Thursday Thirteen

1. Some days it honestly seems like parenting is really no more than picking up 8000 times a day and saying "no" about 2300 times a day.
2. Is there an illness that is the opposite of hoarding? Because if there is I think my husband and I suffer from it. I think we'd give away stuff that we might actually NEED someday rather than have clutter. It probably wouldn't make as riveting a show as those hoarder ones do though.
3. We did some of that de-cluttering today and I seriously think we both get some sort of endorphin rush out of the process.
4. God forbid either of our kids were watching today as we went through their toys. Thankfully, they're both young enough that they won't remember what toys they beFORE the clean-up.
5. You know how I've mentioned that Abby likes to cuddle at night? Well, Jackie is the opposite. He will give me more hugs and kisses during one day than Abby would voluntarily give me in a week. But at night? He wants to be by himself. Take last night. I was heading off to bed and thought how much I would enjoy a quick cuddle before going to my own bed. I climbed in to bed with Jack. He opened his eyes just long enough to look me squarely in the eye and very determinedly and clearly said "Get. Out." Ah, the love.
6. Speaking of differences between my two children: Not even once have I had to clean up crayon or markers or pencil from Abby writing places she shouldn't. I don't think a week has gone by in recent months where I haven't had to wash a wall or a floor or a window or... from Jackie writing on them.
7. Also speaking of Jack: I wish for you that you could be in the stall next to us in a public washroom as I take him pee. He has made more than one person laugh outright with his exclamations of "good job!" and "whoa! Jackie big poop!".
8. Random fact: Tomorrow is one of my favorite friends' birthday. 17 days ago was one of my other favorite friends' birthday. That would put my favorite daughter's birthday squarely in between. This has pleased my for 5 years now.
9. Earlier this week we attended an appreciation dinner for all parents in our school district who are hosting international students. Looking about the room it occurred to me that we just got the best looking international kids. Hands down.
10. I have a fairly strong suspicion that we also got the best kids in general but that's a little tricky to deduce based on a room scan. But, I'd still be willing to place some money on it.
11. At the dinner we had one of our district's school trustees sit at our table. Goodness above you would have thought he was running for reelection just during dinner. My back would have gotten sore if I'd have been in charge of picking up all the names he dropped. And all of them seemed to be friends of his as well.
12. Plus, he just randomly mentioned a bunch of awards he's gotten through the years he's been on the school board etc. Who does that? Just at dinner randomly mention awards you've received to complete strangers?
13. And the last one in my list of random: I am in a photography challenge that offers up a word and we have to photograph said word in whatever way it grabs us. This week's word is "sweet". What would you photograph given that word?