<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl" type="text/xsl" media="screen"?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css" type="text/css" media="screen"?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:31:12 +0000</lastBuildDate><title>MotherBunker</title><description /><link>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>102</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/motherbunker" type="application/rss+xml" /><feedburner:emailServiceId>1712997</feedburner:emailServiceId><feedburner:feedburnerHostname>http://www.feedburner.com</feedburner:feedburnerHostname><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-5160397825487821128</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-23T15:10:51.124-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Lightning McQueen</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><title>The Need for Speed</title><atom:summary type="text">Well it's official: Cars has reached irrational levels of adoration in our home. MJ has the bug. I have the bug. Randy ... well, he still likes real cars better. And LL Cool Baby is much more into dollies. So I guess it's just MJ and me. She likes this movie so much that she even watches the deleted scenes (the ones that are just drawings, not all Pixared-out yet ... the "brown" ones, as she </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/343832787/need-for-speed.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=qYPu9J"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=qYPu9J" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/343832787" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/need-for-speed.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-4773059871163160685</guid><pubDate>Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:53:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-22T12:54:36.083-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Imaginate</category><title>Letting Go of Perfect</title><atom:summary type="text">As he was leaving for work yesterday, Randy asked MJ and me what we had planned for the day.

"Oh," I said, with genuine enthusiasm, "we're going to have lots of fun ..."

He laughed. Not an "Oh, good, wish I could be there" kind of laugh, but rather a cheerful snort. A chortle, if you will. A disbelieving snicker, you might say. Now, give him his due: He had been up since 3:30 a.m. with MJ, when</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/342723827/letting-go-of-perfect.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=zhtGuJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=zhtGuJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/342723827" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/letting-go-of-perfect.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-4779634053571083127</guid><pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:20:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-21T10:33:49.383-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Potty Wars</category><title>Naked Friday and the Pull-Up Fairy</title><atom:summary type="text">When I went out to get the paper yesterday morning, someone had left us a surprise on our mailbox post: a Target bag filled with an unopened package of Pull-Ups. That someone clearly reads this blog, including my last post about the "broken" Pull-Ups. I'm pretty sure that someone also has a 3-year-old girl (the pull-ups were pink), and I thank her. This is one of the things I love about living in</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/341590916/naked-friday-and-pull-up-fairy.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=CNiHZJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=CNiHZJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/341590916" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/naked-friday-and-pull-up-fairy.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-5418946863464690236</guid><pubDate>Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:33:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-17T23:02:16.437-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Potty Wars</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><title>All Filled Up</title><atom:summary type="text">MJ walked into the bathroom yesterday without pants, holding a suspicious soggy something between her thumb and forefinger -- which she then gave to me inside out, even though I had just washed my hands. 

Nice.

"Here Mommy," she said when she handed me the most ridiculously soaked Pull-Up ever, "it's broken."

And with that, she breezed past me and plopped herself down on her potty.

So there's</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/338628738/all-filled-up.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=2aDa8J"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=2aDa8J" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/338628738" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/all-filled-up.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-8452308507156454586</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:26:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-17T13:15:23.797-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">TV is my friend</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Canadianism</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Bat Phone</category><title>Another Dumb Reason to Call the Husband at Work</title><atom:summary type="text">We now interrupt your workday to bring you this important, vitally important, piece of news. 

To the Bat Phone!

Ring!

Him: Hellooo?
Me: Guess what?
Him: What?
Me: Guess who's going to be on "Rescue Me"?
Him: Who?
Me: No, guess!
Him: Who?
Me: Guess! You'll never guess!
Him: Probably not. Just tell me.
Me: Michael J. Fox!
Him: Wow. That is exciting.
Me: [squeal] I know!
Him: When?
Me: Dunno. </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/338234206/another-dumb-reason-to-call-husband-at.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=Md1uhJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=Md1uhJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/338234206" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/another-dumb-reason-to-call-husband-at.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-8235126085322469064</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:09:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-16T12:21:38.230-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Sisterhood</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">LL Cool Baby</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sentimental fool</category><title>Eleven Months and Counting</title><atom:summary type="text">My baby is 11 months old today, which is so hard to believe. With MJ, I recall time passing sort of slowly through her first year. With so much to learn and, every day, something new happening in the world of this little person -- first cereal, first smile ... even her belly button stump took four weeks to disappear (and, disconcertingly, we never actually found it ... yikes) -- the first 12 </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/337210473/eleven-months-and-counting.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=Cl4wEJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=Cl4wEJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/337210473" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/eleven-months-and-counting.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-667789097860402960</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-15T12:35:09.887-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><title>Not a Member of the Go-Gos</title><atom:summary type="text">I am clearly not cut out for the "have baby, will travel" set. I always seem to be just a step behind everyone else when it comes to meeting the current standards of mother-child excursion preparedness. 

For the past few weeks, we've been new gym members. (Technically, new members of an old gym we used to belong to, back in the halcyon days of semi-ripped ab muscles and good posture.) In those </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/336222083/not-member-of-go-gos.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=WmjKcJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=WmjKcJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/336222083" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/not-member-of-go-gos.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-601193311354119646</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-14T08:12:07.519-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Imaginate</category><title>A Better Idea for Tea Leaves</title><atom:summary type="text">Pop quiz time! What do you see in the following picture? (Hint: You're a TODDLER.)



a) a tea bag;
b) a "dwink" envelope (or "mail-ope," as MJ says);
c) a letter of the alphabet;
d) a bag of cookie seeds

Well, it's d, obviously.  This happened to be sitting on the counter while we were making chocolate chip cookies this weekend (mmm ... chocolate chip cookies), and:

MJ: "Mommy, this would grow</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/335042907/better-idea-for-tea-leaves.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=74qJuJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=74qJuJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/335042907" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/better-idea-for-tea-leaves.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-7949849002064106665</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-10T12:52:31.855-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Imaginate</category><title>The Mixed-Up Toddler</title><atom:summary type="text">So, we've been reading this book called The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle -- very cute story about a chameleon who tries to be many different animals, but in the end, finds he is happiest as himself. A great message. 

But when we reached the page in the book where the chameleon looks "gray and dull" because he's "cold and hungry," MJ disagreed. Her take-away message: "He looks that way </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/331916495/mixed-up-toddler.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=atcOtJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=atcOtJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/331916495" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/mixed-up-toddler.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-678990564786195731</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-08T23:02:32.322-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grandparentology</category><title>Remembering the Tiniest</title><atom:summary type="text">My grandmother gave birth to 10 children, the last three of whom died at birth. I've always wondered about those babies, missing from my mother's family pictures, and wondered, too, what my grandmother must have felt to have such sweet beings -- she was a wonder with tiny creatures -- come into the world, but never experience it. Their graves are next to my grandparents', in their hometown six </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/330396255/remembering-tiniest.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=WCrPDJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=WCrPDJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/330396255" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/remembering-tiniest.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-7820607207419761713</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:44:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-08T15:42:00.633-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Bunker's Burning Questions</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">"MommycanIhavesome..."</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Canadianism</category><title>Mmmm ... Cereal.</title><atom:summary type="text">
What, you may ask yourself, is so exciting about a picture of a couple of boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheats? 

I mean, you could buy these any day you wanted, yes? No. These are no ordinary boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheats. These are very special cereal boxes, which arrived in a package last Friday from a member of the Bunker posse because they contained these:



... and because, once she reads </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/330094870/mmmm-cereal.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=drOOBJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=drOOBJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/330094870" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/mmmm-cereal.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-2441538975870790290</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-07T14:19:57.858-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grandparentology</category><title>My Teeth Are Old ... and So Are My Taste Buds</title><atom:summary type="text">While I was having my teeth cleaned a few weeks ago, I learned that first morsel of information from my dental hygienist; I learned the other one from my mom, while complaining about the number of plates of perfectly good food I dump into the trash each week after putting them in front of MJ.

I am a colossal non-flosser. They hand me the little white box of free floss at the end of each cleaning</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/329081973/my-teeth-are-old-and-so-are-my-taste.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=4LeKEJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=4LeKEJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/329081973" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-teeth-are-old-and-so-are-my-taste.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-3857876321898128259</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:22:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-02T00:44:38.633-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grandparentology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Canadianism</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><title>Oh, Keukenhof!</title><atom:summary type="text">Hee. It sounds like a dirty word, doesn't it? Well it kind of is, and I'll tell you why. Last night, Randy's parents (Canadians visiting the U.S. on Canada Day? What? It's true. You heard it here first.) showed us some video of, if not the Loveliest Place on Earth, at least the Loveliest Place In Holland, where they visited a few months ago.

Maybe I've mentioned the FatherBunker-in-Law is Dutch?</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/324590419/oh-keukenhof.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=7EnvHJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=7EnvHJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/324590419" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/oh-keukenhof.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-7011881473949484583</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:26:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-01T12:00:19.084-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><title>The Case of the Lost Teeth</title><atom:summary type="text">Sometimes I forget about all the little things that MJ doesn't know about yet, the little things about childhood. Like losing your teeth, for example. Last night, while she and her six-year-old cousin (who is in town visiting) were trying to get to sleep, Cousin M sat up in bed and said, "See? Look? I lost my tooth!"

MJ perked up. I was sitting behind her, and even from that perspective, I could</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/324162439/case-of-lost-teeth.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=pSRtnJ"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=pSRtnJ" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/324162439" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/07/case-of-lost-teeth.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-5252903019527013026</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-17T13:34:34.797-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kid's TV</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Husbandology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Bat Phone</category><title>Ka-Chow!</title><atom:summary type="text">
"Mommy! Mommy! Could we watch Lightning McQueen? Mommy! Could we watch Lightning McQueen? Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" 

MJ says this to me from her breakfast perch this morning, where she is running her miniature red No. 95 Lightning McQueen car on the table between bites of syrupy waffle. You may know LQ as the "lead character" in Cars, a movie we have only just begun to watch. And watch. And watch. </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/323331993/ka-chow.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=QkYn4I"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=QkYn4I" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/323331993" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/ka-chow.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-5664256253390509294</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-27T14:59:54.864-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Bunker's Burning Questions</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Canadianism</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">To Sleep Perchance</category><title>Dear Sleep: We Miss You ... and Some Other Stuff, Too</title><atom:summary type="text">So I have a place where I go when I need to relax or cheer up or clear my mind, and it's a house on the water near Sanibel Island, where Randy and I went for our honeymoon. It had sleek Scandinavian furniture that we'll never own, a large boat that we'll never own, and most importantly ... it had two weeks of complete freedom that, well, let's face it, we'll never see again. So my answer to this </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/321098806/dear-sleep-we-miss-you-and-some-other.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=NDZmDI"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=NDZmDI" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/321098806" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/dear-sleep-we-miss-you-and-some-other.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-7950016377293875941</guid><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-26T00:50:40.041-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Husbandology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Thursday Thirteen</category><title>13 Things We Do to Annoy Each Other</title><atom:summary type="text">The husband and I, that is. Yes, these 13 habits are very annoying, but we've also decided that, because they've become standing jokes, we'd probably miss them if they went away.

Well, probably, anyway. 

Starting with how I annoy him:

1. "Are you incapable of putting the cap back on the toothpaste?" 
It's true: I'm a living cliche. Which is why we have his and hers toothpaste. 

2. "Your car </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/320167546/13-things-we-do-to-annoy-each-other.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=ia6QCI"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=ia6QCI" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/320167546" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/13-things-we-do-to-annoy-each-other.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-2591169378713702568</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:13:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-24T23:41:45.633-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Sisterhood</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The Blog</category><title>Borrowing the Funny</title><atom:summary type="text">I try my best to raise hilarious children, so I can exploit write about them here. We start each morning with exercises in timing, delivery, effective punch lines and silly voices. I make the Bunker Girls sit at the breakfast table, staring at their untouched cereal, until they do one thing that shows me they have what it takes to one day appear in a film with Mike Myers or Will Ferrell, or, at </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/319388507/borrowing-funny.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=10cA5I"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=10cA5I" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/319388507" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/borrowing-funny.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-2588052588234995391</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-24T09:49:52.153-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">To Sleep Perchance</category><title>Now Entering the Comfort Zone</title><atom:summary type="text">Crisis mode. Middle-of-the-night stomach bug. As I changed MJ's bedsheets and blanket for the second time in the wee hours of this morning, a calm sort of purposefullness set over me. She's so sad and so bewildered by what's happening to her when she's sick, and unlike other trying moments of our days -- when she wants a third cup of juice and I want five minutes to finish the laundry -- there is</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/318895944/now-entering-comfort-zone.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=8rFBQI"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=8rFBQI" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/318895944" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/now-entering-comfort-zone.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-491273656302815058</guid><pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-08T15:38:08.712-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">"MommycanIhavesome..."</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><title>MotherBunker Jones and the Search for the Cereal Box Spoon Flashlight</title><atom:summary type="text">Saturday started out nice for everyone. And then we lost the flashlight. The flashlight, Mommy, where is the light? I need it. I need it. Neeeeed it! 

"Oh no, it's gone!" MJ squealed. "Daddy, it's gone! My light! What are we going to do? Noooooo!" 

The light in question was this: 



... which came in our Frosted Mini-Wheats (aka "Daddy's cereal"). Apparently, Randy and MJ had decided over the </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/318196592/motherbunker-jones-and-search-for.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=vxx68I"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=vxx68I" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/318196592" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/motherbunker-jones-and-search-for.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-4637601719198105067</guid><pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-20T10:46:24.064-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Bunker's Burning Questions</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kid's TV</category><title>Toons That Make Us Go, "Hmmm..."</title><atom:summary type="text">I used to love C+C Music Factory. Remember that song? "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...?" Good times, good times, people. Anyway ... I'm dying to share my theory -- prepare to be blown away by my brilliant-ness -- that "Lost" was actually inspired by Madagascar. Remember Madagascar? Animals escape from the Central Park Zoo and wind up on a desert island, away from their pampered life of privilege?</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/316272532/toons-that-make-us-go-hmmm.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=zMbzhI"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=zMbzhI" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/316272532" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/toons-that-make-us-go-hmmm.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-4560720039325980349</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:25:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-18T20:49:25.950-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Vacationate</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Thursday Thirteen</category><title>13 Things I Did Good Last Week</title><atom:summary type="text">As I sit here, asking the toddler not to tackle her infant sister, I recall a time not so long ago when I escaped the world of stay-at-home mom to become the stay-at-home-beach-rental-mom. That time? Last week. It's always nice to take my nagging-and-scolding show on the road, for a change of scenery, and the North Carolina coast is a lovely place to administer a time-out while rocking on a porch</atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/315034695/13-things-i-did-good-last-week.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=5dieVI"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=5dieVI" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/315034695" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/13-things-i-did-good-last-week.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-8753457238785792347</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-17T23:10:13.898-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">TV is my friend</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Portrait of the Mom as a Person</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Husbandology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">To Sleep Perchance</category><title>The Secret Life of the American Housewife</title><atom:summary type="text">"Beth, did your daughter have jammies and a diaper on when you put her in bed?" Randy is calling to me downstairs, from upstairs, where he is standing in puddles of pee in MJ's room.

"Yes," I blurt out, with dread.

"Well," he says, "she doesn't now."

And he wonders why I want to watch "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," a show we had seen preview for a couple nights ago. I need a </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/314299221/secret-life-of-american-housewife.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=b6A17I"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=b6A17I" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/314299221" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/secret-life-of-american-housewife.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-7518855311606807922</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-17T10:48:52.667-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Vacationate</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddlerology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grandparentology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">To Sleep Perchance</category><title>"But Mom, Lindsay's Parents Let Her Stay Up All Night"</title><atom:summary type="text">Every two minutes or so, I would look in the back seat to see if MJ was asleep yet. Down the road from our beach house rental, over the Trooper Larry Walton Memorial Bridge, across the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and back ... four nights in a row, we tried to drive our little toddler to sleep, the way we used to do when she was a newborn.

Why? Because she was out of control hyper. Doodlebops </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/313844959/but-mom-lindsays-parents-let-her-stay.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=nPye2I"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=nPye2I" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/313844959" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/but-mom-lindsays-parents-let-her-stay.html</feedburner:origLink></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7886076222528020647.post-4325062567849046610</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:18:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-16T09:13:41.721-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Vacationate</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Grandparentology</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Husbandology</category><title>Passing the Cannonball Torch</title><atom:summary type="text">
When I was younger, my dad had a penchant for the cannonball on our annual family beach vacation. All the kids in my family would beg him to do it, and then stand back and wait for the splash. It really wasn't a beach vacation unless the pool had been christened by the bruising thud of Pop-on-Water.

But this year, my dad didn't even bring his swim trunks. He hasn't executed a cannonball in </atom:summary><link>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~3/313016740/passing-cannonball-torch.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (MotherBunker)</author><description>&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?a=td89II"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/blogspot/motherbunker?i=td89II" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/motherbunker/~4/313016740" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description><feedburner:origLink>http://motherbunker.blogspot.com/2008/06/passing-cannonball-torch.html</feedburner:origLink></item></channel></rss>
