All this cleaning out has got me to thinking and, as we head toward Mother’s Day, I have compiled a short list of things I do NOT need/want.

1. Return address labels – St. Jude’s and State Farm keep us in good supply and since I write so few letters, I still have not used up them1000 my mom gave me the year we moved into this house.

2. Cookbooks – I just have to face the fact that I am not a cookbook person. I have my dear friend the Internet and we are quite happy together. (it also takes no shelf space!)

3. A writing utensil of any kind – I have a sickness in this area. You heard me, I have a pen sickness. There are a gazillion pens in this house.

4. Flowers. They die and it reminds me that there are so many things I am not good at; not a good trail to go down on Mother’s Day.

Don’t even think that I haven’t given equal thought to what I DO want, though (I am an equal opportunity egocentric). I have actually used the lessons learned at the Holocaust Museum in March to maximize “training opportunities” with the children and, if you ask KB what I want for Mother’s Day she will answer, “a clean car”. And just so there is no confusion, I took it one step further and prepared her for the clarifying question, ” the inside or outside?” feel free to quiz her. She’ll say inside. So,. . .

1. A clean car on the inside.

2. My husband to drive carpool one Thursday morning.

3. My children to sit still all the way through dinner ONE night.

See how simple I have become.