What do you want for Christmas?

Innernets, let it be officially known that I want this:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition by J.K. Rowling

Come to me, my precious.

Wait, wrong reference. Whatever. Hubba hubba. ME WANT THIS.

Okay, now that Christmas 2008 is taken care of, let me move on to some scraps of Specifically Random for you......

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While carousing on Amazon, I looked up the Twilight Saga series by Stephenie Meyer. Why do I do this to myself?? Why? Am feeling an overwhelming compulsion to head to Border's immediately after dropping Arun off at school this morning. I suspect, resistance is futile.

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In other news, Blogger is now allowing for email responses to comments. Finally! Folks, you can look forward to that feature coming soon to a blog near you. It has always bothered me that I could not respond personally to comments.

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Finally, a bit of a rant for you. It has been that sort of week with the blogosphere rife with negativity. Might as well get this one out of my system.....

I am SO excited for Leah and Simon that they found out they are having a boy. Truly, having a boy has been so much damned fun. And yes, having a girl has been just as much fun. I always wanted two boys and one girl. While I will not get that 2nd boy, I am so grateful that I have one of each.

However. As the mother of a boy, what I have not enjoyed is the rude comparisons between my boy and my girl.

Everyone knows the word "misogynist", right? It is such an oft-used word these days, it would be difficult not to be familiar with it. Well, how about misandrist, defined as "someone who harbors a basic hatred of men"? As the mother of a boy, it became clear to me how many women out there simply do not care for the male species. It is absolutely shocking to me how many people think it is perfectly acceptable to inform you of all the so-called "bad character traits" of boys. And I have heard some doozies - boys are hellions, boys are aggressive, boys do not like to snuggle, boys do not like books, boys are destructive. I find all those comments not only insulting to my son, but also to my husband and my father, two of the most affectionate men I know.

Am I alone in this? Am I over-sensitive to this?

And if I hear the following quote one more time, it will be too soon:
A son is a son til he gets him a wife,
A daughter is a daughter for the rest of her life.

That's it, is it not?

Innernets, your votes have been tallied. Housecleaning it is. I should confess that I do have a super-secret Babysitting Weapon - my mother. And to boot, she lives in Lawrence,KS. It is a cinch to dump the kids off at her place, then hoof it to downtown and hole up in a coffee shop for a few hours (or days?) On Saturday, I did this and found myself hanging out in a new, little tea shop called Teapouro. Then yesterday, my sister and I did a double swoop-down on our mom and left ALL THE CHILDREN with her so that we could frolic downtown together. We had lunch at Milton's and then went shopping at the Phoenix Gallery and the Toy Store. Seriously, I think it has been at least a few years since my sister and I have had a conversation that did not involve at least one instance of at least one of us bellowing at our kids to just Lock Their Lips. Admittedly, our mom look a wee bit haggard by the time we returned, but she was none worse for the wear. [Stage Left: Evil Laugh]

In other news, I would like to give a shout-out to Elmo. Oh, sure, we have had our differences over the years, but truly, the Great Red One is totally rockin' our house these days. Arun is obsessed with the whole Elmo's Potty Time video. My general theory regarding toilet training is "when he is ready, he will let me know." Overall, I am hoping he is "trained" (I HATE that word. Bleh.) by this November. So. Um. I do not normally seek advice, but I am definitely open to it on this subject. We talk about it and I ask every now and then if he would like to perch his royal bum upon his Diego-Embossed Throne. So far, no takers. Eh.

What did I learn at BlogHer 08?

Someone asked the very valid question as to what it was that I learned at BlogHer 08. What with all the drama and snipping that has been going on, you would think that all we did was drink and snub each other. While I am not going to go into detail on the sessions I attended, I can highlight some things I came away with. For more details on each session, I recommend you check out the Liveblog section for BlogHer 08.

I learned the following:

1. I learned that corporate America and the media has, indeed, taken notice of the lowly mommyblogger. Sure, I have heard and read much of this newfound love but, um, wow. It blew me away how the sponsors and media were all over this event. I felt like I was being courted or romanced.
   
2. I learned some things I need to look out for as a mommyblogger in regard to privacy and security. For one, I really need to figure out how to watermark my photos (something I have been meaning to do). Otherwise, I am fairly satisfied with how I have handled privacy and security on this site. One important note that was brought up was the fact that every parentblogger needs to keep a running tally of "information" he/she has written about before to ensure privacy. For example, I do try to keep my writing of my son's school at a very minimum for security purposes. Also, I keep a mental list of what I have already revealed to prevent me from accidentally revealing more information that would allow someone to "connect the dots" as to where he goes to school.
   
3. I learned that I am so very, very happy with my current level and makeup of my traffic. Sure, I have gotten some rude comments in the past, but none ever progressed to the level of Trollworthy. One blogger, in the Naked Blogging session, brought nearly the entire room to tears with her experiences with two trolls. And believe me, the blogger in question is fairly innocuous so it was such a disturbing story to hear. It could happen to any one of us out here.
4. As far as commercialization and monetization goes, I learned that I am probably most comfortable with just staying in the BlogHer Ad network and with some pimping myself out to publishers to review books. I am not really jazzed about reviewing tons of different products (NO LAUNDRY DETERGENT EVER), but I do think that reviewing books fits into what I have been doing here for the past 4 years.
   
5. I learned that Macy's is a fairly odd and uncomfortable place to host a cocktail hour. Yikes.
   

Which would you rather have: a nanny or a housekeeper?

I would rather have a housekeeper.

In a few weeks, our lovely sitter T is heading off to college. I am teary-eyed just writing this. She has been so responsible and responsive with our children. She comes nearly every Wednesday afternoon for just a few hours and Arun asks for her throughout the week. All of us are going to really miss her.

There was a time when I desperately needed Kid Free time and it needed to be regular and scheduled. However. Lately, I have been feeling that I need a clean house more than I need free time. I am not quite to the point where I could be exposed on a future segment of Oprah, but I am seeing how easily one's piles of crap can get out of control.

So, I have scheduled the house cleaning service again since our babysitting fees are going away. Anyone who has a cleaning service knows that it is not quite as simple as you sitting on your couch, eating bon bons as someone in a duster vacuums under your feet. Hardly. The cleaners come next Wednesday and this means that I have loads of things to put away before they can come in to do their jobs. Actually, that is what I miss the very most about the cleaning service - the fact that it forces my Lazy Hand into picking up. Sad, pathetic, yet very, very true.

I am calling this entire project Take Back the Dining Room. Wish me luck.

How much is that puppy in the window?

Great balls of fire, Innernets. X has come across a FREE puppy found in a dumpster. A wee black Labrador, to be exact. The breed he has always wanted. Now, if this puppy was a husky (preferably a Malamute), I would be all over that. Maybe. Um. Perhaps not. We go back and forth on the dog issue about once a year.

I am more than okay with our current pet situation.

The cats? Got that covered. Throw them some water and food. Occasionally, serve as their personal doorman letting them in and out and in and out and in and out.

The tarantula? The easiest pet ever in the Domestication of Things Wild. Throw in some crickets, wish them the best. Then, later on, pick out the carcasses, dribble some water in Sofia's thimble-sized water dish, mist her cage. Oh, snap.

A dog? I do not feel ready for that sort of commitment.

I say, until all the children in our house have full sets of molars, can butter their toast, can dress themselves and most importantly, can wipe their own asses, I am just not ready for a dog.

Not. Ready.