Eight Versions of Crazy

I just read a piece at Alpha Mom about kids and homework.  Go ahead and read it.  I'll wait....

I sit somewhere in the middle on this topic. 

I review homework each night.  I help and walk through the problems if necessary (and lately I've been having to refer to Google to help Domino with his 3rd grade math homework) and I make sure they understand what they're working on.  Teachers used to be able to give their students this one-on-one attention, but current classroom sizes make that nearly impossible.  I am the only one-on-one educational time my kids will likely get during the day and I better make the most of it. 

I get irritated when I see kids come in to school with over the top projects -- like the kindergarten leprechaun trap that looks like something that would appear in Lord of the Rings.  Or the massive paper mache dinosaur shaped mailbox supposedly made by a 6 year old.  Or the Egg Drop container that has clearly not been built by a 5 year old, but has been designed and built by someone with a degree from MIT.  Or when the child wins the award for the new jog-a-thon slogan and she announces "My dad is the best at rhyming!".  It is obvious the child had zero involvement in the project with the exception of bringing home the assignment instructions.

BUT...

The view isn't quite so clear from my high horse.

I have been guilty on more than one occasion of  taking over a project or two.  For example, you should see Domino's 100 day of school project from his kindergarten year... 

Kids needed to bring in 100 of something.  One came with 100 Cheerios in a baggie, another came with 100 stickers on a piece of paper, and another came with 100 Legos in a box.  What did Domino bring?  At the time, Domino was a huge NASCAR fan so he wanted to bring 100 of his Hot Wheels cars.  I convinced him that he would lose those, so I painstakingly researched photos of NASCAR cars, searching out photos of each car with their numbers 1-100 on the side, and printed out each car to exact dimensions.  "We" got a huge roll of butcher paper and Domino glue-sticked the cars in numerical order - well, at least up until about #34 when he got tired of the project and me nitpicking where he was placing each car on the page - and the end result was a 50 foot roll of paper race track with cars glued in numerical order.  A very cool looking 100 day project, but I was guilty of a hostile homework takeover.  Lesson (sorta) learned.

This week is Valentine's.  Both boys need to bring in Valentines for all of their classmates.

I dutifully went to Target and picked out FOUR boxes of Valentines, 2 for each boy, selected each box based on the boy's likes as well as the kids in their classroom.  I must have spent a good 20 minutes in the Valentine section, mulling the merits of shiny foil Transformers style versus Clone Wars with pencils, Phineas and Ferb with tattoos versus an unknown brand with silly bandz. Valentines come in packs of 24 these days and since the manufacturers haven't gotten the memo about the increased class sizes of 28+, an additional box was necessary for each boy.  I showed them the Valentines I spent so much time picking out and was met with a tepid response at best.  It wasn't the "THAT'S AWESOME MOM!" I was hoping for...

... so I became "that mom".

"I can whip up some quick Valentines off the internet", I thought.  "I can get some really cool graphics from one of their favorite video games.  It can't be hard to come up with some catchy Valentine's phrases.  They'll love what I come up with!  They'll be the cool kids with the cool Valentines!"

Five hours later and about $50 worth of printer ink, I now have this to show for my Saturday afternoon.

I made EIGHT different styles because I'm just that crazy.

Tomorrow I will battle with the boys to scissor and glue stick, fold card stock, and address 30 Valentines each.

I'm sure if they knew the workload that lies ahead of them with these new homemade Valentines they would have responded more favorably to the Target ones.  Maybe that's the lesson they're supposed to learn.

Losing My Marbles

I used to say "Ask, Tell, Make" was my parenting style. First I'm going to Ask you to pick up your shoes, then I'm going to Tell you to pick up your shoes. God help you if I get to Make and I force you to pick up your shoes. It seems now that I have replaced Tell, and head straight for Yell.

How many times can you remind your child to do XYZ and discover it STILL isn't done without losing your cool? How many times can you ask your child to do XYZ and not get a response before flipping out? How many times can you tell your kids FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP JUMPING ON THE COUCH! and watch them jump day.after.day. without having your head come spinning off?

Yell first, ask questions later. It feels like for anyone to listen to me, I have to yell. About everything. About nothing.


It seemed so much easier when the kids were little (okay - 8 and 7 are still little!) and they hadn't yet perfected the art of the blow off, but lately it seems like yelling is the only way to get through to them. Pokemon cards all over the floor? Yell. Left his jacket in the car? Yell. Didn't flush? You guessed it -Yell.

Pick my battles? Sure. But then you end up with a kid wearing Crocs in the snow at Discovery Kingdom because he didn't listen to you and now his feet are cold and wet and "it's too slippery" and he's making YOU miserable with all the whining BECAUSE HE DIDN'T LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU TOLD HIM WHAT SHOES TO WEAR. Maybe if I had yelled it?

Or you have a boy who has a meltdown because he hasn't eaten a bite of food since 7:30AM and it's now 3PM, and he's got a full lunchbox that has been ignored. (I'm sure that led to a very productive day at school.) And this goes on every.single.day for a week. And at least 3 days on the other weeks.

Or you have a boy that leaves the passenger door to the car open, all night, because he forgot to grab his backpack out of car when he got home from school and went out later on his own to retrieve it. And now you have a dead car battery from the interior car lights being on all night with the car door open.

They've learned to tune me and my yelling out. It's clearly an ineffective communication tool.

So I've purchased a jar and filled it with marbles. At the beginning of the month I will fill it with marbles. When I feel like their behavior would elicit Crazy Mom yelling at them, out come marbles from the jar. Marbles left in the jar at the end of the month will earn them a reward.

The goal? Don't make mom lose her marbles - and maybe we'll all be happier for it.

Hello? Is this thing on??

Oh, hello. Sorry about that 14 month absence. Did you miss me? I blame Facebook.


There's no way I can catch up on over a year's worth of missing blog posts, but here are some of my Facebook status updates of 2010. And that's just about 1/4 of the posts from 2010. It's been a busy year!

On the school front - yes, our happy little school closed down at the end of the school year. That sucked. We were repeatedly denied enrollment at "the preferred school" in our home town and for a while there I feared I would have to homeschool. That was a terrifying prospect for all involved. But never doubt the power of a very determined mom holding a pen (or in my case, typing emails). I harassed our local school district superintendent of elementary education until she finally said "you win" and granted our transfer. We are now happy "dragons" per our new school mascot.

As wonderful as "the preferred school" is (excellent test scores! right down the street!) the new school is huge. The classes are huge. There are only a handful of parents who pitch in. I work more now at this new school to pick up the slack where other parents flake/don't-care/can't work in class than I did at the old school. 15 minutes for a kid to each lunch?? Ridiculous. Completely changing a class from a 3/4 combo class to a 2/3 combo class 8 weeks into the school year?? Ludicrous. It's been a rough adjustment to put it mildly.

The beginning of the year for Domino included problems with bullies and bathroom passes (being called a "puto" by several boys in class and only allowed to go to the bathroom 3 times a month?! WTF!) and he still struggles to connect with friends, but academically he's strong and enjoying himself. Because of the dreadful combo class set up, he's given lots of "independent reading time", which he loves. He's read through the first 4 Harry Potter books and is currently obsessed with anything and everything Pokemon.

Rascal is in another K/1 combo class - this time as a big 1st grader. Initially when I delayed Rascal's kindergarten year, I knew all the reasons and research of why it was the best thing for him, I accepted that it was the right decision, but I never really fully got it. Knowing, accepting, and understanding are all so different! I see him now working independently in 1st grade and he is working confidently at his grade level. He's not struggling. He's not bored. I also work in Domino's 2/3 combo class with the 2nd graders, the kids who would be Rascal's academic peers had I placed him in kindergarten based on birth year alone. I GET IT NOW. The academic expectations, the behavior expectations, the social expectations and variances between 1st and 2nd grade - he would be struggling, miserable and lacking all confidence and self esteem. It was very easy for me to expound the virtues of delaying kindergarten before -- but holy moly let me get on my soapbox and grab a megaphone and shout it to the world! I'm so very glad I listened to Mz. Lori's advice.

Gee, what else has happened since October 2009?!

The boy's half sister "Mallory" has been allowed in our lives. It's been rough all around. She's 16 and comes with her 16 year old issues and 16 year old drama. Once upon a time I fought so stupidly and foolishly with my mom that I stopped speaking to her when I was 15 and didn't regain a relationship with her until my dad passed away about 7 years later. I pierced my own ears, multiple times, dyed the ends of my hair black like the singer from Berlin, and shaved the side of my head like Cyndi Lauper. I thought I knew everything. The irony that I am now a step mom to a teenage girl who constantly fights with her mom over foolish things, who has recently dyed her hair black and pierced her lip, is not lost on me. She is a beautiful troubled young lady and I hope whatever time we're allowed in her life we can be a positive influence and help her find a path for her life that won't be as difficult as the ones she's been choosing lately. She's not making it easy for herself - or for us - and I hope Tonester doesn't give up trying. They've hit a rocky spot and neither are willing to budge. I can clearly see where she gets it from...

Speaking of the Tonester - he is still working wacky hours. After a few years being spoiled with his 4am-1pm shift, he's back on the 1-11pm shift - dreadful hours for little boys who are in school during the day and want to see their daddy at night, but paychecks are hard to come by in this recession and we're happy he has a job. He recently took up running with a neighborhood friend. It's been sorta funny watching him hobble around the house the past few days as his body adjusts to the new regimen. 41 is tough. I'm proud of him for getting off his butt and doing something. Now if I could just follow his example...

I'm struggling to make connections with moms at the new school (most do a drive way drop off) so this year has been a bit isolating and frustrating personally. I had always envisioned a clean house and lots of free time on my hands when both boys finally (finally!) went to the same school with the same hours, just minutes from our home, but that certainly isn't the case. Thankfully, I'm still working part time virtually and that keeps my brain going and a little money flowing. It's a great gig (or 2 in my case!) and I'm really lucky to have the jobs with such supportive bosses. It's been a very rough year for us financially and my 2 little jobs keep the lights on and the dog fed. Can't ask for much more.

"And that's the news from Lake Wobegon..."