Innovation Friday

Maybe it is the fantastically sunny and beautiful weather, the visit from my smart friend, or the gracious refutation of my locked down non-creative character type by mommytude, but I am feeling happy, peppy, and bursting with love. And good ideas. Here are my innovations for the week.

capslock (verb, To type in all caps.).

This neologism sprang from an email conversation with my homegirl in which I had to cop to the fact that I overuse the all caps for emphasis convention in my messages. Of course, though, I didn't really invent it. Here's a little article about it from three years ago. Furthermore, a neologism about emailing is about as innovative as a neologism about shoeing your chariot horse. Oh well. Next try.

Choosing your clothes the night before

I didn't invent this, of course. Naomi did! All on her own, she determined that we should choose her clothing the night before so as to get the big argument out of the way and save precious morning minutes for playing with her sister (or telling on her sister). She reminds me almost every night. This is kind of an obvious strategy, I know, but it is working for us, especially because of the next one.

Giving in completely on wardrobe disputes

OK, maybe not completely, and to be honest, this has sort of developed over the last few weeks, but I have determined that it is a lot easier to just let Naomi wear ridiculously girly outfits if that's what she wants than it is to attempt to get her to agree to wear the clothing I have misguidedly purchased for her in the past that doesn't fit this model. If she wants to wear tights and be cold (it's not that cold here, don't worry), let her wear tights! So I have picked up a few extra pairs, including some "footless" tights that are a big welcome back to the 1980s, but in size 4-6x. Anyway, the point is, we are now on a team together, developing her wardrobe choices (the night before), instead of small child vs. authoritarian rule maker determined to make small child wear every piece of clothing in her drawer no matter
how unhappy it makes small child.

Internet filters

OK, I know these filters already exist as a way to keep the wrong content out of the hands of children or employees at work. And I know you can already block emailers, callers, and texters. But what I want to know is, can I still visit the sites I normally visit, but have all news related to Tiger Woods filtered out? Because THAT is the kind of filter I want.

Hmm, that's it for innovations. The slaw came out too sweet, which seems to be a theme with my old family recipes, so maybe I should start cutting out some sugar, eh? It's going to be another wonderful weekend, spending time with an old friend (known as Old Sol), visiting with my visitor, going out on the town, and a special surprise. I can't stop smiling!