I wish that I could be like the cool kids, the cool kiiiiiiiids.

Oh hello there!  Hi, yeah, it's me, and it's been a while.  Forgive me?  Read on?  I hope you will..

I'd love to say that I've just been too busy being cool over the past year to write, but that would be a complete lie.  I've been chasing down work and kept myself busy and well, I was just not being busy writing, but I'm hoping to change that now...

So what is the splashy, awesome, life-changing blog-blurb I've got for you today??  You got it, it's all about being COOL.  Which I suppose is not possible if you write about it, but let's set that aside and go with me on this one.  Apparently there is a study showing that being cool actually leads to your demise later in life, so perhaps you should re-think your goals huh?  Lest you worry that I am making this up (as I've been known to do quite convincingly) here's a quote, a link, a sources, and a pic... I am seriously BRINGING IT with my comeback blog.

"Teens who were romantically involved at an early age, engaged in delinquent activity, and placed a premium on hanging out with physically attractive peers were thought to be popular by their peers at age 13. 

But over time, this sentiment faded, the team found.

By 22, those once-cool teens were rated by their peers as being less competent in managing social relationships. "

"Researchers followed 184 teens from age 13, when they were in seventh and eighth grades, to age 23, collecting information from the teens themselves as well as from their peers and parents. "

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3181611/The-curse-cool-Kids-popular-school-losers-adults-claims-study.html#ixzz3kWxfOm1I
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link to article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3181611

link to the study here ( I think ) : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12250/full/

So I know, I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking; "Hey!  I was cool, and I am NOT a loser" and you know what, if that is what you're thinking, well, that is just fabulous.  But if nothing else, shouldn't a bunch of scientists who sat around for 10 years tracking cool kids get a bit of our mind space before we flit off to the grocery list?  So let's say you were the exception, or perhaps you know a friend of a friend who was the exception to this rule.  Well that is just fabulous, you know some non-losers.  Yay for you.  However, isn't this a nice opportunity to share some insight and good news with our over-parented, over-scheduled, stressed out kids?

"Hey bud, you know how mom (or dad, or auntie, or uncle, or sensei) always says it's not important to be popular?  You know what?  Science has proven moms are right, and that being seen as popular isn't always a great thing for young people.  It's ok to focus on whomever your buddies are, and to take the slow track and to not spend so much time fighting to climb the social ladder, because doing so may only lead you to be held back in the end. "

So that is my snippet, my advice for the day.  And maybe it's a good reminder to someone like me, who was never without friends, but definitely was NOT very cool.  

The P Word

"If he pees, just come and get me." Another phrase added to the list of "Things I Never Thought I'd Say"

I know, I hate to add to the litany of rants that have been written about potty training BUT, I just have to. Potty training has kind of taken over my life. I like to think of it as one of motherhood's "Dirty Little Secrets".

My pediatrician - a man with TONS of education, but who has no actual children of his own - advised me on potty training before I was ready. At the 18 month checkup for my child, he instructed me to start potty training. He said I should start "introducing" my child to the potty. Insert humorous visuals of a toddler shaking hands with a toilet here. I was told to take a dirty diaper off of my child, deposit its contents into the toilet, and start to get my child accustomed to the process. GROSS. I seriously thought he was joking. He wasn't.

So, rather than take the well meaning doctor's advice, I WAITED. I'm now being dragged into potty training well after I should have started doing it, with many additional experts involved in the process. Whoops! Guess my "common sense" approach to potty training is catching up with me now. With much of parenting, I just think you HAVE to laugh. I now have two toddlers who want or need to be potty trained so I spend a LOT of time in the vicinity of the toilet. I am told that in 10 years they will dress themselves and use the bathroom on their own, I just have such a difficult time trying to know that in my heart.

Though I do feel most times that potty training is the bane of my existence, I also recognize it as an opportunity for face time with the kids. Whether they like it or not, we're spending a LOT of time one on one throughout the day together. And, my bathroom is very well organized now, so, there's that.

Wish me luck, I'm off to the potty.