I should know better than to promise a post. I am too tired to even write a complete sentence let alone a complete thought.
I am hoping that by this time tomorrow I will be feeling better and the possible black cloud floating over my head will be disapating.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
You can take a kid away from the Army...
First I wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the kind words from yesterday's post. I really try not to be a Debbie Downer too often. Laughing is much more fun!
Sawyer had a much better day today! Even his teacher sent me an email saying as much. He was actually able to sit with me for a few minutes after he got home and talk about the papers in his back pack before demanding 5 chicken nuggets. It has to be five now that he is 5 years old. The condiment choice of the day was ketchup because he saw a red truck while he was on the School Bus today. He explained to me that if he saw a yellow truck it would be mustard. BUT if he saw a yellow race car he would need mustard and ketchup.
Have you read "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nightime?" (I know it's supposed to be underlined, but I can't find the button at the moment) Anyway, it's a book about a teenager with Asperger's and is written from his point of view. In the beginning he explains how he determines if he's gonna have a good day. It has something to do with the colors and types of cars he sees on the way to school. Like if he sees a yellow car, it's going to be an awful day.
Are you catching the parallel here? Creepy! So either Sawyer had a totally "typical" 5 year old moment of rambling on about some random reason to pick ketchup over mustard, or he's really demonstrating some characteristics of autism (making up "rules" for himself and needing to follow them to the letter), OR his intelligence surpasses anything we could conceive and he's been to the library, read the book and is demonstrating a more warped and twisted sense of humor than his mother! I have always said the boy is the original Stewie Griffen.
He had this uncanny knack of acting completely "typical" whenever something has caused Charlie and I to be concerned. It's almost like he knows we are watching him more closely so he throws his "normal development" switch. He'll do something beyond what we would have expected of him and we think "Oh, okay, he is doing well." Then the second we turn our back he'll start flapping his hands or rolling his eyes into the back of his head. Can you not see Stewie practicing all this in the mirror of his room? Then he'll throw back his head and laugh while he goes back to working on his plan to kill Lois and take over the world.
However, this post is about what happened AFTER the chicken nugget discussion. I was doing laundry and Sawyer walked in.
S: Call Daddy! (Odd, he hates talking on the phone)
M: We can't babe, he's working.
S: Call Daddy! Call Daddy! Call Daddy!
M: Sauce, he's at work. The best we can do is leave a message.
S: Call him!
M: If we get the machine will you leave him a message? (Of course he's gonna say no)
S: Yes!
M: (This is getting interesting) What will you tell him?
S: Come home!
M: Sweetie, he can't come home. He's working.
S: Him could have a break.
M: Remember he had to get on an airplane to get where he's going? It's far away.
S: A airplane could bring him home and take him back. Just quick.
M: Honey, it's too far to come home, even for the weekend. Do you want me to show you the calendar and when he'll come home.
S: Call Daddy!
M: Okay. Here I'll put it on speaker so you can hear the message and then talk into the phone.
So amazingly, at 1pm (2pm Eastern) Charlie answers the phone. I thought for sure it wouldn't even be turned on. Anyway, it ends like this:
C: Hey honey, can I call you right back?
M: Yes, nothing's wrong. (I hang up)
Sawyer looks at me quizzically.
M: Daddy's gonna call us right back.
S: Why?
M: He's busy.
S: (Light bulb goes off above his head and his eyes widen) Him's in a battle right now?
Awwwww, how sad is that? All some of these military kids know is that when they put their Daddy's (or Mommy's) on an airplane they must be going to war. I tried to tell him, no, he's near Nana and BobBob, in Virginia. But I'm pretty sure all that did was make him think that next summer when we go home, we'll be really close to the "battles."
All summer he played "Army Man." He would ride on the bouncy horse my Dad put out on the deck. You know the one w/ the 4 springs that squeaks unmercifully as it goes up and down or back and forth? Anyway, he be up there bouncing away and he'd yell "Bye Mom!"
M: Where're ya going?
S: Iraq. You need to come too, but your to big for my horse. You can ride a bicycle.
M: Thanks!
S: It's gonna take 3 days. Get some guns, we have to leave now!
Like I said, you can take a kid away from the Army...
Sawyer had a much better day today! Even his teacher sent me an email saying as much. He was actually able to sit with me for a few minutes after he got home and talk about the papers in his back pack before demanding 5 chicken nuggets. It has to be five now that he is 5 years old. The condiment choice of the day was ketchup because he saw a red truck while he was on the School Bus today. He explained to me that if he saw a yellow truck it would be mustard. BUT if he saw a yellow race car he would need mustard and ketchup.
Have you read "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nightime?" (I know it's supposed to be underlined, but I can't find the button at the moment) Anyway, it's a book about a teenager with Asperger's and is written from his point of view. In the beginning he explains how he determines if he's gonna have a good day. It has something to do with the colors and types of cars he sees on the way to school. Like if he sees a yellow car, it's going to be an awful day.
Are you catching the parallel here? Creepy! So either Sawyer had a totally "typical" 5 year old moment of rambling on about some random reason to pick ketchup over mustard, or he's really demonstrating some characteristics of autism (making up "rules" for himself and needing to follow them to the letter), OR his intelligence surpasses anything we could conceive and he's been to the library, read the book and is demonstrating a more warped and twisted sense of humor than his mother! I have always said the boy is the original Stewie Griffen.
He had this uncanny knack of acting completely "typical" whenever something has caused Charlie and I to be concerned. It's almost like he knows we are watching him more closely so he throws his "normal development" switch. He'll do something beyond what we would have expected of him and we think "Oh, okay, he is doing well." Then the second we turn our back he'll start flapping his hands or rolling his eyes into the back of his head. Can you not see Stewie practicing all this in the mirror of his room? Then he'll throw back his head and laugh while he goes back to working on his plan to kill Lois and take over the world.
However, this post is about what happened AFTER the chicken nugget discussion. I was doing laundry and Sawyer walked in.
S: Call Daddy! (Odd, he hates talking on the phone)
M: We can't babe, he's working.
S: Call Daddy! Call Daddy! Call Daddy!
M: Sauce, he's at work. The best we can do is leave a message.
S: Call him!
M: If we get the machine will you leave him a message? (Of course he's gonna say no)
S: Yes!
M: (This is getting interesting) What will you tell him?
S: Come home!
M: Sweetie, he can't come home. He's working.
S: Him could have a break.
M: Remember he had to get on an airplane to get where he's going? It's far away.
S: A airplane could bring him home and take him back. Just quick.
M: Honey, it's too far to come home, even for the weekend. Do you want me to show you the calendar and when he'll come home.
S: Call Daddy!
M: Okay. Here I'll put it on speaker so you can hear the message and then talk into the phone.
So amazingly, at 1pm (2pm Eastern) Charlie answers the phone. I thought for sure it wouldn't even be turned on. Anyway, it ends like this:
C: Hey honey, can I call you right back?
M: Yes, nothing's wrong. (I hang up)
Sawyer looks at me quizzically.
M: Daddy's gonna call us right back.
S: Why?
M: He's busy.
S: (Light bulb goes off above his head and his eyes widen) Him's in a battle right now?
Awwwww, how sad is that? All some of these military kids know is that when they put their Daddy's (or Mommy's) on an airplane they must be going to war. I tried to tell him, no, he's near Nana and BobBob, in Virginia. But I'm pretty sure all that did was make him think that next summer when we go home, we'll be really close to the "battles."
All summer he played "Army Man." He would ride on the bouncy horse my Dad put out on the deck. You know the one w/ the 4 springs that squeaks unmercifully as it goes up and down or back and forth? Anyway, he be up there bouncing away and he'd yell "Bye Mom!"
M: Where're ya going?
S: Iraq. You need to come too, but your to big for my horse. You can ride a bicycle.
M: Thanks!
S: It's gonna take 3 days. Get some guns, we have to leave now!
Like I said, you can take a kid away from the Army...
Monday, August 15, 2011
I can see you...
I had a friend send me a message today on FaceBook about a friend of hers who is gravely ill. At the end of her note she said that she loves to read my funny posts and I often make her laugh. She then noted that she knows that although I disguise it with humor there are days when I am really hurting. She's right. I hate to admit that. Not sure why though, it makes perfect sense.
"If I didn't laugh, I'd cry."
How many times have I used that one? Tons, tons I tell you! I do use humor to self medicate. I don't know when it started. In high school probably, when I thought my world was crashing down around me. Something I've been wanting to write about for awhile, but not sure if I'm brave enough yet.
Regardless, I did have a crappy day. How many people do you know that would find it enjoyable to have to physically put their screaming mildly autistic 5 year old on a bus full of kids to go off to Kindergarten? (I say mildly b/c I don't want anyone to think for one second I deserve any pity. I am not the super parent that most special needs kids have. I am amazed at their patience and strength - I am not worthy of the pedestal they should be on!)
So anyway, if I didn't find the humor in it, I would've been a basket case. It's pouring down rain, there are already 4 cars behind the school bus, 50 kids on the bus (including 3 of my own who probably wanted to crawl under their seats) watching me carry this hysterical kid up the steps. He's thrashing around so much that in his attempts to kick me in the face, his shoe flies off. The driver and I are looking for the shoe. She thinks it's outside. I'm bending over looking under the bus for the shoe, I notice that there are now 7 cars waiting for the school bus which stops just short of a huge parking lot. I know the people in these cars are thinking "Could they not have made the bus stop 20 feet further up the street so we could just pull in and park?" They are also at this point thinking "Who is this newly awakened woman in her sweatshirt and duck pajama pants pushing her upset child onto the bus? And why is she now looking under the bus? I don't have time for this."
I can't look at it in any seriousness, it makes me so sad. I can't imagine not trying to find at least a little humor in the scene, I wouldn't be able to coninue putting one foot in front of the other. If I look at it for what it is: a poor terrified little boy doesn't, for reasons he cannot communicate, want to go to school. He went last week and had several meltdowns and had to be removed from the classroom at least once a day. Why would he want to go back? There's a middle aged woman, not organized or motivated enough to get dressed before she goes to the bus stop. She has no pity, she just stone face puts him on the bus making sure he knows that he has no choice. After shoving her tiny child into a seat, she quickly looks for something he dropped or threw (or kicked) but just sort of waves at the bus driver and tells her to go. She is as dismissive as a Nazi guard. (I blame that one on the book I'm reading) Anyway, she sighs and walks casually back to her house in the pouring rain wearing what are obviously not outside slippers.
Now I am depressed...
I pray that God continues to grant me the warped and twisted sense of humor that has kept me going for 43 years. It's the only way I'll survive.
"If I didn't laugh, I'd cry."
How many times have I used that one? Tons, tons I tell you! I do use humor to self medicate. I don't know when it started. In high school probably, when I thought my world was crashing down around me. Something I've been wanting to write about for awhile, but not sure if I'm brave enough yet.
Regardless, I did have a crappy day. How many people do you know that would find it enjoyable to have to physically put their screaming mildly autistic 5 year old on a bus full of kids to go off to Kindergarten? (I say mildly b/c I don't want anyone to think for one second I deserve any pity. I am not the super parent that most special needs kids have. I am amazed at their patience and strength - I am not worthy of the pedestal they should be on!)
So anyway, if I didn't find the humor in it, I would've been a basket case. It's pouring down rain, there are already 4 cars behind the school bus, 50 kids on the bus (including 3 of my own who probably wanted to crawl under their seats) watching me carry this hysterical kid up the steps. He's thrashing around so much that in his attempts to kick me in the face, his shoe flies off. The driver and I are looking for the shoe. She thinks it's outside. I'm bending over looking under the bus for the shoe, I notice that there are now 7 cars waiting for the school bus which stops just short of a huge parking lot. I know the people in these cars are thinking "Could they not have made the bus stop 20 feet further up the street so we could just pull in and park?" They are also at this point thinking "Who is this newly awakened woman in her sweatshirt and duck pajama pants pushing her upset child onto the bus? And why is she now looking under the bus? I don't have time for this."
I can't look at it in any seriousness, it makes me so sad. I can't imagine not trying to find at least a little humor in the scene, I wouldn't be able to coninue putting one foot in front of the other. If I look at it for what it is: a poor terrified little boy doesn't, for reasons he cannot communicate, want to go to school. He went last week and had several meltdowns and had to be removed from the classroom at least once a day. Why would he want to go back? There's a middle aged woman, not organized or motivated enough to get dressed before she goes to the bus stop. She has no pity, she just stone face puts him on the bus making sure he knows that he has no choice. After shoving her tiny child into a seat, she quickly looks for something he dropped or threw (or kicked) but just sort of waves at the bus driver and tells her to go. She is as dismissive as a Nazi guard. (I blame that one on the book I'm reading) Anyway, she sighs and walks casually back to her house in the pouring rain wearing what are obviously not outside slippers.
Now I am depressed...
I pray that God continues to grant me the warped and twisted sense of humor that has kept me going for 43 years. It's the only way I'll survive.
Monday, August 1, 2011
I'll take Quotable Quotes for a thousand...
A long ago promised post...sorry! Life tends to get in the way of my writing sometimes! Too often, in fact. I promised myself after the reunion that I'd start writing again on a regular schedule. I'm still trying to figure out when that's gonna be.
Regardless, here you go:
This weekend was my 25th high school reunion. I have a lot to say about it and am looking forward to writing all about it soon. But until I can rip myself away from FaceBook long enough to do it, you'll have to settle for things other people said:
I haven't put names on anything (except one), and taken out of context some quotes may seem like they mean something they don't. But then again, they may mean exactly what they sound like they mean!
"$2 a beer? It's good to be in Carlisle!"
"I'm bringing a date...and it's a girl!"
"Now here's a man I wanna f___!" (as she gives him a hug)
"If you think a pair of shoes can't make a difference in your life, ask Cinderella how she feels about that." (After asking her dates' opinion on the shoes she was choosing before going to the Elks.)
***I KNOW there were more quotes regarding shoes that night, but I can't seem to remember any...Uh, Marvin, Doug???***
"She felt so bad about not recognizing me...and I had no clue who she was!"
"I'll tell you what, 6th grade was a stellar year!"
"I'm not sure who you are ... and I'm a happily married woman ... but you are REALLY good looking!"
"I met your husband...his name tag says...."Mr. Jacki Powell Fleniken."
"Did I win? I did win, but I have a 98 and everyone else has a 86. I don't get it!"
"I didn't realize inflation was that bad."
"I appreciate her honesty. She said she never talked to me in high school because I was kinda scary."
"I'm reunionizing."
"Oh, I'll suck it alright!"
"I think I may have been a redneck in a former life!"
"Welcome to the ladies room! Would you like a shot?"
"Well, that'll just make your panties smell like smoke!"
"Honey, I want to thank you for being such a boring husband. And I really mean that!"
"SO.....you're selling your house?!? and "Bob" bought me a beer!"
"Bob" likes to buy lots of beer!!!"
Regarding the G-Man carding us:
Chris Plant: "I used to work here in 1987."
Waitress: "Oooh, (giggle) that's the year I was born!"
Regarding the G-Man bathroom:
"How do you go to the bathroom when you're chewing on your knees?"
"I felt like a virgin at a prison rodeo!" Oh, wait, that wasn't at the reunion. That was the guy sitting across the aisle from me on the airplane. Ewwwww...and thankfully, he didn't say it to me!
I'm still telling people, much to the dismay of my husband, that the reunion was one of the best weekends of my life!
Thanks again to the organizers and to everyone who came! I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see everyone! Looking forward to next year!
Regardless, here you go:
This weekend was my 25th high school reunion. I have a lot to say about it and am looking forward to writing all about it soon. But until I can rip myself away from FaceBook long enough to do it, you'll have to settle for things other people said:
I haven't put names on anything (except one), and taken out of context some quotes may seem like they mean something they don't. But then again, they may mean exactly what they sound like they mean!
"$2 a beer? It's good to be in Carlisle!"
"I'm bringing a date...and it's a girl!"
"Now here's a man I wanna f___!" (as she gives him a hug)
"If you think a pair of shoes can't make a difference in your life, ask Cinderella how she feels about that." (After asking her dates' opinion on the shoes she was choosing before going to the Elks.)
***I KNOW there were more quotes regarding shoes that night, but I can't seem to remember any...Uh, Marvin, Doug???***
"She felt so bad about not recognizing me...and I had no clue who she was!"
"I'll tell you what, 6th grade was a stellar year!"
"I'm not sure who you are ... and I'm a happily married woman ... but you are REALLY good looking!"
"I met your husband...his name tag says...."Mr. Jacki Powell Fleniken."
"Did I win? I did win, but I have a 98 and everyone else has a 86. I don't get it!"
"I didn't realize inflation was that bad."
"I appreciate her honesty. She said she never talked to me in high school because I was kinda scary."
"I'm reunionizing."
"Oh, I'll suck it alright!"
"I think I may have been a redneck in a former life!"
"Welcome to the ladies room! Would you like a shot?"
"Well, that'll just make your panties smell like smoke!"
"Honey, I want to thank you for being such a boring husband. And I really mean that!"
"SO.....you're selling your house?!? and "Bob" bought me a beer!"
"Bob" likes to buy lots of beer!!!"
Regarding the G-Man carding us:
Chris Plant: "I used to work here in 1987."
Waitress: "Oooh, (giggle) that's the year I was born!"
Regarding the G-Man bathroom:
"How do you go to the bathroom when you're chewing on your knees?"
"I felt like a virgin at a prison rodeo!" Oh, wait, that wasn't at the reunion. That was the guy sitting across the aisle from me on the airplane. Ewwwww...and thankfully, he didn't say it to me!
I'm still telling people, much to the dismay of my husband, that the reunion was one of the best weekends of my life!
Thanks again to the organizers and to everyone who came! I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see everyone! Looking forward to next year!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
There's No Place Like Home
Coming from a girl that lives in Kansas, it may seem a bit strange that I’m talking about Carlisle, PA. But I assure you I am. Moving to the Army War College when I was four, my father requested to stay here to allow his children some stability. We ended up staying on post until my father retired in 1982. I was in 8th grade. Staying was not a sure thing but I begged and pleaded and ultimately was thrilled my parents found a house in town and I was able to graduate from Carlisle High School like my seven siblings. You could say I am the “Anti Army Brat.”
By the time I graduated I was trying to find my way out of here. Onto “bigger and better things” than my small Pennsylvania town could offer. After several years of trying to find myself, I ended up living in Northern VA and working in DC when I was invited to a party by a high school friend. “Do you remember Charlie Carlton from high school? He’ll be there.” I had no recollection of a guy named Charlie who was a freshman when I was a junior, but I went to the party and the rest, as they say, is history.
Despite my intention to never marry a man in the military, that’s exactly what I did. We got married in the church on Carlisle Barracks where I’d made my first communion in the second grade, my confirmation in the eighth grade and where my two sisters got married. It was the wedding every girl dreams of.
Charlie was a Captain in the Army at the time. The marriage has blessed us with five children and more than twice that many moves in the last 14 years. Change is a constant in my kids’ lives, but so is Carlisle. Because Charlie has deployed four times and spent so much time traveling even when he’s not deployed, the kids and I have come to Carlisle for an extended vacation almost every summer since they were born.
My parents’ having a pool in the backyard is certainly a big draw. It’s much easier to walk out the back door than to pack up a truckload of stuff to bring to the public pool wherever we are currently living. And having four extra hands (belonging to my parents) doesn’t hurt either. My kids have benefited greatly from spending so much time with their grandparents and getting to know their cousins that live locally as well as all the others who also come for summer visits. (There are 27 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren to date) Whoever can make it to Carlisle over the 4th of July comes, and we usually have a pretty good crowd. It gets a little crazy in the house; you can typically find kids sleeping on every available couch and floor space. My mother somehow manages to cook dinners for an army and keep enough snacks in the house that the kids are fed on a regular basis. My Dad is the pancake king. He’s so meticulous about his pancake’s being “a decent size,” he would only do one at a time in a large frying pan. He finally broke down recently to buy a large griddle so he can do several at once. This way we are done eating breakfast before lunchtime.
It becomes more apparent each year that family is not the only benefit of spending time in Carlisle. The amount of things I do with the kids while here is truly amazing. Trying to give my parents an occasional quiet moment has me seeking out “good cheap fun” with the kids. Sure, there are several amusement parks around the area but let’s face it, how many people do you know who have the money to take five kids to Hersey for the day more than once or twice a summer? Plus, it’s five against one! Personally, I don’t enjoy those kinds of odds. So we do the things that are closer and much less expensive. If you ask my kids their favorite thing to do in Carlisle, most of them would say “Massey’s.” The ice cream itself is only part of the experience. It’s the walk to Massey’s with cousins or grandparents. Then the atmosphere of sitting in the parking lot watching the cars go by or running into friends or teachers from the past. As I watch the kids walking home, happy, giggling, and chasing fireflies I can’t help but think that these are the things childhood memories are made of.
Since we arrived in Carlisle in mid-June we have done, visited and/or experienced the following: I sent the girls to basketball camp at Shippensburg and drove them each day. (We found a great little ice cream shop in the municipal building). Bosler Library offers a great story time for toddlers, I remember bringing my 11 and 12 year olds to listen to Miss Elaine when they were one and two. This year, the 4 yr old went. We’ve gone as a family several times getting books, movies, and even audio books for the car. We’ve been to Ft. Letort to play and feed the ducks and to the playground behind St. Patrick’s church after mass. My dad and I took the boys to play tennis at Mooreland and they got engaged in a game of imaginary baseball on the field which allowed my Dad and me a rare chance to volley with each other for a few minutes.
That doesn’t even include Summerfair! Although my father was ill and we were not able to participate in the preparation of the Rotary Roast Beef Dinner, we still ate the delicious meal! We had great seats at the parade Friday night and had plenty of ice cream at the social afterwards. I finally got up the nerve to run the Saturday morning 5k. I started running the race with a friend I hadn't seen in years. (Then I watched his back as he got smaller and smaller while I was wheezing for air) The kids got up and were in the yard in their pajamas cheering me on while I ran up Belvedere Street.
Later that day we went to Dickenson. The craft fair is a favorite of the kids. It’s becoming a favorite of mine as they have started bringing their own money! So concerned were my kids that we might miss the Baby Races, that we got front row seats about 45 minutes before they started. The reward for the long hot wait was that we were in the background of a picture of the races that appeared in the Sentinel the next day.
Thanks to FaceBook, I have reconnected with several friends who are still in the area and others who still get back to visit their folks as well. My kids have “friends” that they see once a year while visiting Carlisle. We attended a picnic at a friend’s house where we watched the impressive fireworks show. (Tip: Last year we watched from the Target parking lot which was great for my little ones who aren’t big on loud noises!) I met up with some friends from High School and we had a great adventure hiking at Tumbling Run. A fund raising picnic for Heaven Kelly, a local girl with cancer allowed my kids to explore yet another playground while spending some of their own money to help out another child. Bluegrass on the Grass led to seeing family friends that I wouldn’t have seen had we not attended.
The Carlisle Theatre Company puts on a show each year that leaves my kids begging to return the next night. Sometimes we do, BECAUSE IT’S FREE! I credit last year’s show of “Joseph” for getting my kids to audition and perform in the Music Man Junior at Fort Leavenworth this year. This year’s production of “All Shook Up” has introduced them to the music of Elvis.
While we lived in Germany, Charlie and I had a son who had died in utero. After I delivered, we had him baptised. The Army shipped the body back to Carlisle and my parents were able to bury him at St. Patrick's cemetary with my grandmother. Visiting "Gerard's Rock" is something the kids actually ask to do. We had made many trips to the cemetary over several years before they realized that people were actually buried under the tombstones. (True story) But that never stopped them from wanting to go out there. The statue that had been next to the grave had broken over the last several years. I've been looking for just the right one to replace it. I found it today at The Susquahanna House, which is owned and run by another high school friend! Go figure!
Few things are as much fun as tagging along with my Dad to some of his regular activities. He meets several of his friends for breakfast every Saturday morning at Kimberly’s Café. They call themselves The Breakfast Club. I don’t come close to going every Saturday while I’m home, (retired Army officers like to eat REALLY EARLY in the morning) but I’m happy to say I made it last week. I also attended a Rotary Club meeting last week. A great club doing great things for this town. Tonight, he brought me to the Monday Night Book Club at Bosler Library. Everywhere we go, I’m greeted with a smile! Most of the credit for this goes to my father, I know, for being such a great guy. But I think it speaks volumes for a town to be so welcoming.
We are headed to Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, MD tomorrow to connect with a collage friend I haven’t seen in years. We’ll hit the Gettysburg outlets at some point before we leave. I consider that one of the more “educational” segments of our vacation. “Look at the battlefields, kids. Okay, now we can shop!”
Unfortunately, we never made it to any of the Sunday in the Park concerts this year. It never ceases to amaze me how the kids love to sit on the benches in Thornwald Park and listen to any and all types of music. When the young ones get a bit wild, no one seems to mind as I walk them to the back of the crowd. Typically, there is a Carlisle Policeman on duty who is happy to chat with my kids and let them gawk at the cruiser. I also missed an afternoon at Tangles, my favorite beauty shop. I’ve been getting my hair cut there for years. When the owners daughter, who was a friend from high school, took over it made it that much more fun to go and catch up on what I’ve missed in the last year.
I know Carlisle has changed as much as I have since I moved away. I’ve grown up and so has this town. It’s bigger, more diverse, the high school isn’t winning as much as we used to when I was a cheerleader, but still; it’s Carlisle. It’s home. My home. And there truly is, no place like it!
By the time I graduated I was trying to find my way out of here. Onto “bigger and better things” than my small Pennsylvania town could offer. After several years of trying to find myself, I ended up living in Northern VA and working in DC when I was invited to a party by a high school friend. “Do you remember Charlie Carlton from high school? He’ll be there.” I had no recollection of a guy named Charlie who was a freshman when I was a junior, but I went to the party and the rest, as they say, is history.
Despite my intention to never marry a man in the military, that’s exactly what I did. We got married in the church on Carlisle Barracks where I’d made my first communion in the second grade, my confirmation in the eighth grade and where my two sisters got married. It was the wedding every girl dreams of.
Charlie was a Captain in the Army at the time. The marriage has blessed us with five children and more than twice that many moves in the last 14 years. Change is a constant in my kids’ lives, but so is Carlisle. Because Charlie has deployed four times and spent so much time traveling even when he’s not deployed, the kids and I have come to Carlisle for an extended vacation almost every summer since they were born.
My parents’ having a pool in the backyard is certainly a big draw. It’s much easier to walk out the back door than to pack up a truckload of stuff to bring to the public pool wherever we are currently living. And having four extra hands (belonging to my parents) doesn’t hurt either. My kids have benefited greatly from spending so much time with their grandparents and getting to know their cousins that live locally as well as all the others who also come for summer visits. (There are 27 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren to date) Whoever can make it to Carlisle over the 4th of July comes, and we usually have a pretty good crowd. It gets a little crazy in the house; you can typically find kids sleeping on every available couch and floor space. My mother somehow manages to cook dinners for an army and keep enough snacks in the house that the kids are fed on a regular basis. My Dad is the pancake king. He’s so meticulous about his pancake’s being “a decent size,” he would only do one at a time in a large frying pan. He finally broke down recently to buy a large griddle so he can do several at once. This way we are done eating breakfast before lunchtime.
It becomes more apparent each year that family is not the only benefit of spending time in Carlisle. The amount of things I do with the kids while here is truly amazing. Trying to give my parents an occasional quiet moment has me seeking out “good cheap fun” with the kids. Sure, there are several amusement parks around the area but let’s face it, how many people do you know who have the money to take five kids to Hersey for the day more than once or twice a summer? Plus, it’s five against one! Personally, I don’t enjoy those kinds of odds. So we do the things that are closer and much less expensive. If you ask my kids their favorite thing to do in Carlisle, most of them would say “Massey’s.” The ice cream itself is only part of the experience. It’s the walk to Massey’s with cousins or grandparents. Then the atmosphere of sitting in the parking lot watching the cars go by or running into friends or teachers from the past. As I watch the kids walking home, happy, giggling, and chasing fireflies I can’t help but think that these are the things childhood memories are made of.
Since we arrived in Carlisle in mid-June we have done, visited and/or experienced the following: I sent the girls to basketball camp at Shippensburg and drove them each day. (We found a great little ice cream shop in the municipal building). Bosler Library offers a great story time for toddlers, I remember bringing my 11 and 12 year olds to listen to Miss Elaine when they were one and two. This year, the 4 yr old went. We’ve gone as a family several times getting books, movies, and even audio books for the car. We’ve been to Ft. Letort to play and feed the ducks and to the playground behind St. Patrick’s church after mass. My dad and I took the boys to play tennis at Mooreland and they got engaged in a game of imaginary baseball on the field which allowed my Dad and me a rare chance to volley with each other for a few minutes.
That doesn’t even include Summerfair! Although my father was ill and we were not able to participate in the preparation of the Rotary Roast Beef Dinner, we still ate the delicious meal! We had great seats at the parade Friday night and had plenty of ice cream at the social afterwards. I finally got up the nerve to run the Saturday morning 5k. I started running the race with a friend I hadn't seen in years. (Then I watched his back as he got smaller and smaller while I was wheezing for air) The kids got up and were in the yard in their pajamas cheering me on while I ran up Belvedere Street.
Later that day we went to Dickenson. The craft fair is a favorite of the kids. It’s becoming a favorite of mine as they have started bringing their own money! So concerned were my kids that we might miss the Baby Races, that we got front row seats about 45 minutes before they started. The reward for the long hot wait was that we were in the background of a picture of the races that appeared in the Sentinel the next day.
Thanks to FaceBook, I have reconnected with several friends who are still in the area and others who still get back to visit their folks as well. My kids have “friends” that they see once a year while visiting Carlisle. We attended a picnic at a friend’s house where we watched the impressive fireworks show. (Tip: Last year we watched from the Target parking lot which was great for my little ones who aren’t big on loud noises!) I met up with some friends from High School and we had a great adventure hiking at Tumbling Run. A fund raising picnic for Heaven Kelly, a local girl with cancer allowed my kids to explore yet another playground while spending some of their own money to help out another child. Bluegrass on the Grass led to seeing family friends that I wouldn’t have seen had we not attended.
The Carlisle Theatre Company puts on a show each year that leaves my kids begging to return the next night. Sometimes we do, BECAUSE IT’S FREE! I credit last year’s show of “Joseph” for getting my kids to audition and perform in the Music Man Junior at Fort Leavenworth this year. This year’s production of “All Shook Up” has introduced them to the music of Elvis.
While we lived in Germany, Charlie and I had a son who had died in utero. After I delivered, we had him baptised. The Army shipped the body back to Carlisle and my parents were able to bury him at St. Patrick's cemetary with my grandmother. Visiting "Gerard's Rock" is something the kids actually ask to do. We had made many trips to the cemetary over several years before they realized that people were actually buried under the tombstones. (True story) But that never stopped them from wanting to go out there. The statue that had been next to the grave had broken over the last several years. I've been looking for just the right one to replace it. I found it today at The Susquahanna House, which is owned and run by another high school friend! Go figure!
Few things are as much fun as tagging along with my Dad to some of his regular activities. He meets several of his friends for breakfast every Saturday morning at Kimberly’s Café. They call themselves The Breakfast Club. I don’t come close to going every Saturday while I’m home, (retired Army officers like to eat REALLY EARLY in the morning) but I’m happy to say I made it last week. I also attended a Rotary Club meeting last week. A great club doing great things for this town. Tonight, he brought me to the Monday Night Book Club at Bosler Library. Everywhere we go, I’m greeted with a smile! Most of the credit for this goes to my father, I know, for being such a great guy. But I think it speaks volumes for a town to be so welcoming.
We are headed to Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, MD tomorrow to connect with a collage friend I haven’t seen in years. We’ll hit the Gettysburg outlets at some point before we leave. I consider that one of the more “educational” segments of our vacation. “Look at the battlefields, kids. Okay, now we can shop!”
Unfortunately, we never made it to any of the Sunday in the Park concerts this year. It never ceases to amaze me how the kids love to sit on the benches in Thornwald Park and listen to any and all types of music. When the young ones get a bit wild, no one seems to mind as I walk them to the back of the crowd. Typically, there is a Carlisle Policeman on duty who is happy to chat with my kids and let them gawk at the cruiser. I also missed an afternoon at Tangles, my favorite beauty shop. I’ve been getting my hair cut there for years. When the owners daughter, who was a friend from high school, took over it made it that much more fun to go and catch up on what I’ve missed in the last year.
I know Carlisle has changed as much as I have since I moved away. I’ve grown up and so has this town. It’s bigger, more diverse, the high school isn’t winning as much as we used to when I was a cheerleader, but still; it’s Carlisle. It’s home. My home. And there truly is, no place like it!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Dear Mr. Whirlpool
Dear Mr. Whirlpool~
While I appreciate the fact that you have made an appliance (two in fact) that in the 3 months that we've owned it has yet to break down, something the Maytag Man cannot claim, I need to let you know I'm annoyed.
My washer and dryer are fully equipped to wash and dry my clothes respectively. This is a good thing. They each have several different settings. For example, the knob can be turned to "towels," "sheets," and even "rinse,drain & spin." These are all very helpful for a Mom who never sees the bottom of the laundry pile. For that I am appreciative.
I especially like the rinse cycle as I can put most things that Sawyer has peed on through a rinse before putting it in with a regular load. I don't like to think about his urine being diluted and swishing around with anything I may wear.
And while I'm thinking of it, since you are most likely "in the know" as far as American laundering habits go, do many people wash their children's socks and underwear separately from their own? I do, and I'll tell you why. My kids lack even the most basic skills of hygiene. I'm not sure how it happened and I really have no explanation for it. All I know is that when I am separating the laundry into different loads based on color, water temp, etc, I am completely appalled and often disgusted by my children's underwear and socks.
In my defense, there is ALWAYS toilet paper in the house. Whether they choose to use it or not, well it's a bit hard to stay on top of that. And while I am well aware that the temperatures in Kansas in the winter are quite cold, I am baffled by the practice of wearing said underwear for a second or third day because putting clean ones on would cause a chill!
And this issue is not limited to drawers! Someone has been sneaking in while I'm napping and telling my kids that shoes are an optional piece of their wardrobe. On any given day, my kids are outside the house doing what kids do; riding scooters or bikes, playing kickball, t-ball, soccer, you name it. The thing is, only about half of them, and not always the same half, will have shoes on. You may think this is not a big deal, Mr. Whirlface, but oh, you would be wrong!
The problem lies in the fact that although they aren't wearing shoes, they do in fact have their socks on. Pushing off the concrete for their scooters, sliding into the mud pit that is home plate, and running through the side of the yard that Jo-Jo uses for his morning constitutional are not exactly helpful in the world of non disposable footwear. We go through socks like people with hygienic children go through toilet paper!
If you've read my blog in the past, Mr. Whirlfool, you will know that I occasionally get sidetracked while writing. So back to the cause for my annoyance.
Buying a high efficiency appliance does not make me what my husband has coined an "Earth Nun." It makes me a consumer who needed a product and found one for a good price in the "scratch and dent" aisle of Lowe's! In no disrespect to Kermit, I am not "Green." I do a decent bit of recycling, yes, but do I load my glass bottles (which the recycling truck won't pick up at my back door) into the car and DRIVE them to a recycling center? Hell no! Do I lay awake at night worrying about how many diapers I have put into landfills? Nope! (And lemme tell ya, it was A LOT!) Do I own a worm farm to help out my compost pile? Negative...and did you even for a second believe I have a compost pile? Silly man! Do I need to go on or do we both understand that my carbon footprint can be seen from just inside the Milky Way? (As opposed to beyond our solar system which makes me feel pretty good about myself!)
Previously, I mentioned some of the more helpful cycles on the washer and dryer. What I can do without is the "ECO-MONITOR." Really?!? You felt the need to install an "ECO-MONITOR" that tells me with a scale if the settings I am using are a pitiful "Good" or if I am elevated to the aspiring "Best" end of the range? Again I say, Really?!?
I've already bought into your "let's save the planet" crap of High Efficiency appliances. I dutifully purchase (for a higher price) the TIDE HE. I'm on it. But beyond that, get off my back! I don't need to be berated by my washing machine. From every angle, our society is telling housewives they aren't thin enough, tall enough, pretty enough, smart enough...and now you want to tell me I'm not energy efficient enough too?
Let's look at how I do the wash:
I angrily gather the latest article of clothing, linens and/or stuffed animal one of the children has peed on, pooped on, or vomited on. I put it in the washer and run it through the "rinse/drain/spin" or the "quick wash" cycle, depending on the substance and volume involved. I close the lid and check the settings; Water temp - I go from warm to cold so the stain doesn't set - Ding ding ding! I have moved two bars closer to "Best!" Spin Speed - I move it from High to Low - I'm gonna have to wash them a second time so it doesn't matter if they are spun hard. Ding, ding, ding! I have moved another two bars to the right. I start to get a bit cocky. Because I want to be sure any bodily fluids have been washed out of the load, I press the "extra rinse" button. GONG!!! I've lost all bars in the display and am slammed back down to the "Good" setting. The thing may as well been programmed to yell out "LOSER!"
The initial cycle ends and feeling that the offending bacteria have been pre-removed, I may then add more to the washer so as to maximize my disproportionate amount of time and laundry. I then typically set the load to Normal, moving the water temp down to cold for the second time. Those dings no longer give me false hope. It's no secret that when I set the spin speed to high along with the Cardinal Sin of an extra rinse I am once again mocked by your cold emotionless cube.
After the guilt of not coming anywhere close to "Best" during the wash cycle, I then transfer the clothes to the dryer. This machine has several of the same bells and whistles as it's partner. As it's most likely 8pm by the time I remember that Sawyer's beloved Frog is in the wash, I am in a hurry to have him dry enough to stick in bed by 8:30. (Oh, did I mention his sheets are in there as well?) I set the knob to normal, skipping over the "Eco-Normal" option. We're on a timetable here mister! This decision places me right between the two self-worth determining settings. Then, because the boy is starting to lose it and in desperate need of passing out I put the temperature up to high. GONG! I have once again been reduced to the unworthy "Good" end of the spectrum.
So, Mr. Whirlpoop, THE SPIN STOPS HERE! I will not allow your appliances to shame me into not getting my clothes washed or dried to my desire and I just wanted you to know!
Have yourself a "Good" day!
While I appreciate the fact that you have made an appliance (two in fact) that in the 3 months that we've owned it has yet to break down, something the Maytag Man cannot claim, I need to let you know I'm annoyed.
My washer and dryer are fully equipped to wash and dry my clothes respectively. This is a good thing. They each have several different settings. For example, the knob can be turned to "towels," "sheets," and even "rinse,drain & spin." These are all very helpful for a Mom who never sees the bottom of the laundry pile. For that I am appreciative.
I especially like the rinse cycle as I can put most things that Sawyer has peed on through a rinse before putting it in with a regular load. I don't like to think about his urine being diluted and swishing around with anything I may wear.
And while I'm thinking of it, since you are most likely "in the know" as far as American laundering habits go, do many people wash their children's socks and underwear separately from their own? I do, and I'll tell you why. My kids lack even the most basic skills of hygiene. I'm not sure how it happened and I really have no explanation for it. All I know is that when I am separating the laundry into different loads based on color, water temp, etc, I am completely appalled and often disgusted by my children's underwear and socks.
In my defense, there is ALWAYS toilet paper in the house. Whether they choose to use it or not, well it's a bit hard to stay on top of that. And while I am well aware that the temperatures in Kansas in the winter are quite cold, I am baffled by the practice of wearing said underwear for a second or third day because putting clean ones on would cause a chill!
And this issue is not limited to drawers! Someone has been sneaking in while I'm napping and telling my kids that shoes are an optional piece of their wardrobe. On any given day, my kids are outside the house doing what kids do; riding scooters or bikes, playing kickball, t-ball, soccer, you name it. The thing is, only about half of them, and not always the same half, will have shoes on. You may think this is not a big deal, Mr. Whirlface, but oh, you would be wrong!
The problem lies in the fact that although they aren't wearing shoes, they do in fact have their socks on. Pushing off the concrete for their scooters, sliding into the mud pit that is home plate, and running through the side of the yard that Jo-Jo uses for his morning constitutional are not exactly helpful in the world of non disposable footwear. We go through socks like people with hygienic children go through toilet paper!
If you've read my blog in the past, Mr. Whirlfool, you will know that I occasionally get sidetracked while writing. So back to the cause for my annoyance.
Buying a high efficiency appliance does not make me what my husband has coined an "Earth Nun." It makes me a consumer who needed a product and found one for a good price in the "scratch and dent" aisle of Lowe's! In no disrespect to Kermit, I am not "Green." I do a decent bit of recycling, yes, but do I load my glass bottles (which the recycling truck won't pick up at my back door) into the car and DRIVE them to a recycling center? Hell no! Do I lay awake at night worrying about how many diapers I have put into landfills? Nope! (And lemme tell ya, it was A LOT!) Do I own a worm farm to help out my compost pile? Negative...and did you even for a second believe I have a compost pile? Silly man! Do I need to go on or do we both understand that my carbon footprint can be seen from just inside the Milky Way? (As opposed to beyond our solar system which makes me feel pretty good about myself!)
Previously, I mentioned some of the more helpful cycles on the washer and dryer. What I can do without is the "ECO-MONITOR." Really?!? You felt the need to install an "ECO-MONITOR" that tells me with a scale if the settings I am using are a pitiful "Good" or if I am elevated to the aspiring "Best" end of the range? Again I say, Really?!?
I've already bought into your "let's save the planet" crap of High Efficiency appliances. I dutifully purchase (for a higher price) the TIDE HE. I'm on it. But beyond that, get off my back! I don't need to be berated by my washing machine. From every angle, our society is telling housewives they aren't thin enough, tall enough, pretty enough, smart enough...and now you want to tell me I'm not energy efficient enough too?
Let's look at how I do the wash:
I angrily gather the latest article of clothing, linens and/or stuffed animal one of the children has peed on, pooped on, or vomited on. I put it in the washer and run it through the "rinse/drain/spin" or the "quick wash" cycle, depending on the substance and volume involved. I close the lid and check the settings; Water temp - I go from warm to cold so the stain doesn't set - Ding ding ding! I have moved two bars closer to "Best!" Spin Speed - I move it from High to Low - I'm gonna have to wash them a second time so it doesn't matter if they are spun hard. Ding, ding, ding! I have moved another two bars to the right. I start to get a bit cocky. Because I want to be sure any bodily fluids have been washed out of the load, I press the "extra rinse" button. GONG!!! I've lost all bars in the display and am slammed back down to the "Good" setting. The thing may as well been programmed to yell out "LOSER!"
The initial cycle ends and feeling that the offending bacteria have been pre-removed, I may then add more to the washer so as to maximize my disproportionate amount of time and laundry. I then typically set the load to Normal, moving the water temp down to cold for the second time. Those dings no longer give me false hope. It's no secret that when I set the spin speed to high along with the Cardinal Sin of an extra rinse I am once again mocked by your cold emotionless cube.
After the guilt of not coming anywhere close to "Best" during the wash cycle, I then transfer the clothes to the dryer. This machine has several of the same bells and whistles as it's partner. As it's most likely 8pm by the time I remember that Sawyer's beloved Frog is in the wash, I am in a hurry to have him dry enough to stick in bed by 8:30. (Oh, did I mention his sheets are in there as well?) I set the knob to normal, skipping over the "Eco-Normal" option. We're on a timetable here mister! This decision places me right between the two self-worth determining settings. Then, because the boy is starting to lose it and in desperate need of passing out I put the temperature up to high. GONG! I have once again been reduced to the unworthy "Good" end of the spectrum.
So, Mr. Whirlpoop, THE SPIN STOPS HERE! I will not allow your appliances to shame me into not getting my clothes washed or dried to my desire and I just wanted you to know!
Have yourself a "Good" day!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
ROY G. What?
Most early grades have some system of tracking the children's behavior. When the girls were young if they misbehaved they had to "pull a bear." I think they were probably different colors or had some sort of progressive order. I wouldn't know though b/c it wasn't until Tali was in third grade when they had moved to some other system that she actually had to lose a star, or pull a bear, or whatever the heck they called it then.
She was reprimanded for talking I think. I don't remember but I'm surprised I don't because that one incident in the third grade was the ONLY time Tali was ever told to touch her pocket w/ the sticks or the bears or the stars in it. Never again. AND Josie and Lyra have never had any interaction w/ the charts. Tali and Josie have moved beyond it now, but Lyra is determined she will get nothing but green until teachers stop tracking her. Sadly, it's turning into a stressor. More than once this year, she has been petrified to go to school b/c she's worried she'll have to turn her card. I almost wish she would have to, just to get that first time over with, but she'd be devastated.
Perfectionism? In my kids? Nah....where'd they get that up from?!?
Anyway, along comes Brother. I say all the time if I'd had the boys first, there would be no girls. I'm not kidding!
In Kindergarten, the kids gained or lost "stars." Once they had 5 tongue depressors covered w/ stars in the pocket w/ their name on it, they got to get a prize from the treasure box. Then their pocket was emptied and they started collecting again. Lucky for Brother, you couldn't go "in the hole" or have a negative number of stars.
Lucky for me, Brother never realized that many of the "treasures" were amazingly similar to all the stuff that my kids brought home in birthday party gift bags or the toys we recently got at McDonald's. (Hey, it's a great way to get rid of that junk for those of us who have trouble just throwing it away).
Now that he's in first grade, they "turn their card." Each child has a pocket made from part of a manila folder. In it are 3 index cards. The first card has green die-cut stars on one side and yellow stars on the other. The next has red on one side and blue on the other. The final card is black with silver stars on it.
Everyone starts the day on green. Staying on green means you had a good day. If you do something exceptional you get to put the card w/ the silver stars in the front. Whoo, hoo!
The progression continues to yellow (getting a warning), red (you've had a warning and will now lose 5 minutes of recess), and finally blue (a phone call or email to home).
I have to admit, I was surprised that blue was the worst. Isn't blue the most liked of all the colors? Seriously, do a quick poll of the next 10 people you talk to. I'm willing to bet that as long as they aren't all 6 year old girlie girls which would result in a pink landslide, blue would be the winner.
Now, I understand the green, yellow, red order. I've listened to enough Barney to know that "Green means go, Yellow means slow, and Red means Stop, Stop, Stop" or something to that effect. But throwing blue into the mix discombobulates me. It then becomes more than 1/2 the colors of the rainbow. So the ROY G. BIV acronym should be utilized.
When you look at it that way, putting blue after red just makes no sense. Blue should be the best. Then green, yellow and red could follow and not get overly neurotic people like me stressed out.
Regardless, no one asked me what I thought. So I guess it doesn't much matter now does it?
So the standard question at our house after "How was your day?" is "What color did you end up on?"
Answers have included:
"I got on Gree-een, I got on Gree-een!"
"Green. Can you believe it? Cuz I can't!"
"Yellow. Isn't that great?"
"Yellow. Aren't you proud of me?"
"Yellow but it's really like Green b/c I was on Red and then did something good to move it back to Yellow."
"Um, did Mrs. B email you?" "No? Well, it was red, but I really have to go to the bathroom." Upon coming out of the bathroom, he said "J/K mom. Did you know that j/k means just kidding? I actually got on green today." Needless to say, the email from Mrs. Brown came about 1/2 hour later - it was a blue day!
"Red b/c of the same old story; my brain can't stop my hands from touching people."
"Red. People always talk to me, I have to talk back."
"Red." When I asked "What did you do?" He said "Nothing new, just talked and talked and talked."
"Red." I ask why. He opens his mouth and points into it saying "Blah, blah, blah."
"Red." When I ask "What did you do?" He rolls his eyes "I can't remember, there were so many things that happened today."
The answer most often used is:
"Red, on accident." (Of course! It was an accident that you got caught!!!)
I am usually happy w/ yellow, but Dad is not quite the pushover that I am. When dealing w/ Brother, any day w/o a call from the principal is a green day as far as I'm concerned.
So, today was yellow and I was fine with it. Charlie doesn't always remember to ask about the color so I was thrilled that he hadn't asked on any of last weeks red days.
When Brother says "yellow" tonight. Charlie says "That's not acceptable. I want you to work really hard and stay on Green. All day, every day." Brothers eye get even wider than usual and he says "Okay Dad, I'll do it. I'm really gonna try." And I'm sure he thinks he will try.
Sadly, as his mother I'm willing to bet five bucks he's on red before lunch tomorrow. Who's in?
She was reprimanded for talking I think. I don't remember but I'm surprised I don't because that one incident in the third grade was the ONLY time Tali was ever told to touch her pocket w/ the sticks or the bears or the stars in it. Never again. AND Josie and Lyra have never had any interaction w/ the charts. Tali and Josie have moved beyond it now, but Lyra is determined she will get nothing but green until teachers stop tracking her. Sadly, it's turning into a stressor. More than once this year, she has been petrified to go to school b/c she's worried she'll have to turn her card. I almost wish she would have to, just to get that first time over with, but she'd be devastated.
Perfectionism? In my kids? Nah....where'd they get that up from?!?
Anyway, along comes Brother. I say all the time if I'd had the boys first, there would be no girls. I'm not kidding!
In Kindergarten, the kids gained or lost "stars." Once they had 5 tongue depressors covered w/ stars in the pocket w/ their name on it, they got to get a prize from the treasure box. Then their pocket was emptied and they started collecting again. Lucky for Brother, you couldn't go "in the hole" or have a negative number of stars.
Lucky for me, Brother never realized that many of the "treasures" were amazingly similar to all the stuff that my kids brought home in birthday party gift bags or the toys we recently got at McDonald's. (Hey, it's a great way to get rid of that junk for those of us who have trouble just throwing it away).
Now that he's in first grade, they "turn their card." Each child has a pocket made from part of a manila folder. In it are 3 index cards. The first card has green die-cut stars on one side and yellow stars on the other. The next has red on one side and blue on the other. The final card is black with silver stars on it.
Everyone starts the day on green. Staying on green means you had a good day. If you do something exceptional you get to put the card w/ the silver stars in the front. Whoo, hoo!
The progression continues to yellow (getting a warning), red (you've had a warning and will now lose 5 minutes of recess), and finally blue (a phone call or email to home).
I have to admit, I was surprised that blue was the worst. Isn't blue the most liked of all the colors? Seriously, do a quick poll of the next 10 people you talk to. I'm willing to bet that as long as they aren't all 6 year old girlie girls which would result in a pink landslide, blue would be the winner.
Now, I understand the green, yellow, red order. I've listened to enough Barney to know that "Green means go, Yellow means slow, and Red means Stop, Stop, Stop" or something to that effect. But throwing blue into the mix discombobulates me. It then becomes more than 1/2 the colors of the rainbow. So the ROY G. BIV acronym should be utilized.
When you look at it that way, putting blue after red just makes no sense. Blue should be the best. Then green, yellow and red could follow and not get overly neurotic people like me stressed out.
Regardless, no one asked me what I thought. So I guess it doesn't much matter now does it?
So the standard question at our house after "How was your day?" is "What color did you end up on?"
Answers have included:
"I got on Gree-een, I got on Gree-een!"
"Green. Can you believe it? Cuz I can't!"
"Yellow. Isn't that great?"
"Yellow. Aren't you proud of me?"
"Yellow but it's really like Green b/c I was on Red and then did something good to move it back to Yellow."
"Um, did Mrs. B email you?" "No? Well, it was red, but I really have to go to the bathroom." Upon coming out of the bathroom, he said "J/K mom. Did you know that j/k means just kidding? I actually got on green today." Needless to say, the email from Mrs. Brown came about 1/2 hour later - it was a blue day!
"Red b/c of the same old story; my brain can't stop my hands from touching people."
"Red. People always talk to me, I have to talk back."
"Red." When I asked "What did you do?" He said "Nothing new, just talked and talked and talked."
"Red." I ask why. He opens his mouth and points into it saying "Blah, blah, blah."
"Red." When I ask "What did you do?" He rolls his eyes "I can't remember, there were so many things that happened today."
The answer most often used is:
"Red, on accident." (Of course! It was an accident that you got caught!!!)
I am usually happy w/ yellow, but Dad is not quite the pushover that I am. When dealing w/ Brother, any day w/o a call from the principal is a green day as far as I'm concerned.
So, today was yellow and I was fine with it. Charlie doesn't always remember to ask about the color so I was thrilled that he hadn't asked on any of last weeks red days.
When Brother says "yellow" tonight. Charlie says "That's not acceptable. I want you to work really hard and stay on Green. All day, every day." Brothers eye get even wider than usual and he says "Okay Dad, I'll do it. I'm really gonna try." And I'm sure he thinks he will try.
Sadly, as his mother I'm willing to bet five bucks he's on red before lunch tomorrow. Who's in?
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