School Days

For those with kids, you know that the end is in sight.  Sweet Pea is finishing her first year of middle school by exempting all of her exams (which means her last school day is tomorrow - however, it hardly counts since she's going on a field trip to a nearby theme park).  Baby Girl has field day and parties and fun stuff planned for the next week.  Neither of them have done much of anything ever since they finished standardized testing and got back from Spring Break.  And really, I'm fine with that. 

What I'm not okay with is the new law our state just passed setting parameters for when our schools must open and close for the year.  All of our school systems already had their 2012-2013 calendars in place.  They're now having to all go back and adjust them.  Under the new law our school system has to move the first day of school from Aug 9th to Aug 20th without the ability to adjust the end date. 

What this means for my kids?  They're losing a huge chunk of days off through the middle of the year.  Our school system hasn't published their adjusted calendar yet, but several systems around us have.  Weather days (admittedly we didn't use them last year, but we used more than our allotted 3 the year before and had to extend the school year) are gone.  Thanksgiving and Christmas break are shortened.  Fall break is gone all together.  A couple of minor federal holidays will now be lost.  And there's even the possibility that our week of spring break might because a long weekend.

I'm not thrilled.  And neither are most of the teachers that I know.  The state did it to extend the summer and hopefully increase tourist revenue.  The problem is they've taken our ability to travel at other times of the year away.  

And making a full circle, they're forcing my 11 year old to make some really tough decisions.  In order to exempt her exams she had to make an A  and not have missed more than 3 days in that class. She had the most trouble with the classes at the end of the day since she was checked out a couple times for dentist/doctor appointments.  Several times, when she didn't feel wonderful but wasn't sick enough to go to the doctor (a headache or a little cold) she had to make the very mature decision that going to school was the best choice.  Our family worked around her school schedule when planning our vacations so that our plans wouldn't force her into taking exams if she didn't want to.  Next year we're not going to be able to do that.  I'd already scheduled a trip and there's just no way I can rearrange it - because there isn't a good time to go now!  Sometimes summer just isn't the best time to travel. 

I won't even get into the argument that taking breaks away from the kids will be detrimental to their ability to concentrate and retain the data being taught to them. 

I don't know many people who are happy about these changes.  What do y'all think? 

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I Shouldn't Laugh

I shouldn't laugh, but I sorta have to. And share with y'all because this was just too dang funny not to. Just don't tell Zilla I did because he'll kill me.

I was sick at the beginning of the week. I tell y'all this so that you'll understand why Zilla volunteered to take the girls to school on Tuesday morning. I went into work, but only for a couple hours so I wasn't in my normal rush mode and he wanted me to take it easy. Wonderful!

I kissed the girls goodbye, sighed a little as the house went silent and continued to get ready for work. Several minutes after I thought everyone had left Baby Girl came running into the bedroom yelling, "They left me!" I was shocked. But the girls had actually gotten ready early for a change so I just thought maybe Sweet Pea and Zilla had gone to the little house to do something to kill the five or ten extra minutes they had. no big deal. I told her that. She countered with, "Nuh uh. The truck's gone."

I jogged to the other side of the house and verified that indeed, Zilla's truck was gone. Trying desperately not to laugh, I picked up the phone and dialed his cell to ask him if he'd forgotten something. It went to voicemail. For those of you familiar with my life, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Our cell coverage is spotty around the house. I asked Baby Girl if she had everything together for when her daddy showed back up at the house - either because I got ahold of him or because he drove to the school to drop Baby Girl off only to realize that she wasn't in the car. She proceeded to tell me her book bag was already in the car. Which is where this whole thing went wrong.

I called Zilla again, holding my sides because it hurt so hard not to laugh. But Baby Girl was just so affronted that she could be FORGOTTEN that I knew if I laughed it would not end well. About the time Zilla answered his truck pulled back into the driveway. Turns out he made it all the way to the church at the end of the street before realizing Baby Girl wasn't there. What tipped him off? It was too quiet in the car. His exactly comment to me was, "I knew something was wrong, by then she'd normally have been chattering on about something." Oh so true.

Apparently Baby Girl loaded her backpack into the truck and then ran back inside to go potty. Somehow Zilla missed the dash back inside and thinking she was in the truck, closed the door. Good outcome - both girls made it to school on time. What I find the most hilarious is Baby Girl's response when Zilla picked her up from school later that day. Without saying anything else to him, she got into the truck and said, "You forgot me!" I feel sorry for whoever she marries. That girl can hold a grudge.

We did have a nice discussion about what she should have done if I hadn't been there. Wonderful opportunity to go over our emergency procedures. Which was a good thing considering her first response when we asked what she would have done was, "Call 911." Not altogether a bad answer, but probably not the first choice. Especially because Zilla would have eventually figured it out and come back for her. She's old enough (and responsible enough) to leave home alone for a few minutes.

But this did bring up a question. What age do you think is appropriate to leave kids at home alone for short periods of time? Sweet Pea will be 11 in a few months and Baby Girl will be 8 soon. They're both pretty mature and I trust them not to kill each other or burn the house down. My main worry is them being able to handle an emergency should one arise.

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Out of the Mouths of Babes

On a recent stop to pick up the girls my mom met me at the door and pulled me inside. This is enough of an anomaly that my first thought was Aw hell, what kind of mischief have my two little hellions found now?

When she started with, "Your daughter said something interesting today," my sense of unease didn't get any better. Anyone who knows me won't be surprised to hear me admit that I have a bit of a swearing habit. I taught my youngest brother the 'F' word when he was four. At the time I thought it was hilarious...until he turned around and pointed out the f-ing lizard to my mother. Whoops.

Having kids has cleaned up the worst of my language, but not everything. We have a rule in my house that if I say the word in front of the girls then they can't get into serious trouble for repeating it. I can tell them they shouldn't. And admonish them for using a word we've agreed they're not old enough for. But I can't ground them or take away privileges. And my mom's aware of my propensity so I figured whatever Baby Girl had said must be really bad.

And then I saw the glint of humor in her eyes as she proceeded to tell me she'd overheard my seven year old using the word fiduciary. Fiduciary. I don't think I learned that word until I started college level accounting classes.

She can't tell me if Baby Girl used it correctly because she hadn't been paying close attention to the conversation between Baby Girl, Sweet Pea and my oldest nephew...but that isn't the kind of word you just stumble into. My mom thought it was hilarious that my seven year old apparently has the vocabulary of a college freshman. I think it's pretty cool.

Have you ever overheard something that made you laugh? Have your kids ever said anything that shocked you?

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Dead People

I hesitated about what to title this blog. Up on that cold white line those two words could sound pretty disrespectful. But in the end there really wasn't anything else I could call this blog so just bear with me.

It's been awhile since I blogged about my girls' exploits. Possibly because life has been pretty normal - and by normal I mean hectic. But Baby Girl did something the other day that made me spew water across my steering wheel while simultaneously questioning my skills as a parent. And so I thought I probably needed to share the experience.

The other day we were driving through town on our way to yet another appointment on our never ending schedule when from the back seat I hear, "dead people!" in this bright little voice. I have to say it shocked me. Especially since the car had been relatively quiet and it came out of nowhere. I could not figure out what the heck she was talking about. I looked around for a hearse, but there wasn't one. And then I saw the small cemetery we'd just passed. Not one of the big ones, but the kind that's probably no longer used - a little shaded and dark with crumbling headstones. And realized she was talking about the graves.

I have no idea where it came from, but have since discovered she does it every time we pass a cemetery. What gets me is that she says it with such...enthusiasm. It made me wonder if she realized what those headstones really meant. The only funeral she's ever attended was my uncle's and she was 9 months old at the time. I started to admonish her for being disrespectful, but then I remembered holding my breath every time we drove by a cemetery when I was a child. And when we went past a monument store and she did it again I realized she really didn't understand.

And I suppose that's not a bad thing. It means she hasn't been touched by loss yet. And while I know it's inevitable at some point in her life, I sorta hope both of my girls can put off that life lesson as long as possible. And until then I guess I'll be hearing, "dead people!" from the back seat every time we pass a headstone.

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I can't be that old

Ten years ago today Sweet Pea was born. You'd think my birthday last week would have been enough to make me feel old. I'm in my mid thirties now and my body is starting to remind me I'm not as young as I used to be. But what's really hit me hard is realizing I have a child in double digits.

She's growing up. Starting middle school. And she'd kill me for mentioning this here, but she's definitely working hard on those pre-teen hormones. She's moody and starting to value her privacy. I can see so much of my own teenage struggles when I look at her (which hopefully will make the next 8 years bearable since I can remember and relate).

My life seems to be changing and I'm not ready. I thought I had more time. Time to cuddle her. Time for us to color and play games and laugh over movies together. Lately, she'd rather spend time in her own room than with me. I realize, logically, that this is what's supposed to happen. We raise our children to rely on themselves so that eventually they can live their own lives. I can see Sweet Pea taking those first steps and I'm not ready to let go.

For her birthday she asked to take her good friend to the movies...alone. They want me to drop them off and pick them back up later. It'll be the first time that I've actually done that. I will admit that I don't plan on going far (actually, I'm just going to see a different movie). She's chomping at the bit to grow up. But I think I'm going to keep hold of the reins for just a little while.

Have you ever had to let something go?

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Sick Children

I have been dealing with sickness in my house off and on for the last month. I'm ready for us all to be well! Zilla had a virus...he NEVER gets sick. And therefore, when he does, he's miserable and mopey and I feel the need to pamper him.

The girls have both been sick. Sweet Pea three times in the last month. In fact, she started not feeling well yesterday and is currently curled up with her blanky, pillow and some movies in the vacant office right now. I will be calling the doctor's office as soon as they open.

Last week is was Baby Girl. I lost Thursday and Friday to staying home with her. You'd think I'd have liked having a couple extra days off. Not when I have so much to do. I'm ready for my life to go back to normal!

All things considered, it could be much worse. I mean so far (knock on wood) we've managed to avoid the swine flu. They certainly might feel yucky but not enough to really scare me. I'm just tired of the constant interruptions to my schedule and my life. I had stuff planned for today that did not include a 2 hour trip to the doctor's office!! The second one in two weeks I might add.

At this rate I'm never going to get to chapter three. Sigh.

Am I being selfish? Are you dealing with illness in your life? Have you fought the swine flu?

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Where'd That Apple Fall? - UPDATED

I've talked about my girls quite a bit over the last couple of years. I hope everyone knows by now that I'm very proud of both of them. They're very different but so strong in each of their own unique ways. However, Sweet Pea has recently taken up a hobby that has me scratching my head. Not because of the hobby itself, but rather the inclination that brought it on.

Recently she's been cooking. That's right, my seven year old has taken up cooking. And I don't mean Kraft Mac N Cheese in the microwave. If given the chance she will watch Food Network before the Disney Channel. She knows the website addresses for not only FN but also Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee and Alton Brown. She's even hand written recipes from each of these sites that she wants to try.

I'm amazed.

I admit to a small heart attack when I walked into my mother's kitchen and saw her with a very sharp knife cutting a tomato, whipping the blade around like it was nothing. I ended up with stitches from cutting an apple when I was about 12...I could just see her hand spurting blood. But she doesn't have any fear and she seems very confident in what she's doing (and my mother was right there). She's started cooking dinner for the entire family at my mother's house every Thursday. She picks out the menu, my mom buys the ingredients and they cook together. And she does most of it.

When I was growing up cooking was the chore I took on only if the alternative was starvation. Yes, I know HOW to cook...I just don't. Zilla is fantastic and does all the cooking for our family. But even he isn't exactly gourmet. He does a fantastic job but has no desire to aspire to Paula Dean recipes. I just don't know where she gets the excitement. But I'm very glad she's found something she really enjoys. And the fact that her passion could turn into a very nice career later on in life also doesn't hurt. And then there's the fact that in five or ten years she'll be able to make us gourmet meals for dinner. I have no problem what-so-ever being her guinea pig. Even at seven she's darn good.

Do you like cooking? Or is it more of a chore?

Instigator

P.S. Congratulations to Sally Problem Child's winner of The Secret Mistress Arrangement and to Jane for winning The Millionaire's Misbehaving Mistress from Tuesday! Please email her at problemchild@writingplayground.com to claim your prize.

And Congratulations to Virginia my winner from last week's blog! Please email me at instigator@writingplayground.com to claim your prize.

Please include your snail mail address. And as always, prizes not claimed within 7 days will be re-awarded.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

My children have turned into little matchmakers. And I'm not sure my Baby Brother (changing names to protect the wicked) appreciates it. He's home from college for the summer and like most children, mine are easily impressed by the fact that he stays up until 4 AM and sleeps until 2PM. They love Baby Brother, partly because he is usually this phantom person who breezes in for several days on random holidays before disappearing again for months at a time. Right now though, he's not taking classes this semester so has decided to stay home - while my mother watches my 2 girls and my sister's 2 sons for the summer. Lots of Baby Brother time for my girls. And apparently, they have decided he needs a woman in his life. Of course, this decision was helped along nicely by my husband.

DH, me, the girls and my 2 brothers were loaded up into my van at 5AM one morning going to the hot air balloon festival to crew and my husband yells towards my brothers - who are hilariously squeezed in the backseat of the van along with a humongous car seat -"Hey, Baby Brother, I've found you some hotties at the feed store. They were wearing their bikini tops." My girls immediately popped up with just how hot these hotties were since they'd both been with daddy while he ogled the jail bait.

However, while bikini clad women surrounded by hay excites my husband, Baby Brother didn't exactly seem thrilled. He just smirked and gave a non-committal chuckle. He isn't the type of guy to go for girls hanging out at the feed shop...Now if they were wearing bikini tops at the local Electronics Boutique he'd have been all over that. However, since that day my children have made it their summer mission to find the 'hotties' all over town for Baby Brother. They delight in telling him each and every day about the eligible young women they've seen at Wal-Mart or the drug store or the park.

To Baby Brother's credit he's handling the situation with his usual calm and silent demeanor. He doesn't say much just grunts at them and smirks. I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about my 6 and 3 year olds who seem to be obsessed with this new summer mission. I can only imagine what hell my life will be when this single-minded determination turns to finding matches for themselves. The men better watch out. Sweet Pea will just wear whoever she wants down until he eventually gives in. And Baby Girl...she'll either take a hit out on any man who dares to turn her down or simply back him into a corner, smile impishly into his eyes and wait for him to melt at her feet.

My only consolation is that it's going to serve their daddy right for ever mentioning the word 'hottie' in front of them.

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P.S. Diane Graham is the winner from yesterday. Please email the Playground Monitor with your snail mail info and she'll get your books and chocolate out to you ASAP.

Also, Eva S is Nicola's winner from Tuesday. She needs to email the Problem Child with her snail mail info to claim her prize.

Maybe They Do Listen

Sweet Pea's teacher pulled me aside yesterday morning while I was dropping her off at school to tell me a story she just had to share. To start you really need to know that her teacher has been very supportive of my writing career and even made a point of mentioning me as an author to the class during a lesson the first few weeks of school. Sweet Pea was so proud.

It seems that they've been covering creative writing recently (my impression was maybe for the last grading period). Anyway, during this time they discussed organizing the story, had an organization journal, talked about the actual creative process and then each wrote stories. This week her teacher asked the class what they all thought the next step would be. My brilliant child immediately piped up with, "Submit it to your editor."

It's nice to know she's been paying attention. I wonder if my editor would be interested in reading their stories. :-)

On a completely unrelated subject, what kind of plans do you have for memorial day weekend? We're going to our local hot air balloon festival. Sweet Pea is really hoping she gets her first ride this year. We'll see if the weather and the ballooning gods cooperate. She's in for some fun if she does...there's a secret ritual for first time fliers. Mwahahahahah

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P.S. Congratulations to Maggie our 6 degrees winner from yesterday. Please email PM here to claim your prize. As always, any prizes not claimed within 7 days will be re-awarded.

Say What?

Sweet Pea started a new reading program at school at the beginning of January. For the first time her teacher tested every student and then assigned them a letter. I'm not sure what the significance of the letter is but I know that she's in the highest level in her class. I'm not saying this to brag (although I am pretty proud of her). I'm saying this because tonight, while I was wading through about fifty emails, I was listening to her read in the other room with Zilla. Now mind you, I was listening with half an ear. Until I heard her sounding out astrophysicist. Seriously!?! She's six. Crap, I had to rely on spell check just to spell the word correctly. I have trouble pronouncing it. Do they really expect a six year old to know that word? Or be able to sound it out?

The books themselves are...interesting. We've had a couple about bunnies, one on Mount Rushmore and the latest on Sally Ride the first female astronaut (hence the astrophysicist). Yes, she's learning some new words and increasing her reading ability. But the books she's bringing home just aren't all that fun or interesting. She loves to read. She reads all the time. Books she prefers to the one she's forced to read each night for this new program. She's just learning this skill and really enjoying it. Do we really have to kill her enthusiasm by giving her assigned reading that's boring? Isn't freshman English time enough for that?

I know there are kids in her class that are struggling. Those same kids are probably the ones that don't read at home on a regular basis already. But we do. Perhaps I'm missing the point of the exercise (which is entirely possible) but really, is there anything wrong with wanting to choose the books we read at this stage in the game?

Instigator

P.S. We love Sweet Pea's teacher! I really don't think this is a reflection on her. I think it's probably more about the program we're using which isn't her fault.

Little Instigators

Baby Girl is growing up. It's something that every parent wants to see, their child building independence and self reliance. However, it's also difficult for me to watch my baby push my help away. Things I used to do for her she no longer wants or needs me to do. There's an element of missing that feeling of being needed.

There's also a sense of loss of control. My three year old angel has decided she is perfectly capable of dressing herself...panties completely optional. In fact, she prefers to go without. When I mentioned this to the other playfriends their comment was that she was my child. I'm sure I don't know what they mean.

On the other hand, Sweet Pea is a 6 year old going on 16. If that child tells me whatever one more time I think I'm going to scream. She and I butt heads constantly - probably because we're soooo much a like. This week she experienced her first grounding (after putting a hole through our hallway wall. It was an accident but...) She wants to act and be treated like an older child so we decided it was time to give her an older punishment. She dissolved into tears when we told her.

It did do the trick though because while her sister went outside with DH to ride on the 4 wheeler and play in the pool she had to stay inside, do her homework and not watch TV. She did not like that at all. However, it hasn't stopped her from saying whatever. I can't figure out how to stop that. I'm open to suggestions.

Watching my girls grow has brought me some of the most delightful and heartbreaking moments of my life. There are times when I see them as distinct and completely different personalities with none of myself or DH inside. And there are times when they seem to be complete replicas. It's amazing to see the mesh of new and old, familiar and unique.

Even so, I would prefer that unique not include my 3 yr old going commando. Anyone have suggestions on how I can get Baby Girl to wear panties (without resorting to a knock-down drag out fight? It just isn't worth that...)?

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