Ah, to me it was not modest AT ALL. As I replied to another commenter above, I don't think on Father's Day (today!), if I gave my husband an umbrella that said FRUIT OF THE LOOM, that he would enjoy using it, either. Love the XXL robe - OMG, what are guys thinking??! I'll miss your posts here, too, girl. You are a rock star mom blogger!

Actually, I just think it's personal. I am the kind of person who detests that little Coach leather tag on purses and once told a sales person that I was going to magic marker over PRADA on a pair of shoes if I bought them. ("You wouldn't!" is what he said...) I also don't think my husband would have been pleased at using an umbrella that said FRUIT OF THE LOOM on it... I hate brand names on clothing and I don't like advertising undies I'm not wearing!

Nicole, why weren't you helping me brainstorm *before* I did the video? ;-)

DadsHouse, that is so funny - just what I needed, a sexy soundtrack emitting from my umbrella to really broadcast the undies I was not wearing!

Pamela, so happy to hear you did this trip and that you got so many benefits. I did notice your skin when I saw you a few days ago -- now I know your secret! You'll have to tell mylisia the name of the place, then I can twist it out of her. ;-)

What a dilemma. All the kids expect them. I can't stand them! Not that we haven't given out some in the past, too! I can't stand the crap candy or the crap plastic toys that always go to waste.

Suzanne, thank you for these stats. Boy is that sobering. For all the fun I had on our neighbor's trampoline growing up... a spinal injury occurring at that frequency definitely gives me pause.

Well, thanks for that Jamie. I try not to be the bubble wrap kind of mom. I like that, BTW!

Oh! I hope your son recovers well from that injury. OK, no back flips will be one of my rules for sure... but then kids will want to do it *more* when I'm not looking, right!?

Anon, I'm easy going about injuries from which my kids can recover.

Akemi, there are so many ways kids can get hurt -- I know we can't control all of them. When I was little, I remember standing on my parents bed to use a set of adult crutches and didn't calculate that my feet wouldn't touch the ground once I was up. Thank goodness we are only six years old once!

Thanks for the tips on the rules - we will be following rules like this, too, if we get one. I STILL am working on finding a way to level our yard, so until then, no tramp. :-(

Dana, thanks so much for reading and commenting. I wish you the best of luck being a mom in the future. You CAN do it.

Stacy, this is a laudable accomplishment! Now, to my Tivo --- I need to Tivo Jamie's show!

I think everyone needs to be more educated about what flu shots do and don't do. The boy who died likely was deficient in Vitamin D which can accelerate a cytokine storm - absent a bacterial infection a low level of D is the reason for a quick death in a case of the flu. Cytokine storms occur more often in children when they haven't been exposed to a certain strain before. According to an NIH press release, a single dose of the H1N1 vaccine tested to theoretically mount protective levels of antibodies in 25% of kids 6M - 35M ; 36% of kids aged 3-9; and 75% of kids aged 10-17. http://www.mednauseam.com/2009/11/h1n1-vaccine-how-well-does-it-work-in.html So, the vaccine wouldn't necessarily have protected that boy anyway. Vitamin D would have. Optimizing blood levels of Vitamin D protects against ALL viruses and bacteria, not just a single viral strain going around one year. It is cheaper, safer, and more protective. Oh, and the side benefit of D? Optimal levels have been shown to prevent 80% of cancers. http://www.mednauseam.com/2009/12/preventing-flus-and-colds-with-vitamin.html Further, these is no such thing as "herd immunity" for flu shots. Since the virus changes every year and only 30-40% of people get vaccinated (and only 30% for swine flu in 2009), there is no "herd immunity" which requires 80-90% coverage assuming 100% effectiveness (which the flu shot has never demonstrated.) http://www.mednauseam.com/2009/09/why-herd-immunity-is-moot-in-seasonal.html I realize this was a post about all vaccines, but it pays to split hairs and realize they are not all created equal. The flu vaccine has very poor efficacy.

Don't worry - I got an umbrella from my kids for mother's day. Victoria's Secret Umbrella. What does that say about me?!!! They were so excited about it being in mommy's fave color (hot pink) that I knew I had to take it today to pick them up from school when it was raining. I was SO embarrassed. I didn't want anyone to think I would have actually chosen a Victoria's Secret umbrella. At least it didn't have "panties" hanging from it....

OMG, Rox, I did NOT know that. So, this No Toy on kid meals over 485 calories Ordinance is REALLY a sin tax since the kids meals with more calories than that CAN come with a toy if the parent pays $1 more?! If this ordinance is actually a de facto sin tax, wouldn't it be better for our county to collect the revenue than Mickey Ds???!!! I'm sure the margins on those toys are huge - our county should just charge 50- 75 cents per Happy Meal and call it what it is -- Sin Tax!

LOL! That is funny your dad has pulled a turn-around on this issue, but if it's all in wanting to please the kids, I get it.

Robyn, that was a great learning experience for your son. Interesting that in his case the toys actually were the reason he kept going there. I wonder what Mickey D's own research says regarding the main reasons people buy Happy Meals. Are the ever-changing toys a newsy reason to run an ad... and that's all? Do they actually pull the kids in, except in these instances of wanting the collection? If I were a supervisor in Santa Clara county, I'd sure like to get my hands on that data, because maybe the toys are way down the list and low price or convenience is at the top? Or maybe the kids want the container the meal comes in....

This is a hilarious description of the SW shirt interactions! Awesome. Thanks for pointing out this tshirt cult. Maybe mini boden could do a stylized star wars pick-stitched applique and satisfy both the boy and the mom?

Hear here! I organized teacher appreciation a long time ago before I knew how unappreciated the organizers were. Harrumph!

This is a wonderful program. My brother just returned from a 3 year stint in Uganda working for Bead for Life. Some of the women who now live in brick homes used to sleep on dirt under mango trees. Yes, we have it pretty good compared to them, but there is lots of hope.

Thanks Heather for reading... especially with all you have going on & thanks for the kudos! :-)