FarmWife Answers, episode six: Return of the Jedi

I've been wanting to do that...

First off, Ang asked questions about traveling with kids. I've decided that topic needs a post of it's own. Not that I'm an expert. We never go more than 400 miles or so with ours, but I do have a few ideas.

Kork starts us off: Why is it that my almost 2-year-old Captain Chaos is a bear for me during the days (resisting anything I say), and yet when he is around BB, or Grammy and Poppa, or Uncle J that he is a delightful, happy boy?!?!?!

In a phrase, familiarity breeds contempt. It's a kid thing. I can take my screaming, crazy, unhinged gang to Busha's & they immediately settle down & become (almost) perfect angels. When SIL was in her wreck 10 years ago, she started getting very abusive to MIL. Her doctors & therapists explained that she (much like a toddler at that time) was very angry & needed a safe outlet for her rage. Her mother was a safe outlet because SIL knew no matter what she did or said to her mom, MIL would never abandon her.

Now I'm not suggesting Captain Chaos is full of rage or anything like it. He's just turning two & independence is rearing it's ugly head. It's safer to push you to see how far he can get than to push Grammy & Poppa. Someday very soon, that will come too. He'll start pushing everyone he's close to. He just wants to know who he is & what he's capable of. Since you are a HUGE part of his identity now, you are target #1.

Send him off with Daddy for a while. He needs man time. This is also the age he's beginning to identify himself more & more with his father & less & less with you. May I suggest Bringing Up Boys by Dr.Dobson and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge? While this is mostly a 2 year old thing, getting a handle on the boy part of it will help loads!

Next she asks: What specific company/unit/platoon/group of soldiers is Tom Hanks going to be following/portraying in "Pacific"? (his follow-up to Band of Brothers)

This series will follow Marines Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie (both authors on who's works the project is based), and John Basilone and not a specific company. I've never seen Band of Brothers. Can't do war movies.

Art ponders: Why does it hurt so bad to be lonely? Will it always be this way?

Keeping with Art's love of lyrics, I have to go with Three Dog Night on this one. One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. But no, I do not believe it will always be this way. It will get better.

Some day your Schwinn will come,
Some day you'll meet again,
And away to his bike shop you'll go,
To be happy forever I know.

Is the laundry really never ending?

Unfortunately, yes. Unless of course you become a nudist...and give up drying off after baths...and stop sleeping on sheets. Then you could totally do away with laundry!

Why do we use up so much toilet paper?

You don't really. It's a little known fact that the toilet paper goblins climb out of your toilet in the night & eat at least a third of a roll every day. There's nothing you can do but keep feeding them. Sorry.

How it is it possible for 3 very little people to make me, one grown and intelligent woman, feel so stupid?

I think Mr.C.A. said it best. You are stupid & not cool. It just took having children for this to become so painfully obvious. (For those of you who are about to stone me for calling my best friend stupid...it's OK. She totally understands.)

Do you like George Wendt?

Only if he's eating beans in a movie.

Hot Mama Extraordinaire Sarah asks: What is annoying you the most about your children at this moment? I am going nuts and need to know I am not alone.

Actually this could be a post in it's own, too! BabyGirl cannot speak civily to anyone. B.B. cannot speak without screaming (or crying depending on his mood). #1 Son has taken to moving slower than molasses in January. Bitsy is no longer sleeping...and she's starting to walk!! OK, so that's not annoying, just bittersweet. Her 9 steps on Monday nearly broke this mom's heart. Those are just the big things right now. Oh, and have I mentioned the constant fighting?!

QM asks: what happened here in 1887?

Apparently NOTHING! Or at least nothing worth mentioning on a web site. Why, what do you know that we don't?

How did the piggy bank come to be?

According to About.com, no one invented the piggy bank. It's origins are more linguistic than anything else. There was an orange clay used in pottery called "pygg" in the 15th century. Often the pygg jars were used to hold loose change by housewives. By the 18th century the English language had evolved enough that the word "pygg" was very similar to the word "pig." Whether the first pig bank was a tangible pun or the result of someone misunderstanding an order for a pygg coin jar is unknown.

When did sliced bread become the greatest thing?

July 7, 1928 Baker Frank Bench offered "The Greatest Forward Step in the Baking Industry Since Bread was Wrapped -- Sliced Kleen Maid Bread." from his bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri. He had taken a gamble on Otto Frederick Rohwedder's bread slicer.

Battle Creek, MI claims to be the home of the sliced loaf, but their claims seem to be unfounded. In 1930 Wonder Bread began marketing pre-sliced bread commercially.

Why isn't Times Square square?

I think it once was square. It was originally at the intersection of Midtown Manhattan of 42nd Street, Blooming dale Road and Seventh Avenue and called Longacre Square. "In the early 1900s, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved the newspaper's operations to a new skyscraper on 42nd Street in Longacre Square. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to construct a subway station there, and the area was renamed "Times Square" on April 8, 1904." Thank you Wikipedia.

Why do we have town squares?

Town Squares were public lands in the center of town used for market, town meetings, militia practice, and general gathering. Many are home to the court house or other municipal buildings. I think the little town where the farm hands go to school is the only one in the world that is home only to a playground & picnic shelter (OK, so maybe not the ONLY one...). They were usually built at the intersection of the town's most important roads. If you're ever in Mule Town after dark, do not go behind the town square (like that poor, stupid, little girl from that movie).

If you had to live someplace really cold were would you live?

Oh boy. Um...have I mentioned that I hate the cold? I guess if I had to, I'd like to live in Alaska for a bit. I love watching the nature films on Alaska...and I would love to see the Northern Lights someday. Although I'm not sure where in Alaska I'd live...maybe Anchorage. That way Did could tell me all the cool places to go. But then parts of New Zealand are very cold & I'd love to visit there too. Do I have to live there permanently or is this a brief sojourn?

Mommy to 4 Little People asks: Do dishes really reproduce like rabbits when the lights are off?

I fear this is not the case. I was so hoping it was, then I'd have an excuse...but since I've started attempting to "stay on top of things" I think it's an urban legend. But I think there's a special dispensation when you're sick because mine are piling up & I don't remember cooking anything.

What happens to socks in the dryer? where do they go? will I ever find the missing ones? How come as soon as I throw away a sock that has been in the basket for months the missing one appears suddenly?

Remember the toilet paper goblins I talked about before? Well, they have cousins. Sock gremlins. They use left socks to clothe their newborns. The babies are very small at birth, but grow fairly quickly....about the same time it takes for most people to get sick of looking for the missing mate & trash the one sock they can find. So just stop looking. They also use socks as dowries for their unmarried daughters, so you may never get those back.

And finally: Why do some people's bodies ache (ie joints) when the weather changes?

I get headaches when a band of very low pressure moves through. I think this is all about the fluid in your joints & changes in barometric pressure. The jury is still out on whether or not this is an actual problem or just an old wives tale, but I think it's true.

I'll get back to Ang's questions later.