It was a nutty weekend. One of those that having 5 kids really does make me "busy" and "have my hands full". Yesterday was soccer, cheer, and 2 kids in a play. Today was Swim meet and teaching confirmation. Every 2 hours for 48 hours made a nap a necessity. (that's ok, cause I really love a Sunday nap.)
My title refers to the numskulls at the swim meet. Here is how my morning went. I arrive at 7 am to work admissions. That means taking $ to get in, and selling heat sheets. We (me and the other parent VOLUNTEERS) had no less than 5 people bitch us out about paying to get in.
"I pay for swim team, why do I have to pay admission?" (It costs a lot to rent the pool time and run the team, so to offset costs a bit, we host meets to make $$) "But I should not have to pay because my kid is not that fast." (seriously would be much more difficult to charge by how fast your kid is....) "I should not have to pay because I am here to watch my sisters kids (not swimmers) while she does a volunteer job" (kinda think that is a better job for at home. Who wants to watch a bunch of little kids who are not swimming AT THE MEET??) " I should not have to pay because I did not have to pay this summer." (different team, different rules, no costs to use the club pools) "I should not have to pay because I don't even want my kid to be a swimmer" (UHHH, then don't sign him/her up for swim team?) "I should not have to pay because my wife did not tell me I would need any money" (do your therapy somewhere else). "why do you want to rip me off by charging?" (seriously, yes, I personally get to spend all this $, so I can see why you think this is my fault.) "what a scam!!" and on, and on....
I get it, people would like things to be free. They say they would prefer to pay it all up front, yet complain that they get charged too much for the sport. They hate the cost of swimming, they wish their kid chose something else, they are mad at the wife for getting them up early, and sending them witout cash.... BUT how in the world would it be the fault of the parents who got stuck doing that particular job at the meet? I finally told the last guy, "look. I can see you are mad about this, but I don't make the rules. I don't even like all the rules, and you yelling at us, makes this very unpleasant for all of us." He stomped off in a huff. over $5 dollars.....
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
To know them is to love them....
The triplets have developed some pretty strong personalities as of late. They have specific tastes in clothes, food, shoes, activities, and even TV. It is interesting to see 3 girls of the same age develop into their own little selves.
Ella dresses with comfort in mind. (truly a girl after my own heart) She likes hoodies, sweats, yoga pants, pj bottoms, slip on shoes, and easy accessories. She adores her American Girl stuff, and is hardly a pioneer when it comes to trying new things. Her ears never have earrings, and she likes to air dry her hair. She tends to keep all of her stuff in containers, and is forever claiming boxes, bags, and tubbies as her own.
Holly likes her clothes to match. (almost to the point of ridiculous) brown shirt, brown jeans, brown shoes, or blue, blue, and blue, ect. She is sporty. She likes athletic wear, tennis shoes, and looks the most like an all american third grader. She reads with a passion, and does not stake too much claim on any stuff. She is blessed with a sense of adenture. She loves to climb trees, try new activities, and foods. She never gives up, and can be very stubborn.
Jilly fancies herself a fashionista. She watches what other kids wear, and tries to be stylish. Her newest thing is boots, all kinds, all colors. She loves a good layered look, beacuse while she likes to look good, she prefers to strip down to a tank the moment the temp is something she can stand. She wants to read above her grade level books, likes only what she likes to eat, and demands that things tend to go her way. She lives life with the most regrets. It is often that she turns down opportunity only to wish she could join in after the fact. It is not rare to find her tivo list has replaced our recordings, and she is quick to quote characters and song lyrics. The world is her oyster.
While I never thought I would be raising 3 kids who were the same, it is only recently that they really have started to resent being grouped. It is only allowed at their pleasure, and ususally for their convenience.
Ella dresses with comfort in mind. (truly a girl after my own heart) She likes hoodies, sweats, yoga pants, pj bottoms, slip on shoes, and easy accessories. She adores her American Girl stuff, and is hardly a pioneer when it comes to trying new things. Her ears never have earrings, and she likes to air dry her hair. She tends to keep all of her stuff in containers, and is forever claiming boxes, bags, and tubbies as her own.
Holly likes her clothes to match. (almost to the point of ridiculous) brown shirt, brown jeans, brown shoes, or blue, blue, and blue, ect. She is sporty. She likes athletic wear, tennis shoes, and looks the most like an all american third grader. She reads with a passion, and does not stake too much claim on any stuff. She is blessed with a sense of adenture. She loves to climb trees, try new activities, and foods. She never gives up, and can be very stubborn.
Jilly fancies herself a fashionista. She watches what other kids wear, and tries to be stylish. Her newest thing is boots, all kinds, all colors. She loves a good layered look, beacuse while she likes to look good, she prefers to strip down to a tank the moment the temp is something she can stand. She wants to read above her grade level books, likes only what she likes to eat, and demands that things tend to go her way. She lives life with the most regrets. It is often that she turns down opportunity only to wish she could join in after the fact. It is not rare to find her tivo list has replaced our recordings, and she is quick to quote characters and song lyrics. The world is her oyster.
While I never thought I would be raising 3 kids who were the same, it is only recently that they really have started to resent being grouped. It is only allowed at their pleasure, and ususally for their convenience.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Kevin is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Some national Forest that I do not need to look up unless he does not come home. Hopefully he is getting some tranquility, but not rest (choosing to hike 9-18 miles a day carrying 60lbs is not rest). I have had a really nice weekend with the kids. I think this may be the first time that I can say that it has not been too hard to do this all alone.
Yesterday we had a soccer game, a cheer game, and swim practice (which we skipped). After, I took them to a pumpkin farm where we did big slides, rode ponies, hayride, a tiny train, ate cider doughnuts, and picked out the best pumpkins. Then it was on to the grocery store, and a quick meal at Target deli. When we got home we made applesauce, and drank hot cider. Ian and I stayed up way to late watching The Patriot. (he is learning about the revolutionary war, and really seemed to enjoy the movie).
This morning came way to early. Ian's confirmation class took a trip today to Pullman church on the south side of Chicago for worship and lunch. He was so cute in a sport coat and actual dress slacks. (they practice wearing the Sunday best there, while our church is pretty much anything goes). I was too lazy to get the girls dressed and ready alone, and we took the morning off of church :( and mopped the kitchen floor and fought off the Mormons as penance....
Tonight we are going for a chili dog dinner with neighbors, and getting ready for school tomorrow. It is a busy, crazy life, but when I take a minute to reflect, it is a great one.
Yesterday we had a soccer game, a cheer game, and swim practice (which we skipped). After, I took them to a pumpkin farm where we did big slides, rode ponies, hayride, a tiny train, ate cider doughnuts, and picked out the best pumpkins. Then it was on to the grocery store, and a quick meal at Target deli. When we got home we made applesauce, and drank hot cider. Ian and I stayed up way to late watching The Patriot. (he is learning about the revolutionary war, and really seemed to enjoy the movie).
This morning came way to early. Ian's confirmation class took a trip today to Pullman church on the south side of Chicago for worship and lunch. He was so cute in a sport coat and actual dress slacks. (they practice wearing the Sunday best there, while our church is pretty much anything goes). I was too lazy to get the girls dressed and ready alone, and we took the morning off of church :( and mopped the kitchen floor and fought off the Mormons as penance....
Tonight we are going for a chili dog dinner with neighbors, and getting ready for school tomorrow. It is a busy, crazy life, but when I take a minute to reflect, it is a great one.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
A Whole Lot of 5
6 years ago I could not have imagined having a 5th kid. I would not have asked for it, and I would not have claimed to have wanted one. Guess what? I was wrong. I can happily report that our family was not yet complete after the triplets. Without Hadley we would just not be the same quirky, nutty bunch that we are today. Although I do blame her for fast forwarding my life for the past 5 years, and hope that she grows up a little more slowly from now on....
Sunday, August 28, 2011
No Child Left Behind, PFF, I ain't buying it
School started one week ago. For all the third graders in my house it was a great way to see people they had missed, pack a cool new lunch box, and bilk Mom out of a few more bucks for the perfect matching accessory. For the 8th grader it was a lot of angst, worry, and the realization that sometimes life is way worse in his head than in reality. :)
For the nearly five year old living here it was a day that proved one more time that life is not FAIR! She gets it that (even though she is the oldest, most well-spoken, and confident 4 year old) she feels ready, Kindergarten has a cut off date. She missed it by 20 days. She gets it that she does not get to buy all the awesome school supplies or a bike lock this year. What she does not get, is that preschool starts on September 7th. That is nearly 3 weeks after her people leave her each day to go have adventures that she dreams about. Their absence makes her days the longest ever, and means that Mom has to be her sounding board for every.single.thought throughout the day...
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
20 years: Where have you gone?
I just got back from my 20 year class reunion. It was an exercise in nostalgia to say the least. A little weird seeing people that I should know, yet having to read their nametags. A little weirder having vivid memory flashes of things I had not thought about in a LONG time, just like they were yesterday.
There was a little cattiness, a little competition, but for the most part, people were just really chill. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and will probably be back for 30 years.
Of note: I head some of the youngsters at the local bar declare, "why are all these old people here tonight?" UMM yeah that would be me....
I was really sad that some of the people I would have liked to have seen were not there, some of them even live in the town we grew up in, and still did not make it. :(
One other thing, there were a few people that commented on the class website about how much they hated high school, felt picked on, ostercized, ect. I was a little surprised. I did not even think about that stuff back then, and always felt lucky to grow up in a small place where everyone could belong. I guess I called that one wrong? Maybe my old lady faculties are failing me, and I just remember wrong.
There was a little cattiness, a little competition, but for the most part, people were just really chill. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and will probably be back for 30 years.
Of note: I head some of the youngsters at the local bar declare, "why are all these old people here tonight?" UMM yeah that would be me....
I was really sad that some of the people I would have liked to have seen were not there, some of them even live in the town we grew up in, and still did not make it. :(
One other thing, there were a few people that commented on the class website about how much they hated high school, felt picked on, ostercized, ect. I was a little surprised. I did not even think about that stuff back then, and always felt lucky to grow up in a small place where everyone could belong. I guess I called that one wrong? Maybe my old lady faculties are failing me, and I just remember wrong.
Monday, July 18, 2011
2011: Attack of the insects!
This has been a VERY bad year for bugs around here. In May Kevin and I took a short trip to Florida with lots and lots of zen time. It was so relaxing, until we arrived home, and less than 12 hours later I was in the throws of head lice hell x4! Yuck. It was the nastiest thing I have ever dealt with as a parent. ( by the way, ANY of your kids can get this from anywhere, at any time: just a nice FYI) The girls had to have every strand of hair combed through every night, and I had to wash every. single. thing they had touched. My own head itched psychosomatically for weeks! BUT we killed it. They returned to life, and all was well.
Just about the time I started to relax, we went to family camp, where in the 20 minutes Kevin was not working, he got embedded with a deer tick. Unbeknownst to him, it lived in his arm for some time, and now he has Lyme disease. This is downright scary. He is not contagious, like the girls were, but he is in an actual health crisis. (This morning, his face muscles were not working quite right.) We are hopeful that this was all caught in time for him to make a full and quick recovery. It is one of those things that can go on for years if not treated right.
What is next? Roaches, west Nile, perhaps a tsi tsi fly? I am hoping that winter is not year of the rodent...
Just about the time I started to relax, we went to family camp, where in the 20 minutes Kevin was not working, he got embedded with a deer tick. Unbeknownst to him, it lived in his arm for some time, and now he has Lyme disease. This is downright scary. He is not contagious, like the girls were, but he is in an actual health crisis. (This morning, his face muscles were not working quite right.) We are hopeful that this was all caught in time for him to make a full and quick recovery. It is one of those things that can go on for years if not treated right.
What is next? Roaches, west Nile, perhaps a tsi tsi fly? I am hoping that winter is not year of the rodent...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Upcycling, one of my new favorite things
There is a triplet mom that has a store on facebook. She makes dresses from graphic tees and knit fabrics. They are so fun, and the girls LOVE them. Next up dresses from dadddy's old hawkeyes shirts.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Otherwise known as Ella the Great
It's the quiet ones you gotta watch. Ella is good about 95% of the time. She spends 3% involved in the fray, and 2% throwing a huge fit about being unjustly asked to help out around the house. It worries me a little that her progress reports from school all have very nice things to say, and very few things to improve. Maybe it makes me a pessimist, but I am less worried about Jilly because I know what she is likely to do that will get her in trouble. I am afraid that this sweet wholesome little girl will do something that will completely shock and horrify. That is a joke, she really is a good little girl, who has a big heart, and does the right thing most of the time. Good thing too, because mom only has so much ability to keep an eye on things, and there are a few others taking up the slack.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Hey Teachers, Leave Those Kids Alone
The homework is killing me, literally. I start to dread it about 2 pm every. single. day. I know we are behind Japan, and probably everywhere else, but making every evening suck for American kids is probably not going to fix it.
On a typical evening, my second graders have to do the following hour or more per kid of homework:
1. Read for 20 minutes. (this is supposed to be out loud to me or Kevin, but you do the math.)
2. Practice rocket math facts (the old fashioned drilled timed tests)
3. 1-2 math worksheets. (my girls often look at me like I am speaking a foreign language when I ask them if they know how to do the work on them)
4. Spelling practice. We have 15 words each week that they study, and complete activities for.
5. In addition to these things, the expectation is that we will continue to review anything that they are lacking on the progress report. This ranges from handwriting, to math story problems.
6. An the calendars, oh lordy please make the reading calendars stop! If I have to make one more kid, fill in one more box, or color one more bug (which have to be turned in by the deadline or not at all mind you) I may go postal.
The "gifted" kids in our district get lots of programs, and extra time and resources. Many of said gifted kids have been optionally tutored as an extra curricular since they were in preschool. To me that is less gifted, and more "over educated for the grade. We have over 1/2 of the kids in our school in accelerated math. If the majority of kids are in there is it not the new regular math? The major strugglers get lots of resources. Holly and Jilly have both benefitted from 1:1 reading help daily last year, and there are computer programs, homework clubs, and a tutor list a mile long.
The kids we are failing are those who are AT GRADE LEVEL. It is no longer the norm here for a second grader to read at second grade level. Every time I go for conferences, I hear "she is reading right at grade level, so here is what we recommend to help her..... Seriously? If my kid is performing perfectly AT GRADE LEVEL, why does she need Help? Why does the school act like we are not trying quite hard enough. They do not pull those kids out for help, they do not address their individual needs like those on the top and the bottom. They simply complain that they are not gifted. This is why there are so many people red shirting kindergarten. It is hard for a 7 year old to care enough about her academic career to compete in second grade.
Next year they get to start ISAT testing. This year the 3rd grade teachers sent home packets to help students study for those standardized tests. Oh Goody!
On a typical evening, my second graders have to do the following hour or more per kid of homework:
1. Read for 20 minutes. (this is supposed to be out loud to me or Kevin, but you do the math.)
2. Practice rocket math facts (the old fashioned drilled timed tests)
3. 1-2 math worksheets. (my girls often look at me like I am speaking a foreign language when I ask them if they know how to do the work on them)
4. Spelling practice. We have 15 words each week that they study, and complete activities for.
5. In addition to these things, the expectation is that we will continue to review anything that they are lacking on the progress report. This ranges from handwriting, to math story problems.
6. An the calendars, oh lordy please make the reading calendars stop! If I have to make one more kid, fill in one more box, or color one more bug (which have to be turned in by the deadline or not at all mind you) I may go postal.
The "gifted" kids in our district get lots of programs, and extra time and resources. Many of said gifted kids have been optionally tutored as an extra curricular since they were in preschool. To me that is less gifted, and more "over educated for the grade. We have over 1/2 of the kids in our school in accelerated math. If the majority of kids are in there is it not the new regular math? The major strugglers get lots of resources. Holly and Jilly have both benefitted from 1:1 reading help daily last year, and there are computer programs, homework clubs, and a tutor list a mile long.
The kids we are failing are those who are AT GRADE LEVEL. It is no longer the norm here for a second grader to read at second grade level. Every time I go for conferences, I hear "she is reading right at grade level, so here is what we recommend to help her..... Seriously? If my kid is performing perfectly AT GRADE LEVEL, why does she need Help? Why does the school act like we are not trying quite hard enough. They do not pull those kids out for help, they do not address their individual needs like those on the top and the bottom. They simply complain that they are not gifted. This is why there are so many people red shirting kindergarten. It is hard for a 7 year old to care enough about her academic career to compete in second grade.
Next year they get to start ISAT testing. This year the 3rd grade teachers sent home packets to help students study for those standardized tests. Oh Goody!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Mexico: The New Bosnia?
Awesome. I have tickets, reservations, and a lot of sanity riding on going there in 11 short days. People on the news stations have gone so far as to say that Americans would be safer in Bosnia. At least I will be safer than Tucson. My thought is that God ordered my days a long time ago, and I am going to live with when it is time, it is time. Fatalistic! My mother might cry, but I think your day is your day. Who am I to challenge the plans of God. I will think of all that in great detail as I sip all-included drinks and read to my hearts content. It feels a little like A war zone around here sometimes, and if you think it is safe, you don't know that we just ran out of Jilly's favorite flavor of ice cream....
Sunday, January 09, 2011
All Warm and Fuzzy
I love days when the kids seem that way. You know, when they are all clean, jammied, and storybook cute. This is not really a reality, but looking back in pictures, it seems likes they were. enjoy Christmas 2010
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
The Homework Den
I spent all morning making the house more useful yesterday. We gave up our formal living area, which no one EVER uses, for a place to do homework, art projects, and games. The kids make it as difficult as possible to do homework each night with cries of "I can't find a pencil" "there are no more scissors!" and "I need to make a blue line, and the markers are missing!" Mom said no more. I put all of the stuff they could possibly need in one location. I have outlawed coloring, game pieces, and paper in the family room. The only place to lose things in the new room is under the table, so they will be hard pressed to come up with excuses.
In the same category, it is REALLY time for the kids to return to school. I may just send them over this morning to stand outside until tomorrow if they can't start getting along.
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