A Mom Thing

School Picture Day!

 

Little Guy Graduation to First Grade!

I can't believe I forgot to post this photo.

Little Guy's graduation to First Grade.

So so sweet. So proud of him.

NOTE:  H decided to dress as his twin... is that hilarious, or what?  And yes...H even wore the red socks. 

A brain bowler and bubble blower go to school...

Sounds like the beginning of a great joke. Or wicked word problem, right?

It was recently Catholic Schools Week at the kids' school.  There were all sorts of celebrations and appreciations.  All week long.  I'm convinced it's all in part to keep us parents on our proverbial toes and the refrigerator calendars absolutely chock-full-of-notes and reminders.

Anyway...drumroll please!

Daughter was selected to participate in the "Brain Bowl" and Middle Guy was selected to participate in the "Bubblegum Blowing" contest. (Pretty funny profiling, eh?).   Neither won, but both did their mama proud!

Family Projects, Anyone?

 

Happy Chinese New Year!  Don't you love those family projects!?

First Day of School!

I KNOW it's August. And hot.  And still feels like Summer.  I know, you know, they know.  That said, school started FULL UP this week.  And I have to say - it feels great.  It feels good to have a productive schedule (for them...mine is ALWAYS productive). It feels good to have a little homework and learning going on in tandem with the play.  It feels right.

The stats:  LG is in Kindergarden.  MG is in Second Grade.  Daughter is in 3rd.  Ahhhh.  A good thing.

School Supplies in JULY?

I mean, really?  (NOTE: I know today is Aug 1...but I wrote this last week...oh well)

We received our school "lists" in early July. It took me a full two weeks before I could even OPEN the envelope.  I did. Then of course I felt pressured to get moving on it.  That, and the fact that TARGET already is pushing the school supplies bins...

So I debated. I know a lot of moms who take their kids with them to shop for school supplies.  They make it mom-kid time and really a "fun" outing. I've DONE the whole "school supplies treasure hunt" before.  I've stood and debated the merits of various backpacks and slings for (what seemed like) hours. I've discussed and compared and price checked lunch boxes before. This might make me a "lesser mom" but I'm SO OVER IT.  I mean, really...I would rather have my "special" time with the kids be at a restaurant or at the beach.  I'd rather the "special shopping" be for something fun than overspending on Crayola crayons or neon rulers.

SO -- drumroll please... this year I made an EXECUTIVE decision to shop for supplies BY MYSELF.  (Scandalous, I know!) Armed with my lists and my cart, I made my gameplan.  I picked THREE of the SAME backpacks (cute ones ... but still basic ... and different colors) and opened them up in my cart. One by one I went through the lists and put the kid's supplies DIRECTLY into the backpack (no re-sorting or fighting at home).  I got their favorite colors for the folders (plain yellow, plain blue, plain red).  It was so simple, it was almost cathartic. 

I paid for them all (A LOT LESS THAN IN PAST YEARS) and had them put the supplies directly back into the backpacks. I came home, threw them in the guestroom closet and sighed a sigh of relief.  They didn't even KNOW.  I figured THEY could pick out their lunchboxes.  They'd be fine with it. I hoped...

Well, they found the backpacks when looking for a lost Webkinz.  They were SO excited. It was like finding hidden birthday presents.  AND THANKFULLY they didn't rip open the backpacks and go through everything -- they were too "nervous" they had found something obviously hidden (however poorly hidden). It was cute. They were excited.  And it didn't even OCCUR to them that they didn't get to pick out on their own. SUCCESS!  I looooove that.

PS - I'll let you know how long it takes us to pick out lunchbags.  Maybe in a couple weeks.

PPS - I'll get back to Friday Flashback soon...just haven't been inspired.

Motrin Dropoff

Oooooh.  Have you ever done a "motrin dropoff?"  C'mon, don't ACT like you don't know what I mean...You dope your kid up with some Motrin and send them to school because they look fine and say they feel better and you have meetings (or appointments or whatever) you really can't miss...?

Then all day you wait for the call.  You're IN your meeting, calculating when exactly the Motrin will wear off.  You try to guess ... and will your cell phone even work?  Will they find you? (NOTE: They ALWAYS find you.) How pathetic will the pumpkin be when you get there.  Will you feel guilty?  Will snuggles (and more Motrin) fix it ... or are you headed to the doc...And then the next question...Will you get any sleep tonight?  And what will tomorrow bring...?  And then finally, Who will get it next?

Ahhhh.  All hypothetic of course. Just reminiscing...

Safe Sacks?

Safe sacks. Lunch sacks, that is.  Do you ever think about why you didn't get deadly ill as a kid eating those warm (and soggy) tunafish sandwiches?  Did you ever wonder why they start lunch (half)hour at 11am (or earlier??).  And why is it that nowadays the ice packs aren't HUGE and ugly but cute and fun?  (I even pack the smiley face one in MY lunch bag.) 

And nowadays with all the peanut allergies, you can't even always send the standby .. PBJ (or PBN for Middle Guy ... Peanut Butter and Nutella).  Here are a few of our standby safe sack sammys:

• Ham and Mayo
• Ham and Cream Cheese
• Turkey Pastrami
• Grilled Cheese (it actually keeps pretty well!)
• PBN (see above)
• Cream Cheese and Jelly
• Flatout roll-ups
• Raisin Bread (and just about anything!)
• Banana Bread and Peanut Butter (or cream cheese)

Kiddie Profiling

First full day of school and it has already started...kiddie profiling.  This time from Little Guy (full-day 3 and 4 year olds)..."We have a 'bad' guy in our class."  Me: "What do you mean?"  Him: "He doesn't listen, he throws things, he's mean and bad."  Ahhhhh.  Me: "Oh, you mean he's 'having a hard time'?" 

In our house, we try not to say "bad" ... well we use the term - but only for REAL stuff.  Not sure about other homes, but I FEAR both the self-fulfilling prophesy AND the permanent stigma of profiling at such a young age. 

Think back?  Who were YOU back then? Do you cringe at the thought?  I KNOW I was the kid who didn't stop crying (EVER) -- silent deep tears for no apparent reason STREAMING down my face til the age of 8?  My brother was maybe the one who pee'd in his boots on a cold winter day when he just couldn't hold it any longer.  We all know the pukers and the bullies and the teachers' pets...the fat kid, the slow kid, the smelly kid...the smart kid, the funny kid or the cool kid...Who were you? 

School Survival

Ahhh. School.  Mom's new year? Yeah right.  Complete with NYEve hangover.  Few things I've learned are critical for survival.  Here's a start at a list...

1. TRY TRY TRY to pack the lunch at night. Even if you just make the sandwich. It saves so much morning angst (Thanks Hesper!)
2. TRY TRY TRY to get up before the kids.  Even if just 30 min to do something for yourself, it makes a huge difference.
3. Go through the backpacks as soon as you get home/get them. 
4. Keep a calendar in the kitchen with all the cheating notes (gym uniform for Daughter on Wed and Fri; gym uniform for Middle guy on Mon and Wed; swim lessons at 3:30 on Wed for all three). When the morning crazies hit, it's hard to know what day it is let alone who wears what?
5. Keep a few emergency CHEATS around for days when you simply don't have time to make lunch (uncrustables in freezer, occasional lunchable?)
6. Buy protein bars (preferably on sale) to use in kids lunches for snacktime or if they are picky eaters (Luna bars and Odwalla bars are both crowd pleasers with my kids; Zone bar also makes mini-bars).
7. If you can, designate a separate section for kids to get dressed.  Pile all school clothes in that area, divided by kid.  Lay out clothes the night before if possible.
8. Make a playlist on your ipod to help get you through the morning with some good tunes. Mix in a little Ralph's World to surprise the kids. 
9. Coffee. Good coffee. Lots of it.
10. Have kids do homework as soon as possible when they get home.  If it gets too late, you're too tired to help, review or even deal.
11. Occasional date night.

To Be Continued...