Whoever said you learn something new every day obviously already knew a good bit more than I did to begin with. I’m finding the older I get, I realize the less I know, and I learn an average of about 400 things a day, usually in some comically painful manner. Some of these things are actual new information, others are things I am re-learning. Again. And again.

For example, while I wrote the above paragraph, I learned that my 11-month old DOES fit under my husband’s nightstand if properly motivated by the lure of electrical and phone cords. True story.

So I thought it would be fun to try to recap each month with some of the things I’ve learned, so that you all can learn with me, or at least have a good laugh at my expense. Here goes for July:

1. I learned that my two boys are astonishingly different in so many interesting ways; yet at three and almost-one, they already have a closeness I would never have imagined. Turns out they are even okay sleeping in the same room together, one of this month’s grand experiments at our house.

2. That IS poison ivy in the backyard, and yes, I am allergic to it — far more than I was as a kid. Seriously allergic. Also, taking six prednisone over a six-hour period will keep you up all night so you can format your novel for Kindle.

3. You use “one another” if there are more than two people being discussed, “each other” if there are only two. (Thanks, Faith). It’s funny how we latch on to things we’re taught, because I once had an English teacher tell me that “each other” is NEVER correct. Even though I learned soon after that she was wrong, and use it regularly in speech, I still cringe when I write it. Even to the point of being incorrect. Teachers, beware….

4. I learned that I have been completely under-utilizing and in many other ways misunderstanding Twitter as a social marketing tool. I’ll probably do a separate post about that at some point, so if you’re Twitter-clueless like me but want to be able to start using it for marketing or networking, stay tuned.

5. Finally, I learned that when you are potty training a little boy, you are guaranteed to have one bathroom that ALWAYS smells like pee. It doesn’t matter how often you clean it, how many air fresheners you use or what kind of hard-core environment-destroying chemicals you enlist. I’m calling this the Law of Urinespraylocity. There’s an equation and everything, including variables like distance of reach beyond the toilet, time allowed between “gotta go” and “going,” and miles of paper shoved into toilet while parent’s back is turned; but trust me, it all ends in PEE. It’s a joyous time. Really.

Feel free to post what you’ve learned this month in the comments section. And if anyone blogger-educated knows how to get blogger to notify me of new comments, would you let me know? I swear I’m not ignoring you guys.

Have a great August!

MJ Pullen

M.J. Pullen is a distracted writer and the mom of two boys in Roswell, Georgia, where she is absolutely late for something important right now. Her books include quirky romantic comedies and playful women's fiction. She blogs erratically with writing advice, random observations, and reflections on raising very loud kids and dogs. Join her Distracted Readers newsletter list for updates, free content, giveaways and more.