***I wrote this a while back and never actually published it. So now, months and months after I wrote it (we're talking February, peeps), here it is. It isn't controversial like some other posts. Unless you look at it from a "first-world problems" perspective.***
Me: "Green apple juice is so delicious. I don't know how I ever drank anything else!"
Mr. V: "You sound like an infomercial!"
Sitting down to dinner last night, freshly squeezed juice in hand, I had this overwhelmingly peaceful feeling. It was this refreshing feeling that stuck with me and strangely enough, made me wish, once again, for a dishwasher with the ability to run the top or the bottom rack separate from the other.
It is a frequent topic of discussion around here, this dishwasher talk. It's usually revolving more or less around my choice of "next new appliance" which we'll get in 25 years, after we finish paying off our college loans (did I say 25? I meant 2.5. Or less. We're that on top of our finances - and proud of it!) - an oven, a refrigerator, or a dishwasher. Usually, the refrigerator wins. The one we have now was left here by the people who owned the house before we did and, not long after we moved in, we found out why. It grumbles and roars if you leave the water dispenser plugged in. And I'm not talking about some minor roar like that of a young Simba just learning to pounce. I'm talking about a full Terrible Twos Tantrum complete with fist pounding and high pitched screaming. It's terrible. So we unplugged the water dispenser and now the chief complaint about the fridge is that it crowds our food. Boo!
Around the holidays, the oven usually wins out. I'd like one with a warming tray or a double oven. That would make my cooking/baking side extremely happy. But it's not usually that big of an issue since we are a family of two and I don't typically have the time to make huge meals requiring a double oven.
Lately, though, the dishwasher, once on the bottom rung of my important appliance ladder, has risen to the top. And it's all because of my juicer. I love my new juicer and the energy I get from being healthier SO much that I am willing to sacrifice a spacious new refrigerator with French doors and a bottom freezer; I'm willing to sacrifice an oven that can make my holiday dreams come true. I want to juice EVERY day! And sometimes more than that. Mr. V doesn't like to run the dishwasher if it isn't full and I don't have time (or energy) to hand wash the entire unit every single time I want juice BUT if I had the new dishwasher, the one that allows you to wash the top rack apart from the bottom, I could juice every day and be a much happier (and healthier) camper.
Isn't it funny how your priorities can change?
Mrs. V
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
I'm not a parent
Take a moment and do the pre-reading reading assignment for today's post.
http://tinyurl.com/momwars
This popped up on my friend's Facebook today. I know that I'm going to face some heat for this post because I don't have any children but I do have some observations of both sides. These observations, along with mom war articles related to the issue of staying at home vs. working as a mother have oscillated in my head and made me consider what I might do when the time comes to chose a side.
While I'm not a mom, I face some of the same issues as the stay-at-home mother in my job as a teacher. There is isolation, the feeling that I'm not doing enough, a lack of appreciation from the kids, from other teachers, and from administrators, and pressure to do more and more and more with no idea what the outcome may be. And many of the teachers that I know who have quit their jobs to stay home with their kiddos enjoy it a LOT more than dealing with feisty teenagers all day.
That's the place I'm coming from. My adult time during the day comes down to 20 minutes at lunch, and even then, sometimes I work through lunch. Sometimes my peers do.
I don't have the experience of raising my own kids but I did my part to help form the character of 156 teenagers this year - and those are just the ones on my roster. I encounter and help far more than those in my classroom in any given year. I spend more time with other people's children than those kids spend with their parents. I counsel and advise in a way that parents don't get to experience because they are the parents. I implore my kiddos (and they are MY kiddos, though not biologically speaking) to talk to their parents or at least understand that their parents try their best to give their kids their best - even if they might be confused about what that is.
This article should be taken with a grain of salt; your individual experiences will vary. Not everyone feels the same way about each situation they're a part of. I imagine that if, when the time comes, I stay home with my children, there will be frustrating days, loss of sleep, feelings of inadequacy, and isolation. But, like in teaching, there will be moments of hilarity, adoration, and absolute joy.
It seems that girls will stop at nothing but to destroy one another. Mean girls grow up to be . . . mean girls. Stop the mom wars. Everyone has their own perspective on the whole kid issue. And not everyone's circumstance is the same. Maybe we should stop judging one another and instead use that energy to try to honestly understand and support one another. Kids need as many champions as they can find.
http://tinyurl.com/momwars
This popped up on my friend's Facebook today. I know that I'm going to face some heat for this post because I don't have any children but I do have some observations of both sides. These observations, along with mom war articles related to the issue of staying at home vs. working as a mother have oscillated in my head and made me consider what I might do when the time comes to chose a side.
While I'm not a mom, I face some of the same issues as the stay-at-home mother in my job as a teacher. There is isolation, the feeling that I'm not doing enough, a lack of appreciation from the kids, from other teachers, and from administrators, and pressure to do more and more and more with no idea what the outcome may be. And many of the teachers that I know who have quit their jobs to stay home with their kiddos enjoy it a LOT more than dealing with feisty teenagers all day.
That's the place I'm coming from. My adult time during the day comes down to 20 minutes at lunch, and even then, sometimes I work through lunch. Sometimes my peers do.
I don't have the experience of raising my own kids but I did my part to help form the character of 156 teenagers this year - and those are just the ones on my roster. I encounter and help far more than those in my classroom in any given year. I spend more time with other people's children than those kids spend with their parents. I counsel and advise in a way that parents don't get to experience because they are the parents. I implore my kiddos (and they are MY kiddos, though not biologically speaking) to talk to their parents or at least understand that their parents try their best to give their kids their best - even if they might be confused about what that is.
This article should be taken with a grain of salt; your individual experiences will vary. Not everyone feels the same way about each situation they're a part of. I imagine that if, when the time comes, I stay home with my children, there will be frustrating days, loss of sleep, feelings of inadequacy, and isolation. But, like in teaching, there will be moments of hilarity, adoration, and absolute joy.
It seems that girls will stop at nothing but to destroy one another. Mean girls grow up to be . . . mean girls. Stop the mom wars. Everyone has their own perspective on the whole kid issue. And not everyone's circumstance is the same. Maybe we should stop judging one another and instead use that energy to try to honestly understand and support one another. Kids need as many champions as they can find.
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