Rules by which a Southern Mother Lives

My sweet sister-in-law, A, gave me a great book when she visited! It is called, "Some Day You'll Thank Me for This... The Official Southern Ladies' Guide to Being a "Perfect" Mother". It is by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays & it is HILARIOUS! You can buy it here on Amazon.com!

I liked this part...
Rules by which a Southern Mother Lives:
1. Never sit on the commode seat in a filling station. Always hover. Hovering is great for the legs. By the way, we say commode, not toilet.

2. Always wear a piece of good jewelry when going to the airport- that way people will know you are from a nice family. (Why do we care? We jes' do. We secretly believe people might treat us nicer if they believe our rich daddy will horsewhip them if they don't.)

3. Speak to all chaperones. (If you don't, Mother will know because in the Delta there are no secrets.)

4. Don't tell me. I don't want to know.

5. Tell me everything. I am your mother. (We will reveal some of Mother's tricks for pumping the truth out of unsuspecting daughters in subsequent chapters.)

6. Always be nice to the other girls-- they'll help you get to the boys.

7. Always wear your nice underwear-- you may be killed in a car wreck, and you don't want the EMS workers to take one look at your poor dead little body and say, "Well, she certainly wasn't a lady." That would be a fate worse than death!

8. You can date him, but you don't have to marry him.

9. It is as easy to feed a good dog as a bad dog.

10. Never reply to a formal invitation in blue ink.

And the Southern mother's all-time favorite rule of life:

11. Serve left, retrieve right.

The Little Professor Calculator

Do you remember this fun calculator? I DO!! That is why I searched for it on ebay for Christmas. I remember playing with my calculator for hours!! Now our children enjoy playing it too. I love it because unlike so many handheld games, this one reinforces what they are learning at school! You can never be drilled on Math facts too often. You can find one like it on ebay. I checked out a listing here. Have fun!

A sweet day

What a sweet day! K told her Daddy she was building a HABITAT for her bugs... of course we both thought that was just brilliant. A decided ON HIS OWN to practice for their Bible verse competition next week. He sat singing his little heart out & practiced all of the verses. There are PAGES of them. CP sat down to do her Math. They are being taught Singapore Math, and it is more difficult at first, but they say that these students will be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide BIG numbers later. CP hasn't understood completely the little tricks for this math. Tonight, it CLICKED after A showed her how to do it. I had tried, but it took her triplet brother showing her for it to click. I loved it. DJ came home and handed me the sweetest note telling me that I am a wonderful mother, so of course that made me day! She has such a giving heart. After dinner, we let the children swim. At bath time, CP told H to sit on the potty. They both sat on the potty (AH has a little potty) and H FINALLY went to the potty in the potty!!!! I had given up trying because whenever we talk about it, she says, "No!" Well, it clicked tonight & then she sat back down and went #2! The entire family cheered and we gave her 3 MMs and she jumped up & down & danced and we all continued to yell. It was so sweet! THank you, Lord, for another great day!!

Germ fighter

I have heard that pouring hydrogen peroxide over your toothbrush kills germs. So, in light of the current health alerts, try it! I have been dousing our children's toothbrushes in it daily in order to kill any germs. Who knows if it works, but it's worth a try! Make sure you use 3% hydrogen peroxide & do not let anyone drink it!

Tuesday's Tip: Save those shower caps!

I traveled recently and thought of a great way to use plastic hotel shower caps! Now that we all have to take off our shoes and coats before going through security, I worry about my feet walking across the nasty airport floor. I never seem to be wearing socks, and even when I pack a pair simply for going through security, I then have a dirty pair of socks in my carry-on luggage or pocketbook, and that is just gross. In Tampa, they offer paper flip flops, but it is very difficult to put them on quickly and to keep them on your foot. At another airport, they offered something that looked like a shower cap and you could quickly slip it on your foot and the elastic kept it on your foot. They are disposable, so you don't have to carry around dirty socks! So.... start packing 2 shower caps in your carry-on, and you'll never have to worry about dirty feet at the airport!

Do you have a Tuesday's Tip? If so, please comment and share your ideas that might make someone else's life a little easier or a little better!

Funny but graphic story

I don't want to make anyone sick or upset, so please don't read if you're think you will be! One of my daughters walked in on me in the bathroom at an inopportune time of the month. She is our most naive child, and she did not stay or stare, but quietly left the room. With 5 children, they've all walked in on me at some point or another since they began walking. I called after her and said, "If you want me to explain it to you, I will". She quickly replied, "Maybe when I'm ten!" I loved her ability to show me that she is not ready to learn more about the real world, and that it is wonderful for her to just be a little 8 year old girl!! I laughed out loud and told her that sounded like a great idea:).

Ann Taylor Loft ruffled cardigan

My friend, M, has the cutest clothes. She has a ruffled sweater from Ann Taylor Loft that was just too cute for words! I don't think this picture does it justice, but it is great for every wardrobe. It is very lightweight and gives you just enough coverage on a cool evening, while traveling, or when it's a little chilly in the morning but will warm up in the afternoon. After seeing hers, I bought a pretty green one. You can buy it online here, but they are on sale for $29.50 in the store!