Set your mind at ease...

..the Puberty and Menstruation video has not changed much in 30 years!

Ok, I admit it, I went to the library after school today to see what my sweet innocent 11 year old was going to watch this coming Thursday! I was curious to see if they were going to keep it low key and on the simple, biological level. Things have changed a lot over the years, so I wondered how graphic they were going to get. I wanted to have some "talking points", if you will, for any questions that may arise after she sees it. I mean, we've had "THE TALK" already, but this is with her friends and she's closer to actually crossing that threshold...

wait..I am getting weepy...

My BABY is growing up!!! She was just a baby a minute ago...all those "Firsts" are gone...first tooth, first roll over, first sit up, first step, first words, first day of pre-school, first day of Kindergarten, first loose tooth...waaaaahhhhh!

Ok - pull it together. I still have LOTS of "Firsts" to look forward to right? First period, first dance, first boyfriend, first kiss, (followed by first day of home schooling!), first driving permit...

Woah. I think I am feeling dizzy. I need to go lie down!

I am so stuck for ideas...

This whole week I was supposed to be working on my daughter's personal page for the 5th grade yearbook. (Yes, there are such things!) It was actually due on Friday the 12th, but since I'm on the committee that is putting the whole damn thing together, I have taken the liberty to turn it in when I'm done with it!

So I'm torn. I want to put in something meaningful...y'know like a really good quote about girl power and how she should be strong and confident not get caught up in any superficial or shallow social scenes...but then, I don't want to get too heavy on her...I mean, this is 5th grade people, not high school.

I also don't know what pictures I should put on the page. I am pretty sure I don't want baby photos, but maybe one from each year at the school?

Should I list all her accomplishments from age 5 to 11?!?!

Personal notes from her dad and brother and me??

What kind of clip art, if any, should I use?? What about the border?

Damn. I am waaaay over thinking this and it's keeping me from actually DOING it!

How's this:

"Dear A,
Congratulations! We're so proud of you! We know you'll do great in Middle School!

We Love you!
Mommy, Daddy and C"

I think that oughtta cover it.

Mother's Day projects..

Do you remember in school when you had to make cards for Mother's Day? Remember not being able to think of anything to write? Well, can I just say, I have the MOST eloquent kids around! And I AM partial! I was at one point smiling and then a moment later, welling up with tears.

My son, 8, gave me a giant card, you know, big construction paper folded in half... It has lots of balloons with hearts and XOXOX's in the sky. With it came a package wrapped in tissue paper. Here's what he wrote:

"Dear Mommy,
I hope you like this gift. I made it myself. It took HOURS! It's also breakable. You are the best mom EVER. Love, C"

Perfect. A keeper of a card if I ever had one! The breakable item was a vase with tissue paper decorations(a heart & a flower)pasted on the outside.

My daughter, 11, was hovering nearby waiting for me to open her gift. She was very proud of her String Art, also with a flower and a heart. It was beautiful, but nothing could have prepared me for her other class project. It's a nice piece of flowery stationary paper..it says:

Dedicated to Mommy
What I Love Best About You
by A

"Dear Mommy,
What I love best about you is that you are always supportive. You come to almost every swim meet and practice. You were there even the morning practices, when you would rather be in bed. You are always cheering me on. You encourage me in school too. You are the greatest mom ever and I love you. Have a Happy Mother's Day!
Love A"

Sent me right over the edge! (Though the part about me not wanting to get out of bed was just a LITTLE to close to home!)

I just loved the honesty from both of them. It's a wonderous thing being a mom and I do live for these very moments...those moments when I get some small inkling that I am making a difference. Sigh. It's just the best.

The Mommy Bond is strong...

Here's to my mom-friend-extraodinaire, Tracey and the many special mommy times we have shared!

Can you believe the kids were ever that small?? And that our hair looked that way on a daily basis? And we didn't CARE? Yee-haw sister!

Beware of 11 year old girls working angles...

BEWARE I say! They are "graduating" from elementary school and are on the verge of Middle school! They are starting to show signs of independent thinking and planning! It could get ugly.

Let me start by saying I didn't get a cell phone until last year. I just didn't see the need for it. I wasn't in "high demand"! Who could possibly need to speak to me so urgently that they couldn't wait for me to call them back? Well, as it turns out, I LOVE MY CELL PHONE! And I use it all the time!

And now my daughter wants one. Now. Because "everyone but" her and 4 friends have one. She's pointed out to me on the two occasions I was not there waiting for her after school and was 5 minutes late that she "could have called" me if she had a cell phone. To say what I wanted to know?? "You're late?" Duh. I pointed out to her that if all her friends but her had cell phones, she could have borrowed one to call me! She wasn't happy with that reply I don't think!

So now she's working angles with her friends.

One mom called me and said "Are you thinking about getting A. a phone?"

"No, I told her that I would "think" about it when she got to middle school."

"Oh, well she told T. that you were thinking about it and therefore I should be thinking about it too!"

That was 2 or 3 weeks ago. Yesterday she says to me "K. said that her mom might get her a phone if I get one." I said "Does K.'s mom know this?!" She says, "I don't know. But if I got one, then K. might get one too." What is going on??

A few hours later my sister-in-law was here and we're chatting about her son's graduation from High School and A. chimes in "You should get me a cell phone for graduation!" ...Graduation? From 5th grade? A cell phone? WHAT?!!?

I can't wait to hear what she says today.

There's some writing going on!

Wow. I spent waaaay too much time reading blogs today. I have to say I am overwhelmed by the numbers of intelligent, humorous and well versed women out there in the blogosphere! Check any of my links - I have SO MANY more to add! I am inspired. That's all I really had to say...that and thanks Tracey for kicking my ass into it! xo k

I made some kids cry...

I did. I really didn't mean to...but they didn't follow instructions so I called them "out". How was I to know that they were going to fall apart?

The game was Cake Limbo and I was in charge of it at the school Garden Party this weekend. I gave specific instructions at the start of each round. "You must go under the Limbo stick with your face looking at the sky, your shoulders parallel with the stick, your feet in line with each other. You may NOT turn your head or shoulders until you are clear of the stick. You may NOT squat in a sitting position to get under the stick. You must be on your feet, no knees or hands touching the ground when you get to the other side. And, obviously, you can't knock the stick off. If you do not follow these rules, I will call you 'out'." It doesn't sound so hard does it? I mean, I've got ten kids in a line to do this, I've got to get down to ONE kid. Nine kids have got to get called "out"!! Afterall, I've got 23 whole cakes to give away. Think about it, 10 kids per Limbo round...about 10 levels on the limbo stick, 23 cakes...this was going to take forever!

So this one kid goes through and he ducks his head to the side to get under the stick. I tell him nicely not to do that again, but let him go back in line. Second time through he does it again...I pretended not to see...I am not without understanding; he is only 7 or 8... The third and fourth time through I let it go. But then I'm thinking "I can't let this kid win, look at this other girl who is doing it RIGHT! She's totally struggling to keep her balance and yet, she does it RIGHT each time through!" So that was that. Next time he turned his head, I called him "out". He cried. What can I say? He didn't deserve to win. But he was a glutton for punishment and put his 2 tickets in to do it again. And again. And again. I'll tell you, he was there for most of the Garden Party! He did eventually get with a group of kids where he actually WAS the best and he did do it right and he DID win a cake.

The other little girl I made cry was actually the daughter of a friend of mine. She turned her little self all twisty to get under that stick and I was actually laughing when I told her she couldn't do that again or I would call her "out". Whoops. Wrong move. She was devastated! Ran over to her mom, buried her face and everything. I tried to get her to joint the game again (I was letting first time limbo mistakes slide for everyone!), but she wouldn't even look at me. I'm such an ogre.

Even my own son cried. I didn't make him cry. I just had to call him "out" when he fell on his back! It was down to him and another kid so the other kid won. What could I do? He didn't want to be consoled either. Just wanted to wallow in his misery and his failure to be the last Limbo-er. Sigh. I promised to bake him a cake this week.

I figured it out!

"Yeah ME!" as my 11 year old daughter would say. I REALLY wanted the dots as my template and hadn't a clue how to move the sidebar from the bottom of the blog to to the top left. But I just figured it out and I'm feeling pretty http-saavy now!

**correction by 11 year old daughter..."It's not YEAH, it's YAY." I stand corrected.