Thursday, October 01, 2009

Sweets For The Sweet?

This article from the BBC Health Wire is disturbing, if only because I bribe my kids with sweets almost every day. I thought that was what sweets are for. If someone out there knows a better way to get the little rug rats to do their math pages, I sure would like to hear it. It disturbs me to think I'm raising a bunch of psychotically-aggressive future adults (psychotically-aggressive future adults who know their arithmetic, though - there's some value in that, right?).

Is "rug rats" one word or two?

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I need to pay attention to the children (and give them some candy); but first we need to close out some business here. Most commenters believed that the spout on the detergent bottle from hell would be on the right. I keep making the same mistake. I can't help thinking that the ALL manufacturers have committed some grievous design error to confuse that many people. And I think they should pay me money for figuring that out.

Perhaps I kept picking the wrong side because that kept the front of the bottle facing me. This theory requires more research, so I'm heading to Target today. If you're looking for me, I'll be the one in the laundry detergent aisle unscrewing the lids on all the bottles in pursuit of a unifying theory of detergent-spout placement. I sense a Nobel Prize in my future.

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And, from yesterday's comments on the toothpaste tube issue, AlisonH wins the "Most Egregious Pun" award (no, I didn't know we had one, either, until I read her comment). She wrote in to inform us that "It'll be the Col gates of Prell when my husband will throw away an empty container in the bathroom."

Nice job, AlisonH! You'd get a prize if I were actually organized enough to buy one and send it out. How about a nice hand-knitted shawl? Oh, no, I guess you wouldn't need me to send you one of those....

(Click on that last link, folks - Alison's patterns are so pretty that, even if you don't knit, you'll want to pretend that you do. And why don't you? Everyone needs a hobby.)


6 comments:

  1. That article gives me pause because I am a fellow treat mama--bribery is what makes our world go round and SUGAR is the best bribery of ALL!
    I argue it's delayed gratification, however, because my tribe has to PERFORM FIRST before they get treats. Yes, exactly like my relationship with Mr. D. hahaha
    Good luck with your spout-placement research. I don't suppose you qualified for any federal grant money?

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  2. I thought of you this morning! I heard a commercial on the radio--it was for Dunkin Donuts--in which the husband was rigging up some sort of air compressor-operated device to get out the last bit of toothpaste in the tube. (The point being, Dunkin Donuts gives the consumer a different--perhaps more enjoyable--way to save money in the morning, assuming, of course, that you don't consider making your own darn coffee the cheapest option to begin with.)

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  3. I found that the best way to get a teenager to open up and talk was to make them their favorite dessert--not storebought--and stay up with them way past our bedtimes. It really worked, and I highly recommend it.

    As for puns, thank you! I had a lot of fun at Lene's The Seated View blog, both with her photo yesterday and especially the one here at http://theseatedview.blogspot.com/2009/09/mr-crankypants.html

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  4. (A little slow here, duh...) And thank you for the compliments on my shawls!

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  5. My kids' reward for getting their math done is not having to do math again until the next time! Please, don't tell them your method. I'll never get any work out of them again!

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  6. If I win a prize on your blog, will you knit me a shawl?

    My prize is mama won't be mad or make the kid do push-ups. You'd think I was a drill sergeant!

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