What was I Going to Write?

People ask me how I come up with ideas for my blog. "How do you think of something new to write every day?"

I'll let you in on a secret. When my kids do something crazy or an idea suddenly comes to me, I usually stop at some point during my day and jot down a few key words so I remember it. Today, I had a great idea for a blog post. I didn't stop and write it down. Do you think I can remember for a second what I was going to write tonight? The idea completely flew out of my brain.

Was it about going to the doctor's office? No.
About my book? Nope.
Maybe it was about something Clay did? Maybe. I can't really remember anything specific though.
Was I going to write about how my son was practicing his saxophone while my middle son was asking me the same question he'd asked me fifty times this afternoon while my daughter was blaring her music in her room, while I was trying to pay bills, while the phone was ringing, while my husband was working, and while the youngest three were running through the house like lunatics in a game of hide and seek (or notsomuch hide and seek as hide and then scream at the top of your lungs "COME AND FIND ME! I'M IN THE BATHROOM!") No, I don't think that was it.
Perhaps I was going to write about how my baby wore her coat in the house all day long....BINGO! I remembered! (Seriously, it just came to me while writing this! I love it when my brain turns back on like that!) I was going to write that today was officially Winter Coat Day, the first day of the season that you have to drag out the winter coats. When I drove the kids to school this morning, it was 34 degrees outside. That meant, scrambling to find the winter coats and even more searching to find hats and gloves.

"Mooom, these gloves don't match."
"Sure they do."
"One is Spiderman and one is Cinderella!"
"Do you have a left and a right glove?"
"Yes, but...."
"Then you've got a matching pair. You're going to lose one before recess anyway, so don't worry about it."

What makes Winter Coat Day extra fun is the fact that you now have to readjust all the car seats because the straps no longer fit your child and their puffy coat. I suspect this is something you southerners never fully experience. School starts at 9:10 here. That means I usually get my kids to school at 9:11. Because I had to adjust three car seats this morning, I got them to school at 2:30 today. Ok, I'm exaggerating. Actually, car seats are much easier to adjust today than they were just a few short years ago. You no longer have to take them out of your car in order to loosen the straps or move them up a notch. And now, as long as you have a relatively new car (I don't) you can simply latch them in. What a great invention that is! I still have to do it the old fashioned way. You know, you kneel on the seat while you nearly amputate your arm on the sharp edges of the plastic as you try to thread the seatbelt through the little hole at the back of the seat. Then you bounce up and down on the seat a little as you use Herculean strength to make the buckle snap into the receptor. And if your seats recline to much, you have to wad up towels or use pool noodles so the car seat sits nice and level. Fun times, fun times.

Thirteen years ago, when I had my first baby, car seats were super easy to use. You just pulled the bar (much like on a roller coaster) over your child's head and buckled it in. Ta da! I absolutely cannot imagine how my parents did it without car seats at all. How do you concentrate on driving when your kids are bouncing around all over the car? Hmmm, I'll have to ask them this some day.

Anyway, Winter Coat Day only pertains to the little kids who need car seat adjustments to accommodate their poofy coats. The older kids don't celebrate Winter Coat Day because they're impervious to cold. Seriously, watch the kids walking home from junior high some day. These kids amaze me. It's 30 degrees outside and here they come walking home wearing shorts. Oh, there's one wearing a hat! And shorts. Here's a guy with a sweatshirt at least. Oops, too late. He's taking it off and tying it around his waist. Shorts, shorts, jeans and a T-shirt, jeans, shorts, a windbreaker, jeans and flip flops. One out of every seventy kids has on an actual winter coat. Why is this? Is it uncool to be comfortable? To be cool, do you have to literally be COOL? I'll never understand teenagers. Nor will I understand why I continue to live in Chicago when it gets so darn cold here. I didn't use to hate winter, but I think the years of bundling up kids, strapping them in car seats only to hear them say, "I have to go to the bathroom," the minute you start your car, has seriously impacted my idea of winter. I think I could get used to Christmas lights strung on a palm tree.

Oh and to all of you who pointed out that Tupperware has a lifetime guarantee, thank you. I actually sold Tupperware for several years. I was pretty good at it too! I earned a cruise to the Bahamas and drove a company car, in fact. So I know that Tupperware does indeed have a lifetime guarantee. However, I also know me. The last time a plate cracked, I set it on my kitchen counter, intending on finding my nearest TW consultant so it could be replaced. That plate sat there for six and a half months before I admitted that I was never going to get around to finding someone to replace it, and so I tossed it. This time I just cut to the chase. I know - sad.

Lastly, thank you all so much for your wonderful congratulations and well wishes!!! :)

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