Way to Be

I had no idea what to title this post, but I hope you enjoy the video.

Here's a little "backstory": Since my son seems to remember things so easily, we decided to see just what he can remember. Honestly, we've just repeated these things to him about 2 or 3 times a day for the past 2 weeks, although I'm sure he's heard them before in other contexts. In particular, I used to have a very bright laminated picture of the "Six Bes" printed on bumblebees up by his changing table when we was just a wee baby. My sisters had always had something on the wall for their baby girls to look at when they were getting new diapers, so I had thought the contrast of the bees would be interesting to a newborn. (I should point out that if you post such pictures for baby boys, it's best to laminate them first, if you know what I mean!) Anyway, I would repeat the "Bes" to him when he was just a few months old -- not that I was trying to make him learn them, for heaven's sake! -- so I guess in some small way, these past few weeks have still been a "review" for him.

The crazy thing about this whole thing is that when I taught Sunbeams, the Primary Presidency really wanted the teachers to practice the Articles of Faith with their classes but I thought, "What?!?! They're 3 years old!! How am I supposed to teach a 3 year old to memorize something?" Now I realize it's actually probably not that hard, considering how quickly and easily toddlers learn new things every day. Live and learn, I guess.

At least he's honest!

I love this clip so much that I've been watching it every day! He looks so sweet and serious with those big, brown eyes. I can totally see my Kiddo saying the very same thing!

I hate tornado watches!

ARGH! Being the nerd I am, I've been super-excited about the finals of the National Spelling Bee airing on ABC tonight. This is actually the one channel that we get that is always clear, so it's quite the event for me. But now they're issuing a tornado warning, so I guess I'd better head to the basement. Let's hope this all goes away in the next 49 minutes, eh?

By the way, if you like documentaries, and I do, check out Spellbound! It's about eight real kids competing in the National Bee, and it's highly entertaining. I loved it. Akeelah and the Bee is also good, but it's fiction, if that matters to ya. Bee Season, however, was very strange and I don't recommend it.

Well, let's hope the tornado doesn't eat me while I'm blogging! BYE, GUYS and GALS!!!

UPDATE (10 p.m.): I got to see about FOUR spellers before the weatherman took over for the next TWO HOURS. I swear that the Midwest is a dream location for TV meteorologists!!! They get to interrupt scheduled programming all year long, even if it's a season finale or a one-time only airing. ARGH! I am so peeved!!!

Our Poor Little Guy

Well, it's been quite interesting here in the last week and a half. On a somewhat trivial note, they've been putting a new roof on our townhouse, so there's been a lot of pounding and house-shaking going on the past few weeks, as well as yelling construction workers and loud music, resulting in a lot of headaches for the Mama. And then there's the man-child, our dear, sweet baby boy.

I told my husband that I think our son decided it was high time we learned what parents really go through. Initially, I'd say we've been pretty spoiled: we had a healthy baby who always ate well, slept well, almost never got sick, was relatively happy almost all of the time, is exceedingly verbal, etc., etc., etc.. Well, now he's realized he's almost two, and it's high time he started acting like it! This is mostly rearing its ugly head in the form of him being a very independent thinker and terribly stubborn about trying to get his way-- refusing to eat (especially veggies, which he previously LOVED), throwing cups if he doesn't want what's in them, telling me "NO!" several times a day, and I swear he has learned how to make himself cry. If that weren't exhausting enough, he got to have his first trip to the ER last week! Now please don't misunderstand-- I'm NOT saying he planned a trip to the hospital! I'm not that crazy!

Here's what happened: on the evening of Tuesday, the 20th, he was playing in our living room while Daddy-O and I sat on the couch chatting about our day. Kiddo was walking kind of quickly, not watching where he was going. Next thing you know, he slips on a LIBRARY BOOK, of ALL things, and totally wipes out on to his left side. Now normally when he falls down, he gets up and prompts us, "Are you okay?" We then ask him, "Are you okay?" and he replies, "yeah." He even gets a kick out of it if I say "WIPEOUT!" when he falls! We tell him we're glad he's alright, and he goes back to whatever he was doing. Not this time, however. He just laid there and cried and cried and cried. Daddy-O rushed over to him and picked him up, set him on the couch with us, and we fussed over him. Kiddo continued to wail. We cuddled him, tried to comfort him, examined him for breaks, bumps, bruises, but don't see anything. He didn't seem to be able to calm down enough to tell us what was wrong, although I do believe he whimpered, "It hurts!"

After a few minutes, we tried to get him to stand up, but he either wouldn't or couldn't. I offered him some Tylenol, which he accepted heartily, let him play with my phone, even got him his binky (normally reserved for bedtime and naps), and to cheer him up, we asked him if he wanted to go to the Library. Of course he did, so we encouraged him to walk with us to the door. Again he refused. So we take him to the car and drive to the Library with our sad little guy. When we got there, I asked him if he wanted to go in with Mommy into the Library. That brought a smile and a "YEAH!" He dropped his binky and I helped him out of the car. When I tried to get him to stand up and walk in, he stood for a few seconds shaking like mad, and then his left ankle gave way, and he sat down in tears. Even inside the Library, he felt he couldn't get down and walk. So by then we KNEW something was wrong.

The hospital is conveniently located quite near to the Library, so we drove over and took him to the ER, where he clung to us and continued to cry. Even though he is normally a chatterbox, he seemed totally unable to explain where he was hurting. Honestly, if you asked him if his fingernails hurt, he would have said yes. He couldn't stand for the doctors either, so they ordered some x-rays, which looked fine, diagnosed it as a sprained left ankle, prescribed us some Ibuprofen for pain, and told us to let him rest a few days. He seemed to be getting happier so we ran to Wal-Mart to get the meds before the pharmacy closed, and got him his favorite Burger King to eat on the way home.

The next day he woke up crying at 5 a.m. (he normally wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30) so we gave him more meds and let him get in our bed with us, another thing we never like to do (it's amazing how much room such a tiny person can take up). The rest of the day, he basically wanted to stay in our bed and watch videos, sleep, or listen to music. He made NO attempts to get down and winced and cried every time we changed his diaper. On Thursday he would sit up by himself, but still wouldn't put any weight on that left leg. He didn't even enjoy his bath. He just sat there and cried. It was too sad. We finally decided that perhaps he'd hurt his hip, not his ankle which never bruised nor swelled.

Friday morning, we called his pediatrician as soon as the office should have opened. Much to our dismay, both she and her partner were on vacation so the answering service said they would page her. When she called back, she was rude to Daddy-O and told him he should have called the day before, there wasn't anything she could do about it. We'd just have to go to Express Care, a drop-in clinic. So we did. The pediatrician there, Dr. Foster, was as sweet as could be and agreed that the problem definitely seemed to be his hip. Since the ER docs hadn't ordered any x-rays of his hips or upper legs, she said the poor guy would have to have more x-rays, and also a blood test to rule out an infection. It turns out that infections in infant/toddler hips are quite a bit more common than I ever knew. Then she called the Pediatric Ortho clinic to see if the Dr. there could see Kiddo before they closed for the holiday. But in case they needed more tests, he couldn't eat anything yet!

By then it was 12:30 (he'd eaten breakfast around 6:30), and we briefly stopped at home to get our sweetie some books, then went right to the hospital again. We actually had no idea where in the complex this clinic was and got pretty lost before we found it. Eventually, we got to meet the doc and his resident-- kiddo had fallen asleep on the exam table!-- who were also as kind and gentle as possible. Dr. Gabriel said he was glad we had come, because from what he had heard on the phone, he had been very worried about Kiddo. Once he saw the x-rays, read the results of the blood test, and examined him, he wasn't worried anymore. He said that Kiddo actually probably had a contusion on his tailbone or hip, and must have just fallen really hard. So we should just let him rest and recuperate on his own terms. At about 3 p.m., we returned home, finally fed the poor kid and put him down for a nap.

My mom came for the holiday weekend, and that perked him up a bit, so he's resumed crawling, and will even walk on his knees, but he still refuses to stand up, pull himself up, or walk. We're not sure if he's afraid to get hurt again, is just being stubborn so he can be carried everywhere, or if it still hurts. We're leaning towards options 1 or 2, partially because he was so stubborn about walking independently for so many months that he wouldn't until he was 18 months. Daddy-O asked him if he needed to go back to Lesotho before he would walk again, and of course he replied, "yes!" Anybody have $5,000 or so just lying around?!?!?!

So that's our very long story of the poor little invalid. Please pray for us that he starts walking again ASAP!!! We hope you and your kidlets are faring better than our little guy!

I had to laugh...

So, our local newspaper's website has a photo gallery for kids to post their Prom pictures and I was curious, so I checked them out. When I saw this one, I couldn't believe it! These kids are gorgeous, but I just thought it was too funny that he's wearing a purple suit. By the way, I'm really not trying to be mean with the hats, hair and glasses-- I'm protecting their identities, like on TV.

Those of you who received our online gallery from my husband's Citizenship ceremony last summer might recall another handsome young man in a purple suit, and what my sweet husband said about it!

My Favorite (So Far)

Well, I had some great ambitions to celebrate Children's Book Week by posting every day this week to pay tribute to a different Children's book or author, but you can see how far I got with that! So, now that there's just 20 minutes left of CBW, I think I'll just write a quick post about this wonderful book, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. You should read it. REALLY.

At some point, I discovered a cool blog titled Deliciously Clean Reads (www.cleanreads.blogspot.com), which posts reviews of books that are totally free of all the stuff that might make you uncomfortable to recommend them to your Grandma or 12-year-old niece. And one day they reviewed A Crooked Kind of Perfect. I was intrigued, but waited a while before I decided to check it out-- most likely I already had a pile of books waiting to be read. Once I finally opened it, I couldn't put it down. I think I finished it in less than 2 hours! I've read just about one book a week so far this year, most of which have been really good, but I do think this one is my favorite.

I think of this book as "the book I wish I could have read when I was a child." The heroine, Zoe, has visions of being a concert pianist and performing in Carnegie Hall. Imagine her disappointment when her well-meaning father tries to help her fulfill her dream... by buying her an organ. She's also recently been "dumped" by her best friend, and often worries about her Dad, who is devoted and kind, but struggles with anxiety and mental illness.

I could relate to this book on so many levels, and plan on reading it again once I've made it through my current stack of Library finds. It's humorous and touching, and a very quick read. For me, a raging perfectionist, it's also a great reminder even if life doesn't usually turn out the way you think it should, there will still be surprises and blessings along the way.

My reviewing abilities surely don't do this book justice, so I'll just repeat: You should read this. REALLY.

Hooray for Kids' Books!

Every time I turn around, it seems to be another day/week/month set aside for honoring books. It’s hard to keep up with them all! There must be some bookworms with some serious connections to have gotten so many days officially devoted to books and reading.

Anyway, this week is “Children’s Book Week,” so in honor of that, here are Mr. Smarty-Pants’ favorite Library Books, in no particular order. There are probably more, but these are all that I can think of right now. It is fun for me that he’s starting to get so interested in picture books, so that I can share some of my favorites with him.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

I Am Invited to a Party by Mo Willems

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Hickory Dickory Dock by Keith Baker

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert

Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 by Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, and Lois Ehlert

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Grandma and Me by Karen Katz

Bunny, My Honey by Anita Jeram

Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton

Horns to Toes and In Between by Sandra Boynton

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

We have checked out, and renewed, some of these books so many times that I’m wondering if any other families are getting to enjoy them. Sometimes I wish I’d never discovered Hickory Dickory Dock. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a great book—but after having read it multiple times a day for about 3 months, it’s starting to get old. The sad thing for me is that he can find that ONE book on the shelf at the Library with absolutely no help from anyone. And once he has found it, it MUST go home with him.

If you have any suggestions for us, we’d love to hear them. We’re always looking for more great stories!

Makes Me Happy

My Sweet Boy and I were looking at a book today, and when he would tell me what was in the pictures I would ask him, "Do you like that?" and he mostly answered, "yeah." But when I asked him if he liked butterflies, he replied, "Makes me happy!" Then he tried to sign "butterfly." I just thought that was so cute. He really "makes me happy!"

BTW, I finally decided to try to get over my intense dislike of being photographed and let Daddy-O snap a few shots of the Kid and me. However, you can see that my son was not so thrilled to have to slow down for a Kodak moment. So, here we are!

Say It Isn't So!!!

I just read an article that says that Charles Barkley may be in trouble for some gambling debts. I think he hasn't paid something like $400,000! I can't even imagine that! Gambling has never really made sense to me, and it is disheartening to see people wasting so much money when they could be using it to help people. On a personal note, I hope he'll just pay off his debt and get back to doing what he does best: entertaining people.

One thing most people would probably be surprised to know about me is that I LOVE Charles Barkley. I think he's one of the funniest people on the planet. Yes, he's controversial. No, I don't agree with everything he says. Sometimes his language is a bit too colorful. He's brutally honest. But there's few celebrities that I can think of who give a better interview. When I hear he's going to be on any talk show, I get way too excited and make it a point to watch. When I worked at ACT, I even listened to his book, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It on disc, made my husband listen to it, and also listened to a long interview with him I found in the Books on Tape section of the Library. Really, though, how could you not be intrigued by a title like I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It?

Anyway, in case you're wondering why in the world I love this crazy guy, here's just some of the wit and wisdom of Charles Barkley. I was, however, disappointed that I couldn't find anywhere the exact quote from an interview he did with Jay Leno. It went something like this: Jay teased him about having gotten out of shape. Charles indignantly replied, "I am too in shape. Round is a shape!!!" It was too, too funny. Enjoy!

• I don't care what people think. People are stupid.
• I figure if I kill the first one, word will get out. (on how he plans to handle his daughter being old enough to date)
• I'm still trying to get my grandmother off her old behind and into the Olympics. Why not? She can dust. (on the sport of curling)
• I heard Tonya Harding is calling herself the Charles Barkley of figure skating. I was going to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized I have no character.
• These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it.
• (Charles in response to Kenny Smith's jokes about his weight) I am not fat, it's the camera, it puts on 10 pounds. (Kenny Smith) Well, there must be a whole lot of cameras!
• Sports are not for old guys, this ain't baseball.
• That's wronger than ketchup on pancakes.
• On why he voted for President Bush: "My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, 'Hey, I'm rich.'"
• "I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent."
• "I came to the realization a couple months ago that I am fat. If you get tired from walking - and that's all that golf is - then you are officially fat."
• "People say I eat a lot. I really don’t. More or less I just eat all the time.
• "You don't wear Nike, it's going to happen. They gave him all that money to wear those cheap Filas." re: Grant Hill's foot injuries.
• “How long do you think Steve Nash spent on his hair? 5 seconds? 10 seconds?"
• EJ: "Did they recognize you in South Dakota?" Charles: "Yes, they did. It was easy because I was the only black person there. When they see me walking down the street they say 'There he goes again'. And when I come back the next year they say 'He's back yawl!'"
• "My goals are to play the piano and get really, really, really fat."

Does this remind you of anyone?

Every time my husband and I see this billboard, we do a double take because the guy reminds us so much of Ben Affleck-- well, maybe if he were 5 or 10 years older. I can't remember what the ad is for. Anyway, we really don't think Mr. Affleck is slumming it by endorsing one of our local businesses, but I'm curious: are we alone in seeing the resemblance? What do you think?

A Girlfriend for Kiddo?!?!

So, Kaela posted a comment in my previous post with a link to a YouTube video of a little girl with some serious map skills. I guess the little genius is named Lilly Gaskin, and I guess she was recently on Oprah. Oprah airs at 10 p.m. here, so by the time it comes on I've generally forgotten that Oprah even exists.

Anyway, I went to YouTube and watched an 8-minute video of her with her World Map, and was totally blown away. At that stage, anyway, Lilly and my little guy knew/know almost all of the same countries! She knows a lot more of Europe, and he's more of an expert on Africa, so they're pretty well-balanced (Ha-Ha). I then watched more videos of her that her uncle has posted. Evidently Miss Lilly and my little guy have a LOT in common, as they not only both love geography, they also both enjoy talking on the phone, reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, singing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," and talking for very long periods of time. Perhaps she also likes counting in foreign languages, identifying shapes, drawing, looking at the phone book, and singing hymns? It seems as though she's also LDS, so maybe I should look into an arranged marriage.... what do you think? JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But really, the main thing those videos showed me is that my guy's not so unusual. I know that my Sweet Boy is super-smart, and that his interests are somewhat unique, and that gives me happiness. But being who I am, it has also worried me. I've wondered at least a few times, will he be able to have fun and successful playdates and friendships, or will he be a nerd like his Mommy was/is? I'm virtually certain that he's smarter than I am-- will that make him even nerdier? Will other kids think he's weird because he's so in love with the maps, globes, and atlases? Will he be bored in school and act out? Should I make sure he learns some sports? When I was a kid, it seemed like the only smart kids who weren't teased much were those who were also very athletic... and you can bet I wasn't one of them.

The list goes on and on. If it can be worried about, chances are I'll think of it and obsess about it at least a little. Because while I'm thrilled to have a clever child, what I want most is a happy child, who is kind, has good friendships, high moral standards, and enjoys life. And seeing Lilly, so cute and joyful and loving her maps-- as well as other kids like her-- makes me feel hopeful that there will be others out there who appreciate the same things and who will accept my son. After all, he's a pretty wonderful guy!

Isn't she cute?!?!

I just love these photos of my cute and charming little Mom. As you can see, good-looking kids run in the family!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!! I love you!

Who's your Mama?

Because our Little Guy is so good at memorizing things, has a strong independent streak, and a paranoid Mama, we've been trying to teach him his full name, age, address, Daddy's full name, and Mommy's full name. So far, he's doing really well and has it almost all down. He's a little sketchy on our address-- he knows the street name and our unit number, but not the street number to our complex. Even though pronouncing his Daddy's name is tricky for plenty of adults, he's got that just about perfect! I can't believe it.

But the craziest thing is his reply to, "What's your Mommy's name?" If you noticed in a previous post, he KNOWS my first name is Rachael and occasionally uses it, I guess to see if I'm paying attention. Yet one day he looked at me, smiled, and answered, "A-wyn Kwauss." I asked him "WHAT?!?!" and he repeated the same answer! I corrected him, but since that day, he always answers, "A-wyn Kwauss."

Now, if you ask him who sings "Baby Mine," one of our favorite songs, he also answers, "A-wyn Kwauss." So where did he get the idea to call me "Alison Krauss?" My one guess is that he's heard me tell him that my middle name is Ellyn, and maybe he thinks that sounds the same as Alison. I really have no idea. Or maybe it's because our singing voices sound suspiciously alike. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Not in this lifetime, I'm sad to say! I truly have a problem with coveting her talent (sigh).

So earlier this week, I said to the kid, "Now you know your Mommy isn't named Alison Krauss. Sometimes I wish I were Alison Krauss. Then I would have a beautiful singing voice, and we'd never have to worry about money. Wouldn't that be fun? But you know what? I wouldn't want to be Alison Krauss if I couldn't be your Mommy-- and I probably wouldn't be. I'd rather be your Mommy than be Alison Krauss because I love you and you're my favorite little person in the whole world." I hugged him and gave him a kiss.

But today, when I asked him again, "What's your Mommy's name?" he smiled and replied, "A-wyn Kwauss."

So, what's the deal-- is he telling me he wants to trade me in for a cooler Mom, or is he just trying to drive me crazy? Given his Daddy-O's personality, I'm betting on the latter!

He just keeps getting cuter!

He loves going on walks!


Can you say, "INDEPENDENT?!?!"


Fun With Sidewalk Chalk

I love this silly guy!

Well, I'm supposed to be working on my Sharing Time for tomorrow. Have I mentioned that I love Primary but that I dread giving Sharing Time? Oh yes, of course I have. But things haven't changed in that area-- although, I was a little more confident going in to the last one, only to feel that it ended up going downhill fast. However, the 2nd counselor told me that her daughter basically tried to duplicate that lesson for their Family Home Evening the next night. That made me feel better, because now I know that it resonated with at least one little girl! I think I feel less confident this month because I haven't actually been in Primary for almost 2 months! We went to my Mom's one week, I've had to help in Nursery twice, and we've had both General Conference and Stake Conference in the last month. So I've got to get back in the groove of things. AND I JUST REALIZED THAT I'M CONDUCTING THIS MONTH. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm supposed to decorate the bulletin boards, but haven't gotten in the Primary room to measure them and see how much space I need so that'll have to wait a few days. COWABUNGA! ;)

Anyway, enough about that. I thought it was probably time I posted a new picture or two of my little Baby Cakes. It's hard to believe that he'll be 2 years old in 7 weeks! Time goes by quickly when you're getting old like I am. ;) On the other hand, the way this kid talks and as much as he knows, I sometimes forget that he's still so little. Yesterday he came up to me in the kitchen and said, "Hi, Rachael!" The little booger! Later, he came up to me and said, "Where's Pakistan?" WHAT? His interest in the world map continues, and the number of countries he knows would just boggle your mind. If I hadn't carried him in my belly for 9 months and given birth to him, I would think he was an alien hatched from a pod who is going to use his superior intelligence to take over the world. Luckily I know he's just my cute little boy!

Holy .... an explanation regarding the POLL

Confession:

My husband and I have had a debate going for the past 6 years. It started when I used the word "crap" in his presence. Or, since I'm a fan of Frank Barone/Peter Boyle, it's highly likely that I even might have said "Holy Crap!" Anyway, my beloved told me that I shouldn't curse. Highly incensed, I retorted that I was not cursing because "crap" isn't even a bad word. Sadly, I've known how to curse since I was little, and I've consciously worked very hard to give it up. Considering that I still have a hard time not using profanity when I'm very angry, when I get injured, or make a thoughtless mistake, I thought he should be grateful that this was the worst word he was hearing from me. He countered that it's the same thing as using the true profane word with a similar meaning. I disagree, because then it would also be bad to say "poop" or "BM" or "ka-ka," and those aren't "bad words," even if they too represent something kinda yucky in the English language.

I do know that he's not the only person who feels this way. A few years before our argument, I had used the word while playing "Phase 10" with a boyfriend and his parents. His mother made some cryptic comment about a boy she took a class with at BYU commenting that he "hated when he heard girls say that word." My thought was, of course, why does it matter if a girl says it? Is he saying that it's okay for boys to say it, but not girls? What a sexist! It now occurs to me that she was probably just telling me my language was unattractive... not that I probably would have stopped saying it based on that, anyway. I'm just a little too cheeky. :(

The funny thing about this debate is that 2 things have happened in the intervening years: #1, my husband now slips up and says this word from time to time (and I just laugh) and #2, my sweet little kiddo has also recently picked up this word. Uh-oh. I find that I am totally embarrassed when my child says this relatively harmless word, but sometimes I think that's only because other people might think I'm teaching him "bad words." I've tried to stop, but it's SOOOO hard. When the little guy had somehow opened up Power Point tonight and was seemingly trying to make his own slide show, I found myself whispering it under my breath, and he still heard it and repeated it! And you know that telling him not to say that word is pointless-- he'll just keep repeating it to drive me crazy, as he does when Daddy-O calls another driver a "creep."

So I've sorta got a dilemma on my hands: am I corrupting my son? I told my husband the other day that I have tried going to the basement or somewhere else more isolated when I feel like using truly bad language and letting it out where no one can hear me. He laughed harder at that than at any joke or funny story I've ever told. He says it's not any better to curse in private than it is in public, but I disagree. I think it's still a bad habit & I want to stop, but at least I'm not offending or corrupting others if I rant and rave in the basement.

In a related example, I checked out a CD from the library last week because I like a song by this band that I'd heard on the radio. When I got home and read the lyrics to their other songs in the liner notes, I was shocked to see the f-bomb, and other "choice" words beginning with s, a, and the like-- yet there were NO Parental Advisories. What does it take for a CD to be stamped with "Parental Advisory," if not language like that? If I had known that was the kind of music this band usually produces, I never would have brought it into my home. Let them curse in the privacy of their own home-- I don't care. But when you are trying to eliminate your own bad language AND have a toddler who has memorized words to more songs than you can count, well, you should be armed with the knowledge that this CD is a bunch of cr**-- sorry-- so you can leave it on the shelf.

Anyway, sorry this post is so long. Hopefully I haven't offended you all by my "Potty Mouth" and you'll still be my friends and read my lousy blog. You can weigh in on this debate by voting in my poll, posting a comment, or-- my personal favorite-- both!! :)