Reading BabyCenter.com's milestones for 3-year-olds makes me feel like an awesome mother. There is particular emphasis on being mindful of what your kids see or hear and to watch for signs of working out those things through play. My son pretends to talk to the Mayor on the phone, or practices being a pastor, he pretends to be an astronaut; he pretends to be a doctor. He practices having parties and plays at mowing the lawn.

Hurray, he's well adjusted! Even though this may seem like a no-brainer, there are certain times as a parent when you're just sure you're screwing it all up. When, for example, your child has gone through 5 pairs of glasses in 1 year you finally give in and tell him that if he doesn't wear his glasses he may have to have surgery on his eyes and that means the doctor is going to take a very sharp knife and cut into his eyeball and if he doesn't want that to happen he'd better start wearing his glasses instead of hiding them or breaking them. Or, just off the top of my head, you've had enough of his shenanigans and tell him that you're going to put him up for sale on BlackMarketBaby.com where some South American land owner will buy him and send him to be a slave in the gem mines of Brazil where he won’t be allowed to have a blankie and Santa can't visit because there's no snow in Brazil.

Trust me, when these threats were made, there was conviction behind them. These were no idle threats. These ultimatums were delivered with all the force and vehemence of a good old fashioned fire and brimstone sermon. There was red faced, fist pounding authority behind them. The kind that when you look back after your blood pressure has dropped to an acceptable level, you think...man...I wonder how many years in therapy that one is going to cost me...It’s nice to have the opposite feeling from time to time. To read a little parenting article and think to yourself, I'm doing alright.

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It is always the way; words will answer as long as it is only a person's neighbor who is in trouble, but when that person gets into trouble himself, it is time that the King rise up and do something.
- Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc

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