Rocks In My Dryer

Works For Me: Make 'Em Laugh

Today is Works-For-Me Wednesday:  The Great Parenting Advice Edition, in which you share your best tip for imparting wisdom and character in the future generation of citizens.  Or keeping everyone in one piece, whichever works for you.

More out of necessity than wisdom, I've learned to laugh with my kids.  The more I observe all the relationships in my life, the more I see that humor is generally the glue that holds together shared values and experiences.  We laugh as a family.  A lot.  We make inside jokes, we create reasons to crack up together, and sometimes we make ourselves laugh when we don't feel like it.  And every time we do, I feel something pass between my children and me, something I can't quite explain. 

I don't mean that we're lighthearted when we shouldn't be--we're plenty serious when the occasion requires it.  But every day I see firsthand that there are fewer parenting tools more effective than making your child snort milk out his nose.

Since my kids were really little, I've had a little song-and-dance routine I pull out when the stress level is getting too thick.  It started as a shameless attempt to get a laugh out of a baby; it has evolved over the years into a routine that involves ridiculous choreography and a big finish.  My kids have ever-so-affectionately dubbed it "Mom's Dork Dance."  And no, there is absolutely no way I will describe it to you, so don't even ask.  Suffice it to say that it gets all of us (including me) laughing at just the right moment.   

The fact that my finest parenting advice involves personal humiliation should be an indication to you that I need some more pointers.  Enter your link below (link to your post, not to the front page of your blog--this is how you do it).  WFMW guidelines can be found here.

For those of you who came by earlier to see the Mr. Linky gone...sorry about that.  For some reason, I'm having major Mr. Linky technical issues lately.  I think it may have to do with the fact that I use Typepad--Mr. Linky and Typepad don't always get along together.  But I've drawn a line down the middle of the backseat and told them they have to play together peacefully without bugging each other, so we'll see what happens. 

If the links should disappear again later today, rest assured I'll be working on it. 

1. Diatribal (Trust yourself) 2. Jill (It\'s Normal) 3. An Ordinary Mom (cool off corner) 4. Smockity Frocks (The B-I-B-L-E) 5. Stacey@Look, Mom, Look! (Potty Training) 6. Amanda (Count Down to Bedtime) 7. The Pumkin Patch 8. Nancy\'s Place (You\'re doing just fine!) 9. Barbara H. (assorted parenting tips) 10. Katy (Free Play) 11. Grace For Gayle (Shocking Revelation) 12. Lainey@bloginmyeye (classical oasis of quiet time) 13. DeputyHeadmistress (Just ONE? No way) 14. Many Little Blessings (help them to learn responsibilities) 15. Mommy Babble (early days of breastfeeding) 16. Summer\'s Nook (Mommy say, Kiddie repeat) 17. Rebecca Mielke (raising modest girls) 18. Mandy Houk (taming the interruption monster) 19. PASS THE TORCH (playdates) 20. Kat (Scuff Marks) 21. Many Little Blessings (Changing Your Outlook) 22. ellen b~ simply true 23. The Natural Mommy (Tic Tacs!) 24. At A Hen\'s Pace (Um--lots) 25. Lizzie\'s Home - a \'Whoops!" and advice 26. Tammy\'s Recipes (cooking with little helpers!) 27. Liza (Weakness & Strength) 28. Lynnae (ask for forgiveness) 29. Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry (Persistence) 30. Michelle at Scribbit (Magic Stone Necklaces) 31. Joyful Days (advice to my first-time-parent friend) 32. Dena\'s Deliberations (Inconsistency) 33. Lisa B (recite scripture) 34. April @ For His Glory And My Good (How to Avoid Provoking Your Children) 35. Suzanne (organic blueberries) 36. Robin (Safeguard your OWN health) 37. Pieces (stop talking) 38. Corrie (road trip kits) 39. Garlic and Chocolate (swaddling and white noise) 40. Shalee (Keeping You Sane) 41. Where the Heart Is (timeouts anywhere) 42. Chappyswife (dressing alike) 43. NerdMom (Marriage) 44. Suzanne (transfering the motivation off of me and onto the kids) 45. Sarah @ Love Well (2 cent baby food) 46. Paige (job chart) 47. Jennifer, Snapshot (Think Long Term) 48. Amber (parenting Advice)

49. Pastormac\'s Ann (Parenting with G.R.A.C.E.) 50. Lines From The Vine (Parenting Tips) 51. Jes (bye-bye boo-boos) 52. Stretch Mark Mama (Bedtime Routine) 53. Jenn (Baby, toddler and beyond) 54. Demeter (Quit Hovering!) 55. Melanie (MessesAndKids) 56. Jamie (car games) 57. Mari (consistency) 58. GP in Montana-Slow Down 2 go Faster 59. Nancy 60. Like I Was Saying (When you\'re down on yourself) 61. Lana G! ~they\'re watching 62. The Estrogen Files - Sun Safety 63. Homeschool Mama (Making Special Memories!) 64. So Many Joys (Watch the Baby, Not the Clock) 65. Veronica (Free Activities with Kids) 66. Jill 67. momrn2 ("Happy" Time Out) 68. Amy W (Kids & routines) 69. Michelle (Breaking all the Rules) 70. Karen (Almost Guilt Free!) 71. Musings of a Housewife (Enjoy those babies!) 72. Mandy (structure & routines) 73. jennifer (being consistent) 74. It Coulda Been Worse (Reluctant Diner) 75. Kellyn (Getting rid of the pacifier) 76. Duckabush (Traveling w/Kids) 77. Jill (Consistency) 78. Steph\'s Mommy Brain (Daddy!) 79. Tracy (baby sleep) 80. T with Honey (explicit instructions) 81. KimC (pastry wrapped kittens) 82. Semicolon (8 is great) 83. jen (Whose Kids Are These?) 84. Girl Gone Wild (Fix It Couch) 85. Heather L. (early training/relaxing) 86. Amy (no horror birth stories) 87. Shauna (lifelong learning) 88. Nancy - (Give Them Wings & Roots!) 89. Marcia, organising queen 90. Alexandra/Potty Seat Mistake 91. At Home with Kris (helping sibling behavior) 92. Ewokgirl (Accepting Teens) 93. SeaBird (Favorite Parenting Books) 94. Rhen (forgiveness) 95. TracyMichele (stop bickering) 96. Carrie J (Another Sleeping Tip)

97. Amy (parenting Website) 98. Elena parenting through grief 99. Mummymac(book) 100. Carrie (mini trampoline) 101. Nancy 102. Nancy 103. 4andcounting (stop reading!) 104. Candace (It\'s only a season) 105. Alicia 106. Cindy (Super Summer Mom) 107. peach (priorities) 108. Rachel (bedtime routine) 109. Kara (different parenting styles) 110. Emily (Breastfeeding tips) 111. Georgia Mom 112. Mama Says (4 Best Tips) 113. It Coulda Been Worse (Reluctant Diner) 114. momma2beans (Taking It All In) 115. Mama Pajama (unique) 116. Dawn (Sleeping Kids) 117. Beth/Mom2TwoVikings (taking turns) 118. Janel (kids & knowing Scripture) 119. Jessica (trusting instinct with medical issues) 120. Kathy (baby health) 121. BroomHuggers (Cleaning with kids) 122. Amy Jane (Kids\' Questions follow-up) 123. Andrea (choose your battles) 124. Megan (Advice from a Kangaroo) 125. Lorie(Fun with Ziplock bags) 126. Jen Smith (the miraculous timer) 127. Joy (Cutting Toddler Food On the Go) 128. KimC (pastry wrapped kittens) 129. Just In Case (Dolly)- Mommy\'s Power Naps 130. Tonsofsons 131. To Know Him 132. Ann Kroeker (various bits of advice) 133. Tina (shop b4 bub comes) 134. Kris (You need friends) 135. Kim - Several Tips that WFM 136. Mira (dating) 137. Laura (free videos) 138. My Twenty Cents Keeps Moving 139. My Twenty Cents Keeps Moving (Mom of 4 knows nothing) 140. JavaMama (baby&sleep) 141. zamejias 142. Mique (do what works for you) 143. onecrazymom (rules for controlling clutter - and a little history and Bible lesson to boot!)

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Links are closed for this week. Thanks for playing!

BlogHer: Who Was There

I've tried and tried to think how I can describe the weekend's events to you in some cohesive order, and it's just too much to try to organize.  So I'll start by telling you about the people, and I'll do another post with the specifics about what I learned in the panel discussions. 

One might assume that a post with references to all the people I met would contain photographs, wouldn't one?  One might also assume that one should not throw away that USB cable that pulls photographs off the cell phone, too.  Oh, well.   

The conference was held at Navy Pier in Chicago, and we stayed at the a-little-too-cool-for-itself W Hotel.  If I were very hip, I would tell you how trendy it was.  But I am not hip, I am middle-aged and grumpy.  It looked a little like a Days Inn that had been through a giant episode of Trading Spaces, down to the elevator that was dimly illuminated by plastic cups containing lighted blue marbles.  I guess I'm more of a Holiday-Inn kind of girl.

Honestly, the hotel was inconsequential, because the company was so lovely.  I roomed with Chilihead, Tina and Jeana, and there was much chattering and laughing and making jokes that were terribly funny at the time.  And, after nearly two of years of correspondence, I got to hang out with Kathryn of Daring Young Mom.  She's even more delightful and whimsical in person than she is on her blog.  She's the sort of person who, when you part at the end of a long day, announces that no one leaves her hotel room until they've jumped on the beds.  And instead of regarding this as strangeness, you just quite naturally climb up and jump on her bed.  Together with Kathryn's roommates Eve and Jenny, we formed a little posse and moved around like a pack of eighth-grade girls much of the weekend.

It was confirmed to me that corporate America likes women bloggers (details to come in the second post).  They plied their wares and handed out free stuff at every possible opportunity.  And I, being an unsophisticated sucker for anything free, took it all.  I took so much that I had to check an extra bag for my flight home.  I have enough notepads, pedometers, ball-point pens, martini glasses, t-shirts, tote bags, and frisbees to stock a small European country. 

And I learned, if you want to sound very polished, you should know that there is a name for the freebies you accumulate at a convention:  swag.  And you must say it very off-handedly, as in "I need to go drop off my swag in my room."  And then you will be hip.  Almost hip enough to appreciate lighted blue marbles in the elevator.  But not quite.

I'll tell you in my next post about the specifics of the panels I attended, but I can't finish up a "who was there" post without telling you about the keynote speaker, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards.  I thought it was a little puzzling that a bi-partisan organization would host a presidential candidate's wife during an election year (to be fair, there were representatives from the Mitt Romney and John McCain campaigns at two panel discussions, but these were much more lightly attended than Edwards' keynote speech.)

Edwards is a good speaker with a gracious ease, and even though I don't agree with her on policy, I enjoyed hearing the line of reasoning that comes from someone the other end of the political spectrum.  There was a bit of a strange moment when she took questions from the audience, and a speaker stood up to say, "I'm from Texas..." and Edwards responded, "I'm sorry!"

The people at our table looked at each other with puzzlement.  "Did she really just say that?" I asked.  It was a bit Dixie Chicks-ish.  But that's okay, because Tina (ever gracious in a don't-mess-with-Texas sort of way) gently approached Edwards at the cocktail party afterwards to assure her that most Texans are not, in fact, "sorry" that they're from Texas.  It was a great moment.  I have a picture to prove it, and it is, sadly, stuck for in the bowels of my cell phone for all eternity.  Or until I go to Radio Shack.

I met so many interesting bloggers, and I started this post with the intention of going through their business cards and linking to every URL, but then I got a good look at my laundry room, so no.  Suffice it to say that I met such a varied group of women, from every imaginable walk of life, blogging their hearts out on more topics than I could ever read in a lifetime.  I plan to be working my way through many of their blogs over the coming months, and I'm sure I'll be passing many of the links along to you. 

More to come on what I actually learned...   

Themed Works-For-Me Wednesday Tomorrow!

Remember that tomorrow is WFMW:  The Great Parenting Advice Edition.  What parenting lessons have you learned the hard way?  What would you tell a first-time parent?  Save us all some headaches and share!

Reason #473 That Man Makes Me Laugh

Hubs:  [Stopping as we walked into a restaurant, and pointing at our fender].  Grrrr....would you look at that?  Those boys of ours wrote "wash me" in the dirt on the back of my car.

Me: [giggling]

Hubs:  I'm going to go home and write "disown me" in the dirt on the back of their bikes. 

Well, THAT Was Fun

I'm home.  I'm tired.  I learned more than my brain can hold, and I met so many interesting people I'll be reading blogs for the next 48 hours straight.  I'm trying to decide just how much to blog about the BlogHer conference (do people really care?) because I thought learning about the mechanics and future of blogging is fascinating.  I'll see if I can find a way to construct a post that won't have you snoozing on your keyboard. 

AND, you all knocked my socks off with your participation in the Dog Days Giveaway--truly, it was beyond my wildest expectations, and I hope all you winners are very excited about your forthcoming loot.  I scrolled through all your giveaways and struggled with deciding, is it rude if I (as the "hostess") entered the drawings, or was it rude if I didn't--I went back and forth and did both, hoping I wasn't being (that great scourge of a southern woman's life) tacky.  It actually all worked out quite well, because I won something, so tackiness be darned!  I was astounded at how generous everyone was, and those of you who made your giveaway items made my jaws drop open.  Thank you for making it such a success.  It was so much fun that I plan to do it again in the fall, so be thinking about your idea for the next one.

But BlogHer talk and contest wrap-ups will have to wait.  There is nary a brain cell left in this head of mine.  I want to unpack and sleep and kiss on my family, but I'll have a report soon, in a day or two. 

See you then.  In the meantime, if you're looking for information on the giveaway winners, try this post. 

Sunday Linkage #10

Rare Ghost Orchid Found In Florida -- MSNBC

WallWords -- I have been having so much fun browing through this site!

Girls Going Mild(er) -- Newsweek

Blood, Gore, and Global Warming -- The Henry Institue (via Challies)

Solid ClassMate Lunchbox -- Land's End (I'm drooling over this just a bit.  Seamless?  Ah, the joy.)

The Winner Is....

Hi, girls!  I'm live-blogging from BlogHer, sitting right next to the great and powerful Daring Young Mom.  She said to tell you "hi".

The winner of my little embroidery packet is Kellyn from Fritz Facts.  Kellyn, I'll e-mail you when get back from Chicago. 

Have fun with your giveaways today!

Now, Let's See If All This Works

You have all made this such a fun week, even with the Great Linky Migration of '07.  I can't believe how generous and cooperative everyone has been.  My apologies if you've e-mailed me this week and received no response (or a super-short one)--it's been a flurry of e-mailing around here, and I just couldn't get to everyone. 

Close your comments sometime today (whenever you'd like), do your random drawing, and announce your winner.  Then, if you'd like, you can post a comment (below) directing readers to the announcement of your winner(s).  I had planned to use Mr. Linky for this, but while I'm at BlogHer I won't be around the computer to moderate all the links (and trust me when I tell you that it requires mucho-moderating.) 

A couple of things for you winners to consider:

• With all the contests going on, it's possible you might win more than one contest, fair and square.  If this happens to you, then first of all, would you please buy me a lottery ticket?  And secondly, I leave it up to you if you'd like to decline one of your winnings and spread around a little more giveaway love.  It's your choice.
• Secondly (y'all know I'm a bloggy privacy freak, so I have to say this), always use caution when giving out your home address.  While all the participants in this are probably lovely people, I can't personally vouch for every one of them.  If you win, and something about your giveaway host just doesn't "feel" right, go with your gut.  You could always have your gift sent to a P.O. box or an office address, if those are options for you.  It's just something to think about.

That's it!  Thanks for playing, and remember to leave a comment sharing the link to your post announcing your winners.

Almost Closing Time!

Sometime in the next 24 hours, you'll probably want to close your comments on your giveaway posts.  It's up to you when to do it.  My contest will close at midnight tonight, and I'll announce a winner sometime tomorrow (Friday). 

Thanks again for playing along!

Have I Mentioned How I Feel About Mornings?

Thanks to Typepad's auto-post feature, I've set this post to go up at 4 am Thursday, the very moment I will be dragging my sorry self out of bed to shower, get presentable, finish packing and get on a 6:30 am flight to Chicago.

Four in the morning!  Who gets up at four in the morning?  The last time I got up and dressed at this unmerciful hour, it was because I was having contractions fifteen minutes apart. 

To say I'm not a morning person would be a vast understatement.  And it's not for lack of effort.  I've tried every trick in the book to re-set my body clock.  I've prayed about it.  Instead, mornings seem to get more painful the older I get.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that I don't think clearly until 11 am. 

And so, bleary-eyed, I will (hopefully) not be sleeping through my arrival in Chicago, and I will drag myself off the plane at 8:30.  I will take the L in from O'Hare (I lived in downtown Chicago early in my marriage and am cheerfully and unrealistically hoping that this train/bus/taxi-hopping comes back to me).  I will arrive at our oh-so-swanky hotel, meet up with Chilihead and Tina and Jeana and Kathryn, and I will try my level-best NOT to look like I'm a semi-frumpy housewife from Oklahoma.

Except that I am a semi-frumpy housewife from Oklahoma.

So never mind.

But I WILL be having fun, learning a few things, taking good notes, and trying to act like a Serious Blogger Who Knows What She's Doing.  And I will (fingers crossed) be logging in on my laptop to continue administrating the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway and announce my own winner here.  It was probably too much to plan for the same week.  Ah well, live and learn. 

Thanks for all your fun participation this week!  I don't say it often enough, but I really do appreciate you.  Your willingness to come by here and read is the reason I get to go to this little shin-dig in the first place.

See you from Chicago.  Unless I sleep through my stop, in which case I'll be live-blogging the airport trauma from Pittsburgh, or Cincinatti, or Minneapolis....