6/25/18, Great, so far!

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’ve had a good week. I had another busy one, with three of my children visiting in one week, one after the other, and lots to do with them. All daughters, so we did a lot of fun shopping. I have to admit, shopping always relaxes me!! And it’s so nice sharing adult time with one’s children, talking about life, and what’s going on in their lives.

Thank you for your wonderful responses to my blog last week. Motherhood is certainly the best job in the world, and sometimes the hardest—-while you try to do the right thing, hear their needs and what they have to say, and set a good example, which isn’t always easy because even as parents, we’re human too, and inevitably make our share of mistakes, no matter how hard we try not to!!

My new silly pet peeves while shopping: it has become fashionable in fancy stores to offer you coffee, water, and sometimes even wine while you’re shopping, which always annoys me. I cannot juggle a cup of coffee while I’m trying to shop, I don’t drink (alcohol), and if I’m thirsty, I can have a bottle of water before I shop. Why would I want to juggle coffee while trying to look at clothes or try them on?  If I want to eat or drink, I go to a restaurant, and if I want to shop, I go to a store. They mean well, but it seems silly to me. My youngest daughter is outspoken at times, and when they offered us wine in a store once on a hot day, she thought about it and then said, “no, thanks, but do you have a beer?” They looked very surprised, and did not have a beer on hand!!

But my biggest pet peeve in stores now is that they have pat phrases that they use to make you feel welcome, and make you feel at ease in the store. The most popular one these days seems to be “How’s your day so far?” That somehow suggests to me that they’re going to check in with you again later, and is meant to give you the impression that they really care and want to know. Let’s face it, I’ll probably never see them again, or go back to that store for another year or more, they’ve never seen me before, and won’t again, and don’t know me from Adam. So how’s my day so far? Am I supposed to tell the truth, and tell them it sucked, that the plumbing repair bill was way higher than I thought it should be, the roof estimate I got was ridiculous, I had an argument with one of my kids over something stupid, I had a flat tire this morning, I have to go to the dentist in 2 hours, I have a writing deadline,  and the dog threw up on the rug. There’s a lot that can go wrong in a day’s time, and some days are more challenging than others. So am I really supposed to tell a stranger how my day was “so far”? I just nod dumbly, and say “fine”, which seems like the appropriate answer. I think what annoys me about that question is that it’s supposed to give me the impression that the sales person really cares, and we are now buddies, so I’ll want to buy more. It doesn’t, it just seems silly to me, and I buy (or don’t buy) what I would have anyway, so it seems pointless to me.

Other than minor pet peeves like the above, I’ve had a good time with my kids. I enjoy spending time alone with each of them when I can, so I get to hear what’s really going on with them, and we share a few laughs, some meals, and a good time. It’s really nice having down time with them.

I’m going to spend the week relaxing, and catching up on a few things, maybe doing some reading—before the next wave of my children, four of them, arrive in a week to spend time with me. It will be busy, but really nice for me. I’m in a lull between books, which is great so I can read other people’s books for a change.

I hope good things are happening for you.  Take good care…..And I hope your day, and your week have been “great so far!!” and will continue to be,

love, Danielle