Larry, Larry. Larry....such a doofus.

As I have always said, never put anything in an email or do anything on a computer that you would not want to be public information! Of course, I have used computers for so long, that I even remember when people had to use the telephone (land line not mobile) to spread gossip, or (gasp) the US Post! Hence, I never feel sorry for those who are derailed by email. I simply cannot believe the technologically naive people around today!

One company I worked at gave everyone the same email password and you weren't allowed to change it...

Remember this about email. Someone is reading it somewhere, and chances are it is more than just the recipient. That's all I am sayin...

One of the biggest selling T-Shirts at ThinkGeek.com is one that says:

I read your email.

Mrs. BlueEchoes and I are officially having a son.

WOOT! A hockey player, no doubt! Congratulations!

Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by BlueEchoes:
Mrs. BlueEchoes and I are officially having a son.

Congrats B. Something your neighbor refused to do. Why does he hate boys so much?

Great! Boys are much easier than girls. When is the blessed event?

Yes, you just have to keep up with them!

Congrats! Boys are wonderful!

quote:

Great! Boys are much easier than girls. When is the blessed event?

I've never had a girl...but that cannot be true! I'm still waiting for the "easy" part.

congrats Blue! Have a boy and a girl...they both make you lose sleep for different reasons. Wouldn't have it any other way.

I can't say that boys are easier than girls....but I'll agree that they are different. Being the liberal that I am, I worked hard to raise kids in a genetically unbiased home...trucks for both the boy and girl, dolls for both too. Primary colors for both. You get the idea. End result? The boy couldn't be more "boyish" and the girl couldn't be more "girlish". Both hate math and love science. Both like to read and write. Both are athletic but in very different ways. So, there you go...my anecdotal research on gender bias supports the Nature end of the nature vs. nurture arguement.

That said, Fan, would you like a hand-me-down U of I, number 7 football jersey for your oldest girl?

Blue Echoes:

Take my three rules for raising normal kids. I haven't done any research into these tactics, but I think they work:

1. No kiddie music. Disney has done more to dumb down our children than I can discuss in such a short time. Let them listen to what you listen to. They'll appreciate it the older they get.

2. No Thomas the Tank Engine shirts/pink unicorn clothing. Don't dress your child like an idiot.

3. Absolutely no baby talk. IMO, nothing is more harmful than goochie goo baby talk to a three year-old. I ain't saying that you can't use soothing tones in speaking to that boy...but drop the stupid **** baby talk. Your kid's kindergarten teacher will thank you.

Now all of you can commence with the jokes about how I break my kid's bones...because that stuff never gets old. I'll wait for it.

My ammendments to Clamato's rules:

Ammendment #1: Kiddie music is OK as long as it's only a small part of what they listen to. However, if you listen to Rob Zombie, I do not recommend that you share that music with them...unless you want an emo kid.

Ammendment #2: And please do not dress them to match you, unless they are ski sweaters, then it's OK . (OK, my kids and my husband refused to wear the very nice matching sweaters to ski in....but the idea was good.)

Ammendment #3: Baby talk is OK with BABIES. Once they sit up, crawl and start making sounds that start sounding like real words, commence with vocabulary expansion as long as it doesn't involve certain four-letter words.

My additional rules:

1. Sleep matters a lot. No matter how old kids are, keep them on a regular sleep schedule...no sleeping til noon, no staying up until 4am (unless he is Ok with you waking him up by 8am so that he will fall asleep the next night). This will become a bigger issue as he approaches the teen years.

2. Keep all that electronic crap out of the kid's bedroom. Walkman or I-Pod, fine. Otherwise, nothing. Not even a phone (unless it's their cell phone though I try to make the kids keep those downstairs too). No computer, no video games, no massive stereos, no TV, you get the idea.

3. Read to him, read with him, make reading a joy. It makes all the difference (providing that the reading material is appropriate for a child).

If you want your child to grow up to be a 4'5" tall, balding message board geek then I'd take his advice.

Congrats.

quote:

4'5" tall

Wow, Clam is as tall as Estelle Getty was, rest her soul...

Maybe you should consider that for your next Halloween costume, Clam???

quote:

Originally posted by Fish:
If you want your child to grow up to be a 4'5" tall, balding message board geek then I'd take his advice.

Fish, how could you?!

quote:

Originally posted by 4MP:

quote:

Originally posted by Fish:
If you want your child to grow up to be a 4'5" tall, balding message board geek then I'd take his advice.

Fish, how could you?!

C'mon 4MP......everyone knows you're not a message board geek.