Did you ever notice that for a month before Mother’s Day there are lots of jewelry commercials on television? Now think about the very next month. Are you realizing that for the month before Father’s Day we don’t see a bunch of commercials promoting gifts for fathers? Why don’t we see commercials for men’s jewelry in the month before Father’s Day? My parents are equally important and I spend about the same amount on both. It’s as important to remember one as it is the other. So what’s with the Mom favoritism? Why aren’t there more Father’s Day commercials?

My son is twelve and a half. He’s growing up faster than I care for him to do. Besides being in the midst of a monstrous growth spurt for a couple of months now, he’s dealing with typical pre-teen issues. Adolescence. Things like girls, telephones, tv ratings and skin problems. Like many kids, he enjoys television. We have shows blocked off by rating, and I know what channels and shows he watches. He’s apparently been seeing a lot of acne solutions advertised and he hasn’t figured out yet that tv commercials often don’t represent the truth. One product he really wants me to get for him is Proactiv, because he keeps seeing the commercials.  I’m very hesitant to buy it because it’s pretty expensive and I’m skeptical. If any of you have personally used Proactiv I would appreciate hearing about if it worked or not.

I enjoy watching home improvement shows. One of my favorite shows is Curb Appeal. I love the DIY network, I could watch it for hours. My husband teases me about this, and often calls me Val Vila. He thinks it’s funny that I like to watch this stuff. I keep telling him it’s a terrific source for ideas. I think he makes fun of me for watching it because he thinks I’m going to ask him to do stuff like they do on the show and that if he bugs me enough I’ll stop watching it. He’s not what we like to call ambitious about projects around the house. In fact, if he hears a phrase like Danze faucets he might go running out the door. Do you like to watch home improvement shows? Which ones?

My youngest watches all of the popular toddler shows. Sometimes he watches a vhs tape or dvd so much he actually starts wearing it out. As of this afternoon I have a stack of six dvds that don’t work correctly. Now that some of his movies are being retired I set out on a mission to locate new ones. Guess what I did? I entered some great contests for kids movies. You think I’m kidding? Here they are.

Island Review/a> is having a giveaway for Bob the Builder On Site Roads and Bridges dvd.<

Blonde Mom Blog is having a giveaway featuring Handy Manny and Little Einsteins dvds.

Prizey is having a giveaway for three Maggie and the Ferocious Beast dvds.

Momsational is having a giveaway for a copy of Disney’s Aristocats Special Edition dvd.

I was surprises how many I found that’d be perfect for him. Most end soon so hurry if you’re going to enter.

I also found out that 5 Minutes for Mom is having a giveaway for the first Pretend with Miss Kim dvd but the site wouldn’t let my comment appear so I don’t know if we’re entered or not.

Everytime I went over my parents house in their bedroom I’d hit my head on the television. See, they had a ceiling tv mount because they didn’t have dresser room. Attached underneath the tv was the dvd and tivo. Noone over five and a half foot could walk underneath without either ducking or hitting their head. I am pleased to report the problem is solved. My middle youngest brother bought my parents a flat panel tv to hang on the wall. Nice gift! Were you trying to give them a good present or were you sick of hitting your head?

So my son’s got Rock Band connected to the big tv and is playing the guitar. He loves to watch Guitar Hero and Rock Band videos on You Tube, so I thought he’d like it if I got a good one of him to put up. He was playing a Nine Inch Nails song and was doing a great job. I was on his right and hubby was on his left on our giant sectional couch, which could probably pass as a form of home theater seating. We were both videoing him, I the tv screen and hubby our son. Part way through the video my hubby decided to announce his batteries died. I ignored him and continued to video. A minute later another announcement came that his batteries had died. My son finished shortly after, with an expert rating of 99%. I told him I’d gotten the whole thing on video and that I had stayed still the whole time to keep it steady. Then I told him Yappy had ruined it. I’m going to try it again.