I'd like to buy an "A"

I have issues with a lot of things that happen at school. Normally I let it go. But this one drives me crazy!

On the way home from school my daughter was desperate to stop at Walgreens. Why? Because the teacher is giving extra credit to kids who bring in a box of Kleenex, and my daughter really wants an "A" in that class. This is not the first time this has happened.

We struggle to make ends meet sometimes, and sending tacquitos for the whole Spanish class for Cinco de Mayo extra credit is not in our family budget. So what about the kids whose family is even more financially challenged than we are? They get to keep their "C" because they can't afford to buy their "B" like some kids can.

Level playing field? I think not.

I am so on my game

My family and friends know I have issues with time management (read about the Easter Bunny situation). I always seem to be caught off guard - holidays, lunch money, conferences.... Not only do I have St. Nick on my calendar, but I scheduled time to put up the stockings tomorrow for St. Nick to fill. I rock.

Um, what did the Easter Bunny bring you?

In the 14 years I have had children, you'd think I would have mastered the art of Easter and any other holiday that involves creatures who come in the night and leave stuff. Somehow I always find myself standing in Walmart the night before picking through the remains - knowing that in just a few short hours everything left will be half price. But as moms do, I suck it up and get it done, and all ends well.

This year I took it to a whole new level. Saturday night, on the way home from my best friend's 40th birthday party (she's WAAAAY older than me), my sister asked what the Easter Bunny was bringing to our house. So there I stood, after way too many Cherry McGillicudy's shots, in a 24 hour Walgreen's hoping for the best. When the youngest woke me this morning with a whispered, "Mom, the Easter Bunny came last night" I cringed as I asked, "and what did the Easter Bunny bring you?"

"Mom, I got really cool stuff - I'll go get it.

Ahhh, success.

5 reasons I love snow (an optimist's view)

1. Just saying "it snowed" got all three kids up and out of bed in 30 seconds flat, something that usually takes 20 minutes.
2. The dogs ran themselves silly in the yard, came in and collapsed on the floor.
3. I got to listen to my WHOLE playlist on the way to work this morning.
4. I don't have to look at the un-raked leaves in the yard anymore because they are "gone".
5. The people out shoveling (with 40 degree days predicted all week) make me laugh!

Way out of her league....

So, my oldest daughter had one of those it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time ideas. She and David decided as part of a prank to bring his brother's Halo 3 game to school. Predictably, it got broken, and predictably, the parents were not pleased.

My daughter felt responsible so the next morning - the kids had off school - she took her own money, and I drove her to Hollywood Video to pick up a new one. She planned to take it over that evening and apologize when David's parents got home from work. During the day she texted David, only to find that within 24 hours, his parents had already bought another copy of the game.

Obviously some of the things I tell her are sticking, because she made a couple really insightful observations all on her own:

1) Some kids can't live 24 hours without something they want.
2) There are no consequences for bad decisions - if you break it, someone will fix it.

The thing she was most frustrated by was that David's family didn't even give them the chance to do the right thing. She wanted to fix the situation, and was feeling pretty proud of herself for calling around to find the game, arranging a ride, apologizing to David's brother, and thinking about what she would say to his parents.

In the end she did go over there, talked to David's brother and parents, and offered to pay for it. They were very understanding, and declined. But this was a clear reminder of how different our family expectations are sometimes from the mainstream....

I hope you have an idea!

Those of you who know anything about me will not be surprised that despite being ultra-organized, I am also ultra-busy so unfortunately, I am the queen of the last minute.

It should come as no surprise that my youngest and I were standing in Target looking for a birthday gift an hour before the party. Feeling the crunch, I started suggesting ideas: how about a DVD? does she have an ipod? maybe a journal and some cool pens? clothes? watch? GIFT CARD???

I was nearing the breaking point because she couldn't choose, when she said, "Mom it's not that... it's just, well, those are all too teenish - she's a kid." Bad mom....

Working mom, and working, and working....

It's Monday. Since Friday I have:

• worked 18 hours at my first job
• worked 16 hours at my second job
• graded 40 essays for some contract work
• attended 8 basketball games
• worked the concession stand
• attended a basketball pizza party
• went to a girl scout meeting
• made 12 greeting cards
• attended the party to exchange them

All I say is thank God moms can multitask! It's time for a break. I'm thinking something fruity with a little umbrella in it....

Grainy stuff for lunch

My youngest was telling me about her day, and said, "Oh, mom! I had a really good lunch today. I had pizza dippers, an apple, and whole wheat bread."

"Whole wheat bread? How did you get whole wheat bread at school?"

"Well, it really wasn't whole wheat bread, it was brown with the regular crust - it didn't have any of the grainy stuff in it..."

I didn't think they had real wheat bread at school....

Fall cleaning... stand back!

I had the day off yesterday so I took advantage of the time to get a manicure, finish my scrapbook pages, and meet a girlfriend for lunch. Yeah, right. Actually I cleaned the house. Again. Like I do on every day off.

When I clean I don't mess around - ask my sister about her pantry after the time I babysat her kids. And with the forecast turning colder, I realized that if we are stuck inside for the next three months the dust and dog hair could kill us. It was time.

I dragged the shop vac upstairs and vacuumed everywhere. I did the blinds, the light fixtures, got the ladybugs in the windowsills, and even moved the beds to do underneath. All the extra blankets are in the wash, and I changed the furnace filter (I don't even want to know how long it's been since that was done), and the big pile of clothes in each kid's bedroom was purged while they were at school.

I know you're thinking, "Oooh, can you come to my house next?" I can, but when you ask an organizer who is probably slightly OCD to help, be careful what you wish for....