Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

Do you remember when Walmart first installed the self-checkout lines?  They were so cool! Over a decade ago, I went with my future husband to pick up a few items at Walmart and had a funny surprise:  while I was waiting for him to check out his purchases, I leaned up against the checkout area.  When he placed his purchase there, the machine loudly declared, "UNEXPECTED ITEM!"  Josh looked at me with a funny grin on his face and said, "Yep - You're my unexpected item!"  He realized all the items had specific weights and my leaning on the scale (of which I was unaware) caused the alarm to go off. Neither one of us expected to find the perfect match, yet there we were! As married life has progressed, I've heard the mental shout of "UNEXPECTED ITEM" many times.  After two years of marriage, we decided it was time to try to have a baby.  When the baby came, it was an Unexpected Item.  I thought having a baby meant having a sweet little someone...

Do you know what our society has produced?  A generation of self-centered youth who have no desire to take care of themselves, no desire to succeed.  No ambition to work or start their own businesses or have their own place to live. I remember it being a thrill to live in my own place for the first time.  I had my first real job, and split the rent with a friend from college.  That place was a dump!  But it was our dump.   Ok - it wasn't this bad, but you know what I mean.  Did you ever live in such a place?  Ah, the starter home! Weird 70's green, yellow, and orange shag carpet, along with that fake dark wood paneling and uneven floors. That tiny house was undesirable to everyone except us.  The newbies to the adult world.  Living on our own and loving it.  I loved putting my bi-weekly paycheck in the bank and shopping for groceries each week.  Discount groceries.  I remember saving ju...

Thanksgiving Day is upon us...or it will be in a few days. We love to watch the Peanuts Thanksgiving videos - what a cute little group of Pilgrims!  The children all survived the trip and outlived many of the adults that first winter.  They had to perform chores and tasks that kept the colony alive while the adults were ailing.  They were amazing! Then there are my children, who can't survive without technology for 5 minutes... When I think about pioneer families - they obviously survived without iPads...but that was just it.  They were geared toward survival.  Oh yeah - and there was no electricity.  In today's culture, children don't have to tote water, chop and haul firewood, or feed the livestock twice a day.  In fact, they have very few responsibilities.  Moreover, we moms and dads have added extra work to our loads so our beloved children can participate in sports, art programs, or whatever area we think they might ex...