ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

1.) We have never balanced our checkbook. We know how, we just don't.
2.) Blake and I don't like museums unless they are interactive. Or zoos.
3.) Our kids don't eat sandwiches. Or cereal. Andy and I love both.
4.) We all take naps. At least a couple of times a week.
5.) We've never been to Chicago. I think everybody we know has. We hope to go next year.
6.) Other than music, our house is very quiet in the morning. No TV, very little talking.
7.) We've never cursed in front of the kids except once last fall when I missed a turn and said the "d" word. Payton said "I KNEW you had it in you!"
8.) Stupid and shut up are considered curse words at our house.
9.) We never go into our backyard. Ever. Also have never used the hot tub that's on and ready to go. We go to parks, we go on bike rides, we walk but we never go into our backyard.
10.) We think our house is too big. We'd be good townhouse people especially given the previous item. The extra rooms we hoped to use for company usually go unused especially since Andy's family usually stays with Bob and Nicki.
11.) We have 8 loads of laundry per week. We don't know anybody else who has as much laundry as we do for 4 people.
12.) We've never owned a new car and probably never will.
13.) Our kids aren't allowed TVs or computers in their room (the TV you saw in Payton's room has rabbit ears and won't work after January. It's not hooked up to anything including satellite or a DVD player.)
14.) Although we love gadgets, we aren't early adopters of anything. We wait for them to come down in price. And I really don't like big TVs regardless of price.
15.) We always have music on in the house even when we aren't home. I like to come home to a house that feels "alive" so the music stays on 24/7.
16.) We don't watch the news. After 9/11 I felt the news was just too anxiety-inducing so we just started reading it instead. I never knew what Kerry's voice sounded like until the debates. We do watch election coverage and I can see us watching more and more news again. I love good reporters but with Tim Russert gone there's even fewer left.
17.) Clothes with words across the butt are not allowed. Especially for Andy. You know how he is.
18.) We talk to each other via cell in our house. Going up or down two flights of stairs when you're tired is too much to do sometimes.
19.) No rewards or punishment for school achievements. We want the kids to be self-motivated and not depend on us for their motivation. We can't accompany them to college. That being said, if grades or behavior ever got bad, we may have to figure out how to help fix it but it's never come up.
20.) As I've talked about before, allowance isn't tied to chores at our house. Learning to handle money and contributing to the household are different things in my mind.
21.) When we hear a phone ring, we very often don't answer it. Blake never even flinches like some kids I've seen who will say "answer it, answer it!" We call back later.
22.) We like to play games but never patronized the kids by playing the little kids games. All kids can play Uno!
23.) Payton begs us for a baby sister and Blake begs us for another dog. Life's a *&@(&, ain't it? :)
24.) If we leave the kids alone for more than an hour, Payton gets paid to watch Blake. Blake gets paid (a smaller amount) to listen to Payton. Any period of time under an hour is just called "being helpful."
25.) At dinner, we all take turns telling one thing that happened that day. Getting Blake to be serious and getting Payton to share is sometimes a challenge. I also thinks it helps the kids see us as regular people who have good and bad times throughout the day just like they do.
26.) I hate when the kids have homework. Hate it. We are so busy and I hate when the school takes up our evening time for schoolwork. Luckily the schools here recognize that so it's not as bad as it was in Texas but I know some parents who actually like it when their kids have homework.
27.) We tell the kids it's ok to hit back if they are hit. Doesn't make us very popular with teachers but also doesn't make our kids very popular as bully victims. Luckily it hasn't had to be tested.
28.) (Knock on wood) Nobody in our house has ever broken a bone.
29.) We never write the kids' social security numbers on anything other than tax forms. Not on medical forms, not on school enrollment.
30.) We've always based our lives on surviving on one income which has come in handy since we've both been laid off at different times. Going forward, we'll be relying more heavily on both incomes as we look at paying for teenager-y things including college.

I think every family has little things that would surprise people. What's on your list?