This weekend, I went to visit my brother and his girlfriend in New Jersey. My mom also came down, as this was a belated birthday party of sorts for my brother and I, whose birthdays are a mere 5 days apart (2 years and 5 days to be exact, we're not some kind of miracle twins) (It's actually sort of funny, because when we were growing up, I'd have my birthday and my brother would be depressed that I was now three whole years "ahead" of him, then 5 days later he'd have his birthday, and he would get all excited that he was "catching up" to me.) We went bowling, where I dazzled everyone in the alley with my patented between-the-legs style and my high score of 90, and then we went back to my brother's "new" apartment, which is not really new at all, but I had never been there before, so it was new to me. His apartment was super cute, and I'm guessing that is mostly his girlfriend's doing. He has the comfiest couch I've sat on in a long time, which includes two electric recliners and a built-in table thingy (which I'm guessing was mostly his doing) and two adorable, playful kittens that were a pleasant change from my own surly, anxious friends. His girlfriend, with the help of my mother, cooked a wonderful and enormous dinner, and it was overall a wonderful time. I wonder, is that what people who live nearer to their families do all the time? Because that would be kind of awesome.
But by far, the highlight of the day was when we stopped off at my brother's girlfriend's sister's house (how's that for three degrees of separation?). She has twin 14-month old boys that were all kinds of adorable. They were dressed in matching little jumpsuits and they toddled around happily in the living room, only giving all of us strangers a suspicious glance or two. I declined to hold them, since it turns out that I am still scared of babies, but they happily showed us their toys, which included blocks that they could build and then knock down with more power than a wrecking ball, a book in which their "favorite" page showed an apple and an orange, two dancing Elmo dolls, and a toy Dustbuster vacuum.
I think it's hilarious that they have toys for household appliances like vacuums, and I only wonder why someone can't make one that actually works. How great would it be if your toddler, while he was playing, was also vacuuming up after himself? My brother used to have this toy lawnmower that he loved to push around, and I'm pretty sure my mom would have been ecstatic if he was actually out there killing dandelions with it.
Anyway, back to the toy vacuum. Not only did it spit around confetti and balls inside of its toy canister, but it also talked. "Nice work!" it would say, as you moved it over the floor. It had several other generic phrases, and then when I picked it up and ran it over the section of carpet at my feet it blurted out "This floor looks GREAT!" I almost peed my pants, I laughed so hard. I mean, how awesome is that? I think that the next Dyson model should give you compliments, and then it really would be the perfect appliance. Just imagine, you're pushing around your cute purple vacuum, which never loses suction, and periodically it tells you "This house looks fabulous! I love what you've done with the place. By the way, have you lost weight?"
There is nothing like positive reinforcement! If only I had that Toy when i was little..maybe i'd like vacuuming!?! nah..prob not. although i had a VERY succesful cleaning/organizing spree this weekend. I'll go ahead and do the patting on my back myself..although i'm open to praise from others...
Posted by: Kirsten Aerts | Monday, January 29, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Kir, I'll praise ya! I hear your house was spotless this weekend! Hope all the cooking clubbers didn't mess it up too much.
And Jen, great post :)
Posted by: Joke | Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 08:02 AM