Seven Quick Takes: of appliances and emotions
1. Is the crying a gender thing? That's what Rebekah asked, in reference to the post wherein I complained about my kids' crying all the time, and then confessed that I too resort to tears when I am upset. However, having had limited experience with small boys--I've never had any brothers or sons--I don't know. I can say that my girls tend to tears frequently, not just because of sadness but also frustration, anger, and sometimes, I suspect, just to get my attention. Do boys do this too? Is it merely a toddler/preschool age thing? Or do they naturally express their negative feelings in some other way--yelling, hitting, or stoicly stuffing their emotions in the tradition of stereotypical masculinity?
I don't know. But I'd be interested to hear from moms of sons.
2. About the reason for my own tears: our washing machine broke. And there was water all over my laundry room floor and all over my kitchen. And there was seemingly nothing that could be done to fix it, right then and there at 10 o'clock at night. And, upon closer examination the next day, the verdict was the same: it's a goner. It was a very frustrating situation.
3. Also, I don't know about you, but I do not frequently move my washer and dryer and clean under them. This means that when the laundry room flooded, it wasn't just with water. It was with dirty water out of the washing machine, coupled with all the dust and dirt and accumulated nastiness underneath the washer and dryer, which combined to create a foul-smelling greyish sludge all over the floor. It was gross. And depressing.
4. Now I feel compelled to move my refrigerator and scrub behind it so I can have some peace of mind about what may or may not be lurking back there.
5. So...now I'm washing machine shopping. And getting a ton of conflicting information! Are front loaders all they are cracked up to be? Or am I opening myself up to the possibility of a washer that grows mold? Are high-efficiency top loaders good, or are they going to break down frequently? Any recommendations are welcome.
6. Also, we had to replace the fuel pump on our truck last week. Now the washing machine. Good-bye, savings account. It was nice to know you.
7. Actually, I'm exaggerating. This will not leave us destitute, which is truly a blessing. There have been times in the past when money WAS super tight, when a commonplace household disaster like this would have left us broke, and when two within a week of each other would have been a total calamity. Right now it's a big inconvenience, but we are carrying on just fine. That's what savings accounts are for. And hey--we got that washing machine for free to begin with. I won a contest that I didn't even know my mom had entered me in. Five years of free washing machine use, and it waits to die until a time when we can actually afford to replace it with brand-new, energy efficient one. Not a bad deal. Not a bad deal at all. No tears from me today.
More quick takes at Conversion Diary.
7 comments:
The washing machine flooding stinks. Not fun at all.
About the crying deal...I think it is a preschool thing and a personality thing. We have days where my kids (of both genders) will cry or wail at the drop of a hat. It can really begin to wear on my nerves. I don't like it. At all. But as they get older, they seem to learn to cope and express themselves without so much crying and fussing. But it still flares up now and then.
Well my son is only 16 months old, but he has recently been going through a crying stage (at least I pray it is a stage) where he cries at every little thing. I didn't get my way, This won't open, I bumped my head, etc... My daughter is only a week old, so I don't have any comparisons yet!
Try having 40ish - 60ish year olds that cry all the time, two this week....
Look at my washer tomorrow. It is a GE high efficiency top loader. We have had it for 5 years now and never had a problem.
I'm so sorry to hear about your washing machine! That kind of thing can be really demoralizing- at least it was for me when it happened a few years back.
I'd suggest the crying thing is part personality and part preschool as Heather suggested. My 4.5 year old boy resorts to crying for pretty much everything right now. It's worse if he's tired or hungry at all, but his go to move is tears. He's a sensitive kid overall.
My husband cries at sad movies, which I absolutely love about him. We rented "Mr. Holland's Opus" and about flooded the couch.
Ok, so my boys don't really cry that much. They mainly cry when they get hurt physically. They might make noises of frustration, but it isn't crying. And comparing to my nieces, I'm going to have to claim gender on this. My niece cries all the time and it does drive me nuts. It is getting better as she ages, but she's way more moody than my boys and my other niece is also for sure more moody. I think I'd go crazy with girls.
I just love my front loading machine. It's a Frigidaire energy star gallery series. It's about 4 years old and we have had no problems.
Ethan cried a normal amount as a youngster, probably less and at a lower decibel than Hailey. But he still cries now, especially if he is embarrassed, frustrated or feeling hopeless about something. Although he tries to hide it now. He also cries when he gets hurt. I try not to squelch that too much because he is a sensitive boy and I don't want him to stuff all those feelings. But at the same time, trying to teach him to control his emotions is a challenge.
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