Category: Uncategorized

Talking Pinterest

.Reading time 3 minutes.

I was yaking with my sister the other week about Pinterest, when all at once I realized that I was beating the table with enthusiasm, and speaking ahem…vehemently.   I had not realized I had so many strong opinions about the fastest growing (and currently very hot) social network.

We will tackle these opinions one at a time.  Will you agree with me? Probably not always. That’s ok, if you let me rant, I will let you disagree in the comments.

I will start with my #1. Rule.
Always follow the link

Or stated otherwise:
Check on the link before repinning

It happens so often: oh, amazing chicken made with only two ingredients! I want to cook that!  Oh, an obscenely decadent cheesecake?  I will pin it!   Two months pass.  Hmm, I’m in the mood to cook that tasty chicken that uses only two ingredients.  You run dutifully to your board, click on the picture, and voila, it takes you …NOWHERE. Which two ingredients will it take to make that chicken? Now you will never know.

I did an experiment.  How long would it take for me to find a pin that would illustrate this problem?   As fate would have it, this happened the first time around.

See this lego man cake?


Cool, Huh?

Yes!  I want!  I want to make Lego Man Cake!
(Clicking..) Here are the results

MEATLOAF!!
I don’t want Meatloaf! I want Lego Man!

Yes, I this happened on the first picture I clicked on to test my experiment.  I spent a small amount of time (2 minutes?) clicking around to see if I could find Lego Man Cake from the link. I could not.

I do not have time for this nonsense! Neither do you.  Save us our sanity and double check your links.
This may become a semi-regular topic for me.  Topics …Most useful pin of the week.  Most over-pinned pin of the week.  What’s up with all the DIY’s?  Are you really going to make all those cupcakes?
Over and out…
and Happy Pinning.

Also, i realize that you could probably totally make the lego man cake with just the picture. But you know the lady who figured out lego man first? She will never get the credit. Makes me sad for her. Poor lego lady. She will have to drown her sorrows in meatloaf I guess.

My Unsolicited Advice

.Reading time 4 minutes.

A year or so ago I ran into a friend that I see every three
or four years.  She is my age, with kids
my age so we had a lot to talk about.  Of
course she asked me “How is motherhood going?”
I didn’t answer right away, because that week it had been stinky.  Not like depression, or spousal abuse kind of
stinky but more like piles of manure-coated laundry, and sick children stinky.   Not bad compared to some people, but no
picnic with puppies either.

So, she asked the question, and I thoughtfully considered
what to say.  I went the honest route and
said something like “Well it was pretty tough this week.  Being a mom is hard”.

Oh dear.  A well of
knowledge bubbled up out of her mouth and poured over me.  It was complete with a four step program to
be a better mom, a book I needed to
read, and lots of real-life illustrations.

When the conversation was done, I was annoyed.  I felt angry that because of my honesty, she
felt compelled to help.   I didn’t want
help; I wanted the assurance that I wasn’t alone.  I wished I would have said the normal thing,
“Oh it’s tough, but so fulfilling. I
wouldn’t change it for the world.” ( I cannot tell you how often I’ve heard
people say that.)

Gene, naturally thought I over-reacted, (I had) and thought
I need to take in consideration that she meant well (I wasn’t in the mood).

When I love my kids like I should, when I’m living a
disciplined lifestyle, when I try a new discipline technique and it actually works, then I feel like I’ve
found the key to successful living.
Sometimes those weeks happen to me, and while it’s very fun, it doesn’t really
breed brokenness. Usually it starts to bug me when other people gripe about their
lives.  I want to yell “just do what I do;
and it will all turn out A-OK.” 

Then I get a stinky
week again, and I realize that I am at the receiving end of both wonderful
weeks and stinky weeks.

In contrast to the friend above, our close friends have a live and let live mantra.  So much so that when we first had children I
was trying to figure out sleep patterns and how to get babies to sleep through
the night.   Ignorantly I asked about
crying it out vs. rocking to sleep.
Well, I was met with “Do whatever you want”, and I was frustrated
because I didn’t know what I wanted.   That’s why I’m asking ok?!  (Also I was ignorant to the fire-storm an
innocent question can raise, and my wiser friends knew better than to even
start)

My advice is this: Do not give advice to anybody, unless
they ask for it.

If they
ask, they truly want it. Give it.

The End.