5.27.2008

Catching Teenitis

Middle Boy, who is almost 11 and has always been my sweetest boy and really still is, is starting to show signs of being infected with the malady Teenitis. I already have one child with full blown Teenitis and Middle Boy seems to somehow have caught is despite our best efforts to quarantine and disinfect First Born. It started occasionally with little fits. The funniest was when I sent him to clean his bathroom for the third time. I was at the top of the stairs and I could hear mumbling from the basement. I thought it was muffled due to the distance and the inability of Middle Boy to talk above a whisper. But that was not the case. He was downstairs cleaning his bathroom again and mocking his mother in a Peanuts style adult voice "Wah waaah wahh wah waaahhh." I laughed so hard. Whenever I bring up his mumbling to others he gets all shy and smiles and I know he loves the attention and the fact that he's not in trouble for mocking me.

This weekend was a little different. I originally thought he was cranky from a sleep over, which is rare, it's usually the other two that take three days to recover, not him. But when the crankiness continued through Sunday and a little on Monday I got worried. I debated taking his temperature but remembered First Born never had fevers associated with Teenitis. I thought about quarantining him but realized that would be more stress than it was worth since that hasn't worked with First Born. I thought about calling the doctor to determine if there was a cure, but I'm pretty sure I would have heard about a cure if there was one available. I really think it would be front page news. In the meantime I am looking forward to more fits and rebellion and independence as his Teenitis takes root. More fights about stuff he used to do without a problem. More mopey days as he deals with his hormones that doctors still haven't figured out how to regulate. I propose we inconvenience doctors with teenagers in their life on a more regular basis so they might realize how much of a breakthrough this cure could be for the whole world!

5.23.2008

New Things

Today I stopped by the school. Baby wanted to show me how he could skip bars while doing the monkey bars. He dragged us over to the school about a month or two ago to show us he could do the monkey bars. He was so proud of himself! I was proud of him too. I never had much upper body strength, even as a skinny kid, and could rarely complete them more than once, or twice on a good day! He proceeded to do all three sets of the monkey bars several times. He loved it! I can't believe how well he can do the monkey bars. I'm thinking I should sign him up to do gymnastics and maybe he can join the circus when he's older. He had so much fun that I had to pretend to start driving away to get him to finally come home with me for dinner (I was starving and therefore getting grouchy!). In the car he instantly started blowing on the palms of his hands and kept getting more and more upset because of his new stinging blisters. He proclaimed "I'm not going to be able to eat lunch ever again!" This rather perplexed me, what did blisters have to do with eating lunch? I asked him that question and he replied he wouldn't be able to hold a sandwich with the blisters because his hands hurt so bad! I had such a good quiet laugh, I wouldn't want to squelch that 7-year-old common senseness that doesn't make an ounce of sense to old, boring, one-track minds such as mine. He brings so much joy and silliness to my life that he makes me laugh and cry all at once.

Friday Lunches & Friends

Friday afternoon from 12-2:30 is reserved for lunch with several of my friends in the neighborhood. We always meet at my house since I am the only one who works (daycare) and can't go anywhere. We each take turns making or buying lunch for everyone. We bring all the kids and just relax and hang out and talk about all the stuff girls talk about while together without any men listening. I have enjoyed our lunches so much. After a week of tending daycare children and my own children I look forward to the few hours I have with some good friends to talk about whatever we want to or need to. Our lunches are so fun! Sometimes we have spirited debates. Other times we get silly and just laugh. Other times we talk about serious topics; our marriages, children issues, family stresses, in-laws, even personal issues, and whatever else comes our way. It has been a good outlet. One time we even called Crisco to find out how their product can be trans-fat free since it is a solid hydrogenated fat. I will miss our lunches when I get a job. I have become great friends with these girls.

5.22.2008

Cell Phones for Teenagers

We did the unthinkable. We got First Born a cell phone. He is so excited and in the first week sent and received over 4000 texts. I don't know why he doesn't have callouses on those little fingertips. While he thinks he's cool and has pretty cool parents, however fleeting that thought is, we have ulterior motives.

Rule 1: Grades must be kept at B level or higher or the phone is confiscated.
Rule 2: Phone must be plugged in by 10 pm in our bedroom to prevent late night texting or the phone will be confiscated.
Rule 3: First Born must behave or phone will be confiscated.

I let him go in late to school last Friday and in the meantime he missed a quiz in Spanish, one of his harder subjects. I told him to make sure he studied over the weekend and it had to be taken on Monday. He ACTUALLY took the quiz on Monday before he came home. I was shocked! The last time he missed a Friday quiz it took him almost two full weeks to get around to taking the quiz. Despite other parents objections, I LIKE the cell phone and how it twists his arm in the right direction.

Job Offers

I have been madly applying for jobs, trying to get that perfect job for me and my family. Granted the perfect job doesn't exist! Part-time at my discretion all while paying me $40 an hour. But I have been searching for a great job where I can make good money. I know that many people like working for themselves, but it's not all that it's cracked up to be. I am looking forward to Paid Time Off, Paid Holidays, Benefits, 401k, the occasional free lunch, and maybe even some travel to exotic locations (getting back at the hubby and all his business trips to great places like Vegas & Reno). I have now turned down three jobs. Count them, 3! The first one wanted to pay me $10 an hour!! I would make more and have a more flexible schedule at Target and get an employee discount. The second one was more Office Manager and less Accounting. I decided with that one that I needed to actually get a real accounting job before I spread out to other things. The last one was a great job with decent pay. The only problem was that I needed to start TOMORROW! I could see the note on my door in the morning for all my daycare parents:

"Thanks for letting me tend your kids for the last 10 years, they have been great. I got a job and will not longer be tending your sweet children. Sorry for the short notice but my new employer doesn't seem to care about my loyalties and will not be upset when I leave him with a 1 day notice." Talk about burning bridges!

In the meantime the march continues. I will let you know when that semiperfect job becomes available!