Stupid things parents do that actually work

I realized today how many stupid things parents tell their children to do. I'm not talking like, "Hey little Jimmy, see how fast you can run at that wall" kind of stupid thing, but things to make their kids feel better, or be entertained, etc. These are a few examples from my life:

Child: "My (insert body part) hurts."
Parent: "Count to 100."
This never did anything to make me feel better, but by the time I finished, it usually didn't hurt anymore, or at least as much.

Parent: "(Name of child), go get me (insert needed object). See how fast you can go; I'll time you!"
Child goes to get object, usually rather quickly in order to "make good time."
However, this soon turns into,
Child: "Mom, I'm gonna get (object). Time me and see how fast I go!"
Downside: parents never actually time their child. But at least the kid thinks he or she is super fast.

This one's a little more situational. I remember when my brother got the Chicken Pox. He had one particularly itchy spot on the top of his head, and my mother tried many things to keep him from scratching. In the end, she gave him his teddy bear and told him to scratch the bear where he itched (on the top of his head). I don't know why this worked, but I'm assuming that it did. How do I know this? Because when I got the Chicken Pox, my mom did the same thing to me, and I remember not feeling so itchy.

These are just a few examples of experiences I'm sure we all had as children, without which, our childhoods would have been bleak and painful.

I like to...

I attended a "home ward" today, and I realized something during the testimony meeting.

For 99% of children who get up and bear their testimony, each will say the exact same 6 words to start off the testimony.

When I was little though, I always thought we were supposed to say

"I like to bear my testimony."

Not

"I'd like to bear my testimony."

I don't know when it was that I realized that you were supposed to say the second instead of the first, but was I the only child who had this misconception?

My Confession

Alright, I'll admit it:

I have an addiction...

to music.

Just about every night, I get ready for bed about midnight. However, I don't usually get to bed til about 1. Why? I'll be listening to music, and I'll just want to hear one more song. Then another. Then another. I just can't stop. And the next thing I know, I've blown an hour playing solitaire whilst singing along to my favorite songs.

Besides the sleep I lose, though, I'm not so sure that this addiction is such a bad thing.

Through your eyes

Do you ever wonder what you look like to other people?

I mean, sure I've looked at myself in the mirror a few times. I know what I look like when I'm looking at me.

But what about when I'm not looking? I think if I ever had an out-of-body experience and saw myself walking down the street, I might not recognize me. I don't know what my mannerisms are: how I walk, how I speak, the way I move my hands when I talk, etc. Well, kind of, but only how they look and sound while I'm me.

When I was little I always used to wish that I could spend a day in someone else's body. I don't know why, but I always imagined spending a day in the life of my sister, Jenni. I don't know what it was that made me pick her, but I always wished that I could see me through her eyes. But this switching bodies wish wasn't just so I could see what I looked like. In fact, that was a very small part of it. I suppose I'm just (and always have been) very curious as to how everyone else sees the world. I want to know how other people perceive things. I want to know how situations that affect me one way affect them. If you know me, you know I'm very unique. Does the way I would interpret a situation completely differ from the way another person would? How much would it differ?

Also, I want to know how other people see. Stephen always used to say I was so weird because my pupils are always unnaturally large. I'm pretty sure that my pupils are almost always nearly twice the size of just about anyone else's pupils (anyone else being anyone who is in the same situation and lighting as me). I've never thought it was a problem. I still don't. Stephen has a theory that I can't see color as well as everyone else. I disagree, but I'll never know if I do or if I don't, because I'll never be able to see through someone else's eyes.

This isn't to say that I'm not happy being me. I love being me. But, being me, I'm very curious about...pretty much everything. And this just happens to be one of those things.

Perhaps one day when I get to create my own worlds (keep your fingers crossed), I'll allow people to do that. You can switch bodies with someone for one day, just to see what it's like. I think that would be pretty cool.