Even though I’m not much of a shot person any more, I would love to get this special tray that makes frozen shot glasses. That’s just – pardon the obvious pun – cool!

The other day Hayley asked George if he could get her a magic wand. He was going to the dollar store and he didn’t find any magic wands exactly but he did get her a Cinderella pen that lights up and a flashing neon glow stick and she was thrilled.

Yesterday it fell and broke so she was understandably upset. Since it was an accident and not the result of a tantrum, he got her another one and also bought a spare one just in case it happened again.

It turns out that “just in case” worked for another reason because five minutes ago Hayley and Breanna snuck into the bathroom, turned off the light, and started playing. As is often the case with two siblings and one toy, screaming soon ensued as each one wanted to hold the glowing stick. I dug out the spare one, removed the little choking hazard tab and the cord, and I gave that one to Breanna. Problem solved.

After a bit of quiet punctuated only by giggles and occasional shrieks of happiness, I peeked in. They were sitting in the pitch dark room, Breanna in her bouncy seat, Hayley on the floor, both of them waving glowing, flashing sticks around.

All they need is a bit of oompa-oompa music and it would be like a rave in there.

You know what really sucks? When you’re making a delicious spaghetti dinner and you’re really quite hungry and it’s 6:15 pm and the noodles are finally ready, the sauce is perfectly simmered and you’re ready to drain the pasta by holding a lid against the top of the pot…

… and then you glance for a split second over your shoulder to see where your toddler is, your hand slips, and you dump 85% of the pasta directly into the sink. Which wasn’t empty because you were soaking a few things before washing them.

At least I had another bag of pasta.

After watching Sanjaya make a mockery of himself once again on American Idol, I really appreciated the Sanjaya Anthem.

Funniest video I’ve seen in at least 48 hours – Mom My Ride. Thanks again to Kerflop who keeps providing me with entertaining links.

Warning: Do not read this tasty blog unless you’re already full because the recipes and the pictures will make you so hungry if you haven’t eaten yet. All about tasty food for happy kids.

Grace has started up an interesting conversation about race/ethnicity. It revolves around whether or not it’s ever okay to ask someone what theirs is, or whether it’s just rude. She has her answers over there. She also asked us to answer them as well.

Honestly? I really think it is. But it depends on a few things. For one, I wouldn’t ask someone that I saw in line at the bank or someone that I’ve met all of five minutes ago. I think it’s rude to go up to a stranger and ask something personal.

I also think it depends on how you’re asking. If someone is asking with a sneer, or by turning a charming phrase like, “What ARE you?” then no, it’s not okay. I would like to think that people aren’t that clueless but of course there are bound to be ignorant idiots everywhere so odds are there are indeed people who would ask like that.

If it’s asked in a polite way, in a genuinely curious way, I don’t think it’s bad. I live in Montreal. It’s a very multi-cultural city. There are so many different ethnicities in this city that it is amazing. It’s not hard to raise kids who are used to seeing different skin tones and hearing different languages. I think it’s only natural for people to get curious sometimes. Also, with more and more people having inter-racial relationships and thus having more bi-racial children, it can be an interesting conversation to find out what heritage someone’s family tree holds.

Like I already mentioned, I think it’s fine as long as your manner of questioning is respectful and genuine. If you truly want to know because you’re interested, great. It could be as simple as saying, “listen, I was wondering something and I hope you don’t mind if I ask. I’ve been wondering what your ethnicity is/what your racial background is.” Or if you know the broad answer but can’t narrow it down, maybe something like “I know that you’re Asian, but I was wondering which specific race.”

Even if you were to flub it a bit, I think if you already know the person and you’re not being a dick, it will probably come out okay. As long as you aren’t wording it like I said above in #1, as long as you aren’t saying, “what the heck are you?” or something incredibly rude like “So, are you Chinese or Japanese, I can never tell the difference.” A little tact and respect go a long way.

The only thing that would probably stop me from asking would be if I didn’t know the person. If I’ve just been introduced to someone through a mutual friend at a BBQ one day, I’m not going to break the “nice weather” small talk with “so, what race are you?” If the person doesn’t know me they may perceive it as rude or might worry that I have an issue with their particular race. I wouldn’t want to make someone uncomfortable so I wouldn’t ask unless I had already gotten to know them a bit.

This doesn’t apply to me because I’m white. However, George has been asked and as far as I can tell, it doesn’t bother him. Again, I’m sure if the circumstances were fishy or if someone with a swastika on his forehead was asking it would be a different story, but in the time we’ve been together, people who have asked have been polite. On occasion people have been surprised to know that he’s black and have confessed that they thought he was Italian or maybe Egyptian because his skin is quite light, but that seemed to amuse him more than offend him.

*******

This all interests me because of the girls. My side is so freakin’ white. My heritage is English, Irish, and Scottish and it’s hard to get much whiter than that. On George’s side there’s some white here and there but mostly black. And so my kids are neither black nor white. I’ve often wondered what I’ll do with the inevitable forms that I have to fill out for them where it asks for race information. I’m really thinking of checking both boxes because that’s the best answer. Either that or not answering at all.

In the meantime, we get light-hearted about race around here. One day in the late summer or early fall, George and I were sitting on the couch with the kids. The sun was hitting me right in the face where it picked up the fact that I have a smattering of light freckles across the bridge of my nose and under my eyes. Apparently this was news.

George: When did you get all those freckles?!
Sherry: Um, what?
George: You have freckles! Since when?
Sherry: … Uh, since forever.
George: Really?
Sherry: You never noticed?!
George: No.
Sherry: … … … Oh my GOD, you’re black?!
George: Oh shut up!

*******

Ethnicity is still a sensitive subject and I do like to tread carefully because I am from the so-called privileged race. I’m the white girl, the Protestant, I’m the WASP and I don’t wish to offend. But I think that the more people who show a genuine curiosity in other races and ask questions like where their family line comes from originally, the more barriers we end up breaking down, and the better the world will be.

Maybe that’s idealistic. I hope it’s realistic.

Breanna still wakes up periodically throughout the night but she hasn’t needed a diaper change since she was quite small, other than the occasional explosion. I used to change her every time she woke up. We had a routine; she would wake up, I’d feed her from one side, change her diaper, and then feed her from the other side, putting her back down when she’d conk out. At about six weeks to two months old, I started noticing that she was wet but not poopy, and not even excessively wet. By three months or so, it was pretty pointless to change her because she wasn’t really wet and also it seemed to wake her up more at that age than it did as a newborn.

Basically the way it works now is she has her bath – if it ‘s actually bath night – at 7 pm and by 7:15 or so she gets dried off, put in her diaper, and then pajamas. Actual bedtime is 8 pm and if she’s left undisturbed she’s often quite pleased to sleep until at least 8 the next morning (oh don’t get excited and jealous – she still wakes up at night and lately she’s started up again with the whole waking up in the wee hours thing). That’s a long time in one diaper, but especially when your diaper isn’t up to the challenge of that first thing in the morning pee fest.

We’ve been using two store brand varieties for quite some time. We use Teddy’s Choice from Loblaws grocery store and we use Bumpers from Jean Coutu. Both are very reasonably priced and I’ve been happy with them – during the day. Neither one has been doing well with the overnight situation though. With either one, there was always a 75% chance that by the time I had managed to pry my eyes open the morning pee would happen, the diaper would leak, and her pajama bottoms and the sheet would be damp.

I’m not fond of laundry. I really don’t want to wash pajamas EVERY day. Or sheets.

So when the Parent Bloggers Network offered up a chance to test out Huggies Overnites, I was all over it.

I was a little skeptical because I had gotten to the point where I was thinking the only way to protect against leaks at night was to duct tape a garbage bag around her waist. However, I was willing to give it a shot. I got my package in the mail which included a pack of Huggies Overnites, a coupon, and a cute little bag that’s the perfect size for toting around a diaper, change of clothes, and a few toys (I’m finally at that stage in Breanna’s life where I don’t need an entire backpack for her).

That night, I bathed her and then once she was dry I put her in a brand new Huggies Overnites diaper. I prayed to the Diaper Gods and put her to bed. I woke up in the morning and felt her pants. They were dry. I purposely laid in bed with her beside me while I watched the morning news for 20 minutes (something I never would have been able to do with the store brand), and she was still dry.

The Huggies were so effective that the inner liner was dry to the touch when I changed her.

Day after day she has remained dry and I haven’t needed to strip the sheets or change her into new pants immediately because Huggies Overnites are actually doing what they’re supposed to. On top of that, the elastic sides are stretchier than the store brand and the velcro tabs are more forgiving and more easily adjusted than the tape tabs on the others.

I am so ecstatic and I am definitely using the coupon for another pack when I’m done with this one.

This post has been approved by a sleepyhead toddler ready to go to bed in her Huggies Overnites.

Over at Oh My Stinkin’ Heck, there was a great post about how to honor our chidren by teaching them to work around the house while they’re still young. It reminded me that even though sometimes it’s faster to do it myself, it doesn’t teach them anything if Mom always does every bit of housework. After all, they live here too.

They’re pretty helpful though, for a 4.5-year-old and a 16-month-old. After reading through all the comments over there, I realized that they do contribute to a lot around here, and not just the mess!

Hayley loves to help with cooking and baking, even if it’s just stirring and pouring things. She helped me bake the cake yesterday and she even used the mixer. She also loves to Swiffer and she’s fond of attacking the sink with a scrubbing brush, wiping the counters down, and occasionally drying any unbreakable dishes. She also loves to fold laundry. She usually does things that are square or rectangular like facecloths and baby blankets, or easy things like underwear. The other night, though, I discovered that she had seen her grandfather folding t-shirts so she helped me fold George’s shirts. She did a pretty good job.

Considering how much I hate folding laundry, I may just let her have fun by folding all of it from now on.

As for Breanna, she may be small, she may be young, but she is so much more helpful than you might expect. First of all, she seems to have a bit of mild OCD going on because she’s been known to bring me bits of fluff and paper, or to pick stickers off surfaces and bring them all to me, with a hint of disgust on her face so that I can dump them in the garbage. I’ve actually even seen her pick lint off the cat.

After her bath, once I’ve dried her and dressed her in pajamas, she almost always trots off to the bathroom to pick up her (folded up) dirty diaper, then she takes it to the bedroom and puts it in the garbage for me. She’s just as eager to pick up things like toys from the living room floor as long as I pick up one and show her where it goes – shelf, toybox, or basket. She also loves being handed a clean, wet rag and she’ll wander off randomly wiping at floors and walls.

Her latest interest is helping me with transferring the laundry. I stand at the washer and toss in anything large or heavy, but I hand anything small to Breanna. Sometimes she pauses long enough to chew on a sock or a t-shirt, but mostly she puts everything into the dryer. She’s been known to be mighty ticked off when it’s all done, and stands there shrieking with indignation as I close the door, empty the lint trap, and turn the dryer on.

I figure with a couple more years I’ll be able to have two fully-trained housekeepers and I can finally put my feet up, eat bon-bons, and watch soaps all day, just like a stay at home mom is supposed to.

Mostly because it didn’t happen until this evening after supper.

But yeah. Real moms can ice the “welcome back Springtime!” cake with one hand while balancing a baby on her hip, fending off attempts from said baby to swipe the icing.

(And the cake was delicious!)