Let me set the scene—> I am driving (and I tend to be one of those people who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, so I don’t like people yappin’ at me when I’m driving, talking on the phone, typing … you get the gist?)

Anyway, I have Lizzy (aged 7) along for the ride. She is watching some kind of cartoon in the van (mom-mobile—> if you you need a visual, you can go and watch “mom my ride” – I seriusly had the duct tape mirror for two years). OK, back to the darn story … sheesh … talk about going off on a tangent … oops! I am at it again and that is exactly why I have to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Sooooo … she is watching a cartoon and there is some kind of song about how man humankind has come a long way.

Lizzy says, “Mom, do you think we’ve come a long way?”

“Hmmm, nope just a couple of blocks … sit back … QUIET … I’m driving,” I say!

Lizzy says, “NO Mom, since we were cavemen, do you think we’ve come a long way?”

“Ummm … yah, I guess … do you,” I ask?

Lizzy says, “yes, I think so.”

Breaks squeal …

“That effin’ son of a b-word cut me off,” I say!

My heart is pounding, and I feel really guilty.

“Sorry Lizzy, never tell anybody mommy said that … OK?” The guilt for being a fouled mouthed mother … makes me chatty (even though I am driving).

Note how I am worried that other people might find out, yet I forget to tell her not to use foul language herself—> mommyknows better—> SHAME!

“Why do you think we’ve come a long way,” I ask?

Lizzy says, “Well we invented electricity, matches, (there’s a pause) AND bear spray!”

“BWAAHAAHAA,” I laugh (LOUD)!

BEAR SPRAY ... now how in the hell, did that get in the top frigging 3?

You have to love it … HAHAHA - Bear Spray!

OK, I am on a YouTube roll … just click on the darned things and watch them. I took all the time to post them, and you’re here, so why not, right?

This one is pretty cute. It might even be effective.

Would you ban this ad? Post a comment and let me know … come on … I dare you … leave a comment …

If you’re in Canada, then you know all you have to do is, “Stop Cooking with Cheese!”

But if you’re in Sweden you might take this approach:

This banned Ikea commercial is worth a good laugh. I found it courtesy of Dooce

It’s Saturday, 6 p.m. I am at my desk, still in my pjs and terry robe (old awful one that I should throw away). Mostly I am reading blogs, doing an itsy-bitsy amount of work (wrote a cloth diapering glossary that was supposed to be done in 2000).

My husband comes home from work (about 35 hours of overtime this week and he is really tired) and hollers, “hello”. FRICK … I am filled with guilt – I haven’t even brushed my teeth! YUCK. I have wasted an entire day (the kids are gone to grandmas – thank you mom). I run upstairs, “I haven’t been down there ALL day!” I say and he smiles. “Honest, I spent most of the afternoon in bed” (this is true, I did). He laughs hard and I chuckle.

AHHH … what a great life!

FIVE is the number of fingers on each of my hands, toes on each foot and the number of times I was nearly run over entering and leaving the school yard this week! REALLY …

FIVE is also the number of days per week, I walk my children to and from school. It started as a way to make sure that we all got some exercise (Lizzy, Sam and I) and some fresh air for Georgia. But, it has become something much, much more.

The walk is not an especially long one … about 1 Km (0.6 miles) each way. With the kids it takes about ten minutes and it is a great ten minutes. It’s twenty minutes each day with my children and no interuptions. There is time for impromptu races, spelling practise, nature talks, safety lessons and sometimes just panicked ‘we’re late’ power-walking. There is plenty of time for talking too, “I am sorry I yelled and I love you” talks after hectic mornings and “who’d you play with at recess?” talks on the way home. Some days are ‘knock-knock’ days and other days (MINUS 40 degree days), you just put your head down and WALK-RUN because it’s so darn cold you can’t talk.

Yes, we walk everyday (I’ve missed three mornings – two sick and one below -40 degrees and husband insisted he drive the kids). Many days a kind neighbor or friend try to pick us up and give us a ride, we say, “No, thanks we want to walk”. Now this wasn’t the truth in the beginning, walking was hard for all of us. Sam cried and I yelled (at Sam to get walking). Each day when I’d walk to pick him up, he’d ask, “did you drive today?” ... “NO, I didn’t drive, we’re NOT driving, we LIKE walking!” ... “ahhhhhh!”

We’ve become great friends walking because we walk ALONE. Not because we have no friends, it’s because the whole darn world seems to drive! Which brings me back to nearly being run over FIVE times. We have a terrible traffic issue around our school and the school across the street. With 1000 students in the two buildings and just a handful of children walking there is chaos each morning. Everybody is in a hurry and it just gets down right dangerous. The parking and traffic issue is a BIG issue in our school community. There are parent patrols, RCMP patrols, student crossing guards and Principals monitoring all of it. Still nobody walks …

There are other issues surrounding the driving we all do:

Childhood obesity is growing rapidly and studies show that the best way to tackle that is to be active. Get those little feet moving and the BIG feet too … WALK.

Our planet is sick and burning fossil fuels are to blame, so park the car, save some gas, cut down on CO2 emmissions … WALK.

I challenge you all to get out there, and do yourselves, your kids and your planet a favor and walk somewhere that you need to go.