Category Archives: school

September 19, 2012 · 2:27 pm

I’ve Been Busy

I haven’t posted a blog in a few days.  Five days, to be exact.  Hopefully you’ve noticed because you’ve been waiting anxiously for the next post, but hopefully you’re not mad.

Nothing terribly exciting has happened over the last five days.  In fact, it’s been just the opposite.  I’ve just been busy being a mom with no relief from my pesky (and adorable) kids who always seem to be within inches of me begging for snacks, tattling on one another, or wondering if I want to play Duck Duck Goose.  (I kinda sorta don’t.)  As much as I wish I could get rid of them for a while so I could sit at my computer and write, I would have nothing to write about if I didn’t have these crazy, hide and seek and spelling-obsessed children circling me like sharks in desperate need of a tissue or two…or ten.

Sidebar A: At what age do children (1) become aware that there is an enormous booger dangling from their nose and (2) have the motivation to wipe it themselves?  I don’t know the correct answer, but I know it’s not five.  Not in my house, anyway.    (I snuck in a word problem.  It’s Wednesday!)

Sidebar B:  You know when someone is not a mother when upon seeing an enormous booger dangling from a child’s nose, she frantically grabs a billion tissues.  Either that or she has a deadly booger allergy and carries an EpiPen in her purse.  Boogers are gross, I know.  But there’s worse.  Way worse.  One time, a friend’s kid projectile vomited into my hands.  That was gross. 

Since my last post, Spelling Bee, I’ve been very busy spelling.  In addition to this ongoing torment with no end in sight, I’ve been going to birthday parties, cooking for Rosh Hashanah, cleaning the house for Rosh Hashanah (there is no better motivator to tidy up than the prospect of having seven adults, four children, and three dogs over for dinner), Halloween costume shopping, wiping noses and wondering if Riley’s cough merits a trip to the pediatrician (not yet), doing laundry (reason #87 that two children is enough), and volunteering in Dylan’s classroom.

Sidebar C:  Did you see this recent New York Times article, “It’s O.K. to Skip That Bake Sale”?  It’s an interesting discussion about how parent involvement in schools has changed in a generation.  Are you overwhelmed by what’s expected of you in your child’s school?  Feel free to weigh in the comments section below!

The paradox of being a mommy blogger is that my creative inspiration (and the source of my worsening insanity) is what periodically keeps me from being able to publish as often as I would like.  Like yesterday.  Instead of spending some quiet time jotting down notes and ideas for new posts, I did approximately 700 loads of laundry, including sheets, to get rid of the booger plague that’s taking down everyone in my house.  I also had to explain to Dylan that it’s not okay to say “Oh shit” or ask me to spell “O-h-s-h-i-t” when the DVD player doesn’t work properly.   Ironically, after asking him to put on his sneakers this morning for the tenth time, watching him do everything but put on his sneakers, and blurting out, “Put on your stupid sneakers,” he chastised me for using a bad word.  (He was right, by the way.  Stupid is way worse than shit.  I apologized.)

So, I’ve been busy.  What have you been up to?

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Filed under health, school, sick kids, Uncategorized

August 24, 2012 · 12:04 pm

Week in Review (or B Words)

Boys. Is it me or is it strange that there was a kitchen fire at the temple that houses Riley’s preschool on one side of the building and Dylan’s charter elementary school on the other side, and everyone – including Dylan and Riley – was evacuated from the buildings for more than fifteen minutes, and fire trucks were on the scene and there was visible smoke and it wasn’t a drill and neither of my boys said anything to me about this exciting event? Instead, I was informed by an email from Dylan’s principal late last night as part of an update on the first week of school.  Trying to get information from my boys about their time at school besides “I played,” “I had recess,” or “I got hit in the face with a hot dog toy” (Riley) is going to be the death of me.

Bounce.  Dylan came home yesterday with a note from his teacher telling me that he had two time-outs at school for talking when the teacher was talking and that she hoped “for a better day tomorrow.”   Two?!  Say, what?!  Dylan has never had a behavior problem at school.  Ever.  Upon reading the note, I immediately bounced to Dylan’s future as his teacher’s worst nightmare, a juvenile delinquent, a high school drop-out, and a full-time employee at the movie theater concession stand.  (Actually, Dylan’s dream is to be a popcorn maker, which as you can imagine, only exacerbates my anxiety.)

As per the abovementioned fire story, it’s tough to get information from him.  If he changes his mind about the whole popcorn thing, he’ll be an excellent special agent for the CIA.  I took several deep breaths all yesterday afternoon and tried really, really, really hard not to ask too many questions about the time-outs to prevent him from shutting the whole thing down (Akin pun intended).

I briefly considered the idea that Dylan’s teacher was mistaken or that she was unfit to be an educator.  Then I came to my senses.  There are so many new things in Dylan’s life right now – a new school, a new classroom, a new teacher, new friends, a new uniform, a new therapist, new food (god willing), and a new schedule.  It’s been quite an adjustment for me this week, so I can only imagine how stressful it’s been for him.   With that in mind, I decided he was a rock star rather than a future felon.

At the end of the day, instead of thrusting my anxiety on him and making the situation worse, I simply reminded him of my school rules, which, among other things, includes “be a good listener.”  Oh, and I promised him a reward if he comes home with a good report today.  (That almost always does the trick.)

Birthday.  It’s not my birthday yet, but my birthday month – September – is quickly approaching.  Look what came in the mail yesterday!  For me!

It’s that time again…

Shopaholic ME time!

They remembered this year (those bastards).  Oh, Anthropologie, how I love to hate and hate to love you!

Big.  There’s a Big storm (Isaac) headed toward Florida.  There’s a Big problem with the air conditioner in one of our cars, and there’s a Big chance we’re going to sell it or trade it in instead of putting Big money into fixing it.  The probability is Big that we’re going to maybe, possibly, perhaps, consider a – gulp – Big minivan.   According to the Wall Street Journal, minivans are getting their swagger back.  (And I’m always on the pulse of what’s hip and cool.)

I need your advice!  Sienna or Odyssey?

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Filed under anxiety, birthday, boys, school, Shopaholic Mama, shopping