I’ve finally figured out what it is that I hate about housework. It’s not because I’m a slob; rather I’ve often referred to myself as a neat freak trapped inside a messy person’s body. I love when things are clean. I like when everything is sparkly and all the toys are picked up and put away and I can walk through the living room without tripping over the little Bert from the Sesame Street playset, stubbing my toe on the Fisher Price piano, or stepping on a rogue Cheerio.

Not only do I feel happy and relaxed when everything is straightened up, I also love – in theory at least – the look of rooms in the Ikea catalog that I stash in my desk drawer like it’s porn and if you asked what my favorite design style is, I love the whole Asian minimalist look tremendously. You would never guess though, because we have so much STUFF everywhere, so much clutter, that minimalist is definitely not the first thing that would come to mind. Our home decor is more like “comfort meets exploded toy store”.

However, clutter frustrations aside, there are two major reasons why I hate the efforts of housework.

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I could never ever do this myself, but Knitty’s knit umbrella is totally awesome.

Some really cool Crafty Fridge Magnets.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Alec Baldwin ever since the tape was leaked where he left an enraged voicemail on his 11-year-old daughter’s cell phone, calling her a “rude little pig”. Ever since it was released I’ve seen and heard so many people calling him a disgrace and a terrible father, and an abusive bastard among other things.

I’ve been thinking about what I think of the whole situation and about him as a father, and I’ve wondered whether I should say anything at all since what I think may not be the most popular stance.

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All the people who roll their eyes at Mommybloggers won’t like this very much, but I can tell you that I am looking forward to a new online show called “In the Motherhood”, it stars Lisa Remini. Does the name sound familiar? It should – she starred on “King of Queens”. The new show will take a humourous approach to the true to life stress that mothers face on a daily basis.

What’s interesting about this show is that it functions so completely online, to a point where you can contribute to it yourself. You can log on to In the Motherhood’s website and share your own stories with themes such as “you’re child’s worst public meltdown” and “your funniest mother-in-law child-rearing advice”. All you need to do is type out your contribution in paragraph form and it will be transformed into a script; from there an online community of moms will vote on the best entries which will then be featured on a “webisode”.

The community has already launched and the first webisode will air on the Ellen DeGeneres show on May 11th.

You can see a clip of the show right here:

I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to seeing it. That little girl using the “potty” for the first time cracked me up!

A great, fascinating blog: No Impact Man, all about a New York City family’s attempt to go totally green and help save our planet.

If you are a woman (heck, even if you’re a man), and you have ever looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw, then you need to read this. You need to read it and then you need to stand in front of your mirror again and accept and love what you see looking back at you. Thanks to OMSH for the link.

The weather has been beautiful lately but here’s a great site for a rainy day – you can make all kinds of incredibly cool paper toys with your kids. I already have a bunch of them printed up and waiting to be worked on. They’ll also be great for times when Breanna is napping and Hayley and I are in the living room waiting for her to wake up.

Sometimes the funniest things that kids say are the things they don’t get quite right. The two latest gems from our household made me snicker.

The first was Hayley.

The scene: I was trying to (finally!) put our Winter coats away in the hall closet to free up some space for lighter jackets and sweaters on our coat rack. I was being foiled by the fact that George owns eight trillion coats and they were taking up all the space in there.

Sherry: Oh my God! Why do you have so many coats? Some of these are really old and you don’t even wear them anymore. You should get rid of them. Do you have something against the Salvation Army?!

George: Okay, I’ll look next week, I probably have about seven in there that I can give to them.

Hayley: Daddy? What’s the Starvation Army?

The second one was thanks to Breanna. Now granted, she doesn’t say a whole lot yet, and some are more clear than others. She says “appuh” and “ugurt” so you can pretty well figure out that she’s asking for an apple or a yogurt (her two favorite foods). Other words can sound similar, such as “baba” for George’s dad which sounds a lot like “bappa” which is actually Dora’s backpack, which is also close to “bup” which means her diaper is full of poop. However, never in my life have I heard a kid make a speech mistake that was so eerily accurate.

Just a few moments ago, Breanna pulled a Caillou magnet off the fridge, studied it, then pointed at him and shouted, “Caca!”

Yes, Breanna, many parents feel that way about Caillou. Caca, indeed.

Since today was Earth Day, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was to be stuck inside all day. Luckily, the weather co-operated with a lovely warm temperature and sunny skies. As soon as we finished lunch, we all hopped in the car and drove to a nearby nature park to enjoy the day and fresh air. My favorite thing about the park is the giant pond that they have. In the warmer months you can rent peddle boats and canoes.

Another big hit is the fact that aside from having plenty of farm animals, they also have a pen where you can go right in and pet the goats. Both girls were really enthused about that. Even though Breanna told me she thought it was a cat.

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