Public Service Announcements

First off, Tylenol is recalling a bunch of their liquid Children's products. If you have liquid Children's Tylenol in your cupboard (all varieties, including Children's Tylenol + Cough, Children's Tylenol + Cold, Plain Old Vanilla Children's Tylenol, and many, many more) you should check out this website and make sure your Tylenol is not covered by this recall.

As I was checking our bottle of Children's Tylenol, Xavier wandered in. "Mom," he began, then spotting the bottle in my hand his face fell. "Oh, no! Is that for me?"

"Why? Do you feel sick?" I asked.

"No."

"Then it's probably not for you," I replied with a laugh. Six-year-old boys think everything is about them.


Eight-year-old girls, on the other hand, seem to be entrenched in a life of drama. As Gwen was getting her jammies on, she gave a great sigh.

"What's the matter, Gwen?"

"I had a bad day."

"Really?" I was surprised. Evidence would have indicated she'd had a good day -- it was warm, she got a good grade on her science pretest, and she clearly has her social studies test in the bag, if our study session is any indication. "What happened?"

"Well," she sighed. "I nearly passed the Shuttle Run in PE."

"You mean, you nearly failed it?"

"No, I nearly passed it."

"You failed it, then?"

"No," she said, exasperated. "I passed it, but just barely."

"Well, at least you passed it," I said. "Why did you have trouble with it?"

"Well, I fell down."

"Did you get hurt?"

"Yes."

"Bad enough to go to the nurse?"

Pause. "No, not that bad."

"Bad enough for a band-aid?"

Pause. "No."

"Well, okay, that doesn't sound so bad. What else went wrong?"

Gwen sighed again. "Well, I forgot my homework sheet because I didn't know we needed to bring it back in, so I had to share with Robert."

I said gently, "Well, it's your own fault for forgetting your homework."

"I didn't know I needed it!" she emphasized. "And I had to share with Robert!"

"What's wrong with Robert? Does he smell?"

"No, but I had to share with him!"

"Gwen." It was my turn to sigh. "Did anything else go wrong today?"

She thought about it. "No."

"You know, Gwen, that really doesn't sound like a very bad day. You weren't seriously hurt, you didn't get in trouble, your house didn't burn down, and you have food to eat. All in all, I think it was a pretty ordinary day, and it could even be a good day if you looked at it in a different way."

Gwen gave me a withering look that left me in no doubt as to what she thought of my intelligence, and wandered off rather than hear about how she could transform her day. Clearly I had missed the point entirely.

Meanwhile, I was left thinking, "Wow, if she thinks this was a bad day, she must lead a charmed life ... why, back when I was a kid --" And then I realized I had reached the point in my life when I was thinking nostalgically about the good old -- or maybe in this case, bad old -- days, and THAT was a depressing thought. Completely ruined my day.


But, if you need a pick-me-up, check this out Anti Depression Video. If this link does not work, go to YouTube and search for Anti Depression Video and choose the video with the woman and four babies. It only lasts a minute, and really will brighten your day.