Not my toys!

You've all been there... And if you haven't please come give me a parenting training! That moment when enough is enough and even though they aren't finished with their chores you say they are just so you can be rid of them and finish yourself! I mean seriously when it take 2 hrs to get them to do 2 chores that take you 5 min it gets to be about as much as you can take! Unfortunately AND fortunately that means that you are left to do it on your own. Well Saturday was just such a time and the last chore on the list was the dreaded you closet! Why oh why the toy closet. And as I sat amid the literal trash that they swore to be their treasure I was only enraged that they had so many toys!!! They have more toys then I have hair ties or bobby pins or shirts or shoes or jars of pears or phone numbers in my contact book! These kids have so many bloody toys they don't even know what to do with them! They have so many toys that 4 weeks ago I took a bag of toys and put them in time out for not cleaning them up and everyone forgot about them! Silly thing is with all the toys these kids have they don't have nearly as muh as most of their friends... And I actually have found myself feeling bad about that! We only buy them toys for their birthday and Christmas! Other then that they want a toy they earn money and buy it. However as I was sitting there with about 5 Legos and at least one cars maytor digging in to my sore rump I scoffed myself for ever feeling guilty about their "lack of toys"! Did I forget who my boys were? They spend close to 6 hrs a day outside. They only watch about an he of tv a day and the rest of the time they are eating sleeping or just bugging the crap out of me! They have wild imaginations and enjoy making things to play with. That's when I decided to start throwing their "treasures" away! After citing their amount of toys considerably, the DI got a sizable donation, the closet got a lot more roomy, my stress level diminished and they children have not a clue in the world! Hallelujah! 

Tough skin isn't desirable

Let's be honest. No one wants to touch tough skin unless it's a designer alligator skin bag! No one ever said. I just love touching your rough knees and caressing your tuff  elbows. Oooo sexy! So is true about our personalities. Rarely are we drown to people because of their tough exterior. The way in which they push us away or give us the cold shoulder. Yet in today's society we hear all too often that we need tougher skin. What for I ask! Yes there are sometimes I wish I wasn't so sensitive and that the words that others say didn't effect me, but that's what makes me who I am. What is so desirable about not ever feeling, not ever caring, not ever letting someone in...The problem is when we shut the door to our hearts, yes we shut out the bad, but we shut out the good also. Not having tough skin I may be more sensitive to the unkind words people say but I'm also more sensitive to the one who is silent and yet screaming out for help from the anguish of this world. I may be more prone to get my heart broken but I'm also more likely to let my love touch the lives of those around me... There is obviously a lot to be said about a woman who can take on this brazen world and get to the other side unscathed, however in my opinion there is also a great beauty in the scars the wrinkles and the down right open wounds of the little old lady who FELT EVERYTHING in her life. The good and the bad. The sad and the Happy. The triumph and the sorrow. The loss of loved ones but the gratitude for the memories shared. The pain of a wayward child and the joy of a righteous one. The burn left by a selfish friend and the wrinkle lines from the friend that always had you laughing. There is something poetic and beautiful in the sensitive life. Do not toughen your skin to shut out all that we are meant to experience here in this life.