Another conversation in the car-
Allison: (In reference to her sister’s report card earnings) What? You pay her for good grades?
Me: Yes, why?
Allison: Mom, I made great grades in 9th grade and you never paid me… No encouragement… that might explain a whole lot…. You treat her so differently than you did Catie and me when we were her age….
Me: No, not really
Allison: Yes, you do… she gets a new costume each Halloween… Catie and I were 50’s girls for years
Me: No you weren’t. You had new costumes each year but you just didn’t like them…. remember your Joan of Arc costume?
Allison: Yeah, where did you get the outfit, Goodwill?
Me: Uh, maybe….
Allison: And Catie was Pippi Longstocking
Me: That’s because she asked to be Pippi… and you have to admit, it was a great costume
Allison: Mom, you braided her hair to a coat hanger…and put on non-matching socks… and what about Cinderella before and after?
Me: That was a great costume!
Allison: Mom, you even admitted that was a last minute costume… an old dress you ripped up and covered with makeup
Leah: (chiming in from the back seat) It was very creative, Mom
Me: Thank you, Leah…. I think all of them were very creative….
Allison: Creative is the word you use when you don’t want to buy your kids a costume!
Me: I think you’re right! And ‘you can do better’ are the words we use when we don’t want to pay our kids for their good grades…
We all laugh….
(Well, I guess we do get Leah new costumes each year… new to her anyway…)



I’m not a fan of all the Hollywood Hoopla and hype and often feel like it is way out of control so watching the Oscars is not on my list of things to do…I do however, find some value in honoring some highlights in life.. so I created my own Personal Oscars… Same categories, real people and no one competes against the late Heath Ledger. Here are the winners in each category
