Susan Boyle - Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Wow. Like many people, I heard about this performance on the telly show, Britain's Got Talent, and so I decided to look up the clip on YouTube. I suspect that my initial reaction to this woman was much the same as the majority of others. I like to think that I am open minded and willing to judge people by their inner worth, but I am ashamed to admit that when I saw her, I just couldn't get past the thought that this poor lady was about to humiliate herself. Why? She looked, well, old and frumpy. She did not look at all like what I thought a star should look like. I wasn't proud of it, but a part of me was snickering right along with the audience.

But then she opened her mouth and started to sing and I was blown away, along with everyone else. To see the looks on everyone's faces, from the audience to the judges, was absolutely priceless - no less so, because I knew that the same look was on my own face. She took a hostile and derisive crowd that was chomping at the bit to tear her apart and instantly transformed and humbled them. The snarky and bemused laughter quickly stopped and was promptly replaced by looks of amazement and cheers. Even the terminally cynical Simon Cowell (and who can blame him, considering how many truly awful performances the man has been forced to sit through) was grinning from ear to ear.

There is something timeless and wonderful about the triumph of the underdog, and this was frankly one of the greatest come from behind victories that I have ever witnessed. So go, Susan go! You are my new hero. I don't actually watch any of the Idol/spin off type shows, but if I did, you would get my vote.

Hot Cross Buns

We're just enjoying a lazy Easter long weekend here, and we decided to try our hand at hot cross buns, since this is a tradition in the husbands family. So, I figured I'd better give it a whirl and add them to my repertoire. The monkey and I worked away at them this morning, then let them rise for a bit. Pretty soon, they were about to overflow the confines of the bowl we put them in and take over the kitchen, so we proceeded with the next stage of prep. We haven't actually tried to eat them yet, but I just finished piping on the icing and I think they look yummy, if I say so myself. They had better be, after the disaster zone that was our kitchen while we baked these guys up. A good time was had by all throughout the process, so I think I will call the experience a success. Time to make up a nice cup of coffee and perform the taste test!

It`s my job to be cute, Mommy!

So the monkey has discovered the art of delaying tactics as far as bed time is concerned, to the point where it is really starting to drive me bonkers.

After getting up for something like the 10th or so time, I told her that she could tuck herself back into bed this time, because mommy was going on strike.

To which she looked somewhat shocked and resulted in the following conversation:

Monkey - But Mommy!, that's your job to tuck me in!

Mom - Yeah, well maybe you should have done your own job, staying in bed and going to sleep.

Monkey - It's not my job to go to sleep, mommy! It's, it's.... my job to be cute! I'm a cuty pie!

Mom - (D'oh!) Okay fine, you win, you're cute, let's go tuck in.

Monkey - (triumphant smile, followed by evil genius laughter)

But seriously though, something has got to give here, and I am going to have to find a new way of dealing with this bedtime terrorist, because the whole appeasement policy thing is just not working out for me.

My Toddler, the Pill Popper

A couple of weeks ago, the monkey caught a bad case of the flu. She had a good weeks worth of fever, coughing, runny nose, etc. So, during this time, upon the doctor's advice, I gave her an assortment of meds - mostly children's Tylenol before bed for the fever, and some cough syrup for kids, as needed, depending on how much she was coughing. Both of these meds have been specially formulated with flavours that make them appealing to children. Seems like a good idea, because of course if it tastes awful, it might be hard to get your child to take it when they need it. Unfortunately for us, we had the opposite problem. The little monkey liked the bubblegum flavour of both meds so much that she considered them to be basically a candy-like treat. I tend to use medicine sparingly and only when really needed, but the monkey kept on asking for it all the time, and just wouldn't give up already.

``Mommy, please! I need medicine! I`m sick mommy, I have a fever! I need it! I need it!``

You get the idea. This same phrase, with slight variations, was repeated ad nauseum, long past the point when she no longer needed it in any way. Even now, several weeks later, she will occasionally ask for medicine, claiming to be sick, though she is gradually getting somewhat discouraged by the consistent NO! response.

I told this story to a friend of mine with a similarly aged daughter, thinking that my child was a freak for loving medicine, and she laughed and told me that her daughter does the exact same thing, sometimes claiming to have a tummy ache, when she obviously doesn't. Not sure what the answer to this is, but it almost seems that by making the stuff taste too good, it's almost dangerous, because children are far more likely to have accidental overdoses if the manage to get their paws on stuff. Of course, I keep it all in a safe place out of reach, but anyone who has small children can attest to the fact that they are pretty darned resourceful when they want to be, so it's still a worry. Anyhow, I may start purchasing less kid friendly products in the future in order to alleviate this issue.