What a wimp!

OK, so I spent most of my life in the Western U.S. and traveling through the square states is nothin'. Well, sometimes I have little people doing push-ups in Wyoming....

Today I was reading this article: Top Five Gifts for Road-Tripping Families. The writer (and I hope he's not a cousin of yours or something) extolls this car seat:

It is a wonder, a car seat that will fit your child forever and turns itself into a stroller so you don't have to wake Precious up when you get where you're going. The Sit 'n Stroll car seat system, retailing for $249.95! I can see that this would be oh-so-handy if you fly and have to lug the car seat and kid-who-can't-walk-yet through airports (been there, done that, don't want to do it again).

Then the guy gets to a hang-man game that, honestly, looks like fun. And it's only $12.99.

If your brood includes a tween or bickering siblings you’ve likely come to accept as I have that at times it’s desirable to let them plug in to portable electronics and leave the rest of the family alone.

Of course! Get the electronics out! My parents wish they had these things when they were traveling with five kids. Lucky us, to have these things now so the whining is kept to a minimum.

Now here's the wimpy part:

A small part of me still resists it, though, because driving through a state like Connecticut takes forever and it’s a good opportunity to interact.

Y'all, I checked Google Maps and, any way you travel through Connecticut, it's at the very most only 2 hours and 48 minutes!

Another Reason to Teach the Boys to Do Their Own Laundry

so they are the ones looking into the wash-tub instead of me!

Maine Woman Finds 8-Foot Python in Washing Machine

By the way, Bryan and JT do wash their own laundry. Dry it, too. And then they have to put it away. It is a big help to me. Sometimes they get where they are going in rumpled t-shirts, but hey, they are clean!

File This Under "DUH"

Study: Kids Do Better in Foster Care Than Orphanages

A paragraph in the article:

For now, (Dr.) Nelson tells adoptive parents, "The older the child is when
they leave the institution, the more likely that child may have some
developmental problems and the more difficult it may be to ameliorate those
problems. ... The message to parents is simply to go into this with their eyes
open, but not to give up."

We are so thankful that Luci was released for adoption at such a young age (we first held her at age 9 1/2 months). She was in an orphanage from two days of age until we got her. I think she just does not remember as much as the older children, and that's why it has been easier for her. Quite a few children we've seen adopted after 14 months of age, whether in foster care or in orphanages, have so many extra burdens to carry. It hurts so much to see those families struggling and distressed while helping the little hearts and minds of their children heal. It is encouraging to know that every child we've seen with those wounds have indeed healed, or are in the process of healing.