Sweet Dreams

I can't sleep...
And neither can the kids...
We should be far away, off in la-la-land, dreaming of rainbows and candy and fluffy clouds with flying unicorns.
Instead, the kids are chatting away upstairs, and I'm typing.

It's not that we aren't tired.
It's that we have gotten that unwelcomed, uninvited "second wind."

So many times, the "second wind" is a relief, a joy, a much-wanted boost.  It is what we required just to make it past the carb overload we had at lunch, resulting in a snoozy, drowsy afternoon full of yawns and head bobs.

But, not tonight.  Oh no.  Tonight we would prefer that cozy warm bed that we snuggle down into so we can rest through the night.  But instead, we have become so over-tired that all we can do is run faster on our proverbial little hamster wheels.

We really can't even do much in the way of being constructive with our time.  We are too tired for detail and precision.  Any attempts at intelligence went the way of that time before the "second wind," when we should have gone to bed.

Instead, we waived our bodies' call for rest, and so it responded and gave us more energy, but not necessarily more function.  The function turned off just prior to the "second wind."  And now we are left with slap-happy, punchy giggles, high-pitched rapid-fired talking and the wiggles that would rival a shaken up soda bottle.

How do you nip that in the bud?  First, I'm requiring a long, warm shower/bath and some fresh, new pajamas.  Then when we brush our teeth, I'm hoping that will be able to flip the switch so we can finally sleep.

If not, we'll have to fight through a long day of being tired.  Then, hopefully, we'll flop into bed tomorrow night.

Either way, the body eventually gets its way and gets to sleep.  I just hope we can help it out a little before it shuts down at a very inopportune time- like during a test, or work, or driving...

So, goodnight for now.  Here's to dreams of fluffy clouds, rainbows, candy and flying unicorns.

Buy It Now

Lord help us all, my youngest daughter has discovered E-Bay.

She got a new computer for Christmas and has played all sorts of on-line games I didn't even know were out there.  Of course, then again, I've never looked.

One of her favorites is "Girls Go Games.com".  It has about a million or so games that do everything from figuring out a maze to changing Brittany Spears wardrobe.  (I even found a game where I got to dress Coco Chanel in vintage Chanel.)

She also loves iCarly, from the TV show.  And she likes just about anything Disney.  She has discovered PaintBrush, where you can take a picture and alter it electronically through your computer paint pallet.  She enjoys making fish different colors.  Go figure.

The other day we were all on our respective computers when Amy yelled out, "Mom!  Look what I found."

I continued looking at my screen and mumbled, "Whatcha' got?"

"I found a Hello Kitty watch for $3.95 plus shipping!  Can I get it?"

I looked up at her, my brows knitted together in confusion.  "What are you looking at?" I asked, using my best English grammar.

"E-Bay," she said in a dreamy, far-away voice.

My first reaction was panic:  My daughter had found an on-line site where she could make multiple purchases without ever leaving her spot on the couch.  But then I remembered:  She didn't have an account.  Nor did she have a way to pay for any purchases.

I sighed in relief.  "A Hello Kitty watch?  That sounds fun.  Is it pink?" I asked.

"Yes!  Can I get it?" she replied excitedly.

"No, honey.  We just look.  We don't really buy," I said, smiling at my cleverness.

"You buy," she retorted.

I hate it when she's right when I'm splitting hairs!  "Well, yes, but...  Just write down the item number and you can show it to daddy," I said, proud of yet another evasive maneuver.

"Okay," she said.  She hopped up and grabbed pencil and paper and began scribbling furiously.

For several hours she was entranced by this unlimited world of shopping.  She clicked and ooohed and aaahed, and wrote down number after number.  I couldn't help but snicker as I thought of poor hubby being accosted by Amy as soon as he returned home.

Later that evening I was cleaning up after dinner.  Hubby sidled up next to me while I was washing dishes.

"So, Amy tells me you said she could buy a bunch of stuff off of E-Bay, and that I was going to pay for it," he said, scratching his head.

"What?" I asked, laughing.  "Um, no.  I told her to write down the numbers of the things she thought she wanted and that she could show you when you got home.  I never said anything about buying anything."

Hubby rapped his knuckles on the counter and chuckled, "Thought it might be something like that."

"So what did she want to buy?" I asked, returning to my dishes.

"Oh, um, a Hello Kitty watch, some Justin Beiber concert tickets for a concert in San Diego, and a diamond ring for you," he said.

"Oh, I did tell her you would buy me the diamond ring," I smiled.

"Yeah, she said that.  But I told her it wouldn't be fair to buy some of it, and not all of it," he retorted.

"Yeah, you're probably right," I pouted.

So, E-Bay has a new groupie, and somehow we haven't gone broke from it (yet).

I guess this is modern-day window shopping.  It's safer in the fact that there's no "bad guy" to grab them.  But there's no telling what she can fall into on-line, or what kind of stalkers are lurking on the web looking for little girls.

Like window shopping in a mall, parents still need to be with their kids, ensuring they are looking at good things and not making themselves vulnerable to people.  It's an adventure together, just like shopping together.  But it requires no gas.  And we can do it in our pajamas.

And it gives me an on-going list from which to choose for birthdays, Christmases and other holidays.  So, maybe E-Bay isn't all bad.  So long as she NEVER finds out my banking information...