... is undoubtedly Step 2 in the "change your whole life in less than 17 years" program. I have been thinking about this for some time, but tonight it became increasingly evident that my sleep patterns have to change... HAVE... TO...
So, I was driving Seth and Grace to pre-teen retreat (driving Caleb, Ian, and Miah, too... but the reason we were driving was to get the "big kids" to retreat)... I tend to be a "car sleeper"... but NOT when I'm driving. I could hardly keep my eyes open, and it was 5:00 in the evening! That screams, "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR SLEEP HABITS, LISA!"
Although it was a bit concerning when I realized I was so exhausted I could hardly get my kids to their destination, this was not the worst part. I did, indeed, arrive safely at retreat, got the kids registered, and dropped them off with a leaping hug and kiss from Grace and even a hug and, "I hope you have a great weekend, Mom!" from Seth... Good moment...
What really concerned me was what I did next...
I looked at my three "babies" and realized that in order to get us home safely, I was going to have to do something drastic. I drove through McDonalds and ordered a coffee. (dead pan to the audience)
LISA DOES NOT DRINK COFFEE... EVER...
If you do not know me, this probably sounds kind of stupid, but if you do know me, you understand. This was a big deal!
Now, granted, I ordered the least coffee like sounding coffee on the menu, but as I took that first sip, my body instinctively knew that we'd just escalated to a new level of exhaustion. If I'm going to become a coffee drinker, I might as well become a drug addict and an alcoholic while I'm at it. I'm not going to become any of these things... As I drove home, hoping that the caffeine would quickly find it's way to my bloodstream and keep me alert enough to make the whole drive, I knew this was a necessary fix... and a one time fix...
Step sleep is going to have to come in phases, but considering I never would have dreamed I'd even be ready to take another step only 5 days into this thing, I'm going with it. The first part of this step is going to be establishing a bed time.
It is at this point that I must admit that I don't like that. In comparison, step 1 was easy. I like God. I wanted to spend more time with Him. Truth told, I like sleep, too... and I want to spend more time doing it. But I am a night person. I'd like to sleep from... oh... maybe 2am until noon... consistently... Not gonna happen, Mommy...
I remember when I was a kid my mom used to tell me that I would have to wake up earlier when I grew up if I wanted to have a job. I told her I'd work the night shift. And in reality, if I had to work outside of our home, I'd choose 3rd shift every time. But unless I want to completely turn my kids' worlds upside-down, that's not gonna work right now... So I have to have a bed time (I'm avoiding this... can you tell?)...
I guess healthy adults are supposed to get 8 hours of sleep. I know people who do pretty well on 6 or 7. If I'm going to be real honest, I think I probably need 9. But I'm not going to get 9... There are just not enough hours in the day for that on a regular basis. So for now, I'm going to measure my progress based on 8 hours of sleep, but since I'm only going to start the bed time part of this right now, I'm only going to give myself credit for 4 productive hours. For awhile, I might actually get more than 8 hours, and considering the sleep deprivation I have subjected myself to over the years, that's OK... Setting an alarm will be another part in this process, completely. (Set the bed time, Lisa)...
I think it would be very healthy for me to go to bed at 10:00. Can't do it. For now, I'm going to set my bed time at 11:00... and that means that no matter what, that's when the light goes out... and the laptop goes off. This is going to require some serious discipline on my part, because that means my school work needs to be done by 11:00... and I have to stop clicking "refresh" on facebook by 11:00... and I have to be done watching "TV" (this is in quotes, because TV means something completely different at this house than it does to most people, but that's a story for another day)... and done shopping on-line... and done washing the dishes... and picking up the toys... and taking care of anything that needs to be in place for the following morning... by 11:00... And I guess to be fair, since I really think this is an hour later than it should be... I'm only going to count it as fixing 3 hours of my life... for now...
Assuming I can do it, this should bring my total "fixed life percentage" to 1.3%... OK... small... but progress...
Lisa
Happiest Place on Earth
Friday, November 19, 2010
Any Mother...
... who can successfully pack two children for Pre-teen Retreat is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize if she meets the following criteria...
1. She must not enter into a mid-life crisis when she realizes that she is old enough to send two children to pre-teen retreat.
2. She must not scream when it becomes evident that she will have to send all of her own hair product with her 9 year old daughter. She must also not complain that she is wearing a hat while said child is dressed to the 9s, and she must calmly explain why it would be more appropriate to wear jeans and a T-shirt to the retreat.
3. She must pack all of her 10 year old son's toiletries for him and remember to give ample instruction about what a toothbrush and soap are for... again...
4. She must not allow the baby to digest any toiletries during the packing process.
5. She must listen with great interest and respond appropriately to her 6 and 3 year olds who just said something about having a fireworks show as soon as their siblings are gone and issued some sort of warning regarding where she should stand with Miah when they begin throwing the fireworks in the living room.
I think that prize is mine for sure... Well... maybe minus the fireworks...
Uh... What was that you said again, Caleb?
Lisa
1. She must not enter into a mid-life crisis when she realizes that she is old enough to send two children to pre-teen retreat.
2. She must not scream when it becomes evident that she will have to send all of her own hair product with her 9 year old daughter. She must also not complain that she is wearing a hat while said child is dressed to the 9s, and she must calmly explain why it would be more appropriate to wear jeans and a T-shirt to the retreat.
3. She must pack all of her 10 year old son's toiletries for him and remember to give ample instruction about what a toothbrush and soap are for... again...
4. She must not allow the baby to digest any toiletries during the packing process.
5. She must listen with great interest and respond appropriately to her 6 and 3 year olds who just said something about having a fireworks show as soon as their siblings are gone and issued some sort of warning regarding where she should stand with Miah when they begin throwing the fireworks in the living room.
I think that prize is mine for sure... Well... maybe minus the fireworks...
Uh... What was that you said again, Caleb?
Lisa
Thursday, November 18, 2010
And So I Find Myself…
And I’m not where I’m supposed to be…
Again…
And it’s kind of getting old…
The other night I made a post on facebook about how I need to implement changes in my life. I insinuated that the changes were going to be slow and painful. It peaked the interest of at least a few friends, and although no one else said it quite this way, the question that’s been bouncing around in my head lately is, “What’s wrong with me that I need to make changes?” The answer is…
Everything.
I am not being too hard on myself. I am just taking inventory of my life, and before I can get into specific, grueling detail; I have to come to the realization that the very general level issue I am facing is that absolutely everything is wrong in my life! There… now that I know what the problem is, maybe I can fix it…
But not today…
No, this is something that took a long time to get into, and it’s going to take a long time to get out, too. I’m not talking like 12 step program long. I’m talking more like 150 step program long. But I’m going to do it…
Sort of…
Really, I don’t have the power to do anything… at all. But I’m going to go ahead and take God up on His offer to get it all worked out, because quite frankly, that’s the only way it’s ever going to get worked out. Yes… I know… very spiritual.
And so… as is generally the case with everything in life… God is step 1.
I am embarrassed to admit that I’m not even sure how long it’s been since I had regular, consistent quiet time with God. Please don’t misconstrue this to read that I have not had time with God. Really, that’s the dumbest thing anyone can say, because God is everywhere. If I’m anywhere, I’m with God. And generally speaking, I am usually somewhere. But the everyday, living and breathing His presence… being aware that I am somewhere with God… has been neglected as of late.
With this in mind; I returned, this week, to an old book, “My Utmost for His Highest,” written by Oswald Chambers. It was no surprise to me, really, that the first two readings hit me exactly where I am…
The challenge now, though, is to maintain this time without letting it become ritualistic or routine… for more than 3 or 4 days in a row…
And it’s a little scary to me how completely draining this is. Seriously? This is a change that affects maybe 10-15 minutes of my life every day, and it feels so gigantic that I can’t even begin to speculate about when I will be ready to move on to step 2.
In my defense, there are a lot of factors that are playing into the equation of why I am so worn down to begin with, but really… I don’t think I need a defense. That’s just the hugely human part of me that hates admitting what a mess I’ve become.
So let’s focus on what’s positive. Assuming I can keep carving out 10 minutes a day to meet with God, now only 23 hours and 50 minutes of every day of my existence are messed up. That means I’ve got 0.7% of my life straightened out. And not everything is wrong with it anymore. For today, I’ll take that.
Lisa
Romans 8:28:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)
Again…
And it’s kind of getting old…
The other night I made a post on facebook about how I need to implement changes in my life. I insinuated that the changes were going to be slow and painful. It peaked the interest of at least a few friends, and although no one else said it quite this way, the question that’s been bouncing around in my head lately is, “What’s wrong with me that I need to make changes?” The answer is…
Everything.
I am not being too hard on myself. I am just taking inventory of my life, and before I can get into specific, grueling detail; I have to come to the realization that the very general level issue I am facing is that absolutely everything is wrong in my life! There… now that I know what the problem is, maybe I can fix it…
But not today…
No, this is something that took a long time to get into, and it’s going to take a long time to get out, too. I’m not talking like 12 step program long. I’m talking more like 150 step program long. But I’m going to do it…
Sort of…
Really, I don’t have the power to do anything… at all. But I’m going to go ahead and take God up on His offer to get it all worked out, because quite frankly, that’s the only way it’s ever going to get worked out. Yes… I know… very spiritual.
And so… as is generally the case with everything in life… God is step 1.
I am embarrassed to admit that I’m not even sure how long it’s been since I had regular, consistent quiet time with God. Please don’t misconstrue this to read that I have not had time with God. Really, that’s the dumbest thing anyone can say, because God is everywhere. If I’m anywhere, I’m with God. And generally speaking, I am usually somewhere. But the everyday, living and breathing His presence… being aware that I am somewhere with God… has been neglected as of late.
With this in mind; I returned, this week, to an old book, “My Utmost for His Highest,” written by Oswald Chambers. It was no surprise to me, really, that the first two readings hit me exactly where I am…
The challenge now, though, is to maintain this time without letting it become ritualistic or routine… for more than 3 or 4 days in a row…
And it’s a little scary to me how completely draining this is. Seriously? This is a change that affects maybe 10-15 minutes of my life every day, and it feels so gigantic that I can’t even begin to speculate about when I will be ready to move on to step 2.
In my defense, there are a lot of factors that are playing into the equation of why I am so worn down to begin with, but really… I don’t think I need a defense. That’s just the hugely human part of me that hates admitting what a mess I’ve become.
So let’s focus on what’s positive. Assuming I can keep carving out 10 minutes a day to meet with God, now only 23 hours and 50 minutes of every day of my existence are messed up. That means I’ve got 0.7% of my life straightened out. And not everything is wrong with it anymore. For today, I’ll take that.
Lisa
Romans 8:28:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Why Homeschooling Occasionally Sucks…
I love homeschooling my kids. Our family has chosen to homeschool for a variety of reasons that have evolved over the years. The number one reason I homeschool my children is that I believe they are getting a really good education at home individual instruction and learning that is tailored to their own strengths and weaknesses. I have a lot of respect for good teachers, and I believe that there are a good number of good teachers out there. Even the best teachers, however, cannot be expected to make 30 individual lesson plans dependant on the ability of each student and then spend hours of one-on-one time with each child, every day. That is ludicrous. Since I have the ability to homeschool my kids and give them that kind of attention; I do.
Of course, there are other perks. For example… if we’re sick, we can do school in our pajamas… we never miss the bus… we can chose to go on vacation in the middle of November if we want to and then make up the time on Saturdays or in July… and I never have to cry on the first day of Kindergarten… The list could go on and on…
But here’s the problem I seem to be having lately. I’m just going top put it right out there, and you can do with it what you may. Most homeschooling families seem to have vastly different reasoning than we do behind their decision to educate their children at home.
In recent years, I have identified a couple of different homeschooling “groups”. First of all, there are the ultra religious homeschoolers who aren’t allowed to associate with anyone else. Coming from a pastor’s wife, you might find this statement funny. There is nothing funny about it. In fact, we met some of these people, and they would hardly talk to us or acknowledge that we were in the room. At some point, a few weeks later, the “secret” came out that we were a pastor’s family, and suddenly they wanted to be friends! Uh… I just don’t work that way. I mean… not that I would be any better than anybody else if I refused to associate with them, but I don’t feel all that comfortable with people who only like me for my husband’s job. So sue me.
The bigger issue with this is that it really limits your sphere of influence. I did have to laugh the other day, though, because as I was sitting in Caleb’s music class I realized that 80% of the kids were homeschooled. And to be completely fair, I really do like one of those families and I don’t really know the others. The 20% that aren’t homeschooled come from a wonderful, Christian family, and I like them, too. I have heard members of that family express the pressure to homeschool, however, as if some people do not feel they are being good parents because they put their kids on the bus. Give me a break. That’s totally not what this is about.
Along those same lines, though, it occurred to me that our sphere of influence is pretty limited. Part of the reason I enrolled my kids in classes was to get them out there where we could meet different people. And here we find ourselves… every week… immersed in life with other homechooling Christians. I’m not pulling my kids out of classes because of it. That would be stupid… and judgmental… and discriminatory. But I am wondering where we can go for a little more diversity…
Now, the second “group” seems to be the high class, designer jeans, perfect Mary Kay make-up, professional hair cut, and I’ll one up you with 2 or 3 more perfectly behaved kids than you have to boot group… These are the ones I ran into today…
I have no class…
You know, most days I do manage to take a shower and comb through my outrageously wild curly mane of fluff. If we’re going somewhere I try to dress the kids in clothes that match and run the comb through their hair, too.
Today was not like that.
We had a couple of little issues that got us off to a rough start…
The first one was the broken washing machine. The washing machine has been broken all week. In our family, that is almost a crisis. Phil ordered the part we need to fix it, and it was supposed to be here today, except we forgot it was Veteran’s Day (no mail). Miah has been wearing her brothers’ old clothes for the past two days. There were precious few things to choose from, this morning. I think Seth just wore what he wore yesterday (which isn’t all that unusual for a 10 year old boy). At least he matched. I hope he changed his underwear. Caleb was completely out of pants, so he borrowed some from Seth. Ian was completely out of clothes except for pants, so he borrowed a shirt from Caleb. Grace… who is a diva… came down dressed to the 9s in a pink shirt and skirt, leggings, and matching shoes and socks. I don’t know where they came from. I mean, I do remember buying them… she didn’t rob a department store or anything… but the child has so many outfits it’s hard to keep track. The matching shoes and socks caused me to survey Caleb and Ian’s feet. They were bare, as expected. I sent them to the mismatched sock basket (where socks go in our house after the dryer eats one mate). Each of them put on two socks. The socks did not match. Mercifully, I found an outfit for Miah that is a size too big and stuffed her into it along with her nasty disposable diaper (I mean, it was clean. I just hate disposable diapers but had to give in and use them this week, because I can’t wash the cloth ones due to the broken washing machine).
The second issue was the backed up bathtub. Are you kidding me? Most of the kids shower, so no issue there, but I am not a shower person… and even if I was, I am not using their shower. I have lived in this house for almost 3 years and have avoided that shower completely (I think… although now that I wrote that I may have one memory of having to use the kids’ shower)… At any rate, it didn’t make much of a difference, because we were out of time, anyway. I threw on clean underwear, my clothes from yesterday, and a hat.
We then proceeded to drive an hour and a half away (after stopping at Dairy Queen for chicken strip baskets… I know the drive-through people by sight and they know me. I think it must have been pretty obvious that my day wasn’t going too great, because they gave us extra chicken). And our homeschool science adventure of the day began…
To be honest, Caleb, Ian, Miah, and I had a wonderful time for the first hour and 15 minutes or so. As far as I know, Seth and Grace had an enjoyable time, as well. Caleb participated in a demonstration about estimating and then we ventured around the science center taking part in various activities including a moon walk simulation, which was pretty cool. We sent Caleb off to his lab after that, passed Seth and Grace on their way to their demonstration, and Ian, Miah, and I headed for the toddler/preschool area. I proceeded to nurse Miah while Ian ran around like a tornado and got soaking wet in the water table. Ironically, this seemed irritating to some of the other parents. I am always a little shocked at parents who completely ignore their children while talking to their friends and then wonder why their kids are wet when they left them playing at the water table or in bubble solution unattended… I am almost sure that one mother thought that Ian had drenched her child, but the truth is her kid almost fell into the bubble table some 10 feet away from where Ian was playing. He had absolutely nothing to do with it (ahem… for once…)
As I attempted to get Ian out of a slide (easier said than done), Seth and Grace came running in (kind of loudly), and I instructed them to wait quietly… and without motion… while I coaxed their brother down the slide and out of the area. They did. It took awhile. We all headed to another level and picked up their math packets, which didn’t make Seth too happy, but both older children started working on them anyway… slowly. As I helped them, I accidentally turned my back on Ian for approximately 3 seconds as he managed to disassemble a metal exhibit and throw it at a little girl. This is the one moment in which I would have understood if one of the perfect homeschool moms was angry. I apologized. She smiled (sort of) and moved her child to a safer area. I rebuilt the exhibit.
By this time, it was almost time to go. We all jumped into the elevator with the janitor who seems to me to just be a precious elderly woman whom I have never seen anyone else speaking to. I talked to her on the trip down. She seemed surprised and genuinely pleased. I was pleased, too, because no one else would talk to me, either.
When we reached the lab classroom, all of the children (including Caleb) were gone. I was not too happy about this. The other moms looked down their noses at me like I was irresponsible for not being there when the doors opened. I have never had an experience there where they have released the children without parents. In a slight panic I began calling Caleb (probably a little louder than most people would have liked). Seth, Grace, and Ian were begging to go into a quick walk through exhibit, so I told them to go ahead (as long as they stayed with Ian) and that I would meet them at the end (hopefully with Caleb). Caleb materialized quickly and told me he’d been looking “everywhere” for me. We pushed the stroller to the end of the exhibit I’d sent Seth, Grace, and Ian into, but after waiting for what seemed like forever it became apparent that maybe they weren’t in there, after all. We began walking toward the start of the exhibit when the mom of the very wet, fell into the bubbles, toddler exclaimed, “Is that your son?” I said, “yes,” before I even saw Ian, because I knew it would be him. He was too scared to go through the exhibit now and was blocking the entrance. I attempted to collect him, as Caleb begged to do a quick run through. I agreed, and as I worked to get Ian down and away from the entrance, Caleb got a little over excited and sort of plowed through a couple of kids who were waiting in line. I don’t think he meant to, but there stood guardian mom, again, and she got all over Caleb. This was almost my breaking point. However, instead of saying what I really wanted to say, I looked only at Caleb and said something to the effect of, “You must wait your turn behind the other children who were here first.” I really said it like that… with a sickeningly sweet voice. Caleb looked at me like I’d totally lost it, but he quickly got behind the other kids, which was what confirmed it for me that he wasn’t trying to be pushy… he was just excited. But… oh… we still hadn’t retrieved Ian! At this point, several of the other mother’s children and friends decided that they, also, were too scared to go through the exhibit… Well… what do you know… and they ran over Caleb on their way down the ladder. Caleb and I just stood there looking bewildered, but without such a crowd he was able to climb up and I was able to yank Ian down.
Ian, Miah, and I waited at the end of the tunnel for Seth, Grace, and Caleb. Eventually, Caleb and Seth came through (it took a long time). Then we waited some more (remember, this place is getting ready to close), but Grace never showed up. I sent Seth to the entrance to call to her. After quite a while, she came out. Except now Seth was missing. I sent Grace to the entrance to call to him and told her to come right back. Seth came out… No Grace. So now I’m getting flustered (and thinking this is kind of like a bad episode of The Three Stooges). I sent Seth, again, to call for Grace and told him not to go back through. I mentioned to the other mom that maybe there was a full moon tonight. She told me she didn’t think so, because it was just a sliver last night. I knew that, because I’d actually taken note of the moon last night. I admitted that we had no excuse for today. Grace came out. Seth came back. And we proceeded to wait in line for the elevator.
Eventually, all of the other people waiting in line gave up and took the stairs. We pushed the button again and the door opened.
I think some of my “normal” friends would have laughed with us. But it’s OK. We survived even without friends today.
We drove through Chick-Fil-A for more chicken and fries. We drove an hour and a half home. Phil had Casey’s chicken waiting for me. Seriously… you are not what you eat…
Lisa
Of course, there are other perks. For example… if we’re sick, we can do school in our pajamas… we never miss the bus… we can chose to go on vacation in the middle of November if we want to and then make up the time on Saturdays or in July… and I never have to cry on the first day of Kindergarten… The list could go on and on…
But here’s the problem I seem to be having lately. I’m just going top put it right out there, and you can do with it what you may. Most homeschooling families seem to have vastly different reasoning than we do behind their decision to educate their children at home.
In recent years, I have identified a couple of different homeschooling “groups”. First of all, there are the ultra religious homeschoolers who aren’t allowed to associate with anyone else. Coming from a pastor’s wife, you might find this statement funny. There is nothing funny about it. In fact, we met some of these people, and they would hardly talk to us or acknowledge that we were in the room. At some point, a few weeks later, the “secret” came out that we were a pastor’s family, and suddenly they wanted to be friends! Uh… I just don’t work that way. I mean… not that I would be any better than anybody else if I refused to associate with them, but I don’t feel all that comfortable with people who only like me for my husband’s job. So sue me.
The bigger issue with this is that it really limits your sphere of influence. I did have to laugh the other day, though, because as I was sitting in Caleb’s music class I realized that 80% of the kids were homeschooled. And to be completely fair, I really do like one of those families and I don’t really know the others. The 20% that aren’t homeschooled come from a wonderful, Christian family, and I like them, too. I have heard members of that family express the pressure to homeschool, however, as if some people do not feel they are being good parents because they put their kids on the bus. Give me a break. That’s totally not what this is about.
Along those same lines, though, it occurred to me that our sphere of influence is pretty limited. Part of the reason I enrolled my kids in classes was to get them out there where we could meet different people. And here we find ourselves… every week… immersed in life with other homechooling Christians. I’m not pulling my kids out of classes because of it. That would be stupid… and judgmental… and discriminatory. But I am wondering where we can go for a little more diversity…
Now, the second “group” seems to be the high class, designer jeans, perfect Mary Kay make-up, professional hair cut, and I’ll one up you with 2 or 3 more perfectly behaved kids than you have to boot group… These are the ones I ran into today…
I have no class…
You know, most days I do manage to take a shower and comb through my outrageously wild curly mane of fluff. If we’re going somewhere I try to dress the kids in clothes that match and run the comb through their hair, too.
Today was not like that.
We had a couple of little issues that got us off to a rough start…
The first one was the broken washing machine. The washing machine has been broken all week. In our family, that is almost a crisis. Phil ordered the part we need to fix it, and it was supposed to be here today, except we forgot it was Veteran’s Day (no mail). Miah has been wearing her brothers’ old clothes for the past two days. There were precious few things to choose from, this morning. I think Seth just wore what he wore yesterday (which isn’t all that unusual for a 10 year old boy). At least he matched. I hope he changed his underwear. Caleb was completely out of pants, so he borrowed some from Seth. Ian was completely out of clothes except for pants, so he borrowed a shirt from Caleb. Grace… who is a diva… came down dressed to the 9s in a pink shirt and skirt, leggings, and matching shoes and socks. I don’t know where they came from. I mean, I do remember buying them… she didn’t rob a department store or anything… but the child has so many outfits it’s hard to keep track. The matching shoes and socks caused me to survey Caleb and Ian’s feet. They were bare, as expected. I sent them to the mismatched sock basket (where socks go in our house after the dryer eats one mate). Each of them put on two socks. The socks did not match. Mercifully, I found an outfit for Miah that is a size too big and stuffed her into it along with her nasty disposable diaper (I mean, it was clean. I just hate disposable diapers but had to give in and use them this week, because I can’t wash the cloth ones due to the broken washing machine).
The second issue was the backed up bathtub. Are you kidding me? Most of the kids shower, so no issue there, but I am not a shower person… and even if I was, I am not using their shower. I have lived in this house for almost 3 years and have avoided that shower completely (I think… although now that I wrote that I may have one memory of having to use the kids’ shower)… At any rate, it didn’t make much of a difference, because we were out of time, anyway. I threw on clean underwear, my clothes from yesterday, and a hat.
We then proceeded to drive an hour and a half away (after stopping at Dairy Queen for chicken strip baskets… I know the drive-through people by sight and they know me. I think it must have been pretty obvious that my day wasn’t going too great, because they gave us extra chicken). And our homeschool science adventure of the day began…
To be honest, Caleb, Ian, Miah, and I had a wonderful time for the first hour and 15 minutes or so. As far as I know, Seth and Grace had an enjoyable time, as well. Caleb participated in a demonstration about estimating and then we ventured around the science center taking part in various activities including a moon walk simulation, which was pretty cool. We sent Caleb off to his lab after that, passed Seth and Grace on their way to their demonstration, and Ian, Miah, and I headed for the toddler/preschool area. I proceeded to nurse Miah while Ian ran around like a tornado and got soaking wet in the water table. Ironically, this seemed irritating to some of the other parents. I am always a little shocked at parents who completely ignore their children while talking to their friends and then wonder why their kids are wet when they left them playing at the water table or in bubble solution unattended… I am almost sure that one mother thought that Ian had drenched her child, but the truth is her kid almost fell into the bubble table some 10 feet away from where Ian was playing. He had absolutely nothing to do with it (ahem… for once…)
As I attempted to get Ian out of a slide (easier said than done), Seth and Grace came running in (kind of loudly), and I instructed them to wait quietly… and without motion… while I coaxed their brother down the slide and out of the area. They did. It took awhile. We all headed to another level and picked up their math packets, which didn’t make Seth too happy, but both older children started working on them anyway… slowly. As I helped them, I accidentally turned my back on Ian for approximately 3 seconds as he managed to disassemble a metal exhibit and throw it at a little girl. This is the one moment in which I would have understood if one of the perfect homeschool moms was angry. I apologized. She smiled (sort of) and moved her child to a safer area. I rebuilt the exhibit.
By this time, it was almost time to go. We all jumped into the elevator with the janitor who seems to me to just be a precious elderly woman whom I have never seen anyone else speaking to. I talked to her on the trip down. She seemed surprised and genuinely pleased. I was pleased, too, because no one else would talk to me, either.
When we reached the lab classroom, all of the children (including Caleb) were gone. I was not too happy about this. The other moms looked down their noses at me like I was irresponsible for not being there when the doors opened. I have never had an experience there where they have released the children without parents. In a slight panic I began calling Caleb (probably a little louder than most people would have liked). Seth, Grace, and Ian were begging to go into a quick walk through exhibit, so I told them to go ahead (as long as they stayed with Ian) and that I would meet them at the end (hopefully with Caleb). Caleb materialized quickly and told me he’d been looking “everywhere” for me. We pushed the stroller to the end of the exhibit I’d sent Seth, Grace, and Ian into, but after waiting for what seemed like forever it became apparent that maybe they weren’t in there, after all. We began walking toward the start of the exhibit when the mom of the very wet, fell into the bubbles, toddler exclaimed, “Is that your son?” I said, “yes,” before I even saw Ian, because I knew it would be him. He was too scared to go through the exhibit now and was blocking the entrance. I attempted to collect him, as Caleb begged to do a quick run through. I agreed, and as I worked to get Ian down and away from the entrance, Caleb got a little over excited and sort of plowed through a couple of kids who were waiting in line. I don’t think he meant to, but there stood guardian mom, again, and she got all over Caleb. This was almost my breaking point. However, instead of saying what I really wanted to say, I looked only at Caleb and said something to the effect of, “You must wait your turn behind the other children who were here first.” I really said it like that… with a sickeningly sweet voice. Caleb looked at me like I’d totally lost it, but he quickly got behind the other kids, which was what confirmed it for me that he wasn’t trying to be pushy… he was just excited. But… oh… we still hadn’t retrieved Ian! At this point, several of the other mother’s children and friends decided that they, also, were too scared to go through the exhibit… Well… what do you know… and they ran over Caleb on their way down the ladder. Caleb and I just stood there looking bewildered, but without such a crowd he was able to climb up and I was able to yank Ian down.
Ian, Miah, and I waited at the end of the tunnel for Seth, Grace, and Caleb. Eventually, Caleb and Seth came through (it took a long time). Then we waited some more (remember, this place is getting ready to close), but Grace never showed up. I sent Seth to the entrance to call to her. After quite a while, she came out. Except now Seth was missing. I sent Grace to the entrance to call to him and told her to come right back. Seth came out… No Grace. So now I’m getting flustered (and thinking this is kind of like a bad episode of The Three Stooges). I sent Seth, again, to call for Grace and told him not to go back through. I mentioned to the other mom that maybe there was a full moon tonight. She told me she didn’t think so, because it was just a sliver last night. I knew that, because I’d actually taken note of the moon last night. I admitted that we had no excuse for today. Grace came out. Seth came back. And we proceeded to wait in line for the elevator.
Eventually, all of the other people waiting in line gave up and took the stairs. We pushed the button again and the door opened.
I think some of my “normal” friends would have laughed with us. But it’s OK. We survived even without friends today.
We drove through Chick-Fil-A for more chicken and fries. We drove an hour and a half home. Phil had Casey’s chicken waiting for me. Seriously… you are not what you eat…
Lisa
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
How To Split A Pumpkin In Half...
So I had this "great" idea...
We had a few leftover pumpkins from HallowedWorship, and if I can help it I don't like to let perfectly good food go to waste. Although I had never cooked fresh pumpkin before, I decided that it was definitely worth a try. I did not take into consideration how difficult it is to cut a pumpkin in half.
I began with a steak knife (They are good for carving Jack-O-Lanterns after all). When this did not work, I did a quick google search to determine the best way to break these stubborn vegetables! I tried with a chef's knife (that failed). I tried with a screwdriver and hammer (that failed, but slightly less). Finally, as a last ditch effort, Ian and I went outside and threw a pumpkin on the concrete. Much to my delight (and Ian's as well, who said, "Way to go, Mom") it worked. We proceeded to throw all of the pumpkins on the concrete... some of them repeatedly... until they split. I think we made some pretty good sound effects while we did this.
Ian and I had a great time!
We are getting new neighbors... I have joked about this before, but maybe I really am the reason everyone has their houses up for sale on this street...
Pumpkin rage...
It was fun (and it's going to be tasty, too)!
Lisa
We had a few leftover pumpkins from HallowedWorship, and if I can help it I don't like to let perfectly good food go to waste. Although I had never cooked fresh pumpkin before, I decided that it was definitely worth a try. I did not take into consideration how difficult it is to cut a pumpkin in half.
I began with a steak knife (They are good for carving Jack-O-Lanterns after all). When this did not work, I did a quick google search to determine the best way to break these stubborn vegetables! I tried with a chef's knife (that failed). I tried with a screwdriver and hammer (that failed, but slightly less). Finally, as a last ditch effort, Ian and I went outside and threw a pumpkin on the concrete. Much to my delight (and Ian's as well, who said, "Way to go, Mom") it worked. We proceeded to throw all of the pumpkins on the concrete... some of them repeatedly... until they split. I think we made some pretty good sound effects while we did this.
Ian and I had a great time!
We are getting new neighbors... I have joked about this before, but maybe I really am the reason everyone has their houses up for sale on this street...
Pumpkin rage...
It was fun (and it's going to be tasty, too)!
Lisa
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