Bored

What does a 3 year old do when they get bored while their mom is in the shower? Well, if it's a 3 year old named Peyton, he goes to the kitchen cupboard to rifle around. He spots the can of hot cocoa mix. He takes it out and dumps about 2 cups worth of it onto the kitchen floor, living room floor, fireplace mantle and living room couch. (2 cups worth of hot cocoa mix goes a long way.) He then proudly points out what he's done once his mom gets out of the shower and tells her she needs to vacuum it up. He then watches her vacuum and points at the mess saying, "I did that!" He gets scolded, but doesn't act remorseful. In the slightest little bit.

He then gets bored again while his mom is blow drying her hair and decides the same couch he earlier dumped hot cocoa mix on, needs a little something "more". So, he takes a black, ballpoint pen and "colors" on 2 of the cushions. When his mom finishes with her hair, he comes running and says, "I did it again! Come see! Come see!" He then proudly points out the new decoration and says, "yep! I did that!" He gets scolded, but doesn't act remorseful. In the slightest bit.

Kindness

Today, I'm very grateful for the kindness shown to me by a few strangers. I did a little shopping at Costco and came out to find a I had a flat tire. Of course, I had forgotten my phone at home and I knew that I had because the fact had occurred to me while on the way there. I had hesitated while driving, thought about going back, but decided I probably wouldn't need it. Guess I was wrong. ☺

I was a little worried about what I was going to do, but then a kind man came along and allowed me to use his phone so I could call Ryan. Of course, he (Ryan) was nowhere near me and wouldn't be able to get there for quite some time. He suggested that I try the tire center there. I thought that was a good idea and felt a little silly for not thinking of it myself since I was looking right at it when I called him. I thanked the man for the use of the phone and he offered to help me change the tire. I told him I would be fine, I was going to try the tire center.

The tire was too flat to drive on and so I walked back inside. I told the kind man inside the store my situation and he offered to come out and change the tire for me. While I was waiting for him at my car, two other men who were passing by offered to help. I thanked them for stopping, but was so happy to be able to tell them the situation was under control.

What would have taken me an hour on my own, took the tire center guy less than 10 minutes. Once changed, he had me drive over to the tire center bays and he checked my air pressure in all the tires. They were all quite low and so he filled them.

I'm so glad that I came across all of these very nice men and that they made what could have been a very stressful situation, barely a hiccup in my day.

Boundaries

I've decided that I need to set boundaries for myself when it comes to the Internet. (First off, let me say, no, this has nothing to do with me or my blog.) I do this because I've come to the conclusion that there are a lot of mean-spirited and downright cruel people lurking out there. Let me tell you why I think this.

You know how you can "like" pages on facebook? Well, I "liked" a few (I won't say which) and then would, of course, see their posts. I normally wouldn't ever read any of the comments left, or post one of my own because it just took too much time. Well, a few months ago, something kind of interested me. Something that I wanted to comment about. (Okay, I will say that this was for a clothing retailer and they were posting a picture of a shirt and the fact that it was on sale.) I clicked to do it and scrolled through the comments already left. Holy cow! I was totally shocked at how mean they were. I was totally unprepared for what I was reading. Some were directed at the page . They said things like they wouldn't even pay the sale price for the shirt. They said the shirt was hideous, etc. After comments like that, they started being directed at other commenter's. There was mocking and jeering and poking fun at others who had spelled something wrong. There was name calling and other petty bickering. It was just plain mean and it hurt my heart. I couldn't believe people could be so cruel to each other. And over something as silly as a shirt. I decided I shouldn't ever read comments again, but found myself morbidly interested in doing it. I wanted to know if every post was like that. So, I started reading comments on a regular basis. And guess what? The vast majority of posts had comments left like the first. It made me so very sad.

Last week, I was watching a YouTube video. I really enjoyed it and wanted to know what other people thought. Big mistake. The comments left were some of the most vicious and hateful things I've ever read. They were unreasonable and ridiculous. Mean and uncalled for. I was sad all over again.

I personally think the cloak of anonymity the Internet provides has killed civility. It's killed kindness. It's made it very easy for people to be jerks. And those who are, seem to love it. They seem to think that since they are most likely to never cross paths in real life with whomever they're interacting with, they're free to say whatever they like. There's no need to be civil to someone you'll never meet, right? I'd like to know why? When did people become so uncaring and decide that hurting the feelings of a stranger was fun? Whatever happened to: "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"? There's absolutely no need to stir up contention among strangers because all it does is make you look like a terrible person. I know my approach to this probably sounds a little naive, but I can't think of any other way to say this.

So, I've decided that since I can't stop the mean comments, I have to just distance myself from them. I've "unliked" the facebook pages so I won't see their posts and I've resolved to not read comments left in other forums. I know that some might say sticking my head in the sand and ignoring something doesn't make it go away. But I don't think that's what I'm doing. I know that not every comment is cruel and there's plenty of good out there, but I'm tired of continually coming across the cruel. I know what my limits are. I know what I can and can't handle. I don't like feeling bad after reading that kind of crap. There's no need to do that to myself. So, I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm just going to do my best to be kind in my own little corner of the world. It's really all I can, or should do.

Blessed

Today, I just feel blessed. Yesterday was truly a wonderful birthday. It was calm, laid back and peaceful. It was everything I wanted and needed it to be. My kids made me adorable cards and Ryan gave me one of the best he's ever picked out. I am blessed.

• Blessed with a wonderful family, both immediate and extended.
• Blessed with wonderful friends.
• Blessed with good health.
• Blessed with love.

What more could a 35 year old girl ask for?