Category Archives: school

August 19, 2012 · 10:38 am

T’was The Night Before School (Remix)

It’s funny how the more things change the more they stay the same.  In honor of my boys’ first day of school tomorrow, here’s an oldie-but-goodie, “T’was The Night Before School” (originally published on August 22, 2011).  Since I can’t resist a good rhyme, here’s a new verse just to keep things fresh:

The school supplies are delivered (by forklift)

The checks are written (free public school is deceivingly expensive)

The alarm clock is set (my boys are finally sleeping in and now have to wake them)

A morning alone?  This Mama is smitten!

Here’s the original post (in purple for archival effect):

T’was the night before school

And all through the city

The mothers rejoiced

Some even felt giddy

The backpacks were packed

By the door with care

In the hopes that the children

Would soon be out of their hair

The children were (finally!) nestled

All snug in their beds

After whining and crying

And shaking heads

Then the mommies had wine

The daddies had beers

And they all clinked their drinks

And said a big “Cheers!”

I know some kids around the country are already back at school and some don’t start until after Labor Day.  Mine, thankfully, go back tomorrow.  I’m happy about this for obvious reasons – we’ve spent a lot of time together these past few weeks. 

Some of it was wonderful – the beach vacation, leisurely mornings in pajamas and afternoon movie marathons.  Some of it wasn’t.  The boys’ new meal plan has been emotionally exhausting (and so far not very successful), and I’m fairly certain I lost some precious brain cells at indoor kid play spaces.  

The thing that makes me happiest about school starting, though, is that the boys are truly excited.  Riley is still young, but he gets it.  “Go to school?” he asks.  “With Dylan?”  He seems so grown up to me at times, but then he giggles like a madman when I do peek-a-boo and I’m instantly reminded that the little guy is still two.

As you know, Dylan is a complex creature.  He keeps so much inside (in his head and heart) that it’s often hard to know what he’s thinking or feeling.  In previous years, Dylan didn’t cope well with the start of school.  This time around, though, he’s visibly excited.  Every night this week, he asked me if we were going to school the next day.  “Not tomorrow,” I told him, “In four days.”  Then three days, two days, and today I had the pleasure of telling him, “Yes, you’re going to school tomorrow.” 

This newfound excitement about school gives me hope that one day soon he’ll wake up and ask for a bucket of chicken wings for breakfast.  When that happens, I’ll write a few verses called “T’was The Day He Ate Chicken.”

And back to the present.  See? The more things change the more they stay same.

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Filed under food issues, school

August 13, 2012 · 10:05 am

Hard

This is week is going to be hard.  Starting tomorrow, there’s going to be a therapist in my house every evening at 5:00 p.m. to train Dylan to eat.  Now that I’m done crying about it, I’ve started to think about what it’s going to be like to have a semi-permanent dinner guest.   I’m going to have to keep the house clean, and I should probably try a little harder to put the laundry away instead of leaving it folded on the dining room table until it eventually disappears from use.  I’ll have to go through the mail on a more regular basis, too (sigh), and I’ll need to make sure the left side of the sink is clear of dirty, smelly dishes.  Most importantly, I’ve been wondering if it would be awkward to pour myself a glass of wine like I normally do around 5:00 p.m. each day.  (At least I’ve found my sense of humor.  Grateful Mama!)

But food therapy isn’t the only hard thing I have to do this week.  On Tuesday, I have to take Riley to the lab for blood work.  From a teeny-tiny vein in his teeny-tiny arm.  (We’re testing for allergies.  I’ll share more on this when I have more to report and more energy to report it.)  I’m counting on him to be a good patient like he usually is, but I’m also preparing for other less desirable scenarios.  (For a long time, I had one singular rule of parenting: Expect the unexpected.  I added a second rule after Dylan started sleeping with a portable DVD player in his bed: Never say never.)

As food training and blood work aren’t going to be hard enough, I also have to sharpen 48 pencils by 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning.

Note to self:

Sharpen these guys (or gals):

This no easy task when your pencil sharpener looks like this.

Oh stop.  Thank you.  [Cue blushing.]  Yes, you’re absolutely right.  This is the coolest pencil sharpener on the planet.  I really don’t like to brag.  It’s so hard to take a compliment.  But, well, thank you.

Yes, it’s a pencil sharpener.  I swear.  It requires no electricity, batteries, or apps.  All that’s needed is strength, sweat, and time.  It’s a Boston Champion manual pencil sharpener.  I doubt this antique is worth much money (although you can buy one on eBay for as much as $69.99!), but for me it’s personal.  Sorry to burst your bubble, my friends, but there’s no Runaway Mama giveaway here.  This Boston Champion is not for sale.  Not now, not ever.  I love it!  And here’s why:

  • My dad gave it to me.
  • It says “Boston” on the side and that’s wicked awesome.
  • It vaguely resembles a mini meat grinder.  Or a really clever spaghetti maker.  Or an owl.  (Okay, maybe not an owl.)
  • It’s manual!  Remember when we had to roll up and down windows in the car with a handle?  (I’m old.)
  • It makes my arm sore.  (I’ll take any exercise I can get these days.)
  • Dylan and Riley marvel at it.  They rarely see a piece of equipment in our house that isn’t a touch screen vessel for watching “Transformers Prime” on Netflix, and that’s exactly why they love it.  It’s a novelty and it’s mine, which makes it priceless to them, like my ill-fated heart-shaped crystal paperweight.

Per Dylan’s Kindergarten supply list, I not only had to buy 48 #2 pencils (and 12 glue sticks, six-eight pink erasers, two eight-count packs of Crayola markers, four 24-count packs of Crayola crayons, and I won’t bore you with the rest), but I’m also responsible for sharpening them.  With the Boston Champion.  It’s a lengthy process that requires motivation, drive, and some serious fine motor skills as dramatized in still photography here.

Squeeze.

Insert.

Secure.

Sharpen! (Keep going!  You can do it!  Hang in there!  Don’t give up!  You only have to do this 47 more times!  You’re a rock star!)

Extract.

And voila:

What did you say?  Office Depot is having an electric pencil sharpener sale?  There’s tax-free back to school shopping this week?  You have an electric sharpener I can borrow?  Thanks, but no thanks.   I’m all set.  Between Dylan’s dinners, Riley’s blood work, and the sharpening of the pencils, it’s going to be rough week, but it’s also going to be a labor of love.

Do you have a hard week ahead?

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Filed under food issues, Grateful Mama, owls, school, sensory processing disorder