It's not about winning or losing, it's how you play the game...

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have those days where I just hope and pray that ChellBell’s mind finds a way to erase either words that I’ve spoken to her or things that she’s seen me do. You know, those less-than-perfect moments that Moms have from time to time (or is it just me?! Help me out with a little validation here…). I probably spend too much time wondering what the balance will be between the good moments she’ll remember and the bad things that will be etched in her mind.

The ironic thing is that I remember the most odd things about my childhood – seriously, random things that don’t make a difference one way or the other. So though my Mom was praying that I wouldn’t remember her losing her temper or letting a little expletive slip (I hear you gasping “really, YOUR mom?!”), none of that stuck in my brain. You wanna know what stuck?

The smell of my Grandma’s house
The first time I saw lobster cooked

Memories of sitting in the dog house with my puppy while it rained
And the first time I won something

The first time I won something. Now there’s a memory to hang on to. It was at our Dry Cleaners in Washington DC, and I was 5. We didn’t really frequent the Dry Cleaner as often as I have come to do in this season of life. I remember filling out a piece of paper with my name and phone number, and about a week later we got a call that I was the winner. I won a rather large pink stuffed animal. Actually it was a HUGE stuffed animal that had to be crammed into the car. At least that is my memory of it.

I hear people say all the time, “I never win anything” and I can’t say that, because I vividly remember the big pink stuffed animal. And these sweet friends can’t say it either, because they are the winners for the 200th Post Bicentennial Give-Away. (drum roll please…)

The Bin – J.J. at I'd Rather Be Laughing

The Bingo and Bicycle Games – Sandy at Scripture and Prayer to Share

The Big Tote – Lindsay at Bytes of Memory

The Bikini aka $50 gift card to Target – Christie at Favorite Things

Wait a minute, wait a minute… So many of you participated, and though I can not think of anything else that starts with “Bi” to give away, I do have a brand new case of strawberry Pop Rocks, and I would love to send a package to each of you (so we can all be winners!). If you email your mailing address to me at clinebarger@verizon.net, I will gladly pop some Pop Rocks in the mail for you (until I run out).

(I'll definitely need mailing addresses for the big prize winners)

And if you’re needing a way to help erase those less-than-perfect moments from your child’s mind, the gift of Pop Rocks just might do the trick…