Web---- stuffed animals

Hello folks! I am very angry at the moment. Those darned animals that you register online- you know the ones- they come with a secret code attached to them with a ribbon? Well, let me tell you why I am ready to send them back to wherever they came from. My daughter got her first one for her birthday. I was not familiar with them at that time- wasn't sure what they did. My kids told me there was a code for each animal that you could use online to play games. My daughter took the little raccoon to bed with her and then she removed the TAG. She said- this has the code, where should I put it? Well, I was tired at the time- not thinking, really, so I said- just put it under your pillow for now so you won't lose it. Well, guess what? Big surprise, she lost it. I mean- we took the bed apart- the sheets off, the pillow cases off, looked under the bed, everywhere..... no TAG. So, I go online myself- go to the website, go to the help part, click on What if I lost my secret code? They basically tell you that you have SCREWED UP BIG TIME! There is nothing you can do, you are an idiot for losing your TAG! So, we got p.o.'d, my daughter got sad, and then we just forgot about it. Well, she asked for a new one for Christmas. So, I spent 20$$ on a white persian cat with crooked whiskers. This time, I was smart. I got the TAG, I taped it to the wall by the computer so it would not get lost. It was Christmas day, we had company, we were busy, we have 7 kids, OK? My daughter who is 8, and a pretty savvy computer user, took it upon herself to register her kitty online. I thought nothing of it. There was no warning sign on the cat saying- DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS REGISTER!!! Well, there are some warnings on the registration site, saying- If you are under the age of 9, stop here and ask your parents for help. Did my 8 year old listen to that? Of course not! So, today, we were talking about it and I registered my 5 yr. old twins' critters online myself. I asked my 8 year old what her username and password were so we could also tape that to the wall. Uh, she says, that was yesterday, I don't remember what I put. I say- WHAT? You don't remember your username??? She said she thinks her password was popstar. So, I go back online and click on I FORGOT MY USERNAME. I enter her password, her secret code, her birthday, her name, etc. and it says This Information does not match our records. We try to think of every possible username she may have used- to no avail- nothing we did worked. So I thought maybe I would try and contact these people and tell them my problem. After all, we have the CODE, which is supposedly only good on ONE animal in the entire universe- so why on this earth can we not get into our account? Did my daughter type in her birthday wrong? Did she accidentally say we live in Hawaii? Perhaps! But it should not matter one iota because we still have the freaking CODE! So, I go to Contact Us. But, get this- it says, We do not reply to your emails!!!!!!! How convenient for them! How nice for them! At this point, I am fuming. I send them a very mean email. I go to the main company's website and I send them a very mean email. I threaten to write to Good Housekeeping. I am VERY MAD!! Ok, if they don't answer me, I am sending that little cat and his little code back to the place I ordered them from and it will become their problem. I will urge them to send the little cat back to Mr. I OWN THE COMPANY THAT MAKES THIS RIP OFF and tell him where to stick the little cat. Has anyone else out there had any similar problems with these critters? Has anyone been helped? By the way, Happy New Year! Lauren

Why I Have 7 Kids

Hello world! As a mom of 7 kids- all my own- I have a lot of opinions on parenting! You may ask how I ended up with 7 kids.... That's a good question. Truthfully, I just loved being pregnant and then I adored each tiny baby. I was curious to see what each one would look like and what type of personality they would have. It was all fun.... until they became teenagers and began to drain our checking account! The last pregnancy resulted in twins, who were monoamniotic, by the way, and we decided then and there, we had had enough! That pregnancy was not fun! It was exciting to learn we were having twins, but then they told us how risky the pregnancy was with the twins together in one sac. This caused us much stress and heartache while we waited. We saw a specialist weekly and as it happened, our girls had no problems- were born at 35 weeks- healthy and gorgeous! All that morning, afternoon, and evening sickness, the gigantic feet and ankles- all worth the trouble in the end... but I had had my share and I felt it was a good time to stop reproducing. We have been very fortunate- all 7 kids are healthy and smart! So many people ask me if I homeschool the kids and I think- why on earth would I do that?!! I might do just fine with Kindergarten, but after that, I need to let someone else take over! I admire those brave women with 17 kids who homeschool them all and still manage to do the laundry. Not me- I am ashamed to say I rather enjoy my alone time now that I have some! I love to read and am happiest with a cup of tea and a good book! I did all the years of rocking, breast- feeding (all 7) and diapering, etc. Now it's time to relax a little! I work part-time as (guess what) a nursery director at my church!! So I still get to do some rocking, diapering, and all that fun stuff- but only for a few hours a week! On this blog, I would like to write my thoughts on parenting. I have written in the past for a newspaper. I tend to make some people mad sometimes because I am very opinionated. But everyone has a right to their opinion. Thank you for taking the time to read! Lauren