A fever is sweeping the Glinda household.

No, really.

I don’t mean that as a euphemism. A fever really is sweeping through my household, cutting a swathe of whining, complaining, and tantrums.

And that’s just my husband.

Ba da BOOM.

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all morning.

Last week’s poll regarding your favorite reading material came down heavily on the side of fiction, which 85% of you voted for.  I would have to say that I also love fiction, but if I really stop to think about it, between newspapers and various blogs, I probably actually read more non-fiction on a daily basis.

Here is my burning question of the day:

Original source: Rookie

 via

42% you take only a half hour to 45 minutes to get out the door, and an impressive 21% take only 15-30. 15% of you were split evenly between less than 15 and 45-60. I’m going to count myself in that last cohort due to the fact that I have a toddler. She’s a convenient excuse for almost anything.

A friend and I were recently at a party, and we briefly discussed allowing our same-aged sons to walk to a nearby park (she lives in the neighborhood).  We went back and forth for a bit, but eventually decided against it.  Then we started talking about how it seems in our memories that we had a lot more freedom way back when than kids do now.  Is that pretty much a given? Or are we just old and our memories are faulty?

Last week I asked if you thought a father putting bullets in the laptop of his misbehaving teen was a bit over the top. 40% of you thought it was, but you were still fine with it. 29% thought it was completely wrong, and an equal number of you felt that it was a great idea. I’d have to say that I fall in with the majority on this one.

Today I’m all about your social life.

A 14 pound baby boy was recently delivered naturally and without an epidural in Iowa.

Ouch.

My own baby-chute cringes in sympathy.

Did I really just call it a baby-chute? Impressive what the lack of sleep can do for your vocabulary.

And I didn’t even give birth naturally, but had two C-sections.  Aaaaand, even if I hadn’t had the C-sections, both of my children were roughly half the weight of young Asher.

A good friend of mine had to deliver her second child without an epidural because her labor progressed more quickly than she realized, and she admitted that it was indeed the worst pain imaginable.  That was with a nine pound baby.  Add five more and you’ve got to have some major endorphin rush happening just to stay conscious.

Is it really 2012 already?  Where did the time go?  One second it was a few days before Christmas, and all of a sudden I’m on the flip side of the New Year.  It’s been a rough couple of weeks, you have no idea.  But, onward I must go!   We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!*

Our last poll addressed how you were handling the holidays, and an impressive 33% of you were in Martha Stewart mode.  However, that was eclipsed by the 38% who just didn’t care anymore. 23% were in deep breathing mode, and an unlucky 4% were in a full-on panic.  I think I sort of fell in the 38%.  Heh, my kids don’t need holiday memories!

Today I need to know how you feel about 2011.

*Brownie points for the source of that quote!

59% of you feel that schools can only do so much in the face of bullying, which might also mean that in this day and age, school-time bullying is coming in second to online and virtual bullying.  22% think they give it a shot, but it isn’t enough, and 14% say schools don’t do nearly enough to address the problem.

I was never a bully in school, nor was I bullied, but my personal opinion is that bullying starts at home.  By that, I mean the parents of a bully have fostered an environment where a bully feels free to act out onto other people, and there is only so much a school can do to stop that type of behavior other than having a zero-tolerance policy.  Then again, I sort of hate zero tolerance policies, so I’m torn.  When my son attended public school, I cannot tell you how many parents I saw flouting school rules on a daily basis, and I would always think to myself that these parents were teaching their children by example that rules don’t apply to them.  Man, I hated those parents.

But, on to something a bit fluffier, although maybe as controversial.  The LA Times reports on the Vinci, a tablet, Android-based computer marketed specifically to children from 1 week to age 4.