In the Market

I'm in the market for a house and a relatively painless potty training experience. I can't afford to pay much for either product, and I can't really say which one is worth more to me right now.

Doug and I are taking Lucy to go house-shopping in Pocatello with us on Saturday and then Isaac gets to become a grown-up user of the potty on Monday. You're not supposed to combine big moves and potty training, I know. But we haven't bought a house yet and I hope we won't be moving for the next several months, so ready or not, Isaac gets to learn how to use the potty.

For those of you who have generously given your advice, thank you! I'm still debating several things:
1) Will I teach him sitting or standing?
2) Will I reward him with candy for every success (and for how long)?!
3) Will I use the basketball seat I bought for him to put on top of the potty or will I just let him spread his legs so he doesn't fall in?

Still not sure on all of that, but he's "practiced" standing and sitting without results either way, we've enjoyed reading "Once Upon a Potty" together, and I think I'm gonna let him hang out naked from the waist down...with blankets and plastic all over everything except the bathroom floor. Isaac, Lucy, Doug and I are all dumber for having watched a terrible potty training video entitled, "It's Potty Time." Avoid it like the plague if you're not into hokey music, clowns who take little boys to the bathroom, and songs like, "She is a Super-duper Pooper!" Sung poorly.

I've also been in the market for a job this week... a little bit. I feel like I got my Master's Degree for several reasons. I think it was partly for the joy of it (we're supposed to have joy in life), partly for the example I hope I was to my peers and students while at Utah State, but I also think it was a means to get me marketable so I could teach at the college level. A few days ago, I looked up possibly teaching English at Idaho State, and my teaching abilities aren't currently needed. I dread putting together a CV (curriculum vitae--like a resume in education) and I really don't have much to put in there. The hope this year was for me to send out a lot of pieces for publication so I'd be writing, pleased with my efforts and possible accomplishments, and have more to put in my CV. But I have only submitted 2 pieces this year and I know one of them wasn't accepted.

What's it like to be a mother who loves teaching about literature and writing but doesn't teach many people and doesn't write very much? It makes me automatically think of the phrase "times and seasons" so frequently uttered in Relief Society meetings--sometimes we're busy with kids and sometimes we're busy with school or work, and we do what we can do.

But I get emotional and eager when I think of another oft-quoted phrase, that "we've got Shakespeares among us." God's still giving people incredible talents and we're all supposed to be developing those.

So I don't feel very marketable. I don't feel like the best mom. (Actually, I feel like a great mom but the results of my labors--um, Isaac's choices--aren't always indicative of my loving efforts.) I know that I'm not the best writer, even though I love writing. So to what point should this post tend? It's got to have some sort of resolution or I'll only get feedback on my pity party. Um... I will send out two more pieces by next Thursday! Good luck to me! And good luck to you as you pursue your dreams. I know you've got them, so what are they? What do you want to do before you close your eyes for the last time in this life?