Thursday, January 24, 2008

Tips From Tara...

Tip #1:
When lending out maternity and/or children's clothes to friends and family, I now know that it is imperative to relay in very specific terms that you are LENDING said clothes. Not GIVING said clothes. There was a slight misunderstanding in that department last time I lent out my maternity things and as a result, I'm now down to one pair of pants and one pair of sweat pants. The jeans? Black velvet pants? Favorite black maternity pants ever? All gone. Consigned or given away to someone else she didn't feel she could get them back from. (I still have many of my things, just not several items that I really liked.)

*Sigh*

So, I'll be going shopping for maternity clothes this weekend. I need to psych myself up.

Tip #2:
Never, ever discuss a birthday party theme with a one Miss Georgia Reagan a good month and a half prior to her birthday. Not only will she change her mind as the wind blows, but she will also bring up the 143 different themes every time she sees and/or hears anything that reminds her of them.
All.
Day.
Long.
(In case you're curious -- the current favorite is Mickey Mouse with Dora, Blue's Clues and Hello Kitty making a nice showing.)

Tip #3:
If you have no idea what to have for lunch, I highly suggest the following sandwich. I made it on a whim today and have been thinking about going to the store for more avocado ever since then so I can have another tomorrow!!
*Toast 2 slices of your favorite bread (I did a good multi-grain wheat.)
*Slice up some avocado, tomato, cucumber, red pepper, and grab a nice leaf of romaine
*When the bread's done toasting, spread on 1 wedge of light laughing cow garlic & herb cheese
*Pile on the veggies and give it a good smush
Heavenly!! (And hellooooo - veggie city, baby!!)

Tip #4:
If you own jumper cables, try putting them in your trunk. Hanging them on a peg in the garage, not so helpful unless your car conveniently dies in your garage. **Key element for Tip#4: If your husband happens to take them out for some reason, please have him alert you to this fact or replace them when he's done with his little project.**

Tip #5:
If you are ever in a situation with a girlfriend whose van needs a jump, remain calm. Simply call your husband and ask him to walk you through it. It is actually sort of fun when you succeed and don't end up blowing up both vans and all 5 precious children inside of them. Oh -- and word to the wise -- the little clampy things are supposed to shock a little bit, but try ever so hard not to let them touch.

You're welcome.

19 comments:

Mari said...

What a funny post! I am sorry about the maternity clothes, but it will be nice to buy new! I am hungry after reading about your sandwich.

Sarah Markley said...

Love the tips. My personal favorite is about Miss G. I did not discuss b-day themes with Naomi. It will be Dora. End of story. Dora Bouncer -check. Dora cake - check. Dora plates - check. Dora balloons (oops, still need to do that!) Have fun with her b-day.

Alana said...

I try not to discuss anything with my children until the last possible minute ;-)

Also, Old Navy online for the maternity clothes. They have free return shipping or at least they did a few years ago when I was pregnant with Will. Order a bunch of stuff and send back what doesn't fit ;-)

Kristen said...

So funny! I have had the same experience with maternity/children's things - thinking I lent and the other person thought I was giving. Imperative to clarify!

Love the other tips- thanks for sharing!

BethAnne said...

Thanks so much - I will keep all this advice in mind.
I think when you lend your preggie clothes out it is because you are so glad not to have to wear them anymore you just dont care who gets them. Sorry they are gone - I would be mad and bummed as well.
I hate you had to go to the dark side and use your mad pit crew skilz with the jumper cables.....hope you never have to go there again, my friend!

Darlene R. said...

Thanks for the tips. I really liked the one about the jumper cables hanging in the garage!

Shelley said...

Um, Yeah. Jumper cables hanging in the garage are about as useful as a fully stocked diaper bag left at home! Yikes! It sounds like everything turned out ok, but I'll bet it was a bit crazy! I'm with Alana, I don't tell my kids ANYTHING, until we're on the way! I also learned my lesson with girls and birthday party themes...3 years ago Ellie had a Purple, Kitty, Gymnastics birthday party!

Anonymous said...

Oh my! :)

Missed you....

Terri said...

You've got a lot of helpful hints there but I should never have need of tip #1 anymore!

Good for 2 women using the jumper cables!! Whoo hoo for woman power!

Sadie said...

LOL Tara! You never fail to make me laugh. I hate to hear about your maternity clothes. Have fun shopping though!

AlaneM said...

Love your tips...that sandwitch sounds yummy! I'll have to try that on my homeade pita bread with some hummis,mmmmm.

Heather C said...

LOL... Love the tips!

Isn't that awful when you lend out your favorite stuff never to get it back? Aaaaaaaaaaaw... but enjoy the shopping! Hey... those close were probably WAY out of style anyway. Keep tellin' yourself that. :)

Heather

Earen said...

Ok, so I can just hear you saying these tips & I chuckled out loud...especially when you said, "you're welcome." I WILL call you back soon & we'll end this vicious cycle of phone tag my sweet friend!!

Renee said...

I love you Tara...and I've missed reading your thoughts on here. I love this post...it's funny, clever, and so Tara. :)

I miss you friend!

BethAnne said...

Here's a tip from Bethanne:
Get back to blogging 'cause we miss you and want to know what is going on with you! ;-)

Katie said...

You always make me laugh Tara!!! You have such a good way with words. Love the tips... M is the same as Miss G - it was Jo Jo's Circus & now it's Curious George.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I know... the lending thing generally doesn't work, for some reason. Here's my tip: Never lend what you can't afford to lose. How's that for generosity?

Well, styles have changed and now you have a good excuse to buy something fun. If you have a kmart, check them out - they actually have really cute maternity stuff.

Janelle said...

Oh, Tara! These tips are a riot!

The maternity clothes is so true. I do have some good friends that have swapped clothes the last few pregnancy. When I got the box from my friend of her clothes, I found SEVERAL things of mine. It made me laugh!

I have also seen my things on other people that I didn't lend to.

OH Well, shopping is fun.

I need to catch up on reading your blog. So many fun things are happening to you!

The Boulais' said...

That's why I was stingy and kept my maternity clothes. Pretty sad that we have to sign a contract to let people borrow stuff from us. Dylan's birthday is going to be Blue's Clues. Well the one at his grandma's house. I'm going to try to make a Blue's Clues cake!