DO PEOPLE THINK I'M A PIG? THEY PROBABLY DO NOW!

It's Opinion Time folks! I need to hear what you all think about this. File it under the heading "Is It Just Me?"

I went out for dinner with 3 girlfriends last night. Had a great time, wonderful food, lots of laughs. Of course we spent a lot of time talking about our kids. Somehow we got on the subject of clothing and how often our children change their clothes. Two friends wash their kids clothes after one wearing, whether they're dirty or not. I, on the other hand, do not. Of course we all wear clean underwear on a daily basis, but my family, for example, wear socks for two days running before putting them in the laundry. Except Andy of course. He's forbidden to wear his smelly sweaty socks more than once. But the kids and I wear shoes or slippers the whole day. We're not out running marathons, nor are we traipsing around the garden in our socks. So we wear them for another day. Moving onto the subject of tops: I'm probably the biggest pig in the house and do have to put on a clean shirt most days. This is because I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and forget to put on an apron. Kolina, except if she drops a forkful of spaghetti down her front, is actually quite clean. She's no longer of the age where they fingerpaint at school. She can usually wear a shirt 2 or 3 days. If she remembers to put on deodorant, that is. If her shirt smells like sweat, of course I'll throw it in the wash. But I'm talking "real" dirt here. Dylan rivals me for being a pig. Mealtimes are quite messy affairs because let's face it, who needs a napkin when you're wearing clothes? A shirt is so handy! So yeah, Dylan does usually require a clean shirt the following day because his clothes really are "soiled." However. If we're lucky and he hasn't wiped his mouth on his shirt, or painted something with it, he will wear it again the next day, because chances are, it won't survive anyway.

My point is, why put clean clothes on your kids every single day if it's not necessary? Is our society so fixated on cleanliness that we're obsessed?

My friends were saying how their kids themselves want clean stuff on all the time. Like fresh jammies every night. One of them said how they give their kids clean jammies every 3 days or so. I was ashamed to admit that I wash pyjamas once a week. My kids are not dirty. They do not crap in their pyjamas. Even if Dylan spills a bit of toast or toothpaste down the front, I just put the top on the radiator and let it dry. He gets the same pyjamas that evening. Who the hell cares if his jammies aren't spotless? I sure don't.

So the question is: Am I pig? Or are my friends extremely picky?

TEST OF MY WILLPOWER

Ever since the beginning of the new year, I've been on a healthy eating kick. Not a diet, because I'm not weighing stuff or counting calories. But just trying to change my eating habits. Lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of water, one helping at mealtimes, as low fat as possible but without going overboard, going for lots of walks and allowing myself my beloved potato chips once a week. Today I am being faced with my first real challenge.

Kolina does gymnastics. In order for her club to raise money to buy new track suits, our club is hosting a gymnastic show/exhibition/dinner today in Zurich. All the moms and dads are helping out, whether it's setting up, serving the dinner, working the fast food stands, etc. Guess where I'll be working? They've got me down for working the deep fat fryer for the FRENCH FRIES! How ironic is that? There is no way in hell I'll be able to resist at some point. It will be interesting to see how many I do end up consuming.

In an attempt to "arm" myself, I'm making a proper lunch before we go. No going on an empty stomach, that's for sure! So I'm making steak, pasta and broccoli for lunch. And for breakfast I just had a grapefruit. Hopefully I'll get sick of the smell of oil soon and not even want to eat fries.

This should prove to be interesting!

THINGS I WONDER ABOUT

Here is a vegetable mystery. How can an onion be rotten half way through, but not on the outside? I don't mean the onion was rotten in the center and OK on the outside. I'm talking weird. You know how onions are layered? How can the middle layer be brown and squishy, but the center AND the outside be perfectly fine? I'd like to know. Anybody?

RADIO GRIPES 2

And yet again, Radio 24 is the source of my muted grumbling and rolling of the eyes. I think I need to switch stations. Then again, if they're giving me ideas to blog about, maybe not!

After a VERY mild, record-breaking January (it was 14° last weekend), winter has finally decided to come to Switzerland. We're supposed to be getting heavy snowfall tonight and tomorrow, plus temps going down to below 0°. For those of you living in Quebec and Ontario, -2° is practically balmy. I'm a Montreal; I know how freaking cold it gets. By some weird freak of nature (or something), Switzerland doesn't, contrary to popular belief, get that cold. Sure, up in the Alps it can hit -20° at night during a cold spell, but here in Zurich we're "lucky" if it goes below freezing. So when it does, it's quite noticeable.

Anyway, snow and cold temps are forecast. You'd think it was the Second Coming the way the DJs are going on (and on and on) about it. Blaring headlines at newstime about how "WINTER IS HERE!" Well uh...it's January. It's actually been winter for a good few weeks. It's supposed to be cold. It's supposed to snow. Sheesh!

Oh yeah. And I think Radio 24 has a new Song of the Moment. They played "Manic Monday" again today. And it's not even Monday. I haven't heard the Weather Girls since the weekend though.....

RADIO GRIPES

I'd like to complain about my local radio station "Radio 24". They're one of those popular Top 40 stations that play current songs numerous times a day. I'm getting PRETTY darn sick of Nelly Furtado crooning "All Good Things" at me every couple of hours. Having said that, my major complaint is that they choose a popular song from the 80s at regular intervals and play it on a daily basis. What is THAT about? Was there only one song recorded in the 80s? I can think of, let's say, 50 off the top of my head that they could play. Do they get royalties for playing it or something? Sheesh! The current "Song of the Moment" is one that I've always loathed: "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls. What's with that? It's not raining. I can see it being played OCCASIONALLY if it's pouring outside. Likewise playing "Manic Monday" by the Bangles on....you guessed it....a Monday. But EVERY DAY? Come on! There were so many amazing songs in the 80s. Play a selection!

Current fave song (just for the hell of it): "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. Now that's one song I don't mind hearing numerous times a day. But that's just me.

* Update: shortly after posting this, I was treated to "Manic Monday" because it is, afterall, Monday. But it's still not raining...

Lice

Having read the title, I imagine it's not hard to guess what this post is going to be about. I was absolutely MORTIFIED last night at 11:30 to discover Dylan has lice. I have to admit, it made my skin crawl. I had noticed that a couple of nights ago, he was scratching his head like a man possessed. However, as I sometimes get Itchy Head from various brands of shampoo and mousse, I didn't really think too much about it. Last night, I noticed he was scratching again. And when I went to check on him when I went to bed, he was even scratching in his sleep. Alarm bells went off and I made a mental note to check his hair in the morning. However, all plans changed when he came staggering half asleep into my room at 11:30. I decided to carry out an inspection. There I was, picking through his hair like a monkey. And sure enough, there were little brown lice crawling around. EWWWWWWWWW! Andy and I zipped the poor kid straight into the bathroom and washed his hair over the sink with some strong medicated dandruff shampoo. I know that won't get rid of the lice, but it was the best option just before midnight. And I was hoping it would reduce the itchiness. Today we'll get some real lice shampoo and treat the whole family. In the meantime, I will be spending the day washing (boiling!) all the sheets and mattress covers, all the pyjamas, all the stuffed animals...what can't go in the washer will be put in the freezer. Dylan's bike helmet is in the freezer as we speak. It's not bad enough that the kid has cooties, there's just so much WORK involved. And the whole family has to be treated with this medicated shampoo that you have to use 3 times. I've probably got the lice as well because of the bedtime cuddling Dylan and I have been doing. Shudder.

Excuse me while I scratch myself....