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It’s none of my business but…

21 Aug

Every morning, he emerges from his house with one thing on his mind. The older man, who always wears a smile on his face and offers a wave to neighbors, walks to his backyard and begins inspecting his beautiful flowering plants that line his property. He cares for each one patiently and thoroughly, making sure they are pruned and watered. He loves them and it shows.

Now, his precious plants are being crowded and possibly threatened. The new neighbor behind him is building a fence. Practically right on top of them.

Does he have the right? Sure, if he obtained the proper permit and permission from the homeowners’ association. Does that mean it is right? I say no.

I’m heartbroken for him. It just seems so inconsiderate and in your face. I would have at least talked to the man about it before putting up the posts. I asked him if he was told about it. He gave me a very disappointed no.

Funny thing is, I think the fence will be nice for our block, providing some more privacy. I still can’t help think that it is not worth it though. A man’s feelings should mean more than another man’s privacy fence.

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Just Say No to Silly Bandz but Enjoy a Coke

17 Aug

I’m not in school anymore yet I feel like I’m being tested. I’m sure my answers will be wrong – especially from an educator’s point of view – but as the always-being-educated I have to try to comprehend the logic.

I understand and sympathize with the need for teachers to maintain acceptable behavior and keep their classrooms free of distraction to provide an optimal learning environment for children. However, I’m concerned what some tactics may be teaching students.

Schools ban things all the time because of the hoopla the outlawed items cause. I never questioned it until getting a letter about what the teachers call “overpriced, colorful, plastic rubber band bracelets” or Silly Bandz. Apparently, the bracelets cause quite a raucous. The teachers say kids with them trade and fight over them. The kids without them covet them. To settle the situation, the Silly Bandz have been banned. (Other schools have also banned them.)

I understand this may be the most efficient way to solve the issue, but what about the teachable moments? I don’t believe that teachers should parent the children but I do believe children learn how to behave appropriately in society while they are in school – learning how to work through differences, jealousy and maybe even a criminal act (a student swiping another Bandz). Instead, the teachable moment is removed. Don’t like something? Ban it.

One thing that’s not being banned – despite the feelings of envy other students may feel – is the weekly reward of a bottle of Coke.

Nia’s teacher uses the refreshing beverage as a reward for the students with the most green strips at the end of the week. Now, I’m not a super health nut or anything. We let our kids eat junk. It just had my mind going because it’s not a secret about the health concern of sodas in schools. Also, this now means my child, who rarely gets caffeine (and when she does it’s like 5 ounces) now consumes 12 ounces of sugary, caffeinated yum in the middle of the day. Because I’m thinking the sodas are an inexpensive and desirable treat for the teacher and students, I’m not bothered enough to express my questions to the teacher. But I suppose I could always request Nia get a non-caffeinated beverage instead. After all, she’ll be getting one every week.  (Said like a super snobby mommy.)

The funny thing? Nia gets the Cokes but she never did wear her Silly Bandz to school when she was allowed. Maybe those teachers are on to something – no Bandz must mean better behavior. Lesson learned.

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A fart fan that clears the air and scares the crap out of you.

7 Aug

It’s a big title for a blog but it’s so accurate I couldn’t help it. Here’s why: we recently discovered that one of the bathroom fart fans in our home had become the home of many wasps.

I only realized this after several times of cleaning up small black specs from the toilet lid.

I thought, what is this? It’s not poop. Where is it coming from?

Look up.

Fart fan.

Insect legs peeking through the vent.

Gasp.

Yell for Andrew who just thinks I’m just freaking out over bugs as usual.

He takes a closer look and then squints his eyes and shockingly states, “Those are wasps.”

He taps the vent and then jerks back when a “buzz, buzz” sounds from inside the fan.

The discovery and his seriousness immediately prompts my-oh-my-gosh-it’s-so-gross bug dance.

He instructs me to turn on the fan and shut the door.

He then climbs 20 feet up, armed with a flashlight in his mouth and a can a wasp killer in his hand. (It was 9:30 pm.) The rest is picture history.

Here is the aftermath from inside our house:

Here is the view from the scene of eviction and aftermath from the outside:

I still can’t help but feel bad about the ones we killed. Then again, they could have hurt the kids and they weren’t paying rent.

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Free HBO, a Continental Breakfast and WiFi

24 Jul

What’s not to love? Those are great selling points. HBO has groundbreaking programs, a love me some one serving cereal packages and the internet is like blood to me. But none of that softens the spike I feel in my anxiety level upon entering a hotel.

I’m not sure exactly what made me so hotel-phobic. I used to love staying in them. When I was a middle schooler, my dad, stepmom and stepsister stayed in a new room almost every night for two summers during our road trips across the country. It was an adventure. We visited the most awe-inspiring places and I would often send home/collect postcards of the hotel we stayed at along with the beautiful likes of Yosemite, Yellowstone and Redwood National Parks. I was intrigued by the different places we stayed, not disgusted like I am now.

Now, I can’t relax in them at all. I loathe using the towels, sleeping in the beds, using any part of the bathroom and, of course, walking on the carpet. I even cringe at putting my face directly on the pillowcase.  (How many dirty heads have been on that thing?!)

This latest hotel we stayed at wasn’t even so bad but I still struggled. I just don’t want my freaky fears to rub off on the kids.  (I already ruined them when it comes to bugs.) So far, I think I’ve hidden my revulsion fairly well around them. Nate seemed to love his hotel stay.

He jumped from bed to bed, was pleasantly surprised when he learned they let us use their towels, wanted to cook popcorn in the mini-microwave, felt like king of the world standing on furniture to reach the sink and thoroughly enjoyed his breakfast of bagel, an apple and some waffle.

I wish some of his carefree and happy hotel handling would change my attitude. I’m pretty sure the free HBO won’t do it because I still have to touch the remote to watch it.  (Shiver.)

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My Do-Overs

7 Jul

If I knew then what I know now I would have:

  • Worn a bikini more than I did
  • Kept my hair long for longer (I wasted so many “young” years with a short ‘do)
  • Not jumped out of that moving car that one time
  • Taken a home economics class so I would know how to properly set a table
  • Said no to that perm I got in 7th grade
  • Paid more attention to the breathtaking cross-country road trips I got take with my dad, Kris and Mel
  • Learned how to properly apply makeup so I wouldn’t be clueless at age 32
  • Not wasted so much time worrying about certain boys
  • Cut back on the brewskies during the Ben Folds Five/Beck concert so Andrew could see Beck (sorry about that Andrew!)
  • Paid more attention during my Spanish classes (the cheat sheet didn’t help either)
  • Worn a bikini more than I did (this sentiment is the inspiration behind this post)

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Livin’ for Friday – Already?

12 Mar

Working for the weekend, it’s such a common thing: Is it Friday yet? It’s almost Friday. Just two more days until Friday! Don’t worry about your bad day – it’s Friday! T.G.I.F.!

There’s really no harm in it. What’s so wrong with looking forward to the day before your days off? Can you remember when you first started cheering for it? It seems it starts younger than I thought/remember.

The kids are already being trained to have those same feelings. If Nate gets through the week with good behavior, he gets to bring something for show and tell on Friday. Friday is shop at the junk “store” day in Nia’s class. Friday is no homework day. Friday is stay up late(r) day.

I can’t really explain why (and it’s not a major deal) but it made me feel a little sad for them. I just want them to grow up looking forward to each new day. Not just the end of many days.

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Unclean House Confessions

28 Feb

I try. I do. I really would not say our house is messy/dirty. There are places where mess accumulates but with that I just have to shut a few doors and – tada – the house is ready for a surprise visitor. There are quite a few things I slack on though.

  • I should definitely scour our shower more than I do. In fact, I really don’t do it. Andrew does it because I whine about it so much. I’ll clean all the bathtubs – no problem. There’s just something about our shower that defeats me every time.
  • I have never cleaned inside the oven. I will only dive in there when it’s an absolute must. Like when that runaway fry escapes from the pan and starts burning and junk. Then, I’ll just use some tongs and remove the blackened tato.
  • I can’t tell you when I last dusted the light fixture hanging above the dining room table that we never use. Come to think of it, that light really never gets used either.
  • Are you supposed to wash curtains? Just kidding. Ha, ha, ha. Well, I have washed the sheers on the windows – at least once. (By the way, is there an easier way to clean wood slat blinds? I’ve tried dusting them – that takes forever. I’ve tried using the vacuum attachment – that didn’t really work at all. I can’t figure that one out.)

I just feel like I can never get ahead of it all. I have to do all the basics in spells – here and there. If I see dust, I dust. Since I have the dust spray in my hand, I might as well do the upstairs. (I tell myself I’ll do the downstairs later.)  If I have the glass cleaner out to clean one mirror that’s bothering me, they’re all going to get cleaned right then and there. It just all feels so scattered. The only time it all gets cleaned at the same time is when guests come to stay. Thankfully, we have guests visiting quite a bit.

(*This post was inspired by that runaway fry.)

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Perspective

9 Feb

Things got you down? Think your life is so hard? Wondering when you’ll get the next break? If things would only turn around soon … Why can’t I just seem to have something go right? … I don’t think I can take much more of this …

Well, a good dose of it’s no so bad – it can always be worse – should have you feeling better in no time.

Works for me!

Every time I start worrying about something I can’t control, stressing about something one of the kids did, dealing with grown-up stuff like work, bills, car troubles – I stop and tell myself – I have Andrew, Nia and Nate and they are healthy and here with me.

That’s an instant pick-me-up for sure.
 

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First Grade Feelings

1 Aug

Super Excited!

Don’t let the picture fool you. Our little Bean was not very boisterous about visiting her first grade classroom. Sure, she gave the teacher a sweet little hug good-bye and she loves that she’s going to get to sit in the front of the class, but she was extremely shy the whole time, barely answering the teacher’s questions and definitely not talking to any of the other children who were checking out their desks.

All of those children seemed to tower over her too. If she’s not the tiniest first grader I’ll be surprised. She still looks like a Kindergartner and I guess I still wish she was one.

This is scary and I’m nervous. I just want her to be ok. I am fearful about what this first grade year will hold for her. Will she be shy the whole year?  There is only one kid in this class that she had class with last year and according to Nia, he wasn’t nice. I know I can’t protect her from everything. I know she’s going to have hurt feelings, have to deal with mean kids and learn by making mistakes but I just want her to be ok.

Despite the shyness, she still seems happy. That should be good enough for me, right?

Nia's Desk is in the Front

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Swing Sets are So Worth It

28 Apr

Ever since we moved from Savannah, we’ve been wanting to get an outdoor play set for the kids.  It was a decision that didn’t come lightly.  Andrew really wanted to make sure he was getting one that would last.  He did online searches, he ordered the catalogs, he researched the wood used to make different ones – this was not a spontaneous purchase.

Yay!

Some of the sets we saw cost thousands of dollars (quite a few cost more than both of our cars!).  Of course, we weren’t going to get one of those, but we wanted what those offered – installation and a good warranty.  In the end, we found one we all liked –

It’s the baby of all the Rainbow play systems and it’s perfect for us!  It has all the features the kids love and the peace of mind and quality that Andrew loves (it’s also made in the USA and plants 5 trees for every one they use).  I’m just happy the kids finally have a fun outdoor place to escape to and enjoy.  I love that Nia and Nate can just walk outside whenever they want now and swing their little hearts out!  Mom and Dad can even get in on the fun – it’s built to hold the “big kids” too!

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