Look, Ma! No Oven Mitts!

Today is going to be a sort of "catching up" post, tying up loose threads from recent blogs. We'll start with one that relates to my OVER PROTECTIVE MOTHERS CLUB. Here's a picture my little scoot of a daughter sent me from her 4th of July celebration (Please note: Against all her early training, she elected NOT to wear oven mitts when she did her sparkler!) You know, you do what you can. You try to raise them right, but sometimes, kids are just determined to rebel.


WINNER ALERT! This next loose thread comes from Phyllis Campbell and her post about Love Comes Blindly. She's declaring EVERYONE who left a comment the day she was here a WINNER! So, Carol L, Heather D, Jane L, Ibeeeg, and Patricia B (along with moi!) have won a free ebook. Please send Phyllis an email at phylliscampbell84302(at)yahoo.com (Use the real @ symbol of course. I'm just trying to confuse the blog crawlers.) You see, it really pays to post a comment!


And lastly--an update on my STROKE OF GENIUS Name a Character Contest. I'm thrilled to report the voting has been fast and furious and the field is spread rather like a golf tournament--a couple names running neck and neck, another one stroke back and all the rest well within striking distance. I found this picture to use for more inspiration for my as-yet-unnamed character. You have to pretend he has red hair, but I love the frenetic energy and the onery expression on his face. He's up to something. Probably several somethings.

Or someones.

But what is his name? Here are the top ten finalists:

Phineas Rowan
Thaddeus Puck
Caleb Flynn
Gordon Rigsby
Bryce Wickham
Nash Rowley
Tuck Willet
Hoyt Pennington
Addison Quinn
Jasper Willoughby

Please cast your vote right now. Everyone who does is entered in a separate drawing for a big box of beachreads! Enjoy!

The Over-Protective Mother's Club

Ok, I'll admit I might be just a teensy bit over-protective. Of course, I always insisted my kids wear helmets when they biked. They had to look both ways before crossing the streets. Those seem like normal and reasonable precautions. But today my daughter reminded me that I used to make her use hotpads when she did sparklers for the 4th of July. (In my defense, those little metal things can get REALLY hot!)

Yeah, maybe that was a little obsessive. But I was determined for my kids to reach majority in a reasonably healthy configuration.

Have you ever been accused of being over-protective? What silly thing did you make your kids do that seemed imminently sensible and prudent at the time?