Quick Takes Friday

1.      I had a problem with a flexible spending claim a while ago, tried to get it fixed, and got shot down. I then stewed and muttered under my breath for months (since April!). I finally got up the courage to call them again yesterday and be firm. It took about 10 minutes of explaining the situation several ways, then they said "Oh! We're so sorry! We'll deposit $429 in your account by the end of the day!" I WIN.

I feel like the definition of the parenting axiom if you give in to your child, even just once, they'll never stop trying to get you to give in again. Give me all your customer service problems! I am emboldened to keep insisting until they solve everything!

2.     There was a big flurry of Blathering registrations a couple weeks ago. I finally added all attendees to my Twitter account and am now having a hard time using Twitter. There’s too much! Too many people I don’t know yet, too many tweets to wade through, too many conversations to try and wedge myself into.

3.     You know what else there’s too much of? Political retweets. Are you kidding me with this? By all means, tweet your own political views, if you like, but don’t flood my feed with incredibly partisan retweets. I don’t even like seeing the ones I agree with. (By the way, is there an option to not have someone’s retweets show up in my twitter stream?)

4.     My taste in pumpkin spice lattes seems to vary year-to-year. Some years I can’t taste anything but the spice and feel like I’m drinking some weird herbal thing. This year I’m finding them quite tasty (I think the key is the whipped cream. Mellows it.)

5.      Last week I saw a license plate that said LUV2PIN. Do you think it’s talking about Pinterest? Would someone really put that on their license plate? That seems drastic.

6.   I think I’m ready to buy a nice (read: expensive) pair of jeans. It's time to give up the hope I’ll be losing a ton of weight in the near future and stop putting purchases off. What is your favorite brand? Bonus points if I can find it at Kohl’s, which I have 20% off coupons for.

7.  Me: "It's not my job to always know where your crayons are."

      Meg: "It is your job. I want them now."

Maybe I should just homeschool (ha!)

I’ve been crying at every back-to-school post this year, especially the kindergarten ones. I don’t understand why you all insist on rudely reminding me kids grow up. Just the thought of Meg going to kindergarten is making me cry again right now. She’s so little! (You: well, duh, she’s only three and has two full years to go. Me: But yesterday she was a baby! Which means kindergarten will feel like tomorrow!) (This also may have been slightly brought on by the fact she now signs drawings with her initials. She can WRITE. Or, you know, make two M’s.)

It’s not just time moving so fast, though. What I’m most scared of is the gradual separating from my control. I want to know she’s 100% safe all the time. Obviously that’s impossible, but right now we’re as close to it as we’re ever going to be. With each year, I’ll have to give her more independence and going to school feels like the biggest jump (aside from learning to drive, but thankfully I haven’t started worrying about that quite yet. In a couple years, maybe.)

At least Meg is a social butterfly, adapts quickly to new situations, and enjoys learning. It does make me feel a little better to think about how much she’s going to love school. After her, I get to worry about my shy boy who sobs his heart out every time we leave him.