Hi everyone - I've so missed you! It's been such a hdeously busy time - I NEVER want to be that busy again. In the end, all I could do was write a list and work my way through it systematically. I finally got to TCFL, have created a marketing task list, and now as a reward, am allowing myself to post to the forum.

I just don't know how people manage kids on top of everything. It's been a combination of work, preparing for overseas trips and then little curve balls like our rented house on the island having a bit of a meltdown in the rainstorms -the study attached to the garage had water pouring down the walls. We've had the foulest winter - just continuous crazy heavy rain storms - we have almost a lake in our backyard.

Anyway, here are a couple of little stories for you.

1. My sisters and I met up for lunch in a cafe last weekend. For some crazy reason, right by the queue at the counter they had one of those gas heaters with a naked flame behind an open grill. Suddenly my sister saw a little boy, aged about 4, leaning right up against it - he must have been 1 minute away from going up in flames. His Mum hadn't realised the heater was there and was focussed on the baby she was holding. My sister instinctively leapt up and yelled and raced over to grab the boy. The boy ran over to his mother who gave him a little telling off. Then she turned her back on us and carried on queueing for her food. When she got her food, she walked straight past us without acknowledgement at all. Not a single thank you for my sister potentially saving her child's life.

2. My friend from Wellington was visiting at the weekend. Earlier that morning she had been in a car with another local friend as a passenger. As her friend was slowly pulling out from the kerb, the following unfolded. Across the road a guy got out of a car, and crossed over the road in front of the car my friend was in. From the other side of the road he called out to his son, aged about 4, who was in the back seat of the car. He made his son get out of the car on his own, on the road side, and cross the road alone, in front of the car my friend was in. The driver, my friend's friend, was just in the process of pulling out when this happened. The guy yells at my friend through the passenger window "hey you idiots, watch where you are going - you nearly hit my son." This story left me speechless. He can't be bothered waiting to accompany his son across the road, and then blames someone else.

I just so hate the thought of the children these people must be raising. I thought being a parent was supposed to be this earth shattering experience where you suddenly become selfless and caring - isn't that the deal??

Anyway, nice to be back...

Those parents are horrible. I'm sure they realized they had made a mistake and didn't want to take the blame for it. But that doesn't excuse their behavior! Isn't anyone responsible for their actions any more?

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I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing. - [title of show]

Oh, to have a video camera to send to CPS....

So it takes a village, but apparenly you don't have to thank the villagers.

Right. The villagers have all the responsibility, but no authority.

Why don't they just cut to the chase and call us "serfs"?

Just remember, when this kind of thing gets you down: Living well is the best revenge!

WTG, Superdad! Encourage your 4 year old to cros the street alone when a car is coming. Seriously, shouldn't we give people IQ tests before we let them have kids?

And, Mom, hey! It was the restaurant's fault the heater thing was open, but she should have thanked your sister. Sheesh! How terribly rude. I'm pretty shy, but I probably would have said "You're welcome!" when the lady turned her back on me without a thank you.

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My mom was in a restaurant one day and a couple had their baby in one of those carrier seat things on top of the table. She said she kept looking over at the baby because she had a bad feeling. The baby was wiggly and the carrier was too close to the edge. Sure enough, the baby fell off the table and my mom was watching. She lept and caught the baby before it hit the floor. The people looked up, dazed, and not so much as a thank you.

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~Kim
"To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Not only terribly unsafe...not very sanitary, either. People put those baby carriers on the asphalt next to their car for a few seconds when loading and unloading. The germs!

Of course, some of these folks don't seem to mind the idea of changing their baby in a restaurant booth, either, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the Manners Fairy(TM) to descend on them with her latest remedial CD-ROM course.