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This morning B was in a particularly b**chy mood
Yes, I know that's a terrible thing to say, but the kid is 4 going 14 lately! Permanent PMS, beyond cranky, it is really the only way to describe it. I know there are mothers out there who get what I am saying! Even Savta used the word to describe her lately!
Anyway, so this morning was really rough. 2 time outs and other assorted threats weren't getting through. Since mornings are pretty crazy in general, I was swallowing it the best I could and working on getting all the Trips out the door.
Everyone was ready, and I asked the girls how Show and Tell went this week (see above). B started complaining that she was the only one who brought a book and "I HATE BOOKS!"
Kid, your mother is a full fledged, Master's Degree toting Librarian!! Ouch!
So this is a pet peeve of mine, but probably because I am a working mother and don't have hours in the afternoon to brainstorm WITH MY KID, get the items together, and be ready on time.
From an educational standpoint I can make a ton of arguments in favor of most of these activities. As a former teacher, I know how hard it is to get your act together and send this stuff home with more than a few days notice. However, in my life, it is just ONE MORE thing this Trip'n Mommy has to do.
Here are some highlights of Mommy Homework:
1. Show and Tell - In Kindergarten it is themed by letter of the week. So we have it EVERY WEEK! At least the girls have the same letter because they are in the same class. C's class in doing Aleph Bais in order and ABC's out of order, so I never know what letter will be the next week. This how I handle S&T. IF I have time, I discuss the letter of the week and brainstorm with them about different items that start with the letter. If I don't have time, I brainstorm with H, Savta, co-workers, anyone who'll listen. After the kids are in bed, I search the house for different and varied items that start with the letter of the week, including at least one book. Then in the morning, the kids get to pick an item from the pile. (Then I leave the pile for the babysitter to put away...)
2. Shabbos Ima, Abba, Saba - Mommy has to go and by either a Parve, nut-free snack for the whole class or a Challah or two as per the Morah's instructions. (water, egg free, no seeds, large, medium, unsliced, etc.) Never mind the stress of trying to come up with a snack that is Parve, nut free, cool for the kids, and not so sugary, expensive, or inappropriate that the other mothers will hate you. (Special shout-out to the mom who sent in a Fruit by the Foot for each kid! That's like 4 boxes!)
This particular assignment is usually given on Wednesday, due on Friday. Since I usually don't see these notices until after 8pm on Wednesday (or even worse Thursday morning!) that means I only get one night to prepare. In an effort to squeeze a little more time, I am constantly asking the kids if they have a note from Morah. Honestly, I may be more Shabbos Party obsessed than the Trips.
3. Recycling, toilet paper rolls, grocery flyers, OJ containers and other project items - At start of the year, the girls' morah sent a note with items that she uses throughout the year and a request for us to send them in regularly. Great! I try to do this. It is her unanticipated requests and the requests from C's Morah that throw me.
First of all, these requests come in the Classroom OR Preschool newsletters on Friday. For the uninitiated, these are wonderful little weekly PR pieces where the Morahs and Preschool Directors share what has been happening in the Parsha, the class, the school, other classes, the world at large, etc.
Yes people, I have 4 newsletters to scour for information and Mommy assignments!!
THEN I have to remember to prepare the items for Monday. THEN I have to remember how many I need and which kids need them!!
4. Family Pictures - Seriously, in the digital age?! I have to sort through files to find the right one, get the damn photo printer to work, and print a copy. This week the girls needed ONE picture with EVERY member of the family in it. Yeah, right. The only one I had was a portrait from 2 summers ago. So then I had to perform copyright infringement, scan and digitize the image, fight with the photo printer and get 2 decent copies.
5. Aleph Beis Machberes - C's class is making a really lovely notebook throughout the year. At the start of the year they made a stick puppet for each member of the kid's family (with a separate picture of each, see #4) that live in the machberes. It is filled with activities, songs, stories, etc for the puppets to do. Most Fridays, C brings home his machberes and puppets for us to see what he's done, review, and play with the puppets.
It is Mommy's job to make sure that A, B, and Trouble do no harm to the precious notebook or and of the 5 puppets, and ensure that all 6 items are returned to school Monday morning.
6. Costumes - Okay, so these are fewer and further between and you usually get a little more notice. This week, C came home on Monday with a note that for Friday's siyyum Sefer Bereshit. He needed not only to bring in a Parve, nut-free snack for the whole class but also needed to dress up in a costume as a character or item from all of Bereshit.
Luckily, I was on the phone with the brilliant and more experienced AM, who said "put a robe and sandals on him and he could be anyone!" Since C shares a name with one of the Shevatim, and has a blue bathrobe with his name in Hebrew, this gave us a platform to really jump off. We added a laundry bag for a sack, and hyped it up for C. It worked. He really looked cute getting on the bus today.
Now I must stop, because I must tend to another crucial Mommy assignment - providing nourishment for the family through shopping and cooking!!
We have been home from Israel for a whole month, and life is just not back to normal. Just to highlight some of the major issues:
1. The house is a mess. Don't get me wrong, the house is usually a mess. However, every once and a while the mess builds and builds and gets completely out of control. Packing 5 people for a 3 week vacation and then returning from that vacation has created a situation that is just out of control. It is going to easily take a month of Sundays to fix...What's that? Pesach is coming?
2. We are sick! We came home with 2 sick kids, and all 3 have been rotating being out of school and on antibiotics for 4 weeks. If I see another runny nose, fever over 103, cup of Omnicef, or kid in their pajamas at noon, I might seriously lose it! Add to that my sinus infection that won't go away and poor H is ready to run screaming for the hills!
3. Work stresses. Mine bad, H's good.
4.Money Stresses. On our head: the economy, food prices, tuition payments, camp registration fees, the house not falling apart (poo, poo, poo) and so on...
5. The war in Gaza. Okay, this really needs a separate post, and I will get to is as soon as I can. Let me just say, we are worried. Very, very worried. Personally, I'd rather be there then here.
What a grumpy post. I could really use a funny Trips story. I'll let you know as soon as I get one.
So we've been home for a couple of days, and you would think things would be back to normal. I guess that depends on your definition of normal. A has not been to school yet, due to a funny little bug that starts with vomiting, moves on to a fever and congestion, and ends with a croup like cough. C had it too, but went back to school today. B is fine, if you call whining, kvetching, and beating on siblings fine. Ah, life with 4-year-olds. Oops, I mean 4 and 3/4...
Eruv Shabbos last week I received an upsetting email from my boss that included a list of all the projects that I was supposed to complete in the past year, but have not. I have never been one to deal well with failure, and this one hit especially hard. The fact that the email ommitted all the extras that I have done, and the real causes for the delay in the completion of those projects made it tougher to swallow. The advice I have received is "Don't respond, just get them done." It has made my return to work very hard.
The Mumbai Massacre reminds me that Jews are not safe ANYWHERE in the world. Aliyah is on my mind all the time.
Boy, this is a kvetchy post. Maybe I caught it from B! I guess I need 8 unpacked suitcases, a clean house, a stocked fridge, a good meal, feverless kids, and a full night's sleep...when is Shabbos?!
