up.

Oil

Stepping out on a (political) limb that I vigorously avoid, I've yet been carrying a thought that I have to blog to rid my brain of it. When Bush said that we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil, I could not help thinking "we need to reduce our dependence on oil". Period. It would be to no purpose to rely only on domestic oil if Greenland and the North Pole melt, and global warming continues.

I will admit that on very cold winter mornings, followed by a very, unseasonably warm afternoon, I've had the thought "I'm all for global warming". I'm not a cold weather person. In fact, where in the hell, excuse me, did anyone get the idea that hell is HOT? For me, Hades would be cold. Frozen ice with no hot showers.

Still, trying to be environmentally sound, I looked into the cost of installing solar panels on our house. No wonder we need oil! Have you ever priced it? I like the idea of independence from the "Grid" but I've been spoiled by Walmart prices. Something like $11, 000 should get me some relief from my ballooning electric bill.

Most Americans, however, don't even have a clue just how dependent on oil we are. Addiction is a good term, for we even eat oil. Think you don't? If you eat anything with artificial dyes, then you eat oil. It's in a great deal of our products, albeit hidden by long organic chemistry terms.
Well, dinner is ready - chicken broccoli casserole with rice - and the natives are restless, so I must go.

Are You a Slacker Mom?

I've been doing some little online surveys lately. I found this one about Are You a Slacker Mom? because here we sit blogging (I know you are out there) and even as we blog, we know we should be doing other things. The clean, unfolded laundry thrown on the bed will soon overtake the bed and you won't be able to find your husband beside you for all the clothes. But blogging takes on a life of its own, and becomes like a job, a rewarding one.

So over at this website, I expected that indeed, I'd be a Slacker Mom - BUT it said I was a Zen Mom. Now isn't that nice? It said that when things got rough, I take a deep breath, say "this too shall pass", and bring calm to the situation. The deal is, I'd like to get to where there aren't so many "situations".

Today: Took Wm to McDs playplace to play while Lauren was at piano lessons. Because I had Lauren's Saxon Math with me to correct, I was identified by some women as a homeschooler. Sadly, she'd been homeschooling for two years without knowledge of a support group. I put her on that path. School moms get adult interaction now and again through school, but homeschoolers don't get that automatically. You have to look for that support. It was an enjoyable discussion, but I didn't get the math corrected. See, I am a slacker mom.

William's Birthday!

William is four years old today - and is already asking when we'll get to the present part and I've not even finished my coffee. It's hard to believe four years have gone by since the day he was born.

Happy Birthday to William!

Newport Aquarium

Yesterday, we drove to Newport, Kentucky to meet my extended family at the Aquarium. Dad didn't come. Said watching fish was as exciting as watching paint dry. We met him later for dinner to celebrate Wm's 4th birthday.

This aquarium has sharks and they are fun to see up close and personal. The kids always enjoy seeing unusal fish, such as the one pretending to be a rock in the shark tank. Can't say as I blame him! If you happen to be within driving distance of the Newport Aquarium, they allow two children in free for each adult until the end of February.

"Still Waters Run Deep"

As part of Lauren's high school studies, we are working on "Career Studies". My wise advisors on La Leche League Leaders that homeschool email list (yes, there is such a thing) recommended the book Do What You Are : Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type--Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century . It suggests looking at careers based on what or who you are.

According to an online Jung Typology Test , and as I've tested time and again for the past 15 years, I am an INFP. The title of that chapter is "Still Waters Run Deep". My "I" is rather weak, and I most likely slip into ENFP frequently or "Anything's Possible". I think maybe I'm an ENFP when I have energy, and INFP when I tire! I like that a lot of ENFPs are comedians, for I enjoy humor, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, is thought to have been an INFP, although there is so little written about her really I don't know how they reached this conclusion.

Interestingly, neither is consistent with a career in engineering, which is where I was steered when I was in high school. While I enjoyed math and science, I never did enjoy this field and slipped into management and organizational development, both career choices for NFPs, soon after college. I hope to guide my children more wisely.
My challeges are to:

• Develop realistic expectations
• Value compromise
• Not take things so personally
• Follow through

I think following through is my biggest challenge. Interestingly, my dh is the exact opposite of my type, ISTJ, and the exact same as my father. What would Freud say about that?

By now you are thinking - This is for Lauren's career studies? Yes, it is and she did do the test. I do feel that adults need to try to understand themselves in order to mentor others. Anyway, Lauren is an ENFJ. She's read the typology and seems to identify with it. Next, we'll be reading through the chapter and discussing the types of careers that might fit an ENFJ.

Anna, at age 12, interestingly scored a 1% on each indicator, so it is hard to say what type she really is. I suppose she's still forming her opinion, but I know her well enough to say that the I is full cemented, so perhaps the dilemma lays in the way she answered the questions.

I finished reading:
The Betrayal by Beverly Lewis
The Sacrifice by Beverly Lewis

Weekend

Thursday was full with school and Lauren's riding practice. Just as the day drew to a close, Lauren reported that Jorgen's (pony's) eye was swollen shut. I despaired, because we've just now received the vet bill for sutures for a cut on his nose. We've not yet received the bill for Stealth (Anna's pony) who turned up lame last week, and also for shots, Coggins, and health certificates for both. I need a job!

Because eye injuries can turn serious quickly, I called the vet right away and we were advised to put antibiotic in it and give him Banamine (painkiller). I found a neighbor with the eye ointment and apologized for using them as a pharmacy. I've little by little built our stockpile of animal medicines, but they seem to use them up faster than I can buy them lately.

The next morning, the vet found a corneal ulcer, most likely caused by the high winds blowing something into it, but he could also just as easily poked it somehow. We'll be medicating it for a few days. Interestingly, Equus magazine just had an article on eye injuries, but I didn't see it until after this was all over. I was happy to see we were doing all the right things. We learn a lot of things by having horses, but it sure gets costly. I plan to keep the magazine article though, and get Lauren to write a little on this experience and document this for her class in "Equine Studies".

Wm had an eye exam Friday morning, his first just to make sure all was well. The assistant asked him if he had any sisters. When he replied that he had two sisters, the woman said absent-mindedly, "Oh, that's a lot!" Wm said, "No it's not. I only have two!" Hangs around a lot of big homeschool families, I guess :-)

Friday afternoon, we went to the YMCA with the OCHE Tweens group, where the girls got a lesson in rock wall climbing. The attendants remarked that with my girls agility and strength, they would work the attendants (older high schoolers) out of a job. Wm enjoyed the playplace there and they all went swimming after.

Today, it is frigid cold. I'm done with this cold! We are staying home and fore-going the Mounted Games practice in Lexington. More on this later.

No Red Hat Society for Me

I shamelessly stole this from Crossed Sabers Stable and The Second Wind Adoption Program website.

The Woman I Will Be
I shall wear diamonds and a wide brimmed straw hat with ribbons
and flowers on it
And I shall spend my social security on white wine and carrots
And sit in the alley of my barn and listen to my horses breathe.
I will sneak out in the middle of a summer's night
And ride the dappled mare across the moonstruck meadow,
if my old bones will allow.
and when people come to call, I will smile and nod,
As I walk them past the gardens to the barn
And show, instead, the flowers growing there
In stalls fresh-lined with straw.
I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel.
And I will be an embarrassment of all who look down on me
Who have not yet found the peace in being free
To love a horse as a friend, a friend who waits at midnight hour
With muzzle and nicker and patient eyes
For the Woman I will be when I am old.

Books I'm Reading

I've noticed some share what they're reading or listening to each day. I thought I'd share that now and again, also. Lauren and I are reading about the Amish in the Abram's Daughters trilogy. We've recently read:


The sad thing in it is that the daughter, Sadie, does not trust her mom's and dad's love enough to share a dark secret with them for fear of losing their love, and in the Amish community, perhaps even be shunned. I do hope my children can come to me with any problem without fear of losing my love.

We are now both reading:

This is the second book in the trilogy. We have to fight each other for the one copy we have :-)

I got this book at the library today:


Someone recommended this to me for study of how to guide a teenager through career studies.

What we are watching tonight: Bones. Anna won't watch it, too graphic, but Lauren and I love the mystery of it.

Listening: to piano music, all day :-). Lauren is playing Chopin's Nocturne Opus 9 and Paderewski's Minuet.

Warmer Weather

Yesterday, we had a beautiful day. It is hard to believe it is February! We took a drive to Simpsonville with our horse trailer and Jorgen to a horse farm. There, Lauren met some people to practice for her upcoming Parelli clinic. The farm and arena were beautiful, and the people kind.

We asked Cat, the owner, if it were possible to make a living "horse farming". She replied that you could, but not the way she does it. She has a soft heart, and takes in many rescues. These eat (literally) the profits. The only way to make money, she thought, was to take problem horses and turn them around for owners or help to fix their problems. Parelli training is one way to do that. She tried hard to get us interested in several of her rescues but we escaped.

Again, today, it is warm. So much so that for days, Wm has been asking if he could fill his kiddie pool. To him, it was warm outside, and he could not understand why he could not fill it and go swimming. He's been asking for sometime, even before it got warm. We've discussed that it's winter, next is Spring, then Summer and then you can go swimming. (It's not like he doesn't get to "swim" as we have a hot tub.) Anyway, I finally decided to allow him to try it, as it was the only way to prove to him that it was too cold. He filled the pool, stripped to his underwear, and put one foot in. "It's tooooo COLD!" he said. End of discussion.

We went to the preschool hour at the library this morning. He participated this time and seemed to enjoy it, unlike last week. He told me that last week "I was miserable, but I like it now". I guess he's getting used to group settings. He made Daddy a card there that he asked me to inscribe, "Dear Daddy, You have to put all your tools away on a shelf by yourself." Don't rightly know what that's about. He drew a bridge on the front, his first real depiction of an object that was not a person.

This afternoon, Lauren had a marathon piano lesson. They are getting so long, Will and I pop over to McD's playplace. A boy was there up in the tubes, refusing to come down though his "Papa" or "Poppa" implored him to come so they could leave. I could not tell if the man was dad or grandpa, and these days you don't ask. Of which I am glad, so that I'm not asked. Anyway, Poppa wasn't going up in the tubes to retrieve Junior because Poppa's belly would not allow it. I have to give the guy credit: he didn't raise his voice or threaten.

Myself, I tired of "Junior" totally ignoring Poppa, and Poppa's constant pleading, and I offered to go after him. "Would you please?" the poor man asked. "Oh, I'd be grateful." Well, I'm small and easily go through the tubes, so I found Junior and in a firm voice said, "Junior, you're leaving. Head for the slide." I revelled in my adult voice and authority. It was kind of fun. Junior moved quickly to the slide and Poppa took him home. Those playplaces, a hotbed of anarchy.

Poor Baby

Wm has a very bad ear infection today. I dragged him kicking and screaming, literally, into the doctor's office. He kept yelling, "I don't want to be here." Finally, calmed down, he handled it all very well (and after I assured him that they don't give shots for ear infections).

While waiting, we heard a car playing very loud music outside the window of the examining room. You know the type, where the car is practically vibrating with the sound and all you can hear is the base. Rap music, in this case. I asked Will if he could hear the music. "That's not music," he said. "It's someone's heartbeat."

Later, we heard a baby screaming. I asked if he heard it crying. He replied, "I think someone is taking a shot at her."

Anyway, with a little medicine, and a lot of luck, that ear will soon be healed and I'll get some sleep tonight.

Blog-os-phere

While cooking dinner, I listen to NPR's All Things Considered. I laughed when I heard Commentator Julie Zickefoose (don't you just love that name?) talking about how she and her husband, both bloggers, save up things that happen to them and fight over who gets to blog about it. Like her, as my day goes on, I save in my mind any quotes that might be "blog-worthy" or funny observances.

Like most things in my life, I attack blogging like a job. I imagine my "readers" hanging on my very word, being disappointed that I didn't post one day. Reality sets in when you talk to those very people and realize they don't even remember that you have a blog! LOL Perhaps, it is because I assiduously don't write about people I know outside my immediate family, dh and kids, for fear they'll see themselves in the funny pages.

Still, readers or not, I blog because I am. Because I have to. It is some kind of weird obsession. It is addicting. I guess I'm not alone in that. Click here to listen on NPR.

Seat Up or Down?

All my life, I've heard females complaining about males in their family leaving the toilet seat up. This is one whine with which I cannot identify. I need to get my boy to put the seat UP to begin with. A friend with boys said that evidently, I've not had the pleasure of sitting on cold porcelain and having my butt hit cold water. No, I haven't, as dh has always been thoughtful in this regard. I now, however, have the pleasure of sitting on a wet seat after my four year old has liberably sprinkled it.

As for the toilet paper debate (hang over or hang under), I won't even go there. If you are lucky enough to have anyone who will put the toilet paper on a roller (so that it doesn't instead get perched on the back of the toilet where it inevitably falls into the toilet) don't EVEN complain to me about which way it rolls.

At the Circus

Kosair's Shriner's Circus came to town this weekend, and has an animal lover, I gave pause as to whether we should attend. I've heard protests about the treatment of circus animals, and the ethics of using them for this purpose. I decided to go, using this as a learning experience. I think too often, people make decisions about things without having experienced them first-hand. The girls are assigned to think about today, and to do some research on this company in particular and whether they think the protests have merit.

I myself haven't done the research, but found that buying tickets is only the beginning of the money you need while attending a circus. Little did I know. Firstly, you must have money for the slide, the jumping pit, the elephant rides, etc. that preceed the show. Here's William giving the slide a try:

Then, of course, you have to have popcorn, (I was wise enough to bring water, which could not be purchased there, only soda). I got by without the cotton candy, ice cream (can you make the cone any larger, people??), and snow cones because we went to a morning performance. Then, when the lights go down, you get all excited...because EVERYONE has a light up toy! You can have one, too, for $10. I kept saying to myself, this is for a charitable organization, this is for a charitable ....

This toy was broken before we got in the door at home.

The circus left me thinking how far we've come from the big-top tent circus of old. Today's circus is full of lights, very loud music, and despite the amazing stunts, doesn't seem to wow the crowd like one might expect. With today's audiences used to seeing all kinds of stunts on TV and in movies, the crowd didn't seemed impressed by the acts. Me, I was very happy when the tightrope walkers were done. Several times the guys almost fell, and I don't need the stress!

My last observation is that men that don't want to go to the circus (my dh was out of town) haven't been lately. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders have nothing over the circus. Man! I've not seen that many flat bellys in one place in a longggg time.

It's Skunk Season.....

says Daisy, you can smell 'em! Rather than some ol' groundhog somewhere, we judge the length of winter by the scent of skunk in the air. When the skunks come out of hibernation, get run over in a desperate search for a mate, and releasing their, uh, perfume, it is almost spring. Dead skunks in the middle of the road....everywhere. That said, we're expecting snow. Drat.
Photo by Wm, age 3 and 11 mos.

How NOT to Clean a Coffee Pot

Let me tell you how NOT to clean out a coffee pot. Do not, during the day, pour in white vinegar, run it through several times, dump the vinegar, and then go blog, forgetting that you haven't yet run clear water through several times. Do not, after dinner, then make coffee for your dear husband using said coffee pot. Bleh!!!!!!!!

On the other hand, I've found a very useful concoction. Have you ever had the flu and thought, I don't want to throw up but would feel better if I just got it over with? I have two words for you: Vinegar Coffee.

No (uh) Manure

For years, I have been taking our horse manure, composting it and putting it directly onto our garden. Finally, the soil looks a bit crumbly, or at least the first inch. After that, you can make clay pots. But, I thought this top layer was like the richest dirt one could find. Yet, my garden didn't do so well last year.

As part of Lauren's biology lab, she was to take and test soil samples for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels. I was sure my garden would rate high nitrogen with all that manure I've put on it. We ordered a test kits from Heirloom Seeds for $16.99.

Imagine my surprise that my garden hasn't any nitrogen at all, but high levels of phosphorus and potassium. Dh thinks that our problem is that the manure is mixed with a good deal of wood shavings, and he's probably right. The prescribed treatment is blood meal. Maybe I'll get more out of my garden this year. If you haven't checked out Heirloom Seeds, it is a cool catalog. I have read that a good many nurseries are working to make seeds infertile and/or make it illegal to save seeds (let them come and get me!) so that you have to buy seeds every year. Isn't that crazy? I love this catalog that helps preserve many varieties, which we all know is the spice of life.

Here I sit contemplating my garden and I've just received a weather alert by email that tomorrow night, we should expect 2 - 4 inches of snow.

New Articles

I've added some new articles to Why We Homeschool. Click on the link in the right margin, or go to http://lifetimelearning.blogspot.com/2006/01/why-we-homeschool.html.
On the one about the strip search, I would NOT have held it against one of my daughters to have left the premises, stayed and refused to comply, or if forcibly disrobed, to have kicked the living daylights out of the teacher. Then, when daughter got home, I think I'd be contacting a lawyer, even though I'm not sue-happy.

Real World

I would like to thank all of you that have joined in this discussion. It has given my noodle much exercise and food for thought. Here's some of what I'm thinking:

"Real World" is a phrase that often surfaces in discussions about homeschooling. We are told by experts that children must learn to deal with "life". We are told that in "the real world", they must deal with bullying, with Mean Girls. Get used to it. That's what the world is like, baby, better deal with it. So as homeschoolers, are we over-protecting our children, removing them from negative influences and the "real world"?

When Americans discuss the "real world", generally they are referring to institutional schools as the training grounds, or boot camps if you will, for entering the world they will likely face as adults. Sheltering children, it is often said, does not prepare them well for the challenges they will face in the working world.

The problem arises when "experts" are allowed to define "real". There are as many definitions of a real world as there are individuals alive. Americans define "real world" as fitting into our current (and relatively new) society. I would suggest that such experts, raised by the system and immersed by the system, are thinking inside of a box. They have a vested interest in seeing that the system "works" and that other buy into it.

A stable, competent work force is the highest goal of today's educational system. Workers that are willing to stay, despite not liking the work, despite having trouble with co-workers, will press on and not quit, because that is "the real world" and it isn't any better anywhere else.

In today's world, we are faced more and more with the knowledge that something is going wrong in our society. Not a week goes by that I don't read a newspaper article about a child killing someone. A good number of our kids are on medication so they can make it through the day. Families are disconnected from one another, and siblings spend the entire day, every day, apart so that they can interact with this so-called real' world where they'll never diaper a baby or have to help fix a toddler lunch. They'll not have control of their day, for the schedule is set and they are told when to eat, when to go to the bathroom and when to move on to the next subject.

So, I don't buy that this is "life" or "real world" to attend a school. I want my children to learn that in the real world, you have choices. You don't have to work in a place or job you don't like. You don't have to hang around people that are mean. You are strong. You can follow your passions and live!

Mean Girls

During our party last night (which went well, thank you), one of our friends mentioned that next year her son would be attending a different school. He currently attends a private middle school. The kids at this school had evidently been together in school since kindergarten, and her son was finding it hard to be socially accepted. He felt left out.

I found this amazing because he is smart without being weird, was dressed like kids these days dress, and fit right in with the other kids here last night, boys and girls. Though seeing each other infrequently, they seemed to have a great time.

His mom explained that at this school, there were four girls that ruled the class. They were the social cruise directors and said if you were in or out. They decided if you were cool or not. I asked why that was allowed. Evidently, the school "tries" to contol it, but cannot.

I had a sudden urge to pull some hair, just snatch these girls over for a "sit down". I envision a whole new career - "Bootcamp for Mean Barbies". I hear about these social queens all the time. I wonder that they can't be rounded up and taught by older, wiser, strong women what their actions and words are doing to others. I'd like to see them sent to work in the inner city with the underprivledged, maybe have to muck stalls with my girls on a farm, maybe send THEM to a new school and let them feel what it's like to be the new person.

I find it amazing that this sort of thing still goes on, but yet, all the education reform that we hear about concerns curricula and passing tests and content. Yet, when kids get out of school, what causes society the most problems? The ability to interact compassionately and maturely with other humans. The ability to form good relationships. Oh, how I'd like to talk to these Mean Girls.

Who Ordered the Snow?

Okay, look, I know I was spoiled with a relatively mild winter, but I was ordering seeds and planning my garden. I am done with winter and ready for some serious sunshine. Peter Pan is rousing the house as it continues to snow. "Get UP everybody. Let's go sledding!!" That is why we are supposed to have children when we are young. Where's my coffee?

Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here

Today is the big day - yup, Super Bowl Sunday. Despite my loud pronouncement that "I'll NEVER do this again" during preparations for our last party, we have several couples (friends of dh from work) coming over to watch football on TV. So, I haven't much time to blog today, for it is time to bring out the big guns - get the bulldozer out and CLEAN!

Yes, I do know about Flylady, and she does buzz around my house periodically. My sink is clean. Flylady doesn't, evidently, homeschool (books everywhere), have children who eat like deer (grazers) or enjoy cooking (dishes everywhere), or a four year old that spills milk, plays with dried beans with his tractors and says "Hey, mommy, look at how the beans skid on the floor when I throw them". I have been decluttering, but really, that's not my major area of insecurity.

You see, decorating is not my cup of tea. We live in the country. We live on a mini-farm. My idea of decorating is removing the mud from the stairs daily. The women coming over today have all moved beyond toddlerhood in their families. In fact, some are nearly empty-nesters. One has a son at Purdue (will my kids get past high school?) and lives in a perfectly clean home that while there, you have to remind yourself you are not in a furniture store display. She probably even knows where her remote control is. Another owns her own home embroidery business. I'm lucky to have time to check my email. She is always perfectly attired and coiffed. I'm a likely candidate for What Not to Wear.

Well, it back to work for me. Hi ho, hi ho....

I'm Crooked

I was reading MyCrazyLife, and how her spine has become crooked by (possibly) carrying her children. This "set me to thinkin'" that my chiropractor told me that my left hip is permanently lower now than my right, due to carrying children on my left hip. He told me in no uncertain terms that I need to quit carrying Peter Pan around. What's a mom to do, I lamented, when in the middle of Wallyworld, he sits and refuses to walk? Chiro-man told me to take the boy to the car and beat him. Seriously. Doesn't he know they have cameras in the Wallyworld parking lot?? (Now, for those of you that don't get sarcasm, I wouldn't lay a hand on Peter Pan.)

Speaking of Wallyworld, I recently was with PP and bought two 5 lb. weights so that I can prevent old age "wings" on my arms. Peter Pan says to me, "Mom, are you buying those so that you can get strong and CARRY ME?"

Even French Women....

....are getting fatter, I heard on the radio this morning. I looked it up on the web and found an article in Business Week Online confirming this. The woman on Morning Edition almost reported this trend with glee, no doubt having read the book French Women Don't Get Fat. I suppose she ascribes to the adage, "Rather than diet, feed everyone around you and you'll look skinny by comparison". I like that one.

What Kind of Dog Would You Be?

I would be a Miniature Poodle. I am not sure if that is good or not. They are smart, loyal, loving, and live a real long time. On the other hand, I know a great number of people don't like them. What would you be?

On Being Naked

William, turning four years this month, is in that phase that all of my children seem to pass through - to be naked all the time, or at least to wear as little clothing as possible. It starts about age three, when they are finally capable of taking off their own clothes, no matter how many times you dress them. He will use any excuse to disrobe:

• He had to go to the bathroom
• "I'm hot" (in the dead of winter, no less)
• "I got chocolate milk on my shirt"
• "My pants ride up on me"
• "I don't like shirts with zippers"

This is but a sampling. He's developed quite a list of reasons he should be allowed to parade around in his altogether. Well, sometimes, he does wear my high heels or a hat. He also has a peculiar fascination with gloves of any kind.

His irritation with certain kinds of clothes has, however, become quite frustrating. No shirts with zippers or hoods, and all tags must be cut out. Jeans are the only acceptable pants at the moment, because all the others "ride up" on him. We've culled the acceptable clothing down to about two outfits. Since he requires about twenty a day because of getting dirty and/or wet, this is a problem.

So what brought this to my mind this morning? On NPR, there was a story this morning on Why Kids Hate Coats. I was amused by the studies about whether allowing your child to run around under-dressed causes colds. All that money for something I could have told them for free. NO, under-dressing does not cause sickness. Going to a fast food joint and playing in the incubation of germs tubes that they pass off as a playplace DOES. Four days incubation to be exact.

I have more than once had some older and wiser woman (their opinion, not mine) remark on my child's attire while out. "He should have on a ___" (fill in with hat, coat, etc). If they're lucky, I haven't had too much coffee, and it is sunny outside, I'll just smile and walk away. Now, I have expensive research on my side.

Super Bowl

Every year, I am asked who I want to win the Super Bowl. My practiced answer has always been "First, tell me who's playing". That about sums up my interest in this yearly ritual.

I grew up in baseball land, and now live in a town where you have to be careful not to wear blue or red to certain homes as it might be indicative of your leanings for a particular basketball team. Here, your basketball affiliation (regardless of whether you attended that University or even made it out of high school) can be used to size you up in seconds. More important than whether you are Democrat or Republican, what religion you practice, or whether you agree with the war in Iraq is your answer to the the question, "How about them 'Cats?"

It is an important social skill, having a team affiliation. You can then converse with any yahoo that happens to be thrown in your personal space. It doesn't matter if you have no single other thing in common, you can talk basketball. Poor dear husband must keep up with the season, (though I do think he enjoys it) as it is an expected topic of conversation at work.

Me? I plead ignorance and am looked at with pity. Silly woman, doesn't know anything, does she? But I'm ready for the Super Bowl. Ellen Degeneres gave me a new line in answer to who I want to win: "I've got it narrowed down to two teams." Dear husband rehearsed me this morning. The two teams playing are Pittsburgh and Seattle. I am supposed to want Pittsburg to win because the teams where we were raised, the Bengals and the Browns, are in the same conference. Seems to me that Pittsburgh would then be considered our mortal enemy. But no, they are in our conference and so we need to pull for them (as if that will make a difference). I'll try to reach down inside myself and muster some enthusiasm.