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It’s time for another edition of Tuesday Troubles. I’ve said it before, but this should be named “things i’m annoyed / confused / want to complain about”, however I couldn’t figure out how to make any of those into a snappy title, so Tuesday Troubles it is. And yes, I do realize that these aren’t true “troubles”. I know that many of these for sure could be defined as first world problems!
~I’ve always been annoyed with this, but it’s gotten worse lately. I’m talking about when a company / website / your work, whatever, asks you to make a password, so you make one and then it tells you nope, that’s not going to work because it needs to be eight characters and you need both upper case and lower case letters, numbers and non-alphanumeric characters. You know what would have been easier? Letting me know that these were the requirements in the first place.
~In one of my dumber questions, I would like to know what shoes you pair with shorts for your boys. We usually do flip-flops, but I have a feeling those aren’t playground approved and won’t work for school. And I don’t know what it is, but I’m not feeling sneakers and socks with shorts. Maybe I just need to find the “right” sneakers? I don’t know. Are crocs my only option? Am I over thinking? Do I need ankle socks with sneakers? Help!
~This is something that I thought was a trouble, but turned out not to be. I have a Green Toys Stacking Cup Set, which we love. Only somewhere along the way (in the Target parking lot actually), we lost the “1” cup (aka the smallest one). I rarely lose pieces to toys so it drives me nuts when it happens. Anyway, I mentioned it to a few people and they were like did you call Green Toys? Umm, no? So last night I called and after a 2 minute phone call, they are shipping me a new “1” cup. I am troubled no more! And I’m a Green Toys customer for life. Amazing customer service.
~Ugh. I went to return bottles with the boys yesterday and was super annoyed to discover that they didn’t accept many of the brands we were returning. It’s a gross enough task as it is (*) and was made even more annoying by the fact that while we BOUGHT that beer at Kroger, we can’t get the bottle deposit back at Kroger. I just said screw it and left the bottles there for them to recycle some other way, but come on now!
~And finally, Miley. Oh Miley. First of all let me just say that I am glad I do not need to explain what happened to Hannah Montana to my daughter like I am certain many people do. Second of all, what? Janet Jackson’s b**b pops out and it’s all crazy, but Miley twerking all over, well, everything, with her tongue out doing “things” with a foam finger is all good? And those teddy bears? I don’t get those at all. Is she dancing with molly? What’s going on here????
That’s it from here for now! What’s troubling you today?
I love reading your blog! I always learn new things. I had never heard of this bottle law before-too cool! About the shoes, my kindergartener wears athletic shoes every day with his shorts. We do ankle socks with Nike running shoes or ankle socks with vans or Adidas. It looks super cute and athletic. Our schools don’t allow flip flops or crocs.
I finally got my long lost Ipsy bag yesterday. Only it came in the pink plastic bag that last month’s did ( I was actually really disappointed cause the bag this month was adorable!). It also came with a few items, 2 of them were repeats from last month’s bag. I really hope Ipsy get’s their sh*t together with all this shipping nonsense. On the Miley note, my uncle was listening to the radio and asked about her song. I had to explain to him that Molly is basically the street name for Ecstasy. He was just like “kids these days…”
Chuck Taylors… shorts & chucks 🙂 I don’t like shorts and running shoes either (but I only use my running shoes for running).
Crazy that they won’t take the cans you bought there. Are they they wrong code? We don’t have deposit laws here but we do have curbside recycling so I just rinse out my cans and bottles and toss them in the bin. Then every other week they come and pick it up. LOL We recycle so much more now that it can just get put in the bin.
Boys shoes. We can’t wear flip flops to school either and my son doesn’t like crocs at school since he says the mulch gets in his feet since I won’t let him wear socks with them. We have settled on Stride Rite sneakers with ankle socks. I don’t like the socks up the leg look. He did want some funky socks so I got some low rise See Kai Run socks so he gets a hint of color but its not too high to drive me crazy. 😉
My son just started K and we are required to wear socks and soft soled shoes. I’m not sure about crocs though. I wouldn’t at our school bc the field is torn up right now and it’s mostly dirt. M got these for back to school – http://www.famousfootwear.com/en-US/Product/00891-1029625/Nike/Royal_Volt_Dkgry_Wht/Kids+Flex+Run+PS.aspx
We also have bottle Deposit here in Upstate NY, However they have come up with a genius idea in my hometown, called Cash for Cans.. Basically you just have to separate your cans from your bottles, take them to these places they have and someone counts them all and gives you the money.. you just dump them on the counter and wait for them to count them up! Only our deposit is only 5 cents..We still have the dumb machines in the grocery stores but I never use them anymore.. why spend all that time when someone can do it for you! and they take pretty much everything that has a deposit on it! Its pretty awesome!!
We do the short sports ankle socks with sneakers, like the nike ones or the hanes white ones. We have always done that and I guess I never thought about it before!
Does lucas have some Keens? I think those look good with shorts. That’s what Alessio wears 🙂
We used to have the bottle deposit when we lived in MI, but not anymore. Can’t say I miss it too much lol.
All 3 of mine wear Keen’s. Sandals but super sturdy and really good quality. They usually run about $40 so I wait for Zulily or a sale and pay about $22-$24. I went to a consignment and got my youngest Keen’s new for $4! Yay! Anyway, they have held up for 1-2 summers wearing them to the park, zoo etc and still look new. I have seen used ones go for $12-$20 on eBay if you decide to sell them after.
I saw Myley’s performance last night, of course after hearing all about it everywhere and , wow! Um her parents must be so proud?!
Lol about Miley. They were talking about her on the View yesterday. Apparently Molly is a drug similar to crystal meth and a lot of the controversy is that she is promoting this drug, her clothing leaves a lot to be desired and she was quoted as basically saying she is grown and not a role model and folks should get over it. Thankful my daughter was not a fan. It would be hard to explain.
I have three boys, 4, almost 3, and 1.. The older two wear crocs with shorts. Kohl’s sells a knock off version of Keens that are pretty awesome too. (If you aren’t into sneakers with shorts.). Here in SC it’s almost always shorts weather!
Granted, I’m not the most stylish person in the world, but I think you are over-analyzing shoes with shorts. I send Darren in shorts with sneakers and socks. Not even ankle socks. I’ve never thought it looked odd. (Even though the teacher said flip flops are okay, I won’t let him wear those to school. They can’t possibly be conducive to running around the playground.)
Both of my boys were sneakers. Do ankle socks for sure!! I hate seeing those long socks on any age person with shorts. Well…if my boys wear basketball shoes they will wear socks a little longer, but only stick out a little. I over think the show thing too based on what I do and don’t like. They could wear socks pulled up to their butt and would care less.
The Miley thing was so horrible! I just sat there with my mouth open like is this really happening. Did she really just stick that foam finger behind her and through her legs and start humping??? That was something other than wanting to shake that Disney image. She had to have been drunk or on something to act like that right? The tongue, the ChuckECheese outfit, the hair, the no-booty twerking, the nursing shoes…it was all a complete skanky trainwreck.
I have never known anyone from Michigan who said “soda” instead of “pop”!!!! I still say pop and nobody here ever knows what I mean, but I refuse to conform! (lol) You’d fit right in in San Diego!!!! And, I know it is a sucky task but at least it is worth it for you to take back and they have the machines conveniently at the grocery store. Here we pay 5 cents per can but in order to get it back we have to crush our own cans and then take them to a recycling place that pays by the pound and it never seems to end up worth it!
Hi Jennifer,
How about wearing vans with shorts for L? I personally like the lace up vans instead of the slip on vans. They kind of look like keds, but masculine. Or any other brand of skater shoes.
My comment got eaten. Stupid google.
We wear shorts with sneakers and ankle socks, though now that Jake is a big bad middle schooler, he wears nike elite socks instead.
In our town they opened a centeralized bottle drop facility. It’s been open less than a year (I think). and you can’t return at the stores anymore. But you can take ALL deposit containers there. In oregon, it’s everything except milk and sports drinks (and juice maybe?)
I know at my son and nephews schools we can’t do flip flops or crocs. We do ankle socks and sneakers. Adidas and Converse look pretty cute.
My son is 3 and wears either Toms or Converse w out socks or Nike running shoes w ankle socks. Most of his socks are colored and patterned so it looks silly if he wears his normal socks and shorts, like when his dad helps him get dressed.
We do closed-toe sandals with shorts. Keens are what we use but there are other brands.
You can see the shoe here, although it looks like it goes with an apron dress…
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oc3fK62neyM/Ucm6hu53O0I/AAAAAAAAGYU/A-U1LShUJyQ/s1600/IMG_20130622_103023.jpg
My daughter loves to wear Crocs and her school told us no. They only wanted them in shoes with rubber skid resistant soles. We are sticking to tennis and she is NOT going to like it!
I think some crew socks or low profile socks would be perfect with sneakers. What does B do if he wears shorts, but needs to wear shoes? Also, L in the Fabkids outfit looks like such a mini-B!
Ugh, that Miley Cyrus performance was…painful. And not because it was Hannah Montana…I get it, she’s grown up. She shouldn’t have to be a Disney Princess forever. But there was something just so…off about it and super awkward about it. She reminded me of a like a horny, broke down Gwen Stefani. And if you are going to twerk, please do it well. I am almost certain she was dancing with Molly. Please God, let there be a reason behind that atrocity.
I watched just a clip of Miley’s performance. I know a molly is a drug. Like you “pop a molly.” And I guess twerking is some sort of dance move, so that is why she got away with some stuff. (I had to google twerking because I’m out of the loop on these things!) It was pretty disgusting to watch. I don’t know why her tongue was out of her mouth the whole time!
We have a similar recycling set up in CA. We pay a CRV (CA Redemption Value) when we buy something like soda or beer or water. For small bottles it like like .05 per for small containers and .10 for large ones. Then you get less than half that back when you recycle them. I wear gloves when we take them back since it is gross!
When my little guy wears shorts, I put him in closed-toed sandals or canvas boat shoes with no socks (our favorites are Toms and Vans). I’m not crazy about seeing socks with shorts, but no-show socks would probably work ok with lightweight sneakers.
With boy’s shorts, we go back and forth between sandals [more of a birkenstock with a back strap than flip flops] and some white New Balance athletic shoes. My husband thinks they look similar to Air Force Ones or Reebok Classics. But he mainly wears those to church when he’s wearing a polo and some khaki shorts.
No-show ankle socks is with sneakers, absolutely!
First I want to say that I think Mileys performance was over the top and not my thing and we all get that you are no longer a Disney Princess so stop the tongue hanging out and grow up a bit.
That being said.
To the woman on the radio who was so aghast that her six year old was subjected to Miley on the VMA’s: This was the VMA’s. It wasn’t the Grammys or the Peoples Choice Awards or any of those “safe for kids’ awards shows. A lot of stuff happens on the VMA’s. Young kids should not be watching the VMA’s, I don’t care how much they like the performers on the show. It is known for raunchiness in the past so raunch in the future will probably be the norm. And your six your old loves the Blurred Lines song? Um, have you listened to the lyrics? Seen the video? NOT appropriate for a six year old. And quite frankly Miley was just acting out that song! So have a problem with her hair (so not cute), have a problem with her tongue (creeps me out), have a problem with her outfit (if she was trying to be sexy she failed, made her butt look horrible!)…but do NOT get upset because you let your six year old son watch the show. The show wasn’t inappropriate, it was you letting your young child watch it that was.
Sorry, off my soapbox. Love the songs, thought Mileys performance was stupid, needed more N’SYNC!
Get ankle socks for sure, or the socks that are lower. I can’t remember what they’re called. I like Converse with shorts. You could also do Toms. But sneakers and socks are pretty normal. Be thankful you don’t have a girl, yet. We just had an epic battle over hideous bright pink, glittery, light up shoes. Ugh!!!
I usually will put those cute brown sandals you know the ones that cover all of the foot? With a slight elevation.
I hate tennis shoes with shorts too but I have found I like my son in flat shoes like converse type shoes to go with his shorts…we found cute circo ones in light blue for the summer
I buy those no show ankle socks for Hendrix to wear with his tennis shoes. At his preschool flip flops aren’t allowed because of too many “injuries” So its either some type of sandal with a heel strap or tennis shoes.
I think it’d look cute to pair Toms (or fake Target Toms like I buy, haha) with shorts, or even boat shoes! I have a girl so she is in charge of the sparkly footwear du jor regardless of if it matches or not, but boys in loafers just melts my heart!
Another thing that drives me nuts about those password restrictions, if that sometimes, all of the fields I’ve just filled in, will blank out because the password wasn’t accepted. Then I have to start all over. As you said, just let me know the requirements up front.
Something that is irritating me today is my Pawalla subscription, I don’t know if you’ve seen the e-mail they sent out, but they are ceasing operation at the end of the month. So if you have a prepaid subscription for months after August, they are just going to ship them all at once at the end of this month. So I am still owed Sept and Oct, so guess I will get them both sometime at the beginning of September. Well that wouldn’t bother me too much, except I just received my August box, and all the items are duplicates of things I’ve already received in previous boxes. So now I’m suspecting what will be in Sept and Oct boxes. I would much rather have a refund if that’s the case, but good luck getting my money back now, right? Do I have any recourse when this happens?
When flip flops aren’t an option with shorts & sneakers just don’t look right we wear Sperry’s. I guess some people wear socks with them but we don’t and we’ve never had any stinky feet issue… I don’t know that’s just what we do (: maybe that will work in place of flip flops for L..
I sure don’t miss returning bottles. I worked at a grocery store and would have to change the bins and stuff. It was so sticky and gross. I would have to sort the bottles too and spill leftover beer and cut my fingers. Don’t miss those days at all.
For my two boys I always go with Vans or Converse. Sadly I just can’t get down with character shoes, crocs, etc when they hit the school years. I’m totally cool with Toms, Converse, Vans and other skater type shoes like DC shoes. I love shoes that have stretchy laces so they won’t trip on the playground, BUT it encourages not to learn lace tying 🙁 Another thing I insist on is only black socks, OMG I can’t handle dirty white socks and I think black socks just look more cool. I have never gone with sneakers because my boys just don’t gravitate to them, but there are some cool sneakers out there right now. P.S. teach them as young as u can to dump there shoes out before entering the house, they seriously have a entire playground of sand in them everyday,lol.
I hate passwords and then make them all the same because I can’t remember more than one. If my dad knew he’d be so mad….he’s a computer guy and makes hard passwords…even for Netflix!
Maybe ankle socks and tennis shoes? I try to do ankle socks if Mackenzie wears tennis shoes and shorts. But she’s usually in crocs, however for my kid they aren’t play ground approved. She gets stuff in them and trips easily….that’s her though.
I live in Connecticut and we have 5 cent bottle deposits. I can’t stand it! We voluntarily pay to do curbside recycling because I think it is the right thing to do for the environment. So my question is- why do I have to pay the 5 cent bottle deposit when I am already paying to recycle at my home. I think it is such a pain to save these cans and bottles and take them back to the store! It is so dirty and yucky! Inevitably the machines will jam up or be full, so you have to wait forever for some poor store employee to come and fix it! I found out that if a store sells an item, they have to take it back for the deposit, even if the machine doesn’t accept it. At my store, you just take your bottles and cans up to the customer service desk and tell them how many you have- they usually take your word for it and just give you the cash. (They don’t want to reach in and count those dirty cans either!) Maybe this is telling me that I drink WAY too much Coke Zero- but that is my vice! (Along with reading your blog daily- and usually laughing out loud!)
Vans and chucks look great with shorts. I get the one’s that have the Velcro tabs across or bungee laces.(he can’t tie his shoes yet) and he like’s character ankle socks. He can’t see the characters once the shoes are on but he still want’s them. 🙂