Good Deed

So, I wanted to teach the girls a lesson today in being thoughtful... compassionate..... nice.... pick the word....

As K was going to sleep I said, "I did something nice today".

She said, "Oh, I did something nice today. too. You know how I pick and eat my finger nails? Well today, I bit them and instead of putting them on the floor, I put them in the trash."

"Well, ok, you win."

"What was your good deed, Mommy?"

"Never mind."

Milestone

We hit a milestone today.

My baby went on her first babysitting job.

It's ok, you can weep. I almost did. I mean I would have if I let myself have 5 minutes to think about it.

She went with my friend who has twins that are almost 2, to the beach. She was the "mother's helper". Mind you this friend of mine, we used to live together, we have drank together, we have been through much together. It was a little surreal, her picking up K and taking her on a "job".

K came home with the biggest smile on her face and it wasn't just because of the 20 bucks. Nope, she had a blast! She played with the girls in the sand, in the water, with bubbles, ate lunch...it was like a dream come true for her. I think she even came home a few inches taller!

As proud as I am of her, I am a little sad for myself. It just doesn't seem that long ago that she was 2 and B was 6 months and I had Jillian (a friend's daughter who was 11) as a Mother's helper. No matter how hard I try to live in the present, time just flies by.... I am still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up for Pete's sake!

Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Not-So-Innocent

So I am sitting with my glass of Chardonnay at my computer trying to comprehend the last 2 days. Our elementary school is looking for a new principal and I am the token parent on the search committee. There are 9 of us on this comm. We have interviewed 11 people over the past 2 days (6 yesterday, 5 today). I am a little fried, to say the least. I can't even discuss the candidates or the sordid details of our lunch time talk. Too bad, because all I could think of was "oohh this would be great for the blog!".

My parents had the girls this afternoon. When I got out at 5, I raced to pick the dog/lamb up from my sister's house and then the girls from my parents and then drove (ok, raced) to the next town for B's soccer practice. We then drove back to parent's house where Mom had made us dinner. Thanks Mom! Then the girls and I jumped in the car to get home for showers and bedtime. On the way home, I almost drove into a cemetery. Not because I wanted to visit anyone or join anyone residing there, but because of what K innocently blurted out from the back seat.

" I got asked out by Nathan Little today. I told him I would rather die first than date him."

Yes, my innocent 11 (almost 12)yr old tells me this as I was driving. Thankfully, I was only going about 30, because I literally slammed on the brakes and choked. After breathing into a paper bag for a few minutes, I was able to carry on a mom/daughter conversation.

me, "He really asked you out?"
K, "He was desperate. He asked every girl out in the 5th grade!"
me, "I don't think you would be my definition of someone to ask out if someone were desperate. You are a very smart, caring, beautiful girl." (Teachable moment, people!)
K, "Yeah, but he asked out everyone!"
me, "Did you say to his face that you would rather die first than date him?" (Me, feeling a wee bit of sympathy for the poor boy along with a lot of dislike.)
K, "No, Sam came around and asked all the girls one at a time, if we liked Nathan. We all told him 'no!'. Sarah even went as far as saying, "I would kick him and then spit on him if he asked me out." (My thought was these girls are a little dramatic {and violent!}).

I can't wait to find out what is going to happen at the 5/6th grade skate night on Saturday. Maybe the father will be in charge of pick up and drop off that night. UGH!

A*s Kicking

I often wonder how a 65 lb 10 year old can kick my a*s to the curb in the matter of an hour.

Let me preface this with our afternoon. K went to a friend's house after school, B had chorus. I picked B up at 3:30, K at 4. We ran into Job Lot (discount "crap" store), went to wish my brother in law Happy Birthday and wound up talking with nephew,S for 1/2 hour. We got home, I had dinner on the table by 6 (this hasn't happened in awhile thanks to the time change), the girls and I(DH out fishing) ate and laughed.... Where/when did it go downhill?

At some point the good mood started to crumble. K got in the shower, B was on my bed watching tv. Both girls were whining about how they needed a back massage so I obliged. Maybe that was my mistake. Maybe I should have whined to them and made them give me one! One's wasn't as long as the other, one started whining to the other, one started yelling at the other, one started singing to annoy the other..... You get the picture. They were both in respective rooms at 7:45 with no finishing program they were watching. K could not handle that and slammed the door in my face. B just got into bed and read. K pushed her luck and tried to watch more tv, but I said, "Do that and no going to BFF's birthday party on Saturday". Something must have registered because she claimed she didn't care about BFF's party, but did everything except turn on the tv . She cried for quite some time and claimed she didn't like me, I was the meanest mom, wasn't tired.. the works. I told her I loved her, put B to bed and came downstairs to a big bowl of popcorn and glass of wine. Or was it a big glass of wine and a few kernels of popcorn? Either way... She came downstairs (9:15). Said what was really bothering her was that she didn't want to go to school tomorrow because of a writing project. Yesterday the teacher said her opening was great, today she said it needed some work and she was writing like a 4th grader. (she's a 5th grader). This is the kid that has struggled with school since the get go. Until this year, she has been pulled out for extra reading help. She blurted out this afternoon that she got a 100 on her oral report that she gave yesterday and she was so proud of herself! (As was I!) So, she is not the best writer. Please don't insult her by saying she is writing like a 4th grader. Oh the horrors, I know, a 4th grader.

I do love her teacher and she does many a creative project with the class. K loves her too (for the most part). I might have to tell her that the next time she compares something K has done to a 4th grader, she may have to take her home for the night because I only have so much wine and can only handle so many a*s kickings.