Does it really work???

As any of us who are parents of children who are old enough to watch any of the cable children's television network channels know "as seen on TV" items are HOT!  You can make slushy's in a magic cup with magic cubes, you can turn your bathtub into a jello arena, you can put a magic screen on your windows and doors, you can get an amazing DVD set to watch lots and lots of jets and planes for a whole two hours, you can remove hair from any item on your body with a magic wand/glove/tool, you can give yourself air brushed nails with the magic of a special non-airbrush tool, you can wrap yourself in a body sized blanket, you can wrap your hair in a special towel when you get out of the shower, you can make giant sized cupcakes big enough to be an entire cake, and basically anything you can add the word magic onto or after or in front of turns into a magic oasis of JUNK!  Guess what, I have purchased some of these items [ you may ask what the (blank) is wrong with her? Or you may be saying "me too"]. 

As I am a Christian and I celebrate Easter, the Easter bunny decided to bring my entire family the magic cup and cubes that turn any drink into a slushy.  Guess what IT WORKED!!! It really does turn any drink into a slushy.  Except the slushy doesn't last very long, and the cubes can be punctured easily so I suggest taking them out of the cup before you allow an overly excited child to push the magic spoon straw into the cup [ he didn't break the cubes because my anxiety wouldn't allow him to do it, but my anxiety also allowed me to see the worst and prevent it before it happened].  Anyway, here I sat pouring every kind of liquid we had that was drinkable for an underage child into the magic machine and of course it made me wonder "what the blank is wrong with me?" "Did I really spend 100.00 dollars on 5 of these magic machines when I have a blender that crushes ice sitting on the very counter that I have now turned into a magic slushy counter"? And the answer is, yes I did. And I can diagnosis most people but I still have no idea what is wrong with me.

Magic drinks lead me to think about a few things, first it did work.  It worked in many ways, it made my youngest and even oldest son very happy, and it made a great memory for all of us in our kitchen on Easter Monday.  It worked to make us laugh, make us smile when they worked make us laugh about different mixtures and sure we could have used the blender, and yeah I could have bought 1 vs. 5 and had the kids share, but even if it didn't work it helped us to spend time together. 

Each day I go through my morning routines such as morning showers, breakfast, school checklists, making beds, etc...each day I teach my sons different daily things that they will need to do on their own someday making beds, getting in and out of the shower dressing themselves in decent matching clothes, pouring cereal, watching the time to get to where we need to be on time etc... And each day that my youngest son does one of these things on his own without help, or my oldest son who is up, dressed, fed, smelling and looking like a million bucks (sometimes less than a million but he is a senior this year) yells from the other room "BYE MOM" I am both proud, and sad.  I am happy and scared.  I am lonely and overwhelmed by my lists.  I am confused and the most organized. I also realize that my job will someday be less and less, and that even when my days seem endless and nothing makes anyone happy and all I can do to get a moment of rest is hide in the bathroom with the door locked for a minute, that it will all end someday if I have done my job correctly. 

So for those of you who think I am crazy for purchasing a pet that grows disgusting herbs, or a light that turns on and off when you clap I might be.  But they did work because each gave me and my kids things to do with each other.  I am not saying you or we needed to run out and buy these over priced things in order to spend time together, you can make slushy's in the blender, you can plant flowers in the yard, you can supplement the stuff and make it less expensive but for us it worked.  I guess what I am saying is that when my 8 year old came to me as proud as could be with a bed that he made on his own, and as I sat as the passenger next to my oldest son in the car and we all laughed over our imperfect slushy's I realized how grateful I was for those stupid drinks and each moment I had with both of them.  I guess I am just saying how grateful I am for each of those moments and how quickly it goes by.  [wait let me get my magic slushy drink to hold in the air] Here is to each moment of each day that we have with our kids.  Time moves so quickly!