Cards for All of My Children

 Parenting  5 Responses »
May 182010
 

I’ve been spending a lot of time in our local Hallmark. Between our three family deaths, a plethora of pregnancy announcements, four birthdays in April, three in May, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, well, I’ve been in and out of the store with frequency. As an added bonus, one of our local firefighter wives works there and we exchange good conversation on my many trips.

Every time I have come and gone as of late, I have been buying up the new Kids Collection cards. They are adorable. And I’ve needed them for years. I went in today to grab a birthday card for a friend and also grabbed some Father’s Day cards before I stopped to grab a card for BigBrother’s end-of-school-year present. (See panic yesterday.) I found him the perfect card.

The front reads, “Your style is fun. Your brain is smart. Your smile is big, And so’s your heart…” And on the inside it says, “Our pride in you is off the chart.” Collective “aww” now. It’s perfect. Dr. Seuss and talk of brains and a big heart and fun and pride. It’s everything I needed in a card to celebrate how well he did this year, how much he grew and changed and learned and developed.

The many cards offered are what I’ve been needing for years. There’s been a lack of cards for kids that say anything about missing you. I mean, after all, why would a parent send a card to a child about missing them? Or they were too specific for my situation, never just an “I love you lots,” kind of card. I grabbed one for the Munchkin that talks about pride (to be sent for her upcoming dance recital) and another one that is oh-so-perfect as well.

Always

Front: Always Always Always Always. Inside: Remember You Are Loved.

I found the press release to be interesting. The line of cards was made with input from moms, grandmas and kids after a survey showed that kids don’t always remember how much encouragement their parents give them over the years. FireDad is evidence of that; anytime his mom says, “Do you remember,” his answer is no. There’s no guarantee that cards will make the kids remember but I like the concept.

“This new line of cards and gifts is meant to help parents and grandparents make their encouraging words stick,” notes Sarah Mueller, a card writer who worked on the line. “They provide little reminders that you are rooting for them all the time.”

I’m going to be frequenting Hallmark to grab these cards every now and then. Really, I’d love if someone sent me some! They’re adorable! That said, I had an emotional breakdown in the Father’s Day cards followed by laughing out loud at the birthday cards. Hallmark makes me all sorts of emotional.

All I know is that I’m excited for the last day of school to get here now because I’m ready! Teachers’ presents! Card! Cupcakes! Gift(s) (game & book)! HOORAY!

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[Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. In fact, the amount of money I spent in Hallmark today assures that this post was written of my own free will. Mmm, Hallmark.]

Redecorating This Fire House

 fire life, Home Ownership Rocks/Sucks  12 Responses »
Apr 132010
 

We’ve been putting some work into our house over the past few months. We put in a new laminate floor in the kitchen and dining room. No more carpet under our table! There’s the new fridge. And the new paint. We’re still arguing about the backsplash. We bought our first grown-up couch and recliner for the living room. Which, of course, resulted in new throw pillows and curtains. And I decided that we needed a new comforter set for our bedroom as the other one was old. I mean, we got it before we were married. Old.

I go through phases like this, where I simply want to change how things look or feel. It’s refreshing! Granted, we needed a new couch but had been waiting until the youngest of our boys was through the teething process. Teething children often wipe runny noses on furniture. It was much easier to toss a slip cover in the washing machine than to try and toss an entire couch in there or scrub it. Scrubbing boogers makes me twitchy anyway.

While FireDad had some definite opinions for our kitchen semi-remodel (no mosaic tiles on the backsplash? pfft.), he gave me full decision making ability in the bedroom. That sounds kinky but you know what I mean. For awhile, I considered the plain, reversible comforter in colors that matched our Red Wall. I wasn’t getting rid of the Red Wall and so I needed to go with things that matched or complemented the color scheme. I looked at paisleys and florals and geometric shapes. I looked at all red, red and white, red and black, black and white, taupe, green and just about every color combination that red can be paired with and not look scary. I couldn’t find anything that I wanted, looked good or was, of course, affordable.

Enter a random trip to Sears. And the sounds of angels singing.

I wasn’t even looking for a bed set that day but it found me. I was walking past it and I had to walk backward to look at it. Stripes. We like stripes. White, aqua, green (GREEN!), purple and, yes, red. The reverse side was green (GREEN!). And the throw pillows were fun as well. I waited until payday and went to buy it at our Sears only to find they were out of our size. I called my parents to have them grab it at their store as I grabbed the throw pillows and sheets. I’m so pleased with our purchase. It has brightened up our room immensely. I don’t know what to hang in the old quilt hanging spot but I’ll figure that out eventually.

I tell you all of this not because I think you’re interested in what our bedroom looks like. I tell you this because Dee sent me a link to the Best Firefighter Bed Set Ever and I am very, very sad that I already spent good money on our new set such a short time ago. I can’t even justify this as a gag gift to make FireDad’s eyes pop out.

I mean, he gave me full decision making ability. I totally should have gone with this.

Of course, FireDad does have a birthday coming up next month. I could get this for him to put on his bunk at the fire station. Right?

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Disclosure: I wasn’t paid to share that bed set with you. I did that out of the goodness of my heart because I wanted to make my readers smile today. And/or make you choke on your coffee because you are laughing so hard. Either or, enjoy your Tuesday!

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