The first of many working weekends....
Been at the show office now for 10 hours and have another two to go. I'm feeling pretty darn tired, to tell the truth.
The worst part? This is just the first of 4 shows, and I will get to do this all over again next weekend...
Sounds like the boys did well on their own last night until Hubby got home from work, and when I called to make sure S got up and was getting ready for school, all was under control.
It's getting to the point that my family isn't going to need me anymore.
Oh, right - they always will; I'm the only one that cleans the bathrooms!!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thinking of you, Cuz
My dear, dear friend Cuz will be heading in to the hospital in the morning. She is going bionic!
Well, no, not really, but after so many years of having painful, painful knees, she is going to be getting knee replacement surgery. Then, early next week she is going to be getting the other knee done.
I'm sure it will be tough going for her for while, but I know that she will be so much better after these knees are replaced. Its going to be so nice for her to be able to actually walk around and do things without the pain and agony she's been living with for so long.
Thinking of you, Cuz. Love you lots.
~~~
I will be away for the next 7 out of 8 weeks. This weekend is the show I manage and the following weekend is our other show that I run. After two crazy weeks with our shows, I'll have the week to get some things cleaned up in the office, before I'm off again. Mid-month I'll be leaving at some point for the airport - off to the Governor's conference in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hubby will join me down there after the conference and I'll get a few days of a holiday. I'll still be doing some work stuff, but for the most part it's going to be a holiday. Not quite Mexico warm, but at least it won't be tons of snow to deal with.
The boys are very aware of my schedule for the upcoming weeks, and I think they are going to do just fine. The A-man has his History exam tomorrow and then he is off for the rest of the week.
S will be doing his speech in school tomorrow - he wrote it on ADHD. He was practising tonight; he's so cute.
Well, no, not really, but after so many years of having painful, painful knees, she is going to be getting knee replacement surgery. Then, early next week she is going to be getting the other knee done.
I'm sure it will be tough going for her for while, but I know that she will be so much better after these knees are replaced. Its going to be so nice for her to be able to actually walk around and do things without the pain and agony she's been living with for so long.
Thinking of you, Cuz. Love you lots.
~~~
I will be away for the next 7 out of 8 weeks. This weekend is the show I manage and the following weekend is our other show that I run. After two crazy weeks with our shows, I'll have the week to get some things cleaned up in the office, before I'm off again. Mid-month I'll be leaving at some point for the airport - off to the Governor's conference in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hubby will join me down there after the conference and I'll get a few days of a holiday. I'll still be doing some work stuff, but for the most part it's going to be a holiday. Not quite Mexico warm, but at least it won't be tons of snow to deal with.
The boys are very aware of my schedule for the upcoming weeks, and I think they are going to do just fine. The A-man has his History exam tomorrow and then he is off for the rest of the week.
S will be doing his speech in school tomorrow - he wrote it on ADHD. He was practising tonight; he's so cute.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Mean Moms...
I've seen this one before, yet every single time I read it I am amazed at how true these words are.
Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent,
I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you enough . . to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . .. . to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.
Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.
She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.
While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shop lifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault.
Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms!
AMEN. I'm proud to be a "mean mom"
Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent,
I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you enough . . to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . .. . to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.
Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.
She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.
While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shop lifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault.
Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms!
AMEN. I'm proud to be a "mean mom"
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Status quo
I think this is the longest I have ever gone without posting to my blog. Almost 2 full weeks. That is just crazy.
When I first started this blog, I guess it was a bit therapeutic for me. It was a way for me to vent about the frustrations of dealing with educators that didn't understand, of doctor's appointments, of homework dealings.... For a bit, I even used it to track certain actions/behaviours.
I have now come to the realization that things have changed in my household in the past year and a half. I don't have the daily 'issues', problems and frustrations that I used to have. Phone calls from the school seem to be a thing of the past - but a fading memory. Never to be a 'fond' memory, but fading is okay too!
Oh, we still have our homework-completion issues, and the "it's not my turn to empty the litter" issues, but they just seem so small in comparison to the larger ones we've had in the past. I am not complaining - nor do I ever want those days back.
I'm just saying it's almost like my original reason for keeping this blog has now become a thing of the past. The original reason is now obsolete. (Isn't that great?)
~~~
Seems like everyone is celebrating Obama today. When I checked my Facebook this morning, I was surprised at the number of people that were commenting about the inauguration today, and how excited they were.
I, too, am happy that the US finally has a President that brings hope and promise, but I am just amazed at how many people that normally aren't all that politically-minded are now getting in to the wave of excitement.
I am left wondering if it's because of the man himself, or if it's because we are watching history unfold. "America's first black President."
Had Hilary won the race, we would be still be watching history - "America's first female President," but I don't think it would have been as exciting. (It's been either Bush or Clinton on the ballot far too long, imho...)
It's an exciting time, but also a very difficult time for this man to take office. If the economy doesn't start to show improvement, there will be the ney-sayers that blame Obama for not doing a better job. (Even though the mess was created before him and now he gets the wonderful clean-up job.)
I'm looking forward to watching history today. It is an exciting day.
~~~
S had to do a public speaking assignment, and he chose to write his speech on ADHD. I thought that was pretty cool. He didn't really do a lot of research on it - he went more from personal experience. I don't know that the speech is going to be long enough to consider moving him forward in the competition - not that he would be comfortable doing that anyway - but I think it will be a bit of therapy for him. It will give him a chance to explain to some people, "Hey, it isn't all my fault!"
The A-man had his History ISU presentation yesterday. He said the teacher commented that they were very original in their presentation, but I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I have always been a firm believer that it is good to be unique, and the boys worked hard and presented the information well. Hopefully the marks are up to the levels the boys are wanting.
Exam time is also upon us. The A-man has one on Thursday - Science - and then one on Tuesday for History. Then he will start "a semester of classes I love," is how he described it to me last night. His next semester includes Math, English, Religion and Civics. He is excited about the first three; and has heard the Civics teacher/class is boring. No matter; he is excited about English!
I never thought I'd see the day.
When I first started this blog, I guess it was a bit therapeutic for me. It was a way for me to vent about the frustrations of dealing with educators that didn't understand, of doctor's appointments, of homework dealings.... For a bit, I even used it to track certain actions/behaviours.
I have now come to the realization that things have changed in my household in the past year and a half. I don't have the daily 'issues', problems and frustrations that I used to have. Phone calls from the school seem to be a thing of the past - but a fading memory. Never to be a 'fond' memory, but fading is okay too!
Oh, we still have our homework-completion issues, and the "it's not my turn to empty the litter" issues, but they just seem so small in comparison to the larger ones we've had in the past. I am not complaining - nor do I ever want those days back.
I'm just saying it's almost like my original reason for keeping this blog has now become a thing of the past. The original reason is now obsolete. (Isn't that great?)
~~~
Seems like everyone is celebrating Obama today. When I checked my Facebook this morning, I was surprised at the number of people that were commenting about the inauguration today, and how excited they were.
I, too, am happy that the US finally has a President that brings hope and promise, but I am just amazed at how many people that normally aren't all that politically-minded are now getting in to the wave of excitement.
I am left wondering if it's because of the man himself, or if it's because we are watching history unfold. "America's first black President."
Had Hilary won the race, we would be still be watching history - "America's first female President," but I don't think it would have been as exciting. (It's been either Bush or Clinton on the ballot far too long, imho...)
It's an exciting time, but also a very difficult time for this man to take office. If the economy doesn't start to show improvement, there will be the ney-sayers that blame Obama for not doing a better job. (Even though the mess was created before him and now he gets the wonderful clean-up job.)
I'm looking forward to watching history today. It is an exciting day.
~~~
S had to do a public speaking assignment, and he chose to write his speech on ADHD. I thought that was pretty cool. He didn't really do a lot of research on it - he went more from personal experience. I don't know that the speech is going to be long enough to consider moving him forward in the competition - not that he would be comfortable doing that anyway - but I think it will be a bit of therapy for him. It will give him a chance to explain to some people, "Hey, it isn't all my fault!"
The A-man had his History ISU presentation yesterday. He said the teacher commented that they were very original in their presentation, but I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I have always been a firm believer that it is good to be unique, and the boys worked hard and presented the information well. Hopefully the marks are up to the levels the boys are wanting.
Exam time is also upon us. The A-man has one on Thursday - Science - and then one on Tuesday for History. Then he will start "a semester of classes I love," is how he described it to me last night. His next semester includes Math, English, Religion and Civics. He is excited about the first three; and has heard the Civics teacher/class is boring. No matter; he is excited about English!
I never thought I'd see the day.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Sneaky Mom
Over last weekend, I came up with a new strategy to help me ensure that the boys continue on the path of helping keep the kitchen clean.
Lately I have been finding dishes put away from the dishwasher that aren't actually clean - most of the time it is because the dish wasn't rinsed properly. I've also noticed that both boys are terrible at putting dirty dishes on the counter above the dishwasher rather than IN the dishwasher. Drives me crazy.
So, new rule for 2009. If I find a dirty dish that has been put away, the dish goes in to the sink to be hand washed. If I find dishes laying around the kitchen, on the counter or on the table, it goes in to the sink. Any and all dishes that are in the sink must be hand washed, dried and put away before bed time each night.
This morning when I left for work there were a number of peanut-butter covered knives, a few drinking glasses and one other dish in the sink. When I got home from work, the sink was empty and the dishwasher was running. I know the hand washing did not get done - the dishes got put in the dishwasher. I made a comment about this fact - they both feigned ignorance about what I was talking about.
No matter - the dishes were not laying around anymore.
;o)
Lately I have been finding dishes put away from the dishwasher that aren't actually clean - most of the time it is because the dish wasn't rinsed properly. I've also noticed that both boys are terrible at putting dirty dishes on the counter above the dishwasher rather than IN the dishwasher. Drives me crazy.
So, new rule for 2009. If I find a dirty dish that has been put away, the dish goes in to the sink to be hand washed. If I find dishes laying around the kitchen, on the counter or on the table, it goes in to the sink. Any and all dishes that are in the sink must be hand washed, dried and put away before bed time each night.
This morning when I left for work there were a number of peanut-butter covered knives, a few drinking glasses and one other dish in the sink. When I got home from work, the sink was empty and the dishwasher was running. I know the hand washing did not get done - the dishes got put in the dishwasher. I made a comment about this fact - they both feigned ignorance about what I was talking about.
No matter - the dishes were not laying around anymore.
;o)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Back at it
I find it incredible how two weeks of each year can have such a build up, and then in the blink of an eye, be done. Just a memory.
So went another Christmas. I will admit, I really liked not being the person making the traditional dinner this year. My Christmas morning/day was just so relaxed. Now, don't get me wrong - I love doing the dinner, etc., but since I've done it for the past five years or so, it was nice to NOT be doing it, too.
Funny how we like to have it both ways, huh?
So, the New Year has arrived. Ours was brought in with a few friends at a house party. It was quiet, but still a pleasant time. The most excitement occured when our pre-scheduled taxi arrived, then promptly pulled away from the house, thereby leaving us stranded. We ended up getting a friend's daughter to take us home, and she benefited by us hiding the taxi money in the car for her. Win/win situation.
Yes, I did call the taxi company to complain, but I doubt anything will come of it. No matter - jut won't ever use them again. Ever.
The A-man has an ISU for his History class. He's known about this assignment for a number of weeks now, but has done nothing on it. He told me that he would work with his partner over the holidays. It drives me nuts that they have partners for ISU's. I have no problem with this particular partner - it's actually Jazzy's brother - and I know he will do his share of the project, but the idea is that it is an INDIVIDUAL study unit. I N D I V I D U A L. That is the key word there, people.
Anyway, over the beginning of the holiday, I knew that Jazzy's family was away on a ski holiday. Then it was Christmas, and we were away for 5 days. Next thing we know, it is the New Year, and the A-man and Jazzy's brother have done nothing on the project. I ask the A-man for the detailed sheet on the project. He claimed they weren't given one.
Yeah, right. Because a teacher is going to assign a project - a major project - and not give out detailed information about what is needed, etc. You buy that, right?
What, you don't?!?!?
I didn't either.
After having the A-man call a couple of classmates - which was impossible because he claims he knows no one in the class - there seemed to be no information available. On New Years day, when we went to get our vehicle from the house party location, I happened to ask their son if he had a sheet. The day previous when the A-man had called, this boy claimed he didn't know if anything had been given out. It's amazing how a memory can suddenly be triggered when the same question is asked by a parent, in front of another parent.
When I came home and gave the A-man this sheet he had SWORN he didn't receive, I did feel somewhat vindicated, I will admit it. Hey, you gotta take the small pleasures where you can. ;o)
The next day, the A-man and Jazzy's brother spent quite a bit of time working on the project together. Both of them claimed a due date had not been given, but Jazzy's parents are somewhat like me in their homework approach, and were both 'with me' when I said I didn't want to see this done in the last possible moments. Turns out they have to turn in the project in a week and a half, meaning they do have time, but Jazzy's brother is a ski instructor and works every weekend. At least now they have split up the work and each can be responsible for certain portions of the project. This project is worth 15% of their final History mark.
Maybe someday the A-man will realize I am not just being mean. Hopefully.
On a positive note, the A-man received a very good mark on his Tourism ISU - 95% - and was quite pleased with that, for obvious reasons. Again, I road him a bit on that one, but HE was pleased with that outcome; maybe I'll give him a reminder about that.
~~
I called S's principal yesterday afternoon about the in-school suspension he had received prior to the holidays. My main reason for calling was because he had been in the school all day and not given an opportunity to go out and run around a bit. Turns out S didn't mention to me that he was given outside time; it just wasn't at the same time as the rest of the school.
The Principal explained to me that she wanted to use that time to talk one-on-one with S, to explain a few things to him, and simply to get to know him - and how his mind works - better. She was very surprsied to learn that he was agitated after the day, because she said he was just fine throughout the entire day in school. In fact, she told me that he was very helpful in completing a number of tasks that needed to be done before the start of the Christmas break.
We ended the conversation with the agreement that Principal was going to talk to S today about how he felt after the in-school suspension, and explain to him that if he exudes a calm exterior and then blows up at home, she can’t do anything to help him at the time. She explained to me that she was going to work on encouraging S to ‘use his words’, etc.
It seems to strange to think that we have to talk like this to a 13 year old, but I guess that is all part and parcel with the Auspergers. I need to do more reading/research on Auspergers.
So, all in all, life is back to ‘normal’ again. School is back in, routine has been established once again, and my work-life is about to enter the crazy phase from now until the middle of March. February will once again be a time of away-from-home-more-than-at-home, but at least it’s not the first time we’ve gone through this, and I will be able to breathe a little easier this year knowing that both boys did so well with it all last year.
So went another Christmas. I will admit, I really liked not being the person making the traditional dinner this year. My Christmas morning/day was just so relaxed. Now, don't get me wrong - I love doing the dinner, etc., but since I've done it for the past five years or so, it was nice to NOT be doing it, too.
Funny how we like to have it both ways, huh?
So, the New Year has arrived. Ours was brought in with a few friends at a house party. It was quiet, but still a pleasant time. The most excitement occured when our pre-scheduled taxi arrived, then promptly pulled away from the house, thereby leaving us stranded. We ended up getting a friend's daughter to take us home, and she benefited by us hiding the taxi money in the car for her. Win/win situation.
Yes, I did call the taxi company to complain, but I doubt anything will come of it. No matter - jut won't ever use them again. Ever.
The A-man has an ISU for his History class. He's known about this assignment for a number of weeks now, but has done nothing on it. He told me that he would work with his partner over the holidays. It drives me nuts that they have partners for ISU's. I have no problem with this particular partner - it's actually Jazzy's brother - and I know he will do his share of the project, but the idea is that it is an INDIVIDUAL study unit. I N D I V I D U A L. That is the key word there, people.
Anyway, over the beginning of the holiday, I knew that Jazzy's family was away on a ski holiday. Then it was Christmas, and we were away for 5 days. Next thing we know, it is the New Year, and the A-man and Jazzy's brother have done nothing on the project. I ask the A-man for the detailed sheet on the project. He claimed they weren't given one.
Yeah, right. Because a teacher is going to assign a project - a major project - and not give out detailed information about what is needed, etc. You buy that, right?
What, you don't?!?!?
I didn't either.
After having the A-man call a couple of classmates - which was impossible because he claims he knows no one in the class - there seemed to be no information available. On New Years day, when we went to get our vehicle from the house party location, I happened to ask their son if he had a sheet. The day previous when the A-man had called, this boy claimed he didn't know if anything had been given out. It's amazing how a memory can suddenly be triggered when the same question is asked by a parent, in front of another parent.
When I came home and gave the A-man this sheet he had SWORN he didn't receive, I did feel somewhat vindicated, I will admit it. Hey, you gotta take the small pleasures where you can. ;o)
The next day, the A-man and Jazzy's brother spent quite a bit of time working on the project together. Both of them claimed a due date had not been given, but Jazzy's parents are somewhat like me in their homework approach, and were both 'with me' when I said I didn't want to see this done in the last possible moments. Turns out they have to turn in the project in a week and a half, meaning they do have time, but Jazzy's brother is a ski instructor and works every weekend. At least now they have split up the work and each can be responsible for certain portions of the project. This project is worth 15% of their final History mark.
Maybe someday the A-man will realize I am not just being mean. Hopefully.
On a positive note, the A-man received a very good mark on his Tourism ISU - 95% - and was quite pleased with that, for obvious reasons. Again, I road him a bit on that one, but HE was pleased with that outcome; maybe I'll give him a reminder about that.
~~
I called S's principal yesterday afternoon about the in-school suspension he had received prior to the holidays. My main reason for calling was because he had been in the school all day and not given an opportunity to go out and run around a bit. Turns out S didn't mention to me that he was given outside time; it just wasn't at the same time as the rest of the school.
The Principal explained to me that she wanted to use that time to talk one-on-one with S, to explain a few things to him, and simply to get to know him - and how his mind works - better. She was very surprsied to learn that he was agitated after the day, because she said he was just fine throughout the entire day in school. In fact, she told me that he was very helpful in completing a number of tasks that needed to be done before the start of the Christmas break.
We ended the conversation with the agreement that Principal was going to talk to S today about how he felt after the in-school suspension, and explain to him that if he exudes a calm exterior and then blows up at home, she can’t do anything to help him at the time. She explained to me that she was going to work on encouraging S to ‘use his words’, etc.
It seems to strange to think that we have to talk like this to a 13 year old, but I guess that is all part and parcel with the Auspergers. I need to do more reading/research on Auspergers.
So, all in all, life is back to ‘normal’ again. School is back in, routine has been established once again, and my work-life is about to enter the crazy phase from now until the middle of March. February will once again be a time of away-from-home-more-than-at-home, but at least it’s not the first time we’ve gone through this, and I will be able to breathe a little easier this year knowing that both boys did so well with it all last year.
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