I love shopping as much as the next high maintenance stay at home Mom, but I'm completely baffled by tax free weekend.  Generally during TFW there aren't many sales or deals other than the tax discount.  People flock to stores with their kids in mobs as if Justin Timberlake were going to performing a free, shirtless concert in the middle of the mall (Is that aging me?  Do kids even like Justin Timberlake these days?).

Now, I'm no genius and I certainly never excelled in math, but let's do some calculating (I do excel at math when it comes to shopping).  Assuming tax is about 8%, you will only save $8 on a $100 purchase.  Eight measly dollars to shop in the middle of a giant herd of over-excited Moms and kids thinking they are getting some kind of an awesome deal.  If they would just wait two days those same shirts and shoes will probably be 20% off which would save you $20 per $100 purchase.  And, you end up only paying tax on the discounted price.   So, it's really like a double discount if you just wait for an actual sale.  And if you pay attention in the slightest, you know that Macy's (and just about every other department store except Dillards, those cheap bastards) has a huge sale every other day complete with coupons in the paper.

Stay in school kids, so that next year you can show your Mom how you can use your newly acquired math skills for something that really matters, like understanding that during tax free weekend you're just making department store CEOs a little richer and happier by shopping under the false pretenses of an awesome deal.  

I just read an article about new studies that show women are better at having affairs than men.  Apparently women have been cheating for years, and even one statistic in the article says that anywhere from 8-15% of children haven't been fathered by the man they believe to be their biological father.  As a teacher, I've actually seen some of those very situations - students discover their father isn't actually their biological father.  Very soap opera and plain crappy for the kid.

Anyway, I certainly don't condone cheating.  My good friend states it rather nicely: 'Same shit, different guy.  What's the point?'  She makes a wise and valid point.  Unless, of course, the seducer is Justin Timberlake or Channing Tatum.  All bets are off, in that case, and I'm pretty sure it would be a short, emotionless affair anyway.

What stuck out at me from this study, and the reason I bring it up, is the conclusion that 'women are better liars because they're more psychologically sophisticated'.  It also says we are better at mental multi-tasking, and we emotionally make plans and strategies whereas men are more impulsive.

I can easily support this with some of our own personal data.  I successfully pulled of a huge surprise party for my husband that included 4 of his best friends fly in and stay at our house.  He had no clue, and the party rocked.  He threw me a surprise party and I was accidentally sent the invitation.  I successfully did not let him know (until during the party) that I had known for a week despite my major anxiety over having found out.  The party still rocked.  When my best friend planned with my husband to fly in and suprise me for a weekend, I did NOT find out, but probably because SHE was in charge.

I, like most women I know, can mentally keep track of all the kids appointments, medicines, extracurricular activities, homework, etc., while the dear husband can barely remember anything without me writing it down.  I can usually plan out an entire month-long, complicated road trip vacation itinerary in my mind before pulling out a calendar and explaining it to my other half.  Now, I just have to remember not to get upset when he forgets stuff.  It is, after all, biologically impossible for him to keep all those things straight. 

Marriage is supposed to be a wonderful partnership where a couple journeys
happily through life alongside their best friend, and it usually is in the
beginning.  When we were first married we frequented good restaurants,
movie theaters, bars and enjoyed hiking and vacationing together.  We had
leisurely evenings immersed in interesting conversation and had enough money to live comfortably because we were both working and didn't have many monetary commitments outside of living costs. We went to concerts and wine tastings and parties. I remember one Saturday where we lounged around the house and watched one terrible Lifetime movie after another for an entire day.  Yes, we actually sat around on the couch for an ENTIRE
day!  

And then we had kids.  And now we spend our money on Barbies and 
legos and diapers.  We spend our days and evenings doing everything in our power to prevent temper tantrums and timeouts and encourage sharing and
independence.  We start many interesting conversations, but rarely have the
opportunity to actually finish them.  We spell out words like i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m or t-o-yinstead of actually saying them (although our days are seriously numbered on that front) and we use bribery to get what we want.  Sometimes.  There's nothing wrong with offering up a piece of candy for a little peace and quiet, right?  We attend countless bounce-house and Chuck-E-Cheese birthday parties and can identify every fast food restaurant with a play area in a 20 mile radius.  I will never be without wipes, hand sanitizer, a spare diaper or two, bug bite medicine and a tide pen, all of which fit into my huge Mom-purse which nestles like a puzzle piece on the floor of my Swagger Wagon.  

Yep, we are completely smothered in parenthood.  And somewhere in
that mess are the whispers of our pre-kid lives, reminding us that we do
not have to succumb to Mom jeans or kid-bop music; that we can still remain
normal adults who engage in adult activities such as watching the
Daily Show, drinking fancy martinis and discussing the latest
Hollywood gossip.  

So, welcome to our blog - a place where our whispers will turn into slightly louder voices for the main purpose of allowing ourselves to remember that we are actual adult human beings - not servants of toddlers and small children.  Either you will laugh with us because you can relate, or you will laugh at us because you don't have kids yet.  But don't worry, your time will come!  Enjoy
:)