The summer that got away

As my daughter would say, "Holy Cheese and Crackers! Is it really the end of August?" (kudos to Hannah Montana for that lovely phrase, I believe)

How can this summer wrapping up already? How can my little minions be heading into first and third grade? How can my shorts from last summer STILL not fit (ok, I know the answer to that one)?

I'm sitting in amazement that the 500 blog posts that have been floating through my head have never made it online. Part of the problem is that my blog is not connected to my "work" login so anytime I want to post I have to log out of my email, calendar and overall current being and log back in as my previous being...which is way too complicated for my lifestyle these days.

I will say that we survived our first summer together - the kids and I. Every previous year they have been in full time daycare and even last year when I found myself unemployed we had already pre-paid for summer session so I sent them along.  This year, we spent at least 5 out of 7 days together (I wanted to keep them in the program at least 2 days so I can keep a slot when school starts up - Mama is trying to get a business going!) and we all came out of it alive.

Of course there were tears, shouting, crying, pouting, stomping,  and screaming - but can you blame me? I mean a Mom has to release some tension every now and then. 

But kidding aside, we didn't do half the things I imagined we'd do but we squeezed in some pool time with the neighbors, a trip to NH then to Six Flags New England then to PA, time with friends we don't see enough like Liz, Julie, Jocelyn and Christina - and sadly not as many trips to the beach as I would have liked.

Overall I'd say I scored a 7 on the scale of "Keeping the Kids Entertained" - Hey it was my first time as a summer Mom! But I will leave you with this:

Zero trips to the ER or doctor.
One son who mastered the scooter and riding a two wheeler.
One daughter who can swim in the deep end of a pool and rode in some waves at the beach.
One Mom who is on her way to self employment - full time.

Bravo summer of 2011.

Bed time stories

My daughter isn't a reader.

It baffles me because I love to immerse myself in a great story.  Although I honestly can't remember the last time I picked up a book, or ibook, for that matter.

In an effort to TRY to get my daughter reading more, we've been doing the "pick a book and we'll read it together at bedtime" thing - which we should be doing anyway but by the time homework is done, teeth are brushed, pajamas are on, goofing off has finished and she's tucked in bed, neither one of us wants to read.

So I asked her to pick a book. She selected Charlotte's Web (the actual book from my childhood that I gave her...how sweet) as her next novel...and then I came home from NYC and found this on the kitchen table from her school library:

I guess Charlotte is taking a back seat to Jesus.

Disconnect to reconnect?

I've been following the Phoebe Prince story with a heavy heart for a while. That poor, scared 14 year old girl in South Hadley felt she could never escape the torment of her peers so she took her own life. So incredibly tragic.

Now I'm reading that the accusers are receiving death threats. I'm also reading comments by people saying "Good. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Now they know how she felt."  What?? What?? What??

We are talking about CHILDREN.  Children who may or may not have know the consequences of their actions. Children who may have been bullied themselves into participating in this horrible ordeal. Children who need the support of family and the community to help right this wrong.  I don't believe this is a time for "an eye for an eye".  I don't think bullies should be able to walk away, but counseling, discussion and support seems like a better idea to me. Just sayin'.

Then another argument started to bubble up that really caught my attention.  What are the parents on all sides of the issue doing?  They are screaming for resignations. They are showing aggression and teaching their children that it is okay to shout and point fingers and BULLY the administration. Are they coming up with solutions or just trying to be sure they can place blame?

Then, the kicker...Are parents so disconnected from their kids that they don't actually see, hear or know what is going on and maybe they need to be held more accountable?  And can that lack of connection be blamed, to a large extent, on technology?

When I was young, the only distraction my parents had when we were out in the car was the radio.  No phone calls. No twitter. No email. No internet-on-the-go.  When we went out to dinner no one whipped out their cell phone to check-in to foursquare to tout their location and win fake badges.  No laptops came on vacation, or to the park, or to the beach. It didn't mean every time the 4 of us were together we had a kumbaya session, but the distractions were a minimum in comparison to today's society.

Were we more connected as a family because of fewer interruptions? I'm not sure, but boy that connection argument got me thinking.  When do I disconnect? And should I do it more often to be sure I am connected to the most important job I have and that is to raise respectable, kind, compassionate kids who value human life above most other things?

I also heard a quote recently that smart phones have led to a new technology addiction. He compared it to a slot machine for a gambling addict - will the news/tweets/email/call on my phone be good or bad? The only way to find out is hit the button to find out. Let 'em roll...

Thinking....thinking hard about it all....

See you all next week!

Suburban Updates

Looking for some juicy, drama-filled neighborhood updates like you find on Desperate Housewive's Wisteria Lane? Well, you're out of luck. Nothing like that here. But I have been a little busy so I thought I'd just share the fun tid-bits from our month so far.

Have I mentioned I'm currently dwelling with the Student of the Month? No. I didn't share that news? I must have. Well it's true!! And I'm ecstatic because she reeeeallllyyy needed that boost from school and it has been a complete turn around since early January.

The SOTM (student of the month) has been bringing home these puppies, too:

 

Yes, that's a 100 and not the only one she's brought home recently. Buh-bye 12's, 13's and 40's (for now anyway)

Also, we've all started wearing rubber soles and have stopped wearing fleece. It's a tad dry around these parts:

It's Electric!!  

Little guy is thriving in skating lessons. Okay, not thriving - more like surviving - but he seems to like it:

 

 What? What are you laughing at? Oh, I know. His big helmet, right? Yeah, looks kind of funny. (p.s. he's moved onto using crates for balance. This shot is purely blackmail for his first date)

Other than that, the kids have started up skiing again, but it was too damn cold to try and use the camera last Sunday to share with you, so maybe we'll get some money shots this weekend for a future post. 

Everyone is looking forward to February vacation - hubby took the week off too.  I"ll be working most of the week so no vacation for me. Luckily I have Monday off so we'll do something fun in the snow - or on the cement depending on how the latest snow storm tracks.

Happy February!!! And give your loved ones an extra squeeze on Sunday for Valentine's Day.

My kids are winners

No, seriously. I'm not just calling them "winners" because they're my kids - which I would do if you asked - but they both have won some cash this week.

First, the little lady was top seller of her school's fundraiser calendars - which ironically offers you a chance to win cash every day - so she walked away with $25.

Then, today her little brother won $50 from the calendar I so graciously purchased for him that made his sister the top seller.

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winnah!

So, the moral of the story is: The way to the Sierra's heart is through gambling.

Ask us to buy pies, cookies, or wrapping paper and we probably aren't your family.

Do you think I could get the kids to pick some Mega Millions numbers this week? What? I was kidding...maybe.

Starlight is a fraud

That elf on the shelf that we have - he/she's a fraud. Nothing magical about it at all.

My kids have done the following to each other since he/she's arrival:

hit
pinched
taunted
teased
cried
whined
tortured
screamed
shouted
swore (new phrase from my daughter while doing homework last night was "Suck it". You heard me. Suck it. I think she saw the horror in my eyes and said, "Is that bad?")
whacked
pushed
elbowed
kicked
fought
and all around ignored my threats that Starlight is watching and will tell Santa everything.

So if you are thinking of spending the cash, don't bother. And for those who watched Modern Family last night - can you really follow through on canceling Christmas, cuz I'm just about there?

Ying and Yang

I have no idea the full story about what Ying does or what Yang does but I know if I Google it then I'd get an answer. But for now, I'll go with the belief that one completes the other because of their differences. Good with that?

Good. Because that describes my children to a tee.

My daughter stayed home with a "really, really bad stomach ache" on Friday. I thought for sure she was coming down with my stomach flu so I let her stay home.

By 10:00 she was completely enthralled in some Saddle Club DVDs. She watched all of them, maybe twice, while I got some work done in my office. Then it was lunch time and there was no sign of a stomach ache, or a flu of any kind. So I asked what she wanted to do for lunch.

"Go out."

She's going to make some man poor with all the dinners, lunches and breakfasts out on the town. She would rather eat out than sit in and relax. In fact, if she had 105 fever she'd still want to go out to eat.

Flash forward to today. My son came down with a "really, really sore throat" late Saturday, only his came with a fever. And he spent most of Sunday sleeping, eating Jell-o and just hanging around the couch. He was happy as could be.

So as luck would have it, today was his sick day home with me, and a Dr. visit. (We're assuming strep even though the initial culture came back negative. The Dr. didn't fall for it and neither did I - it had to be strep or H1N1 and I'd take the strep since it comes with antibiotics.)

By 10:00 this morning he was completely NOT enthralled with DVDs. In fact, he felt the need to give me a status update on the movie every 15 mins. Up, down, up, down, up, down for 101 minutes (side note: if you don't want your 5 year old exposed to words like "shit" and "crap", don't let him watch The SandLot.)

Nothing really held his attention, so I ended up plugging in my laptop in the living room to work so at least we were in the same room. Plus, I could distract him with a variety of TV shows, games and "Uh Huh" over 100 times so he believed I was always listening. And his fever had broke and he was ready to play hockey in the house so I had to figure out how to divert that idea. Fabulous.

Then, it was lunch time. I envisioned a touching mother and son lunch at his favorite spot with some funny moments over french fries and grilled cheese. Nope, he wanted to stay home. He'd stay put on the same couch, in the same house, in the same pajamas for days if you let him. As long as someone is in the same house as him, he'd never leave.

So my little Ying and Yang keep me busy, and offer a great balance no matter whose sick day it is! And while one would sit mesmerized by horse DVDs and the other needs constant snuggling and attention, it's nice to have a little one-on-one time with each of them. Those days are really few and far between.

Hold the drugs, please

We were doing incredibly well this winter and then at some point I must have opened my mouth and said that out loud, because now we are listening to "Sschhllerp" every 5 seconds from my children who refuse to blow their stuffy noses! Exhale into a tissue, kiddies, and you'll be able to breathe again.

Approximately 10 days ago I shuffled my youngest to the doctor's office because his cough was keeping me him awake all night long. Having been scarred by trips to Children's Hospital when he was younger because of frequent pneumonia and mysterious white lines on the CT scan for his lungs, any time he starts to clear his throat I rush to the pediatrician. And, like clockwork, they tell me his lungs sound clear but order antibiotics for the sinus infection, or large tonsils or some other non-chest related issue. Maybe by the time he's 25 I'll stop panicking when he coughs.

His sister, however, has become my motherly experiment. How long can a child go without a trip to the doctor if the only symptoms are stuffy nose, honking cough, and bad attitude? No fever. No strep. No earaches. No coughing at night - just random during the day.

Several times since Saturday I've contemplated a trip to the Pediatrician but then I decide she's just not that sick and I'd rather use the fifteen dollar co-pay towards this week's bottle of wine groceries.

But seriously, I have started to really struggle with dosing the kids up with Arithromycin or Amoxocillin at the first sign of trouble. I'll admit, I love and need my sleep, and a good dose of drugs will return all of us to our resting slumber. But for now, I think a few doses of nasal decongestant and a little "I know you have a cold but you better watch your attitude" might be all the Doctor orders.