Random Thoughts

I got married relatively late in life, and now I have a toddler and a baby, both girls. As a parent, you look forward to passing on all your accumulated wisdom to your children. It's a little early for that, but in the meantime, I've learned quite a few lessons from them. Here are a few samples:

• If something is delicious, eat it without hesitation or guilt - and don't assume anything isn't delicious until you've plucked it from the floor and tasted it.
• If you're bored, don't sit around and mope - re-arrange your environment. You can start by dumping all the books on the floor, which will encourage you to begin that alphabetizing project you've been putting off.
• After a good nap, things that aggrieved you a couple of hours ago won't seem so bad.
• Don't take glorious sights like the full moon for granted just because they're common. Bounce up and down, point to it and yell, "Moon! Moon! Moon!" This will help others appreciate it as well.
• Chewing on a box of food is almost as much fun as eating the real thing, especially if there's a picture on it. There's no fat or carbohydrates in cardboard, and you'll burn a few calories gnawing on it.
• If you try over and over and over, you'll go places and get your hands on things the bigger and smarter people swore you couldn't.
• When you get hurt, cry with enthusiasm for a couple of minutes, then forget the whole thing and move on to something else.
• Everything in your environment is a toy if you decide to treat it like one.
• When you hear a song you like, wave your arms, stomp your feet, and shake your booty with abandon. If other people laugh at you, that's their problem.
• When you're hurt, people who really love you will hug and kiss you, even if you don't smell very good at the time.
• If no one's kissed you lately, even though you smell fabulous, kiss your reflection in the mirror. You can also talk to the mirror when other people don't understand what you're saying.
• If the people you live with are always hogging the remote, hide it from them. Under the sofa is a good spot.
• If you spread a few Cheerios around when you have more than you need, they'll turn up later in unexpected places, and that will make you happy.
• A fancy vocabulary is overrated. A few sincere words are all it takes to please the people listening to you, especially if you punctuate your thoughts with a hug.
• Whenever you try something new, there's a good chance you'll fall down and bump your head. But even a baby knows that's no reason to quit.