I had to front page this diary...if only because it made me smile! Hey Hazel! We should add this to our montage of MT sayings! First it was SUCK IT! Now, What Would Mother Talkers Do? Thanks for the great compliment! - Gloria

I had an aha moment the other day.  I have long felt like coming here helps elevate me a little to a higher, better place.  Things that I might have a knee-jerk, unfair reaction to, I love hearing all the points that you people make and it almost always helps me see things in a different way, or at least helps me justify my knee-jerk reaction  :)

I went to school with a girl from kindergarten through high school graduation; she was the weird kid.  Probably every school had one.

I'm sorry to be violating the rules about short diaries, but I thought this was important.

My four-year old little boy is often sweet, often funny, often moody, and very often any of those things with his hand down his pants.  What to do?

I saw this story yesterday about a Mom who put an ad in the paper to sell her son's car:

The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

Apparently the two rules given the 19-year-old when they bought him the car were to always keep it locked and NO BOOZE.  Oops.

What do you think?  I definitely agree with taking the car away.  Clearly the public humiliation was part of the punishment too.  Was that over the top?  My kids are still young so I have to try to imagine how mad I would be.  Would it be worse if the kid was under 18?

I’ve been thinking about my Mom a lot this week.  This past Monday would have been her 59th birthday.  She died of cancer in September of 1999.

My sister has been married a little over a year.  She and her husband aren't quite ready to have kids yet, but they talk about it like every young couple does.  There is one tough thing they have to face - my brother-in-law has (treated) bipolar disorder.

My 5-yo DS started kindergarten this year.  He loves school and apparently is a joy to have in class (my attitude-y kid?)  We of course think he's very bright and he is.  I'm worried about school challenging him.

Great topic, Hazel. I know many of us will have similar stories to share, and hopefully we can help each other come up with the perfect rejoinder for future close encounters-of-the-unpleasant-kind. -Erika

My two boys are generally pretty well-mannered.  We even get comments occasionally from total strangers in restaurants, stores, airplanes, about how well-behaved they are.  Don't get me wrong, they are not perfect or good all the time, I'm not trying to be superior, just setting up the story.  They're good kids.

Ok, sorry, this is not really a mom-related topic.  Next weekend my sister and I are going to New York (girls weekend, no kids!).  I haven't been there in many years and I was very poor at the time.  I'm looking at restaurants and stuff online and I'm totally overwhelmed!

Does anyone have any recommendations for cool things to do? We don't have a lot of time there and have already seen the traditional touristy stuff - Times Square, Empire State, etc.  Also, any favorite restaurants in the medium-low to medium-high price range?

Thanks guys!

That quote is from my 3-year-old son this morning on the way to school.  It started with a time-out because I asked him 5 times to put his socks on but he was too busy to listen.  Then, downward spiral into full-on freak-out.  All the moms and teachers at preschool are so nice - telling me how they've been there and they understand and you know you are doing your job if they call you a mean mommy, etc.

But here's the thing - I can't remember ever seeing them having to potato-sack their kicking and screaming child anywhere.  With my two boys in preschool I'm there 10 times a week, and at least one of those times somebody is in the middle of a tantrum (now usually the 3-year-old, since my older son turned 5 he has actually been much easier to reason with).

I had an epiphany today that many of the things I've been feeling unhappy about lately just might be due to my birth control pills.  A couple years ago I lost about 30 pounds and was doing great, then after a year I gained 15 back, right about when I went back on the pill.  What's worse, and affecting me more than anything now, is that my libido is gone.  Not decreased even, G-O-N-E gone.  It's making me (and obviously DH) so sad, but I just can't seem to summon the interest.  So I'm looking for a contraception alternative.