The power of a Lullabye. . . .

It has been a rough night.  I was in a lousy mood.  And then my girls came in full of stories about their school day.  Not all of the stories were good.  One of my angels had a really rough day.  It hurt.  Watching your babies (no matter how old they are) when they are hurt is just miserable.  I simply cannot understand the meanness that comes from other kids at school. 


Sometimes I just can't solve the problem of someone else trying to steal my kid's "awesome!"  But I can be there to listen and keep reminding her that she is awesome.  We love her.  God loves her.  And one day she will find that people do love and appreciate her "awesome" almost as much as we do.

I put the girls to bed tonight with Billy Joel's "Lullabye."  Tears were flowing.  And then the one who had the terrible horrible no good very bad day finally settled.

xoxoxo for my awesome girls

(To fully understand the "awesome" bit please see  Waking Up Full Of Awesome)

How do you thank the ones that have taken you from crayons to perfume?

Shamelessly borrowing the title today from "To Sir, With Love"

I was talking to a friend today.  His son has had a less than stellar school career so far.  Nothing huge. And not his fault either.  He's just stuck with a group of kids that make the school days miserable.  I feel for that kid.  Big time.  One of my children has had similar struggles.  One day our geeks will inherit the earth.  And they will be darn nice people; the kind of people who treat others the way they want to be treated.

Gloating about the people my kids (and others like them) will grow up to be is not the point of my writing today though.  Today I want to sing the praises of the incredible teachers and principal and parents that made up my grade school experience.  I kid you not, just thinking back on it makes my eyes tear up a little.  Really.  Because of these amazing people, I had exactly the kind of school experience that every child should get to have.  One that is full of all the right memories.  

Kindergarten was in this big old room with hardwood floors that creaked.  We had wooden tables and chairs that creaked.  My friends included Darren and Jenny.  We had an Easter egg hunt. . .at a public school!  What can I say, it was the 70s.

In first grade we had "private rooms" and a teacher who (I'm sorry!) appeared old enough to be my grandmother.  She was very sweet and gentle.  She taught me to write and spell.  We were to think before we wrote the word for our spelling test.  No erasing allowed!  Side note. . .I ran into my 1st grade teacher some 30 years after she had me in her class.  She remembered me.  And guess what?  She looked exactly as I had remembered her.  I wasn't sure if I should tell her that or not though. . . .

Second grade.  That was the year that I got to read Little House on the Prairie out loud to my classmates.  And we did multiplication tables--it was a race to the moon!  And I was the first one to the moon!  My reward?  I got to meet the math teacher for the "upper grades."

Third grade was where I met my best friend.  It was also the grade where another very good friend lost her dog.  And her parents announced their divorce.  My teacher that year was the quintessential 70s elegant lady.  She had a complicated updo and wore fashionable clothes.  She also had "Now or Laters" in her file cabinet (that's what she called them so that's what we called them).  We got one when we were especially good.

When we hit fourth grade we were in the intermediate grades and  got to switch rooms for our classes.  We got lockers.  Our homeroom teacher was related to a famous football player.  He was the teacher who told us "Get the lead out" and expected us to behave like little adults.  Fourth grade was also where we got to start musical instruments at school.  Mrs. H was the best.  She gave so much of her time getting us started on the right instruments.

By fifth grade we settled into our role as the kids in the middle.  We had the locker thing down pat.  Switching classes was no big deal.  We were getting so much better at our instruments.  I'm sure Mrs. H was thrilled with that!  My memory is fuzzy but somewhere in here we had the unveiling of our Nature Center on the back of our school property.  To a kid, it was amazing and huge.  Even though I had a woods behind my house, the one at school was different.  For one thing, I wasn't supposed to go in the woods behind my house because it wasn't ours.  But the school woods had a trail and stumps for sitting on while we  had a discussion.

In sixth grade we were magically the "upper grades" responsible for helping the younger kids.  We had industrial arts class and home ec (I think?  Or did we have to wait until 7th grade?)  Well I do remember for sure that by 6th grade we had "all city band and orchestra"  Monday night practices at Washington.  The patience shown by that group of instrumental music teachers. . .corralling pre-teens and making us sound good.  Incredible.

Seventh and eighth grade had special gifts.  We got the chance to be in choir along with band/orchestra.  I remember great nights of music.  We had the Christmas choral program and a spring concert.  The concert wasn't just standing on risers singing.  Nooooooo.  We had costumes and choreography.  We were something else!  We had our school band/orchestra concert.  We wore trendy at the time (but wow, so dorky in hindsight) uniforms.  We got to participate in the art show at the mall.  We had a spring luncheon in home economics and we got to invite local celebrities then show them around our school. And then there was the eighth grade play.  Parents volunteered to help create sets.  Our teachers stayed late to have practices with us.  They made magic happen on that stage. 

Along the way there were field trips.  Lessons in kindness and acceptance.  Parties thrown by room mothers who were allowed to and able to make amazing cookies and cupcakes.  We had book fairs.  We had reading programs. . .I remember helping cut out the feet to be the footprints that marched throughout the school with our book titles on them.  Another year they were circles to make up the bookworm.  And when we met our reading goal as a school, we got to watch "Pete's Dragon" in the auditorium.

The good old days.  Made possible by some pretty darn incredible parents, teacher and a fine principal.  The ones who taught us that we were there to help each other.  The ones who set us up in a loving caring environment that stressed the value of learning from the books and learning from each other.  People who pushed us to be good kids who could look out for each other.  One step at a time.

Somehow "thank you" hardly seems sufficient.

Blizzard!!!!

So I had an awesome surprise at the end of my workday yesterday.  One of my students who graduated more than 10 years ago has kept in touch with me and my family.  When my last class left I had to step out of my room so I locked my door.  When I got back, my room was unlocked and there she was.  With my afterwork snack just waiting for me.

Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard.  This girl is gooooood.  We haven't been able to go for a Blizzard in more than a year but she remembered my favorite.  What a special treat!  What a special friend :-)

And now, all my kids can focus on is "can we get a Blizzard too?"  Along with "They have a buy one Blizzard, get one half off special right now!"  They had to rush through baths to get a bedtime treat.

Personally, I think a Blizzard treat would be perfect for my birthday too.  I'm always a fan of cake for my birthday but this year I do believe we might expand the treats to include Blizzards right after school.

Back to the 80s!

Sometimes I just don't know why I do what I do.

Like pull out the 80s CD that I found in my sister's car.  And then play it for my kids.  So that we can make "Come on Eileen" part of the morning commute every single morning.

But it's fun.  There is nothing like the 4 of us singing at the top of our lungs with the windows down as we drive down the levee (I must remember the cop  hiding out on the levee this week.. . .it's one thing to be that mama who listens to music far too loud in the morning and something entirely different to get busted for speeding on the levee. . .nevermind that it's really easy to pick up speed on that straightaway).

I think there are something like 20 songs on the CD.  But the kids are aware of just 2--Dexy's Midnight Runners and a little song from Adam Ant.

But we also have Billy Joel on another CD so we can blast "Uptown Girl" whenever we want to mix things up.

Somehow the day just goes better when we've started it off with some great 80s tunes.  Maybe it just makes me feel like a teenager again. . .back when life was simpler.

Rat Race

Yay!

I do love my family. And I do love my job.

But I hate those weeks where I don't know if I'm coming or going.

I am fairly certain that I have something to do every single evening this week.

But I'm fairly clueless what exactly I'm doing from one night to the next. 

Two of the kiddos are in soccer.  One of them says she has practice 2 nights this week.  I know she has games 2 nights this week. The other one says she does not have practice at all this week (yay!) but she has 3 games (awwwww!)  Unfortunately for me, none of this is written on 1 calendar for me to be able to plan anything.  Each evening as we finish an event I ask what is on the schedule for the next day.  And in the morning I double check with them to confirm my memory.  Yes I realize this makes me look old and that I should probably write it down but I never seem to have the calendar and people in the same room at the same time.  And so what if it makes me look old.  Age isn't nothin' but a number, right? 

Off to do my homework. . . .have to make the most of my time.  And I'd really like to catch a few winks starting a little earlier tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be another busy day/night!

Back to the grind

It's been good.  Really it has.  There's just this great energy that comes along with the start of a new school year.  And yet it is exhausting!  Wearing real shoes all day.  Standing in those shoes.  Talking.  Eating on someone else's schedule.  That all takes some getting used to again.

Plus the laundry demands!  I've done laundry every night this week!  When we are home in the summer, what difference does it make if laundry gets done every day?

I do miss having a full mug of coffee then making chai latte for my oldest daughter and myself.  And I do miss being able to stay awake for the news at 10.

But I have also met some really cool people.  And I have had the opportunity to reconnect with some I had lost contact with.  And my own kids are having fun being back in school.  So it's good.  Even if it is exhausting!

End Notes

It’s the end.  The end of another summer together.  

Looking back, I know I had some goals.  Among them:

• The girls will practice piano (daily!)
• The girls will get a book from the library to learn how to type properly.
• Soccer players will practice their skills.
• We will start running as a family.
• We’ll spend lots of time at the pool.
• We’ll learn to put things away as we go and do it right the first time.
• Around the house. . .maybe paint.   Definitely get the basement squared away including cleaning the carpet we picked up from a friend to put in the basement.
• Read—a lot.

 In reality, here’s what we accomplished:

•  Piano lessons for the summer had to be cancelled because our beloved teacher was unable to have them.  We were really sad.  I did a few little lessons with the younger 2 but the oldest pretty much took a vacation from the piano.
• We never picked up the typing book. Maybe next summer?
• Soccer players worked on their skills when soccer started 2 weeks ago.  Surely that counts for something?
• We did make an attempt at the running as a family.  But intense heat/humidity, lack of proper running shoes and a wide range of ability hampered this one.  I can say that 2 of us who formerly said “I hate running more than anything else” did manage to say “running’s not so bad” and I’ll take that improvement.
• Oh yes, lots of time at the pool.  Precious little of it was spent at a pool that we had to pay to use.  Some very special friends allowed us to use their pool anytime we wanted.
• We still haven't learned to clean up as we go or do things right the first time.  Maybe one day. . . .
• As of this moment I have read 30 books over the last 10 weeks.  I might be able to knock out 2 more before we have to be back at school.   
• The carpet downstairs was not cleaned nor was the basement organized.  But I did paint!  When we moved in all the walls had the same color of flat paint.  I liked the color but I missed the personality of our old house with rooms that fit each of us.  My middle daughter saw the perfect green for her room for just $5 in the mistints at Lowes.  From there it was a done deal.  It would be the summer of painting.

I started in the middle daughter’s room to create the pink and green room she wanted.  Then moved to the youngest daughter’s room to create the 2 shades of pink princess room she desired.  And I have to admit that at one point I was scared of what her room would look like with the turquoise comforter and curtains next to the princess pink.  But it worked. 

Next on the agenda? The girls bathroom upstairs.  I had a little surprise for them in there.  Since their bathroom is truly theirs (rarely used except by them/their friends) and they each have a sink, I painted the walls in front of and behind their mirrors with their signature color from their rooms.  The bathroom is a rainbow of bright green, princess pink, and angelic yellow set against the soft lavender of the rest of the bathroom.

Finally, my oldest got her room done.  She wanted the same yellow as we had at the old house.  Luckily we were able to get it mixed at the paint shop where we bought that color some 10 years ago.  Her room is more grown up than her younger sisters.  Something I both love and nearly loathe at the same time; I'm not ready for her to be so grown up.  Where did my little baby go? 

After all that painting I was just done.  Done done done done done!  I declared no more painting. . .at least not until July.  

Then July hit and I did it.  The powder bathroom needed some pizzazz and I had leftover paint.  So 6” stripes all the way around.  The master bath needed something too.  Fortunately the stripes in there could be wider.  Then the master bedroom looked too plain.  A couple of coats of a soft blue and it is just right.

I had hoped to get a bit more painting done.  I have a plan for the laundry room.  And the stairway to the basement.  And the hallway upstairs.  But that’s it. . .I promise, no plans for anything else!  (Not until next summer anyway)

But it will wait.  The last few days at home are too precious to spend worrying about the house stuff that didn’t get finished.  It’s time to enjoy being together for those last few days before we have to go back to our other lives at school.