Not Even a Week In

The first week of school isn't even over yet and I'm already struggling. Don't get me wrong, we were all ready to go back to school. My kids were ready, and anybody who knows me well knows that I was ready for them to go back to school. It was time to get back into a steady routine. I'm not saying the summer was bad. It was truly grand! But, freshly sparpened pencils, clean chalkboards and homework were knocking down the door.

I said to myself that this school year would be great! My oldest is in fifth grade and my youngest in first. Great attitude = great year. I was even excited the day we went to find out who my kid's would have as their teachers. We didn't play in any games or school politics. We didn't write any letters asking for a specific teacher. It just worked itself out. God worked it out. 

But I'm already on shaky ground.

My oldest had new teachers last year. Every one of them. They didn't have kids either*. I was scratching my head about some of the projects and their bad timing on more than one occasion. With my youngest we started out Kindergarten with one teacher and finished with another. The first one had family issues and felt it was better to stay at home. I don't begrudge her that. We were lucky to have had her the length of time we did. We had known her since my oldest had started school there. The second teacher was great.Then the last day of school came and we were given Kindergarten graduation certificates.** My daughter's name was spelled wrong. Ugh. Really?  After two attempts at getting one with her name spelled right over the summer, nothing. On the third day of school this year I was told that I would have to wait until the end of this year to get one with her name spelled right because supposedly they didn't have any more of the cardstock. I went to a big box office supply and got my own.

I was able to leave my cares behind after asking several teachers, including the gifted and talented teacher about a math tutor for my oldest. I asked over email and in person. They said they would get back to me. I was ready and willing to pay to keep my daughter on her toes with her math skills. We've tried the math tutoring places before, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I was looking for true one on one time.  I dreaded the thought of her getting behind. I heard back from none of them. Either way. I ended up finding an honors math student who's a junior in high school. Both of my daughters just adore her!

For this school year I was sort of resigned to the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em join 'em" when it comes to PTA. You know. That group that people pay to join and volunteer for stuff. You're on a committee, but you have no say really. It just comes from the top down and the top barks orders. I don't like barking.***

The first assignment was to provide lunch for the teachers the Friday before school started. Easy cheesy! Of course I signed up to bring dessert. A chocolate chip pound cake was in the works. It was so much in the works I made TWO. One to keep and one for the staff. Heaven! It was cooled off and delivered in time. Complete in one nice Rubbermaid carry all.

When I went to the school the next day to pick up my cake carrier it was right at the front desk where the Hospitality chair said it would be. With a broken locking mechanism. Ugh. Really? Do you think anybody even said "Thank You"? Not even accolades in the first school newsletter of the year.

No, I didn't do it for the thank-you's. I did it because I wanted to share in something I enjoy doing. I realize accidents happen. From spelling my kid's name wrong to breaking my cake carrier. But, come on.

I need Grace. Mercy. Compassion. Thankfulness. Kindness.  To get me through the rest of the school year. A couple of days ago I was saying, "No more" this soon into the school year. I want to have a change of heart, but at this rate it will be trampled all over by Thanksgiving.


God, please change my heart for the better.



*Future 4th grade teachers here's one idea: when you plan for the project of keeping up with the moon pattern, would you please plan it in the winter when we have short days? Not during the spring after the sun was out past 9? We solely relied on Hubby's iPhone app. Yep, they have an app for that.

**No. We don't have Kindergarten graduation ceremonies. That's just stupid and a waste of money.

***Barking orders and little girls yelling and screaming. Grates.On.My.Nerves.

Come On Summer!

It's been a long school year. I can almost taste the last day of school. It won't get here soon enough. It's been an interesting year as far as being a crossing guard goes as well. There have been some good things about this year, as well as bad. I have to remind myself of the good when something bad happens.

I had to make a list to help get me through the last few weeks of school. Here goes. 

The people and things I will miss:

-The moms who allowed me to get to know them by name. They've made the mornings and afternoons a pleasure. Here's to new acquaintances and friends. 

-The kids who were ready to get to school each and every day. Some of those kids had the sweetest disposition.
-The school bus driver who actually tried to keep the Christmas spirit alive by leaving his interior Christmas lights up well after the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour was over.
-The extra money was nice. I could earn a little play money and it didn't take me away from my kids.
-The people who drive by and just wave to say hello. They're not dropping off kids, they're just on their way to work. Or wherever.

There will also be some things that I won't miss:
-the alarm clock. Need I say more?
-Seeing kids that are way too small to be sitting in the front seat of cars.
-People who don't understand what my "Stop" sign really means.
-The woman in the minivan with a permanent scowl on her face. Everyday.
-The extreme cold/heat. The weather has not been my friend much this year.

It's been an interesting year. Goodbye homework. Goodbye to being a crossing guard at the corner.  Hopefully, summer will wipe away the headaches of the past school year. It will give us time to nurture new friendships and maintain the existing ones. Plenty of opportunity for fun, relaxation and FREE TIME.

The World Is Your Oyster

It's that time of year again. The one where your mailbox is filled with wonderful announcements. Announcements of dreams fulfilled. Twelve years of hard work, studying, football games, exams, parties. High school graduation is a wonderful mark in most everybody's life. It's closing the door on our adolescence and opening another to our future adulthood. Whether that includes going into the military, making the journey to college or joining the workforce. It's their choice. The world is their oyster.

It's worth celebrating. Shout it out to the mountaintops! To those that we see on a most regular basis to those we haven't seen in a number of years. When do we know what is appropriate to send as a gift?When is a card enough? Just because you get an announcement does Miss Manners say that we are obligated to send a gift? Are we supposed to consider how much the travel expenses would be? 

Obviously, each person's financial situation is different. Not everyone at every time can  give a gift of monetary value. Nor, may they want to. There are many different types of gifts.  

If  most expect some sort of monetary gift, is it too much to expect a thank you note that consists of more than ONE sentence?  I guess that one sentence thank you note is better than no thank you note at all. Instead of presents, when is presence enough? 

Whether a gift is received and a thank you note written, congratulations graduates! You have the world ahead of you. Every possibility awaits. Your childhood behind you, the world ahead. Take advantage of every great opportunity. Seek counsel from others when there seems to be too many choices, or not enough. Most of all, enjoy every moment!

Dear School Board

It's been all over the news lately about school districts needing to make cuts to the budget. The school district that I am in is no different. I'm not here to point fingers as to whose fault it is. It doesn't really matter at this point. We're at a crossroads and we need to work together to get through. 

In my district 223 teachers were given pink slips this week. Add to that number 120 support people. With two children in elementary school, this troubles me. Hubby and I moved to this area for the reputation of the school district. Now we find ourselves looking at private schools to ensure a quality education for our kids. My kids deserve the best and I'm not sure that my school district can provide that quality education anymore. Can I make some suggestions from a parents point of view? 

At our particular elementary school there is a receptionist and an office manager. The woman who is our receptionist is perfect for the job. She's friendly and knows everybody. The office manager sits right behind her with a plate glass window between them. If the receptionist isn't at her desk for whatever reason, the office manager will look at you and let you wait til the receptionist comes back. Why is she there in that position? If the receptionist has to be away from her desk for an extended period of time, volunteers will cover for her. Why doesn't the office manager cover for her? What is there for her to manage? 

In the months of October and March my school district has free breakfast for all of the children. Everyday. It needs to stop. Imagine how much is spent on those breakfasts each day in the entire school district. I know it's for the benefit of those children who don't get a quality breakfast before school each day. Have you seen what they serve as the free breakfast? Give me a break! It's the parents responsibility to make sure the children have a full stomach when they arrive to take on the challenges of the day. I am painfully aware that there are parents out there whose last priority is to make sure their kids have breakfast. It's time to stop being lazy and think about our children. Put them first. 

Next month the district will celebrate with an employee service and retirement banquet at Southfork Ranch. Followed the next month by a teacher of the year banquet and The Plano Centre. Why do we need a separate celebration for these? Why can't these things be celebrated in a school gym like school dances and spirit rallies? If they should be celebrated in a economic times like we are in, isn't there somewhere that's a little more budget friendly? I understand that we need to keep the morale up for our teachers, but we also need to get a grip and buckle down. There are too many people that will suffer because of budget constraints. 

The average salary of the Central Administrative support is $88,178*. That's the salary for someone who is in the pretty buildings who don't have to share bathrooms or breathing space with the kids in their school district. The average teacher salary is $52,375*. Am I the only one who sees the imbalance here? Some of the people in the pretty buildings need to visit the classrooms a little more often to see who the outstanding teachers really are. I would at least like to see them show what their value is. Why do they get paid what they get paid? Why are they an asset instead of a liability? 

I realize that teachers are making what the market calls for, but is there that much paper to be shuffled around in the pretty buildings? 

Then, there are some teachers who shouldn't be teaching. I spend an adequate amount of time in my kids school by volunteering. There are some teachers that SHOULD BE given the pink slip. There are some that just have the job because they need something to fill their days with. Bye bye! I want teachers for my kids that WANT to be there. They know going in that they don't get paid millions of dollars, but they do it for the love of spreading knowledge. They do it because they want to share in the experience of growing minds and expanding creativity. 

I don't have a degree in education. I don't have a degree in finance. I'm just a mom who wants the best for her kids. I'm a citizen of the district who wants to prevent anymore pink slips going out to teachers who love what they do and who make a difference. I'm a person who wishes that common sense was a little more common. 

When making difficult, yet necessary cuts to education spending it's irresponsible and insulting to teachers and taxpayers for administrators to suggest that in-classroom spending be the first to go**. 

Cuts need to be made in public education.....but not in the classroom. 

*redappleproject.com

**protecttheclassroom.com

I Am Projected Out!

Fourth grade seems to be the year of the project. At least the second semester is anyway. And I'm beat!! I don't believe I've ever worked as hard on something as these projects. Should I be working this hard? It's not my project. I've done my schooling. But what kind of mother would I be if I didn't do anything? 

As soon as we got back from Christmas break it was announced by my fourth grader that she had a science project due. Excuse me? We had just had two weeks off  that we could have used to work on this project. But alas, that time was gone and we had to buckle down and get it planned, started and then finished in two weeks. We did a  project on density. I have to say it was pretty fun and I think we did a darn fine job. You should have seen the ones that actually got ribbons at the science fair. Augh! 

The next project was to make a travel brochure about The Alamo or any other battle site in the state of Texas. This was prompted on the day AFTER it was due by a phone call from the teacher telling us our fourth grader hadn't turned it in. Seriously, I was about to hit the roof. We hustled  to get this thing printed out. I did all of the research while my kid was at school. I told said kid to choose what she would like to put in the brochure. Hubby was in charge of getting this thing printed out with what little printer ink we had left in the printer. This was on a Wednesday. 

That very next Thursday we were building a piano out of a gift box for the music teacher. Yep! The music teacher had all of fourth grade make a music instrument. This was assigned some time ago, but my fourth grader forgot about it. Until the week it was due. Thank God the piano didn't have to make music, it just had to look like an instrument. I was mad, frustrated, flustered and wondering if there was a rock I could go hide under. 

Now I'm breathing down the back of a "Free Market" project. The kids have to come up with a product to sell to the other kids and the proceeds go to a charity chosen by the teacher. Where do I start with this one? The kids make a product and the fifth grade comes around to all the stations and buy their goods if they so choose.  Hello? Kids running out school with money? What if the "charity" is the teacher's mortgage company? If this were truly a free market project the kids would have to cover the costs of their product first then any remaining monies would be considered profit. 

The kids chose to do sand art. They would provide the sand and the plastic bottles and the kids that want to shell out the money they can make their own designs. I've seen how much colored sand costs. I'm stunned. I've seen the recipe for making my own colored sand and I have no desire to have the leftover 15 pounds of sand laying around the house. Even the least expensive plastic bottle is about $1.19 each. 

Dear teachers, I'm projected out. I've had enough. These projects are a little too much back to back. Some of these are middle school worthy projects and we don't have anybody in middle school yet. Like I said, do I just let my kiddo take a hit on her grade if she doesn't get it done?  Or, do I jump in and help? When is it too much help on the project, and when is it not enough? 

*Winter Break, Christmas Break, call it what you will. I call it what it is. 

Our First Science Fair

It was a dark and stormy morning. A day that will live in infamy. At least in our household. Thursday, January 20 was a day that I was looking forward to. It was a day that the science projects were due and I could have my dining room table back. We had been working on this thing for about a month. Hubby and I did so much of it that we should have had naming rights on this project*!!!! 

We did a project on density. We had three different liquids and three different objects. The purpose was to see how long it took the three objects to float to the bottom, if at all. Then our second experiment was to combine all liquids in a glass container and see how the liquids layered. We even broke out our camera and took pictures for the lovely tri-fold poster board. 

There were some comedic moments during this whole project. After the weekend that we had done the actual project oldest daughter says that she wants to do the project with a friend from class. Let me stress again, we've already done the experiment. I'm not buying anymore cooking oil and honey. We go back and forth with the teacher explaining that all we had left is the report. What good would it have done to now include someone else who wasn't there to see the experiment? So, the Friday before it's due we get a phone call from the kids mom and I had to tell her that we've already done most of the work. 

Another funny was when oldest daughter's best buddy's mom calls the Monday before it's due. It's MLK Jr. day and the phone rings. Friend's mom is asking if the science project is mandatory. I was screaming, "YES, YOU FOOL" in my head, but politely explained to her that it was. Hubby and I wouldn't have been stressing if it wasn't. It wouldn't be any problem for them anyway since they're Chinese. Even though there was only four days left, they'd probably still wipe the floor with everyone else's project. 

This science fair stuff is a big deal. There's a 50 page notebook that comes home explaining all of the requirements. It was sent home the beginning of December. It's a good little bathroom read. 

So, the due date finally gets here. Praise God and all that is good. It's stressful being a parent with a kid who has their first science project due. With rain coming down. Crap. I kept telling the oldest to just keep the board face-side down so it doesn't get ruined. It's like Hubby and I are the ones back at school. I'm anxious now to see what grade the experiment gets. 

I have my dining room table back. For dining**. Life is good. 

*just for the record I wanted to name it, "How Dense Are You?"

**We eat breakfast at the kitchen table, but love having dinner in the dining room. Every day. 

Tales of a Crossing Guard

Recently the job of crossing guard became available at my children's school. I've heard it once said that being a crossing guard is like getting paid to take your children to and from school. Yes, you saw that right. I'm getting bank for this! Of course we get all of the school holidays and breaks and it's not even two hours out of the day. SWEET! 

Yes, there is a down side. The bad weather days. I have a rockin new rain coat, courtesy of the city in which I live and baseball caps are my friends. My ears will stay warm thanks to the cute little ear mitts that I recently purchased. Another down side would be the offensively bright yellow/green reflective vest that clashes with my hair color and skin tone. That color should be illegal. 

I had my training session yesterday afternoon. It was alright.  I listened and observed my trainer. I was petrified. I kept thinking of the worst scenario that could happen. Like a kid darting back out into traffic. Or, an driver that thinks he/she doesn't have to obey the traffic laws. There's really only a small ten minute window that's a little crazy. For the other 20 minutes it's really boring. My trainer kept making it clear that a police detective lives in the house across the street from the school and he's called several times about kids being in his yard. Dude, why did you buy a house right across the street from a school? I'm supposed to get the kids safely across the street. If they happen to accidentally step into his yard, it's really not my problem. 

We headed out for my first morning of crossing guard duty while it was still dark outside. It was so quiet. As if everyone was still asleep.  I've never made it a point to get up early enough to see the sun come up, but that was a nice surprise this morning. Slowly it came over the houses and trees and the dark was no more. It was glorious. 

Most of the morning it went off without a hitch. It's really a very quiet neighborhood. Not a lot of traffic. The kids were nice. The moms were nice, until I met one. She had walked her kid to school and she was walking back home and said, "Good job, for the most part". Excuse me? I said it was my first day, and that I thought I was doing relatively well. I'm not sure if she thought I should have rolled out a red carpet just for her. But dream on lady. 

There were a few drivers who thought they didn't have to stop as I was walking into the middle of the intersection. I'm thinking if you don't want to get stopped by a crossing guard, find another way in and out of the neighborhood. There are plenty of them. After the first one, I let some words fly. I was pretty sure they couldn't hear me, but they could see my mouth moving and the expression on my face was not a nice one. Don't worry, there were no children around to hear my words. 

Here's to good weather, cold weather, rain and sun. Here's to making bank just for taking my kids to and from school. 

Eeewww, Gross....

Today on the way home from school I was loaded with questions. I asked each girl:

What was the best part of your day: (L) said "Everything"

What was the worst part of your day: (L) said "I don't know. I liked everything."

I asked J the same thing. For the best part she said, "Everything". For the worst part it was, "this boy kept staring at me. He said I was cute and he wanted to kiss me." She said to him, "Eeeewwww grosss"

Oh my word! Let the games begin.....