Wednesday, August 17, 2011

THE HAPPY DANCE!!!

Yep, today is the first day of school for my boys and Melissa’s kids! All I can say is YIPPEE!!!

I love the lazy days of summer and spending time with the boys, but I really, really miss my “ME” time. And I don’t mean an hour when I “get” to go to the grocery store all by myself (although that is nice!).

So what am I doing today? First I went to Melissa’s house where we did our little Happy Dance and sat on her deck to relax and catch up on the past month (between visiting relatives and vacations and getting ready for school, we haven’t seen each other much, and that’s not good for us!). Then I worked out for a short while at the gym, picked up lunch at Chipotle, ate ALL BY MYSELF and watched a movie THAT I WANTED TO WATCH. After I finish writing this blog post, I’m going to go out back to the pool and read my book without being splashed or having to break up fights or hearing “Mom, look at this!”

Aaaah, heaven!!!

Karen

Thursday, September 2, 2010

10 MISCONCEPTIONS OF MOMS AND BACK-TO-SCHOOL

back to school 2 By now, most of you should have sent your kids back to school, or will after the holiday weekend.  This article was sent to me by a good friend, but as most jokes that make the rounds in the virtual stratosphere, I have no idea where it originated.  So hats off to the author of this hilarious list!

Misconception Number 1: Moms miss their kids when they go back to school.
Seriously. I’ve had enough of you by now. Every morning with the “what are we going to do today, Mom?” is finally over. I’ve had looked at your face twenty-four seven for the last 77 days. It’s time to go learn something. No more asking me about the pool, when is the next snack or if you can stay up late and watch a movie. It’s over….You’re going back to school and I get to have a life again. There is a Christmas morning for parents and it’s called “back to school”.

Misconception Number 2: Moms like to go school shopping.
Are you freaking kidding me? Why do I pay taxes?…so I can rack up a $200 bill at Staples for crap that we have laying around my house in junk drawers. Why does it have to be new pencils?What’s wrong with the chewed up, broken strawberry shortcake pencils sitting in the bottom of the toy box for the last 6 months? And how many subject books can you possibly need? What happened to reading, writing and arithmetic. If they added a couple of things for parents to that list I wouldn’t mind so much….why not pencils, erasers and vodka …..or some Nyquil.

Misconception Number 3: Moms like back to school night.
Why must we do this every year? I got it already. You’re the teacher…I’m the parent. My kid is either going to be smart or dumb. If he gets a certain number or colored dot on his discipline chart, he can’t get a prize from the prize box. Pretty simple stuff. Listen, I’m pretty old school. If he doesn’t listen to you…you can throw something at him. I don’t care. But I got a lot of work to do at home and I’m paying a babysitter right now. Plus, I’m pretty sure you are going to assign some project on wigwams made by some Indian tribe I’ve never heard of, so I need to get home and start my research. So, I got it. We’re all here for the betterment of the kids. Blah Blah Blah. Can I leave now?

Misconception Number 4: Moms like school paperwork.
How many trees are you planning on killing to tell me the same stuff I had to pay a babysitter to listen to the other night? You know our name, where we live and our emergency phone numbers. He doesn’t have a nickname….call him “stinkbutt” for all I care. We don’t have any “special circumstances” that you need to know about. He lives in a home with two parents who may or may not like each other at any given time and they will fight. If that qualifies as a reason he can’t get his homework done on time then he won’t be able to function as an adult and have a real job so you may want to “educate” him on that life lesson.

Misconception Number 5: Moms like covering books in that annoying sticky paper.
What exactly will you be doing with these books that I have to cover them in a plastic laminate? Do you often teach in the rain? Or while the children are drinking soda and eating soup? Do you know how long that takes? Has any parent in the history of education been able to do it without any air bubbles in it? From now on I’m covering it the old way…brown paper bags. That way I can cover the books and pack their lunches at that same time. Who says moms can’t multitask? PS. Please tell my son if he can’t find his lunch to look in his science book.

Misconception Number 6: Moms like helping you with your homework.
What? I am scared out of my mind. I’m pretty sure that I forgot everything I learned in fifth grade by the time I was in sixth grade. I have no idea what you are talking about most days. I don’t really know my 12 times tables, I read the cliff notes to all your summer reading and I don’t know how to conjugate anything but I do know that song “conjuction junction what’s your function” if that helps at all. And please don’t even say the words “new math” to me. What the heck was wrong the old one?

Misconception Number 7: Moms can’t wait to pack your lunch every day until we die.
I hate doing laundry. Making dinner every night is the bane of my existence, so making your lunch every day for an entire year, in terms of “mom fun”, lies somewhere between brushing plaque off the dogs teeth and scheduling my annual pap smear. Listen, as a child I hated what my mom packed me for lunch. But, like every kid before me, and every generation to come you will find a kid to trade with…I’m sure someone likes sardines.

Misconception Number 8: Moms love after school activities.
I don’t know who made up this idea of organized clubs and sports but they should be the ones in charge of carting your ass around. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against all after school programs. I just wish they would offer it during hours that would work best for me so that dinner wasn’t at 8:30 at night followed by 4 hours of homework. Why not do it on the weekends and call it “after-hours activities” so mommy and daddy could actually go out one night and pretend that we have a life of our own. Don’t worry about us though, I’m sure that me and “what’s his name” will be married a very long time.

Misconception Number 9: Moms don’t mind taking you to school if you miss the bus.
Your bus comes at 7:10 am….which means that you should be standing by the door at 7:05 am. Not eating breakfast, chasing the dog around the house or in the bathroom, asking me to check your homework while I’m taking a shower. Get it together! I don’t like running down the street in my jammies at 7:12 screaming “Please wait” or “If you stop I’ll show you my boobies.”

Misconception Number 10: Moms cry on your first day of school.
We do cry but they are tears of joy. I have done my job. I have successfully kept a human child alive for at least 5 years without doing any major damage. Motherhood is the hardest job in the world!! Sure, doctors save lives and CEO’s run million dollar businesses but…you teach a kid not to poop their pants and then you can say you’ve made the world a better place.”

Karen

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

6 DAYS AND COUNTING…

back to school

So school starts in 6 days, and I could not be any less prepared if I tried!  But if I really think about it, what do I have to do?  Let’s make a list:

  1. School supplies.  Melissa wrote a post yesterday on the trials and tribulations of buying school supplies.  Doesn’t she know about the easy way out of this?  At the end of the school year in May, we fill out a form, send a check to school, and VOILA, our supplies are waiting for us at Meet The Teacher Night, the day before school starts.  Easy Peasy!  Okay, Number 1, done!
  2. School Clothes.  I have boys.  Whatever fits, works.  Done.
  3. New Shoes.  Recently bought new sneakers for cub scout camp.  Done.
  4. Backpacks.  No holes, rips, tears, majors stains?  Can be used again.  Done.
  5. Lunch Boxes.  See above.  Done.
  6. Teachers.  Found out Monday who our teachers are for the upcoming year, and we’ll meet them the day before school starts.  Through the miracle of technology (Facebook), we even know a few of the other kids in each of their classes.  Done.
  7. Lunch dates and massage scheduled for first week of school.  Done.

Hmmm, unless I’m forgetting some major things, I guess I am prepared after all!  Who knew?

Karen