It Was the Best of Times...

Watching mornings at the Barney house was very heartwarming for me. Bravo depicted our routine pretty much on target except Tammy being awake. She never gets up until 9 or 10. You kind of catch this when she asks the kids if they want lunch, instead of breakfast. And “Why does the coffee pot make so much noise?” It was very cute to watch and made me laugh.  Personally, I have never cared if she woke up early in the morning. I always loved to take care of the kids and loved to let her sleep in. And then there's the fact she takes care of them all day long. So she deserves to sleep in. This morning was a little different. It happened to be the kids' first time riding their bikes to school. I was a little nervous with their heavy back packs and followed them in my car. I did end up putting their backpacks into my car, and driving to their school while they rode. That’s what dads are for….

Funny enough, Sidney fell a few days later on her bike, and broke her arm.

Watching Jim and Alexis next planning their cooking class intervention of Tammy and Gretchen was endearing. They are obviously a team, and seem to go through life like that. They remind me of Tammy and me a few years ago. I hope they can maintain it and be happy forever. With God’s help and going to church, I know they will.

Garage clean-up day! It was nice to see all the family working together. We had a lot of things we didn't need. Did you see all the clothes Tammy had that she didn't even every wear?  I wonder how she could have bought all those clothes with me being so controlling (hmm). How did she manage to get past my "control patrol?" And did you see how upset I was? (Yeah right!) The kids were so damn cute, even when they are just cleaning the garage. Ryan coming over was a nice surprise. I don't know why he didn't want to help????(Just joking). He was so proud of his new job and business cards. And to tell the truth, so am I. The knife scene was pretty funny. Ryan’s dad gave me that knife with a sword years ago. He wanted to show me his appreciation for helping raise Ryan. Many times he has called me to personally thank me for being there when he couldn't. It is always nice to be appreciated. He always said that I had done a thankless job, and wanted to let me know how he appreciated it. Back to the garage: I noticed there was a little friendly horseplay between Tammy and me. It was nice to see the old Tammy and Simon interacting. We were great together.

Both the “kids in the morning” and “the garage” segments were very nice and normal to watch.  Unfortunately the only damper was Tammy constantly bringing negative comments and divorce into her mini-interviews between scenes. It seems like in every episode this year, she mentions it. Was it wishful and projective thinking?

One last comment. This is for our guest bloggers: I always thought guest bloggers are supposed to blog about the actual episode. It’s funny to see someone trying to ride the coattails of a story about someone’s negative situation, just to be part of the limelight. In the past, I defended this person when she was accused of being a publicity hound. I guess she proved me wrong. If in her blog she stopped at "It is none of my business or anyone's business and we should say nothing.” I would have had a lot more respect for her. My last blog came from the heart, and was therapeutic for me to write and release.