Oh no...here it comes-

Mom/Honey? You know what we need?

I think those might be the most feared words in my house. Whenever that fateful phrase is uttered, I know that inevitably the desired item or action is not really a NEED, but more of a want. Or a desire to drive me insane. Which, I suppose, could actually be a want of my children and husband. But I digress.

Generally, these burning, yearning desires fall into three categories. I'm not really that impressed with any of them, by the way.

1. The item in question is going to be a financial setback of head spinning, pea soup spewing proportions. For example, "Hey Mom...know what we need? We need to get that new xBox. Our old playstation can't play online like the new xBox." Another thing about the expense issue is that more often than not, the original amount quoted is only half as much as you eventually end up spending. That new backpack system your husband needed just isn't complete without the water bladder, strap pads and webbing added on. It's a vicious thing I tell ya.

2. The proposed necessity is going to upset the precarious order and peace I've established in my home, thus threatening to reduce my sanity even further. "Hey honey, you know what we need? A bigger tv downstairs. Then we can put the one we have now upstairs for the boys." So not only will the newer, bigger, louder tv invade more of my family room (which incidentally is attached to my kitchen--the room I live for), but I can no longer escape upstairs to get away from the drone of the box. However, my favorite request that fits into this category came just a few days ago..."Hey Mom, I need a bigger amp for my electric guitar." I'm not even going to touch that.

3. The necessary action will likely result in a visit or two to the Emergency Room. These are generally the random, head shaking requests my children regularly come up with. Things like, "Hey Mom, we need to build a skateboard ramp with these 2x4's." "Hey Mom, we need to climb up and sit on the roof sometime." My recent favorite was, "You know what we need to do Mom? We need to go sledding and skating at the skate park when it's snowy." There's got to be a way to turn off the danger gene that resides in all boys.

The saddest part about all of this, though, is that I try as much as is humanly possible to help them meet their "needs". (Well, maybe not all of them---I'm not much of a roof dweller.)

Now, you know what we really need? Sleep? Sanity? A few more hours in the day? Probably. But I'll settle for having my kids remember that Mom tried as best she could to support their passions; even if it did mean allowing a child to buy a bigger, louder amp.

Oh, and earplugs. Yeah, I really need earplugs. :)