Feeling Happy Friday

“What is a frog’s favorite day of the week?”

”Fly-day!”

Today is the first official day of Spring! And, my sources tell me, it is also the International Day of Happiness! Did you even know there was such a thing? Why not, right?

To get you into World Happy Day (alternate name, apparently), I wanted to share some good articles and fun things to check out:

• Five Things I Learned When I Said Yes To My Daughter for 24 Hours
• Dear Mom of Tantruming Toddler in Target
• Six Nepalis share why you should be happy (this is awesome!)
• Finally the debate for the correct way to hang toilet paper is OVER! (and I was right!)
• Pixar only knows one way to draw a female face, apparently (warning: language)
• Another article giving "The Skinny on Diet Sodas" which leads me to...

A Friday Question! Some of us parents NEED a little boost, whether it be caffeine through diet sodas (or regular sodas), coffee, green tea, energy drinks or some similar item. Getting enough sleep is often not an option for most of us, so we need all of the help we can get, am-I-right?! I JUST started drinking diet sodas this last year of my life, and although I know they are not great for me, they have helped me through some energy issues I have. So my question is, what is your drink of choice to keep you going?

My choice is Diet Dr. Pepper. On pebble ice. With fresh lime. And sugar-free coconut flavoring. Chemicals, YOWZAS! But I also like the grape-flavored Crystal Light Energy packets. On ice. In my water bottle. I'm so picky.

Also, tell us in the comments if there is any kind of scientific finding that would ever convince you to stop getting that extra liquid oomph.

Have a great weekend!

a

Let's Do This Thing

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”

— Marjorie Hinckley

I am so excited to finally get this website up and running. This idea has been running around in my head for years, and to see it alive is so rewarding. I want to go around with my hands in the air yelling, "It's Alive, Aaaaa-LIVE!" like Dr. Frankenstein. Now I know how he feels. Amazing and a little terrified. I hope this is everything that I know it can be. I hope you find value here. I hope that people share their stories and join in on the community.

This is what you can expect from kidsaretheworst online:

1. More fun photos that I can't put on Instagram.
2. Stories from other parents and former children on the imperfect and hilarious realities of child rearing and childhood.
3. Videos!
4. Laughs! Lots of laughs to avoid those exhausted tears that creep up in parenthood.
5. Links to other fun and helpful articles on parenting.
6. Giveaways. "If it's free it's me," like I always say.
7. Community. Come over to our Facebook page where you can get in on some good conversation and camaraderie.
8. Awesomeness.

I like to pressure myself with that last one. But I'm fairly certain that you will find awesomeness on here and within yourself. Whether you're a parent, a child, or someone who doesn't want to identify with either title, welcome. Thanks for being here. Anything else you'd like to see here?

a

St. Partick's Day gratitude

I don't usually associate St. Patrick's Day with gratitude, but rather, I think of the pinching, leprechauns, and everything in green. This morning I woke up at 2:30 am so I could stage the house to look like those meddling leprechauns came and messed with us again. I've done it since my oldest was born, 13 years ago. I really want to stop doing it, but I have enough mother guilt to keep the tradition alive so that my youngest has some of the same fun holiday memories as the older kids. (And might I add, it was worth it, because this morning he came down to my room SO EXCITED that there was a messy table full of green and that those jerk leprechauns even got to the milk.)

After I finished messing up my own house (sanity check needed, I am aware), I went to bed, unable to sleep. I scanned through some of the Instagram accounts and was fairly surprised that at 3 am there were a lot of people just following @kidsaretheworst. I started to look at those people who were adding the account to their follow list and it was mostly people from the Ukraine. UKRAINE! I glanced at their accounts and saw that they were mothers, cookie shop owners, artisnal marshmallow makers, and a couple of pole dancers. It kinda hit me right in the heart that these beautiful people are connected to me, here on the other side of the world. How else would I have ever seen these people who also have kids, dreams, and a wicked sense of humor? The world is so massive, but at that moment, in the wee wee hours of the morning, I felt this camaraderie with parents I will never meet and a community that is so diverse.

As for those pesky leprechauns, I hope they grow tired of us in the next few years. My gratitude for them is waning.

a

hyperbole

Oh man, I just got a paper cut. Paper cuts are THE WORST!

My computer froze again. And I didn't save my work. Computers are THE WORST!

I told the guy at Sonic to go "easy on the ice" and the cup is full of ice--that is THE WORST!

My kid pooped all over his crib and then threw it onto the floor. KIDS ARE THE WORST!

Thanks for understanding hyperbole with me as we begin this chapter of online Kids Are the Worst. You guys are THE BEST!

a