Once upon a time, way back in the fall of 2005, I gave birth to a beautiful, and slightly premature, bouncing baby boy. From that moment on my life was one of utter wonder and merriment as those of you with a newborn can attest to. Newborn babies seem to lure you into their grasp, making you cooh, cuddle, and kiss when you would not normally do so. And boy did I cooh, cuddle, and kiss my new bouncing baby boy!

But, alas, along with all the joy my new son brought to me and my family, he also brought something else quite wicked. The thing that all parents hate most: sleep deprivation! I can barely even type the word (sleep deprivation) without horrible memories raiding my brain..... bringing me back to those painful nights where sleep was something I could not seem to find. Nights where I became "Zombie Mommy" while feeding and changing my newborn and giving into his various needs and demands. Nights where I could barely function as I stumbled throught the house to find the diapers that I for the life of me could not find in the dark. If I had been more awake perhaps I would have realized that by turning on the lights I could have found those darned diapers faster, and avoided stubbing oh so many of my toes.

***DISCLAIMER*** Even though I reference my sleep deprived nights and say that it's due to my newborn, please do not think for one moment that I would ever trade those nights for him not being here. These are statements made as facts as should not be interpreted in any other way or meaning except for the sole purpose of it's intent: to tell a story! Oh, and by the way, I am a terrible speller, so if there are spelling errors I apologize in advance for them.

Well, to continue, there was one particular night where things did not go quite right, or perhaps it was me who was not quite right. We can debate that statement for hours, so let's cut to the chase. It was around 3:30am when I finally finished feeding and diapering my bouncing baby boy. Sleep was something I was in desperate need of. I laid in bed trying so hard to catch some of those darned zzz's when I became fed up! I got out of bed, still very much heavy-lidded and left my bedroom. I went in search of some relief in the form of sleeping pills which I keep in my medicine cabinet downstairs. While stumbling throught the house, my journey for the search of my sleeping pills became endangered by items left on the steps which nearly caused me to fall, and if I would have fallen you may not even be reading this guide right now for my life as I know it very well could have been ended on that fateful day. But lucky for you, I was just barely awake enough to keep myself from coming to harm by those objects left on my steps, objects in which I then grabbed and threw into my office which was close by.

I then made my way into my livingroom which was on the way to the kitchen, the place which contained my hopes of ever falling back to sleep. In that livingroom I again stumbled upon something that should not have been there. Another object left out, presumeably, by my two older and wiser children. I picked up that object, much to my dismay, and threw that as well into my office.

Several seconds later, I made my way into the kitchen! Whoo hoo! By this time I am beginning to feel less sleepy and my eyes are somewhat opened. I flipped on the light swtich and my vision began to focus on the kitchen table where I see nothing from dinner was washed. There were 4 dirty cups sitting next to four dirty plates (some still containing uneaten food), and all had 4 sets of knives and forks. All dirty, and all sitting on the kitchen table that should have been nice and clean and free of dirty dishes. Dirty dished that should have been rinsed and put into the dishwasher had my oldest two children done their chores, which obviously had not happened. I felt myself growl in frustration, and then began to regret going to bed early at my husband's urging. Had I stayed awake, I would have reminded the two older children to do their chores, and they would have done so. Now I am standing in my kitchen at 4 in the morning, growling out loud, because there are dirty dishes still on the table. I begin to look around......... and about peed my pants because the whole darned kitchen was a stinkin mess!

Well folks, that did it for me. I felt my blood begin to boil. It's amazing the range of emotions that lack of sleep can elicit from one's body, it's truly amazing. Anyway, to continue on, I got mad! Instead of picking up after my kids (and even myhusband) like I always seem to be doing, I decided to get revenge. I don't know how or why but an idea instantly formed in my head. Some may even say that horns magically appeared out of the side of my head and that I grew a spiked tail. But I had a plan and began to put it into action.

I went into my garage and found the biggest box I could find. I carried it into the house and put it in my office which is typically off limits to the rest of my family. My office is my private sanctuary, or at least that's what it's supposed to be.
After the box was placed in my office, I took the items from  a few minutes earlier that I had taken from the steps (items which very well could have caused me to fall and kill myself) and placed them into that big white box. Next, I headed into the kitchen and grabbed those dirty dishes that were left out. Guess where they went? That's right, into the box!

In the livingroom there were more items left out in which I quickly, and eagerly, confiscated. I was becoming a lean, mean, item removal machine!

My next plan was to get onto eBay. I sat in my comfy office chair and powered on my computer, all the while trying to think of how I would continue on with my plan. The plan that would prove to change my life and my family's life, FOREVER!

Minutes flew by as I logged onto eBay and began to list a unique auction in where I decided to go on strike for one week. I said on my eBay listing that this was a silent auction inspired by me being completely and utterly sleep deprived. I said in the listing that all items left out by my husband and kids from that moment on were going to be placed into the box, including the items I had already placed in there. At the end of the auction, all items in the box would be sold to the highest bidder. As a bonus I even offered to video tape the reactions of my family when I told them what I had done.

After I listed the auction I logged off of eBay and took a tour of the house. I found more items that were left out... things that my kids and husband so carelessly left laying around. Things that were not cared for enough to be put away where they belonged. Things such as a gameboy, DVD player, work shirts, coats, toys, etc. The list would continue to grow over that fateful week, and the value of that box quickly exceeded a tohusand dollars.

To my utter surprise, my auction began to generate bids! Then the bids began to generate attention because of the uniqueness of what was being sold and why. I began to receive hundreds of emails from moms all over America saying what a great idea that auction was and how they supported me. I was truly amazed that my little auction generated such a buzz so quickly. I truly had no idea that I would even get any bids.....

Well, low and behold, all during that week of my silent, yet famous strike which thousands of people knew about but my family amazingly did not, it came to the final day in which the auction would end. I made an especially nice meal for my family as I began to fret about how I would tell them of this auction and the contents of the box. No one had a clue at that point what was going on, at least, no one in my family. Thousands of Americans, however, were anxiously following my auction to see the end results. As I set the table and waited for my husband to get home for work, I thought about whether what I had done was right or wrong. I had these butterflies in my stomach that increased more with time. Time that was drawing nearer and nearer to my confession. A confession that would change my life forever!

During dinner I looked at my clock. The auction had ended and I had to share this news with my family. I made the decision to let them all eat first so that no one got indigestion from my news. During dinner, a seemingly normal dinner to everyone else but me, the phone rang. I jumped up out of my seat and ran to answer it. "Hello" I said into the receiver after hitting the "on" button. There was a man's voice asking for me. I told the person it was me and they said they were calling from The Today Show and wanted to talk to me about my auction on eBay. I about died! I ran into my office where I shut the door for privacy. During that conversation I learned that The Today Show wanted me as a guest in 2 days to talk about my eBay auction. I was struck speechless! The Today Show?!?!?!? Me?????? Me on the Today Show?????? OMG!!!!!!! I wrapped up the conversation by saying that I would have to call them back. I mean, I still did not even tell my family yet at this point what was going on. I went back into the kitchen and sat down, a million thoughts going through my brain. The phone rang again.... this time it was The Dr. Phil Show. Uh-oh, I thought, I have to tell my family, like, now! I told them I would call them back. Shortly after I hung up with them the phone rang again. I hung up on that caller and left the phone off the hook. By this time my husband is looking at me like "what is going on?" Luckily for me he didn't ask any questions because I am a lousy liar!

After dinner I asked the kids to clean up the kitchen which was my oldest two children's daily chore. While they were doing that, my husband was upstairs giving our newborn a bottle. I took that time to get out the video camera and set it up on a tripod in the livingroom.... the place where my confession would be documented and heard for all the world to see. A video confession that would change my life forever.

After the chores were done, I asked the family to sit on the couch because I had something I needed to talk to them about. My husband was holding the baby and the other two kids sat on the couch next to him. I turned on the video camera and began talking. I told them all about what I had done, and why, and about the auction. I told them that all the items in the box were sold and that they would not get them back. I then went and drageed the box into the livingroom so I could take out all the items that were placed in there throughout the week so they could see what was left out and consequently sold. There were ALOT of really nice items. Some of the items being sold brought tears, then anger. This whole scene was documented on 15 minutes worth of video. It was quite a moment, let me tell you! My kids stormed off mad, and my husband, surprisingly, just laughed. It was very fortunate for me that he agreed with me about what I did and why, and I was very greatful that he supported my even though he, too, had items in that box. I then told him about getting those calls from the Today and Dr. Phill shows. He was amazed. I then showed him the eBay listing and some of the hundreds of emails I had received and he was just awestruck at the publicity this auction had generated. I put the phone back on the hook and it began to ring instantly.

As it turns out, I received numerous calls from media all over the world. My auction gained so much attention that it was mind baffling....... and there were even some moms who went on strikes of their own. I did end up appearing on The Today Show as well as The Dr Phil Show, and did about 50 different interviews with television, radio, and newspapers from all over the world, including The Associated Press. Women's World magazine called a few momths after and also did an interview.

While I did not truly intend to have my auction generate attention like that, it did change my life forever. I had a taste, however brief, of the life of being the center of media attention and can say with all honesty it's not what's it's cracked up to be. Being in the media, you get attention from all sorts of people, people who have individual ideas of what is right and what is wrong. I was openly criticized, was said to be abusive to my family because I sold their stuff, and was said that I should have my kids taken away. I was called every name in the book and received threats of all kinds.
I was also praised and looked up to for taking a stand and trying to teach my family a lesson about respecting your property by picking up after yourselves. A lesson that in my sleep deprived state of mind would gain so much media attention.

It's been a year and a half since that has taken place. What's really odd is that I still have people that recognize me from the media and comment on what I did. Even after all this time. As it turns out, I even set a record for having one of the most publicized and watched eBay auctions ever. So I had my fifteen minutes of fame all courtesy of one sleep deprived night and the services of eBay. I hope you enjoyed my story.