Off I go…

I am going to florida for one week to the Vegas of preschoolers, Orlando. I hope to find some peace and quiet from the worries of the working world for the week. The blackberry and laptop will stay home. Although the laptop did not quite make it through the week anyway, since it was dropped one too many times and suffered a broken screen. Oh well, no worries until I return!

Perhaps I will absorb enough Vitamin E to last the rest of the oppressive winter in MN. That is my hope along with peace, happiness, healthiness and goodwill towards human-kind.

 

Thank you

Thank you Santa. You are in the process of picking out a new battery for my car that died this morning due to battery failure. I also appreciate your effort in picking out the waffle iron, I am grateful that the elves had the opportunity to test it out prior to packing it up for me, no worries about the leftover grease-it cleaned up well.

 

Dear Santa:

My Wish Need List:

Let’s get serious Santa, I know the economy is in the toilet and money is not growing on trees this year, but there are a few things I really need. Besides, my kids have been more ‘naughty than nice’, and they are the only grandchildren…so their grandparents are more than generous to them.

1. I really need tires…after driving this morning I think I need some chains to get back home.

2. A new car battery, because the light keeps coming on and I don’t want to stall on the way home in the frigid weather.

3. A car overhall, because my check Engine light remains after several months.

4. A new rear light on my car because there is a warning light that says it is in failure, probably related to the incident earlier in the year.

5. Throw in some windshield washer fluid while your at it because that light just came on too…

6. If you want to skip all of these steps you could just get me a different vehicle with no warning lights on/ and new tires.

Please don’t think of me as greedy, I just need a working vehicle with working parts.

Thank you in advance to your prompt response, and feel free to skip the wrapping.

 

Alas…wrinkles and worry

My latest struggle with kindergarten has fostered the arrival of new lines and wrinkles on my otherwise youthful appearance. While clearly naive, I never thought my kids would have problems in school. They have never had problems before, so what is different about kindergarten? In reflecting on the last few weeks, I realize that there is so much more to parenting then just parents and children. The simplicity of what I can remember as ‘the good ole days’ of communication between parents and caregivers has reached a new level of throwing verbal punches and defensiveness. I guess I was not ready for the first, “And what IS happening at home?” As a response to something that happened at school. And “This has got to stop!” After a scribble on paper. As a parent of a 6 year old, the expectations I have of my daughter are that she try her very hardest in school, that she learn from her mistakes and move forward as an individual. The old adage that ,”kids will be kids” should not be used as an excuse for behavior, but as a reminder to adults that kids are not miniature adults but young individuals. Throwing stickers at them for good behavior may work at 6 but it is not going to teach them life skills. This too shall pass, right! I have to continue to remind myself of this.

 

Motherhood: At a Glance

I have experienced some recent tests to my ego as a mother. It has put me in my place and has allowed me countless hours of reflection and perseveration.

Kelsey (my little angel) has been getting in trouble at school. I was able to pass it off as kindergarten transition for a while, but realized sometime after the second humiliating call home from school that something needed to be done. So we scheduled a doctor’s appointment to have a check-up and ensure all the physiological avenues were addressed. The appointment was last week…

The nurse asked me what kind of referrals we needed and I answered with a definitive, “I don’t know.” The nurses statement, “Well, I don’t know what you expect from us if you don’t know what you need,” put me back in my place once again. Gone are the days when a doctor’s visit has to include a specific purpose (getting a referral), I just wanted to run the behaviors past a person who has known Kelsey since she was born, her doctor. The doctor came in and was much more understanding, and indicated that there was nothing to worry about at this point.

I left with a sense that Kelsey was cured. I don’t know why? However, in a frenzy of uncontrolled energy she hit a boy at Sunday School this weekend. We realize there are no quick answers as parents, just a lot of gut-checks.

 

Letter to my personal editor “Me”

Did you have to barricade yourself in your room Friday night when the she-law came to town?

All she did was attack your parenting for the um-teenth time (getting the kids to clean up their own messes) and suggest that her lovely son should continue to rough-house with your dog until he reached the point of attack dog after you politely requested him to stop.

On Saturday did you have to bite her head off while riding in your car with her?

She was only attacking your parenting for a second time during the weekend for allowing her, I mean, your child to wear her shoes on wrong feet… comparing the situation to a third grader in a class that she was a substitute for and wearing his flipflops on the wrong feet because his parents obviously don’t pay much attention to him either.

On Sunday did you really feel that it was necessary to avoid her completely and skip brunch?

After all, she paid and only makes judgemental statements because she loves you and feels obliged to provide personal attacks in the most lovingly of grandparental ways.

Really…you take things too personally!

 

Hooked

I have felt a sense of warmth and comfort the last three days after ordering my new drink of choice; the Caramel Machiato.

Despite having some difficulty pronunciating Machiato, the sophistication and warmth in this drink is something close to incomparable. It starts with a frothy caramel layer on the top and ends with a smooth bite of espresso.

Today I received a $2.00 coupon to be used later in the day to indulge my taste buds, and empty my pocket book for a second time in one day…

 

Olympic Memories

In these days of competition and record making by swimmers and track and field stars, it has been fun to stay up late and catch all of the races (all the best ones seems to be on tv after 10pm).

One of my memories will be not on tv but in picking Kelsey up from school. This week her school held the A+ Olympics. Apparently they held events such as lego building, relay races in the hallway, the puzzle event and there were others. The kids were split up into teams; the green team, the pink team, blue team and red team. Kelsey’s team was the green team and apparently the green team and pink team were quite competitive with 6-7 medals each. It was one of the highlights of the summer for Kelsey as she walked up to me when I arrived with 7 medals around her neck explaining that she WON the Olympics!

 

De-li-cious

This was so funny, I just could not help but post it to remember how sweet it was.

I was on the way to the athletic club, with Kylie, when we were discussing her day at daycare.

Kylie: We had a really good lunch today.

Me: Oh really, what was it?

Kylie: We had Mac and Cheese and I finished it…all gone!

Me: Good job.

Kylie: And guess what else…

Me: What?

Kylie: We had sprinkle cookies and they were DE-li-cious!

Me: (laughing rather hysterically) WOW! That is so cool.

 

expectations…

There are many things that I have to be thankful for, but I have a difficult time recognizing these things often because my expectations are very high. Some might call it perfection (ok, I admit it), and as much as I try to see past the “little things” they seem to bring me down.

The latest “little thing” includes another car issue…

Recently I participated in a family gathering with my in-laws. The gathering was fine, but some unexpected events took place which left me in a situation of being disappointed, sad, and angry. The event included some vandalism, by strangers, to my car. While no one at the event had anything to do with the vandalism, and they all expressed their frustration, I leave with the feelings that the event was tarnished by the misdeed.

The act of vandalism on my car has been repaired, my feelings are patched, but the event still feels tarnished.

When my kids asked why this happened, I said, “Sometimes accidents happen and people break things.” I should have just said, “I don’t know?”