Those Forwarded Personal Emails

It's like nobody wants to read them.

"Mom, I'm about THIS close," my daughter says as she shows me her thumb and forefinger about a half inch apart, "to marking you as spam."

"You wouldn't!" I say, shocked and rather offended.

"I would." I think she means it.

Ms. Smarty Pants. Forget soap in the mouth, I think to myself, how about a nice run through the washing machine?

After hundreds, OK maybe thousands, of forwards sent his way, my husband came home from work one day, put his foot down and said, "Enough with the forwards already," in his I'm-trying-really-hard-to-be-kind voice. Nice guy and all, but man he could use a sedative.

My sister-in-law...now, she was smart. She caught it right away, nipped things in the bud, as she politely asked me to remove her from my forward list--after the very first one!

Still, I remain strong. I continue to pass on emailed inspiration to those not brave enough to tell me to stop. And even then, I press on...ignoring my very own sister, my own flesh and blood, when she tells me I'm cursing her forever because she doesn't know 10 people to pass the stinkin' chain mails on to.

It's like a sickness, an addiction really, that they just don't have a name for yet.

I'm not blaming, I'm just saying, it's my friend Mary. I do so love Mary (for the benefit of Mary, who may very well be reading this). She sends me them, I read them, and then feel compelled to pass them along. They're cute (especially the animal ones)...I just can't help it.

The intentions are good. I always imagine the recipient smiling (as I do when I get them) when they see my name and insightful message in their in box; but, in reality, they are... flinching...or sighing...or ignoring...or deleting. Yet I refuse to see it.

I've heard of other people with the forwarding addiction going so far as to send the messages with the "FWD" part removed to trick people into opening them. There's no other way around it. I'm going to have to get sneaky.

Now, I'm no expert at human relations, but it seems people might get a bit angry (angrier) with me.

How do you feel about forwards? Are you a fan...or do you simply get annoyed by them?

The Kid Knows...Her Morning Routine

This just in...

My youngest daughter (11) just informed me she's setting her alarm clock (unusual)...10 minutes earlier than I normally wake her up (what?).

She says she realizes it's hard for her to get up with any sort of energy when I'm the one doing the waking up. So she's preempting the matter.

What's she doing with her extra time? (I asked the same thing.) Warming up the curling iron and reading while she waits.

Now, why the heck don't I think of these things?

Time management lessons from a kid. Sounds crazy, but I'm going to keep my ears open for more such wisdom around our house.

In the meantime, would you like to share some set-you-straight advice or inspiration you received from a child in your life?