I just got a special invitation to appear on a new reality show where you have to convince an unwitting partner to tackle a hellish Honey Do list:

I am a Casting Producer for a new “SECRET” game show (HIDDEN, AGENDA!), from the creators of The Newlywed Game and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. I hope you don’t mind me contacting you, but we’re gearing up for our premiere season at the moment and we’re currently looking for unique couples with LOTS of personality.

Contestants will open-up their homes and pick an UNKNOWING teammate (husband/wife, fiancé, boyfriend/girlfriend) to be their accomplice in this hilarious challenge of wit and task (CASTING IN NY/NJ ONLY AND YOU MUST LIVE TOGETHER).

The show is a fun, lighthearted, comedic, hidden camera show, where you have to convince your UNKNOWING teammate to complete several tasks. And the tasks are things they would not normally do, i.e. laundry, a fitness work out tape, making you dinner, giving you a back massage, etc. (the funnier the better). For every task he or she completes, you win cash and prizes. As the tasks get progressively harder, the cash and prizes increase. You can win $12,000 plus in CASH and PRIZES!!

BUT your secret teammate has no idea they are being filmed or competing (you will be disqualified if you don’t keep it confidential, so don’t tell your secret teammate or anyone that would tell them…including kids)!

We Could Win CASH and PRIZES!

I looked over this letter, and maybe for a second, I was tempted.  Winning would be easy.  My husband will do pretty much anything.

Laundry?  He’ll do it.  It may come out dirtier and dingier than when it went in, but he has doesn’t care what the clothes look like.  Stuffing the pile into the machine is no problem.  With coaching, he’s even been known to sort the clothing as well.

A fitness work out tape?  He’d love to do a fitness work out tape, especially if I do it with him.

Making me dinner? No question, he’ll do it. Heck, he does that most nights.

Giving me a back massage?  I don’t even have to ask.

But We’re Not Doing This Honey, Please List

Yes, my husband is a jewel among men, willing to do just about anything that needs to be done.  But, I wouldn’t want to abuse his trust.  The value of the Household Honey Do List should not be diminished by silly stunts.  Having earned the right to create this list, I also gained a responsibility to treat this superpower with respect.

And, anyway, our Honey Do List is already too long to add anything more.

If you want to do it, here’s how you can get on Honey, Please:

I’m hoping you can forward this on to anyone you think might be interested in this opportunity (the more people the better). And if you are interested, please let me know. We’re only casting for a short period of time, so please contact us ASAP. To get more info and to apply for the show email: casting.honeyplease@gmail.com.

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It’s official.  I’ve been outed in a Homeschooling Family Interview.  Yes it’s true.  I’m nuts, nuts about learning, and well, maybe just nuts in general.

But, I ask you, is it really nuts to drive ten hours for a scoop of ice cream?  That’s just one of the funny homeschool stories you’ll find in Homeschooling: Freedom and Fun For Your Family.  Compiled by Debbie Harbeson, author of Okay Kids, Time For Bedlam, this blog showcases the wacky side of homeschooling.

It’s just the chuckle I need today, as once again, I seem to be sliding under a growing pile of unfinished homeschool projects. 

Our study is littered with projects that are at various stages of completion, and Alex keeps discovering new interests as he zooms through books faster than I can provide the related reading comprehension assignments.

A recent China Unit took on a life of it’s own, and became a several month long cross-curriculum expedition, and we still have one more book and art project to complete.  Meanwhile, the forensic science kit sits idle as we’ve found a couple of new books and articles that we want to read before tackling the fun project.

Alex has finished the outline for an essay on Rome, but that’s been temporarily set aside to pursue a Neighborhood News Publishing Empire. 

Last week, he decided to create News Fuse, just because he thought it would be fun to write a variety of news articles, including a political opinion piece.  Then, as he was delivering copies of the newspaper to our neighbors, he got the bright idea to involve his friends so that it could be a bigger, bolder operation.

I believe he’s persuaded a couple of friends to join him on this venture, now they’re working out the operational kinks.

It’s always fun in the homeschooling world, even when it’s nuts!

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While Daddy and Big Sis tackled the Most Difficult Experts Only Ski Slopes, the boys and I took on an even more dangerous winter activity – shoveling snow!

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We’ve been having so much fun laughing at all the political humor, that it’s easy to forget that elections are serious business.

Last night, my kids stayed up late with me to watch Saturday Night Live’s Presidential Bash (see SNL video clips.)  What’s a little sleep when history is being made?

Of course, I also watched SNL with my Twitter buddies. It’s more fun when you can watch and critique with an audience.  Unfortunately, I lost them pretty quickly.  They didn’t find the show nearly as entertaining as I did, probably because most of the material was still new to me, but a repeat for regular SNL viewers.

Some of the skits – such as the Palin Rap or the Democratic Debate – had the same appeal as a car crash has for rubberneckers, you want to look away but you just can’t. 

ROFL Political Humor

Never before, have I laughed as much as I have in the 2008 Presidential Election.  I linked some of my favorite videos in The Funniest Political Campaign.

Now, Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth, has collected a few more in this rare look at Obama and McCain as you’ve never seen them before (and hopefully never will again!)  Here they are, from Political Paper Dolls & Parodies Galore: Youth Humor 2008:  Undressed? (Download paper dolls) In a Dance Off? (Obama and McCain Dance Off!)

Election Night On The GNO

By 9PM tonight, EST, the Girls’ Night Out (GNO) crowd will be ready to Rock The Returns, Twitter Style.  We’ll be chatting and watching the results, and hopefully playing nice.

Guest Tweets, Cheryl of The Daily Blonde and Beth of GreenStew, have promised to balance our discussion with two sides of the bipartisan perspective. We’ll see how that goes!

Care to join the Twitter GNO Party?

1. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a Twitter account.
2. Link in your Twitter Username (Profile URL) on Mommy Gossip – GNO.
3. Make sure you’re following @Hashtags in Twitter.
4. Go to Twitter Search, and type #gno in the search box.  You’ll then see all the GNO tweets displayed in real time.  You can reply in that window, or
5. Open multiple windows with Twitter, one for typing replies, and another showing your @Replies that you can refresh periodically.

That’s it. It gets a little crazy trying to follow multiple conversations, but it’s fun trying!

More On Living By Learning About the GNO

You’re No One If You’re Not On Twitter – Discover how to locate interesting people on Twitter.

Moms Connect On Twitter’s GNO – Find out about the GNO and Topic Talk.

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Pathetic.  How else to describe the only Labrador Retriever that doesn’t like to swim?  Dave begs and pleads to get Yoohoo in the water, but he won’t budge.  We’ve been tempted to just throw him in, but it’s hard to lift 100 pounds of solid muscle.  Yeah, muscle.  That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

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See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Rarely, have I laughed as much as I have with the 2008 Presidential Campaign Satire, especially watching: JibJab’s Time For Campaignin’; The Daily Show’s Barack Obama: He Completes Us; and SNL’s Tina Fey in Gov. Palin and Katie Couric get real and adorable.

I’ve heard it said that the best comedy is rooted in the deepest pain. Perhaps, it is true.

As a country, we are feeling the pain resulting from years of poor choices – individually, as communities, and as a nation.

I won’t go into detail, this isn’t a political blog. Also, I don’t want to contribute to America’s divisiveness (not much anyway.)

In fact, I applaud Shaping Youth’s effort to promote “alignment of commitment” by teaching kids to be savvy consumers of political campaigns. I’m even planning to use many of the resources in a recent article, “Do You See Politicians As Puppets?” to inform my kids.

I’m just glad we can share a good laugh about this. As my buddy and I always say, even when things look bleak, “At least we don’t have hairy moles on our faces, and we don’t live with our mothers.”

See Best Spoof Videos of Campaign 2008 for more.

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Don’t let his primitive ways fool you, my husband is no Neanderthal.

How do I know?

Well, scientists say that all Neanderthals became extinct, most likely due to their superiority over Cro-Magnum Man.

Also, even though he sometimes acts like a Neanderthal, there are significant differences between my husband and a Neanderthal man.

For one, there are significant skeletal differences.

In his profession, this guy is brilliant.  Sometimes we even see signs of this intelligence at home.  I’m sure he is much smarter than the average Neanderthal.

Finally, and most conclusively, a Neanderthal wouldn’t pose for these pictures, well aware that his wife was planning to poke fun at him.

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Friday night, I went out to look for Greek Gods.

Shameless, I know.  In my defense, they’re gorgeous.  Scantily clad, rippling muscles – the Greek God Adonis is the epitome of male beauty.

Date Night at the Met

I took my son, and mother-in-law, out to date night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Every Friday and Saturday night, the museum stays open until 9pm so that New Yorkers can enjoy a high-brow, low-cost outing. 

They flock in to listen to classical music in the Balcony Bar, or to sip cocktails on the roof.

We arrived before the crowds, at about 4pm, just in time to check out Jeff Koons’ Celebrations before they set up the Martini Bar.

Jeff Koons’ playful, oversized sculptures are adorable – who can resist the golden Balloon Dog? – but we hightailed it out of there before the Singles Scene took over.

In Search of Greek Gods

I was looking for classic beauty, from a time when one face launched a thousand ships, and heroes slew monsters barehanded. 

We found lots of heroes, demi-gods, graces, and satyrs, but it turns out that the Met’s Greek and Roman Art Rooms are somewhat lacking in male gods. 

There are a couple of goddesses, but no powerful male deities.  At least, I didn’t find many.  I’m sure I would have noticed Olympian heavy-hitters such as Zeus or Poseidon.

No, instead, I found Pan, Greek god of shepherds and flocks.  I think I’d rather hang out with my gorilla friend from the Bronx Zoo.

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I promised my daughter that we would have a Do Nothing Day, and it wasn’t easy, but I kept my promise.

Kayla’s actual request was for a Do Nothing Week, but that was impossible to schedule.  Even with this day marked in permanent ink on our family calendar, keeping it clear was a challenge.

Requests and opportunities are always popping up, and it’s hard to say, “No!”

Perhaps it’s because in a culture that promotes and admires busy-ness, having nothing in particular that you’re obligated to do feels like the most delinquent pleasure.  So if you really want to make free time an important priority, you have to get to the point where you don’t feel like a big loser if, when someone asks what you’re planning on doing for the coming weekend, you sometimes answer, “Not a thing.”  From Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro.

Even as the day progressed, and the sun peeked out, it was tempting to shower, dress, and go for a walk.  But, no, we stuck by our intention to spend the day in pajamas.

So what if the laundry pile rivaled Denali, or that I lost a slipper to the sticky kitchen floor?  And who cares that the homeschool IHIP is due, or Girl Scout programs need organizing?  There’s always mañana.

It’s my job as a mom to show my daughter that yes, I know how to sit back and relax.

And, heck, to promote the Do Nothing Cause, I’ve even sacrificed my honor as a Busy Important Person to present you with a Slacker Wife Visual!

Has anyone ever seen a cartoon drawing of a wife loafing in a backyard hammock, a newspaper over her face and a can of beer on her stomach?  It’s difficult to even produce that picture in your mind’s eye, and if you succeed it’s quite bizarre.  But the husband loafing in the hammock is a visual we see all the time.  It’s as well-known cliche as Dagwood Bumstead loafing on the couch.  I’m not even sure our society looks down on him for doing it either, because we assume that he’s entitled, given all he’s contributing the rest of the time.  Also from Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro.

Modeling relaxation, it’s all in a day’s work.

Book Resource:

Confessions of a Slacker Wife: Muffy Mead-Ferro: Books ISBN: 0738210161 ISBN-13: 9780738210162

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