This is a rarity, gentle reader- a post without a picture of my adorable son. Despite his continued cuteness, I had a couple of thoughts to share that don't require photographic evidence. One is something that annoys me slightly, and the second is something that you just have to shake your head at.

Kyle and I were walking through Wal-Mart when I left him unattended with the stroller for a couple of minutes while I went to rescue Noah from an imminent Huggies failure. When I came back out, he handed me a surprise- a little package from the photo studio that said it was a thank you to mothers in honor of Mother's Day. Since this will be my first Mother's Day with an external baby, I immediately awwwww-ed and opened the bag. Aside from the obligatory "Come to our studio and buy pictures of you with your cute baby" flier, there were the two goody bag samples. One was a small container of pure fruit juice for babies. Apparently it's supposed to be better for their teeth, which is something that I'll remember when Noah starts drinking juice in 8 or 9 months. The second was something that any mother would cherish: a disposable toilet scrubber.

Nice, huh? Note to Wal-Mart, because I'm sure you care about my opinion: if you want to make a goody bag for mommies, you shouldn't include household cleaning items. A nice foot scrub sample would be well-received. So would 8 straight hours of sleep.

The second thing is something that I heard on the radio this morning. I listen to the Morning Animals on my drive- they're local sports people. I used to listen to NPR, but have stopped for several reasons: they take themselves too seriously, it's too depressing, and I wake Noah up when I argue with the radio.

At any rate, someone wrote to them about a wedding they attended this weekend at which the mother of the bride was escorted down the aisle wearing this season's must-have fashion accessory: a bluetooth earpiece. Seriously. She was wearing an expensive dress and nice jewelry...and her bluetooth. Apparently an important family member was late to the wedding, and she was afraid that she would miss their call when they called for directions. Isn't there a point at which you hand the thing off? What's she going to do, answer it during their vows? So today's salute goes out to all of those people who insist on wearing their earpieces at all times, even when you really get or make about three calls a day. You're not as cool as you think you are.

And neither is giving a new mom a free toilet scrubbing utensil.