A return policy might be good, too.

Today is it! Leave a comment at this post telling me your favorite scrapbook received OR your fav that you've made. You can do the same thing on my Facebook fanpage (Modern-Day Jane) after you've become a fan, or on Twitter after following me (@mdjane). That's 3 chances to enter the drawing! If you haven't seen how awesome this 7x7 album is, go check it out! Giveaway ends at midnight tonight.
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When you take out a loan, you get a disclosure statement, with all the terms of the loan. You also get one when you buy a house, to let you know of any issues that have existed and may or may not crop up again. This site defines a disclosure statement as: a statment written in plain language which is easy to understand. The statement provides disclosures of information which may be relevant or important.

It is obvious that in a situation involving a lot of money or investment, it would be necessary to know EXACTLY what you are getting into, in order to forestall any problems in the future.

Now, can you tell me why a disclosure statement is not required for having kids?(Other than the completely irrational requirement of only having the appropriate body parts, I mean.) Can you THINK of anything more valuable or costly?!

There are obvious qualities that can easily be attributed to a parent without much fuss or issues when the babe is fairly young. Dimples, facial features, hair color, even height. Later on, special talents crop up: reading, music, sports, etc. For instance, Aaron and I are just biding our time until the kids all end up in corrective eye wear, since not only both of us got glasses around 4th-5th grade, but also because almost all of our siblings also have correction!

But what about all the little things in between? Here are a few of Ben's traits that I wish Aaron had disclosed about his own childhood a bit earlier:

1) potty training. You knew this had to be at the top of the list, right? Aaron just mentioned the other day that he was a late- potty-trainer, and YES, even had issues with #2. THIS may have been useful for me to know when I was oh so innocently expecting Ben to be ready to wear undies at age 3.

2) alphabet issues. Ben isn't the show-off that Leah is, so we haven't been sure exactly how many of the letters he could identify. But I spent about an hour with him the other day, and it's amazing how much he's willing to do when cuddling with mom! He gets them all - except "S", which he consistently called "C". Turns out, Aaron does the same thing.

3) color issues. Whenever Ben mis-identifies a color, (usually purple/blue or green/orange) Aaron says, "I used to do that too!" And to take my own blame, both of my brothers are color-blind, so I'm on the watch for that to crop up sometime.

4) wearing sweatpants in public. I have never had many clothing issues with the kids. But Ben has said a few times that he likes "pants", not jeans. I have complied by focusing my spending power on sweatpants & other similar types. I guess it's a good thing that Aaron has worn me down in this area. I just wasn't expecting it to be genetic.

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What odd traits showed themselves in your children? Who's to blame? Alternately, which of YOUR traits are you afraid will show up?

What kind of legal form or requirement would be most instrumental in the revolutionizing of parenting?