Not necessary, but it would be nice...

As a parent to small children, I have found a few things that aren't necessary, but would be nice.
I enjoy real plants, but frankly, there is enough life around here. The plants are getting neglected. In fact, they have to be quite hardy to survive the frequent droughts, dirt removal by little fingers and hampered photosythesis due to dust. I have one artificial plant so far and I am enjoying it just as much as the others. It has reduced my anxiety and calls to poison control. Yes, I am now on the lookout for more plants of the plastic variety.

While traveling, we occasionally have the luxury of sleeping in a king-sized bed. There is a magnet of sorts for children that draws them to mom and dad's bed. It doesn't take long to find out that two adults and three children fit much more comfortably one, especially if your children do aerobics or gymnastics while dreaming. Our children have a knack for sitting up and then flopping over in any direction and being totally unconscious. There have been quite a few near misses and direct hits between participants and innocent bysleepers. Now that I think of it, a padded room to sleep in would be even better.

Most recently, I have come up with a couple product ideas that I would pay quite a bit of money for...

1. a sewing machine foot control that only responds to my foot. Yes, in my haste and lack of preparation for this season of giving, I have been spending quite a bit of time sewing and the sewing machine has run away numerous times, requiring an operation of sorts to get it back in order. It seems that my now one-year old loves pushing on sewing machine peddles and hearing the whirr of the machine. I have had to resort to turning the machine on and off inbetween seams. One other thing, if you decide to give your all to a sewing project, be ready to clean the entire rest of the house when you get done...it's just the way it is with a house of small children. (Every time I turn around I'm sticking to the floor. But they had fun, let me tell you.)

2. a vacuum that knows what, and what not, to cause to vanish into vacuum oblivion. A Hepa filtration vacuum and corresponding bag to nearly eliminate dust and allergens coming into the air is useless if you have to habitually open up the bag to retrieve socks. I know.

Any inventors out there?

Merry CHRISTmas!