Walmart - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Only at Walmart....

Only at Walmart can you shop in your own town and never see anyone you know.  In fact, my Walmart is literally blocks from my house and sometimes it feels like I might as well be at the Walmart in Florida or Ohio or Texas. Who the hell are these people?

Only at Walmart is basil more expensive than a pair of shoes.

Only at Walmart do people (and by people I mean me) feel it's totally appropriate to open up a package of underwear to see it's actual size.  (How in the hell does Hanes and Fruit of the Loom expect the consumer to know what a "hipster 6" is?).

Only at Walmart can you get salad, poster board and a mop.

Only at Walmart do you stand in front of the meat section and wonder where the ground beef came from and what the chicken is really all about.

Only at Walmart do you leave feeling not sure if you got good deals or ripped off.

There's no better place for school supplies for sure and it's a great "go-to" for last minute items.  But I sincerely wish they could really get the whole package together.  I do not expect to pay $6/lb for ground beef at Walmart and I am guessing the rest of their shoppers feel the same...so figure out who you are - cheap?  cheap but expensive?  Just figure it out - until then, it remains a mystery - a place that you just walk out of and wonder....what just happened????

Boredom - A Necessary Emotion

We have had quite a summer so far....great parties, dinners out, friends over, pool time, movies etc.  I, for one, can't keep this up.  I don't want to keep it up.  I have a strong longing for "old school" summer....for a time when summer was quiet and restorative.  I mean, if school started next week, we'd all be screwed because I think, as a whole, we are pooped out.  So my mission is to make this 2nd part of summer a quieter more creative time in hopes that it's restorative enough so that on 8/22 we feel ready!

So how can I do that with kids who want to GO GO GO and they want to GO GO GO WITH FRIENDS. Well, because I think it's important to slow it down, I'm going to have to say "no" to constant request for activity.  I guess I just think you have to get bored so that your brain can come up with something interesting - something you create on your own and doesn't involve another person or the TV.  I keep going back in my memory to the summer of 1978.  That summer my best friend, Krissy, went to Texas for the summer.  I was bored.  BUT here's what I really remember.  I biked to our library a lot.  I read great books that summer.  Summer of the Swans, Bridge to Terrabithia, and of course, a lot of Judy Blume.  I do not remember the summer of 1977 or the summer of 1979 but I do remember the summer of 1978.  It was quiet and I was alone - so I created and discovered and pondered.  I can honestly remember the sound and smell of "summer" and the way my room looked and felt and the way the air smelled when someone had their sprinkler on when it was hot outside.  There was no pool, my parents didn't have parties, there weren't festivals or events every weekend, there weren't a million ice cream shops or restaurants to walk to....it was a quiet suburban summer. Can you imagine?

Peter just woke up and in his barely conscious state he said, "besides golf, what else are we doing today?".  THIS is exactly what I'm talking about....OH NO!!!  These kids think life is a Carnival Cruise....left to his own devices he'd have NO idea what to do.  So we have given them a fabulous summer so far with great memories of parties and friendship but I've also cheated them out of boredom.

So here's to the 2nd part of summer - let's see how effective I can be in getting my kids to relax, think, create and be quiet in body and mind!