1. Recognize SPAM y'all. I mean, come on. For instance, you know your second grade teacher is not sending you a link to see a video of a teenage girl being "walked in on" by her dad. Please. SPAM. Don't click on it because when you do, you recreate all kinds of trouble for me and others. Take a minute to google "How to recognize spam" and THEN get a facebook account or a computer. It will make the world a better place.
2. Here is the rule on white shoes: You may NEVER EVER wear white shoes unless you are a baby, a little girl, a bride (and I'm not even sure about that one), running/exercising, or wearing flip-flops. There is no "Labor Day" rule when it comes to shoes. They are awful on everyone's feet. Don't see yourself in a photo and think Why didn't someone tell me?! I just did.
3. Judge for yourselves. You may learn black and white facts in kindergarten, but there are lots of things in this world that someone may tell you is fact, and it may not be. If someone says something is good, and your gut is telling you it's bad, listen to your gut. A quick story.. and I'll be very vague so no one gets their feelings hurt: I was once at a Christian ladies' event and they had a guest speaker that was well known and had lots of friends there and lots of credentials. She was a nut job. As this crazy woman is speaking, I look around the room at all the ladies there. Everyone is smiling and taking notes and even later I hear them tell her what a wonderful job she did. I think Am I in bizarro world? This woman is not only a terrible speaker and has NO business doing this kind of thing, but she really is crazy. And I'm a little crazy myself (I firmly believe 10% crazy keeps you interesting), as my husband would attest, so I know crazy. Come to find out there was more than just me who picked up on this. And looking back, the right thing to do would have been to walk out. But I doubted what my gut was saying. We need to trust the gut. It's right most of the time. Even if it's opposite of the crowd's opinion. It's the right choice.
4. RSVP y'all. People should have a little class and do what they are supposed to do. This should be taught in school, but it's left up to parents, and the parents don't even do it. Now I'll be the first to say, there have been some times when an invitation got misplaced or even lost, and I have failed to RSVP. VERY few times, but I don't have a perfect RSVP record, unfortunately. But the older I get, and the more parties/functions I host, the more I value and respect the RSVP. When you don't RSVP, in my mind, it is incredibly inconsiderate and classless.... like an empty beer box on the top of your Christmas tree instead of a star or angel.
5. Here's something you don't learn in kindergarten: DRINK WATER BEFORE YOU GO TO BED and you won't have a hangover. Who knew it was so simple?! Why didn't I learn this from someone somewhere??? Now, I'm not talking about getting blitzed out of your mind... I'm talking about a normal few drinks when people are over or out at a restaurant.... Drink a bottle of water before you get in the bed, and all will be right in the world the next day.
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6. You get what you pay for. It's cliche, yet STILL, everyone is trying to get a great deal. Cheap eats, cheap haircut (bless this little guy's heart), free stuff, etc. We recently bought a new TV for our new house. It came with a FREE blu-ray player. Wow. Cool. Less than a year later, it doesn't work. You get what you pay for. Old Navy's clothes are cute and cheap, right? They last a season. Mark it. They have 3 months of wear in them. Perfect for kids who are constantly growing. Awful for moms who hopefully have stopped growing. Wanta stay at the $59 a night hotel instead of the $169 a night one? Um. NO. Because why? You get what you pay for. If you can't afford the $169 a night, then don't go and save up until you can. You get what you pay for. I don't want to know how much much I've thrown away on crap. Total waste. Found bottles of champagne on sale for $4 a bottle?!? WOW! Yeah. DON'T drink that stuff. You'll have a hangover not even gallons of water before bed will be able to touch. Someone should have told me this at an earlier part of my life because I learned "the hard way." You get what you pay for.
7. And here's the last one for the night. One I learned just TODAY. "The hard way." When your child is sick or even complains of any discomfort whatsoever, REMOVE the expensive or expensive-to-clean bedding from the bed. If you don't, you will spend $55 at the dry cleaners to remove the vomit from a $50 comforter. I guess you COULD try to clean the dry-clean-only comforter yourself, but remember... you get what you pay for.
