Thursday, July 29, 2010

Bad school mom

I thought I was a pretty good pre-school mom. Bring .50 cents on Friday for the field trip. Dont forget their car set and send them in closed toed shoes. Got it.
There are two parties during the semester, send $10 for each. Got it.
Get here late or skip a few days here and there - no problem. You're paying for it anyway.

Elementary is a whole new skillet.

Last year my Oldest started Grade 2 and my middle started Kindergarten. I literally felt like I was behind, surprised, unprepared, and under-informed the whole year (mostly my own fault). I didn't take it seriously. Barely got my kids vaccinated in time. I didn't help with parties (outside of sending money). I didn't join PTA. I didn't position for "room mom" or "assistant room mom" or even ever find out who those people were. I was scarcely involved.

If you ever want to feel better about yourself as an elementary school mother, just come talk to me.

Flash forward: School starts in two weeks.

Canon will be in 3rd and Whitby will be in 1st. Cosmo - one more year of blissful pre-school.

I talked to my friend Laura [Blog: Is there any wine left] last night about getting a schedule in the mornings and preparing for things to come. She gave me some GREAT ADVICE.

1. Get up before they do.

I definitely am guilty of sleeping until the first child wakes up. They have been my alarm clock for 8 years now. I still stay up till midnight or later every night. How can I be expected to rise before 7:30am? Now I am going to have to find the alarm setting on my phone? This will be a huge adjustment.

2. Lay their clothes out by their bed so they can dress themselves.

This one will help me tremendously because half of my time in the morning is spent moving from the laundry room the the clean laundry baskets in my room to the drawers in the kids room. I am THE ONLY person who knows where the clean-wearable-clothes are. So, no problem... I can do this scurrying at night rather than in the morning. ((I am aware of the red flag that just went off in your mind about my organization skills, but I can only deal with one short-coming at a time)).

3. Check their backpack right after school everyday so that you are not surprised in the morning.

Great. Three strikes. How many times did I go through my kids backpacks last year? None times. Well, maybe one or two max. This will be a huge routine change in our afternoons. It's a welcome change. I already talked to Ashley (our nanny) about what the after-school routine will look like this year. Hopefully she and I together can get the afternoons on the right track.

Here's the bottom line.
First, I don't want to embarrass my kids. Anytime I drop them off late they are exasperated with me as they get out of the van. I'm not the one that has to get a tardy slip from the secretary and walk into the classroom late. This ought not happen!

Second, I don't want my kids to go through their childhood being rushed in the mornings. I want them to enjoy the mornings and start the days off well. Well nourished (which they do because Creighton always gets up and feed them a healthy breakfast), and well prepared (which they will be after getting their after-school routine going).

I don't want to get crazy here but during the pre-school years, I was regular with morning yoga and prayer. We did 10 minutes of yoga together in a circle and then ended with a prayer, and we bowed to one another saying, "God bless you".

Heck, why not add that back in! You know I am going to rock these other three!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Pregnant with possibility


Last night I dreamed I was pregnant. In my dream I was rubbing my belly while talking to a friend (the friend is not significant, just an extra in the dream cast). I watched myself stand there swaying and smiling, chatting and rubbing. I felt contentment and anticipation.

I have been praying about the meaning of this. I know there is no actual fetus in my womb, the dream is metaphorical.

What's interesting is that there are many unknowns in the life of the Alexanders right now. Recently, (during wake-time anyway) I have felt more doubt and angst than contentment and anticipation.

My fretting is most often about money:

1) House is for sale and not selling
2) Creighton launching his coaching biz

So maybe the dream is a wave of comfort - a gift from God of things to come.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Welcome to my blog, where we could do it your way - - but don't get crazy

Decided to rabbit trail down a new blog design "template". Went with grunge slash artsy black and white.
What do you think?

I had this photo of one of my paintings up for a long time.




But was feeling like a change.
It might be a little much. I will live with it for a while and see how it feels.

Friday, July 9, 2010

The newest member of our family



To make a long story short:

We started with Apollo and Starbuck. Two awesome standard poodle litter-mates who made our lives richer from day one. (aside: names come from Battlestar Galactica our sci-fi obsession at the time).
In a tragic run-in with a volkswagon rabbit - Starbuck lost his life chasing a heartless bunny across the road. The irony.
In mourning, we waited to get another dog for Apollo. Yet we still hold to the axiom that everyone needs a friend. Finally, the opportunity arose to acquire a young spunky golden-doodle puppy from her previously overwhelmed family. We named her Athena (also from BSG), and she and Apollo are get along just fine.

This pup is so cute and funny and social. One look at her and you're hooked. Problem is, she is not potty trained yet - even at 7 months. It's pretty high maintenance. Last night Creighton stepped in a puddle of pee by our bed.

Hopefully she will get it together soon before Creighton either gives her away or worse - - m u r d e r.

So here's my plan. Tell me if I'm crazy.

Athena is a registered, breedable female. Next summer, I'm thinking about having her bred, so that we can have a litter of puppies. We would teach the children about owning a business and coach them in caring for animals. Profits would go to their college fund. I think it would be such a good learning experience for them. And how fun to have a bunch of little fur-balls running around.

What do you think?