Career Day Vigilante

Spirit weeks start early now. Even in elementary school, kids are encouraged to dress up in various ways to show their school spirit.

While little kids probably don’t fully understand school spirit, they do get that these days are fun, and also help them begin to see they’re part of something bigger, part of a team.

The first pajama day at school, my son had his doubts.

He thought I was trying to pull a fast one on him, and send him to school as the only kid dressed in his sleepwear.

That might be a good one for April Fools’ Day, but even I’m not that mean.

I explained to him everyone would be in their pajamas, as I shoved a clean PJ shirt over his head. But he protested the whole time that he was still very much against it. In fact, it wasn’t until we pulled up in front of the school — and saw other kids, and even teachers in their pajamas — that he fully believed me.

You’ve Just Scratched the Surface

I was sitting in the living room when I heard my boys enter the area whispering and giggling in the background.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I was just telling Garrett to look at those hot babes,” Wyatt said pointing to the TV. I had been looking at my phone, and wasn’t even paying attention to the television. I looked up to see the Victoria Secret models running across the screen … in their underwear (of course) … in the snow.

How practical.

More giggles.

I take a deep breath. Boys.

My husband and I are definitely noticing the boys are becoming much more aware of their environment lately.

One day while shopping in JC Penney’s, we made our way through the middle of the store (in route to the home section), but my oldest son made a detour in the journey when we passed by the lingerie.

Yes, I turned around just in time to see him cupping the manikin’s lovely bra in his hands while my youngest son cheered him on. Luckily, I was able to grab him away before too many people noticed, and, fortunately, the headless victim didn’t press any charges.

It's Not All Hearts and Flowers

Ahh, new love. I remember those days fondly … the love notes, cartoon drawings, flowers, and him even putting forth effort to semi dress up for date nights.

There is nothing quite like the beginning of a relationship. It’s all so new, exciting and fresh. You haven’t tainted it with shortcomings, failures, and things said that you can never take back again.

Yes; one thing is for sure: married life isn’t all hearts and flowers.

But real life isn’t supposed to hold up to those perfect ideals we’ve built up in our heads. Real love is what happens after; real love is what can stand the test of time.

Beyond the Piggy Bank

My boys are wanters. They see toys, snacks, movies, clothes — you name it, they want it. The same could probably be said for my husband, only the toys he wants are on a grander scale, and much more expensive. But, seeing as how the kids want anything and everything that’s put in their line of sight, it’s becoming truly hard to satisfy them. They’re always thinking about what they’re getting next.

Thus, we’ve been trying to get them to understand the difference between wanting what’s placed right in front of you (as TV advertising is all too good at), and really wanting something, and therefore, working and saving for it.

The boys now have their own wallets, and are at the point where they know that having money is good (because they can buy more toys with it), but are far from appreciating it, or managing it well.

To help them out, we’ve started giving them an allowance to not only teach them the value of money, but more importantly, how to handle it.

When I asked my youngest son how many quarters were in a dollar, he answered, “Just one.”

“So one quarter equals one dollar?” I asked, hoping he would catch on.

“Yes, that’s correct,” he said with confidence.

OK, so we have a long way to go, but at least it’s a start.

The boys now have an allowance of $3 a week — three single bills, for three different jars — each boy has a save, spend and give jar. (I don’t quite know where the bank thought I was going when I went in and asked for $60 in one dollar bills.)

Past the Expiration

With it being a new year, it’s time to get out with the old, and in with the new.

At least this is what I told my mom this past weekend when I went to visit her, after I opened her freezer only to be viscously attacked by the food within. It was evident it was time for a little clean out.

My mom shies away from getting rid of anything, and she apologized for making me clean on my weekend away from my own house. But, ultimately, it’s a rush for me. It might sound strange, but I get enjoyment from cleaning out the fridge. It opens up space, makes everything look bright and new, and makes way for —my favorite — more food. Plus, at my mother’s house, I’ve turned it into a game to find the oldest expired product. Ten points for something at least four years old.

My mom, bless her heart, is a pack rat. She saves and saves, and then burrows things under other things. Yes, I like to call her an aware hoarder. Because she does know that you can’t keep everything, but she still tries.

But, let me tell you, when the zombie apocalypse hits, I know where I am going first.

Please … Just Let It Snow

Winter can be an overcast time in more ways than one. Not only do we get to start and end our days in darkness, but it also messes with our internal circadian clocks. So it’s really no wonder the gloom of the cold leaves us with a lack of motivation, and a deep desire to raid the cupboards.

Compounding the problem, is the fact that winter leaves parents (and teachers), with only intermittent outdoor playtime, making it hard to occupy children’s wildly creative minds.

Yes, this time of year, my boys certainly have a surplus of energy; enough to go around in fact. Of course, I feel just the opposite. I want to slip into my pajamas and crawl under a blanket and hibernate until spring … make that summer.

What I would give to have an ounce of their energy … just one ounce.

But since the boys have taken it upon themselves to eat me out of house and home, and literally destroy everything in their path as they do so, I’ve had to come out of hiding and push myself to keep their innovative minds active.

I’ve stocked up on basically everything and anything I can to keep them busy. I’ve bought Play-Doh, tools, glue, markers, books, board games, movies, downloaded Kindle games, and even gave them a camera. We’ve painted pottery, visited relatives, and run laps around the basement.

And when these activities get old to them, I continue looking for new ones, even in unusual places.

I’ve had them be assistant chefs, and even tricked them into helping with the chores.

“Hey kids, want to play with my Swiffer Sweeper?” (Just make sure to put a dry sweeping cloth on first. Then let them go to town.)

Like I said, I will do anything to keep them busy.

A Change of Playlist

My kids had their first sleepover EVER — at their grandparent’s house (not far, just across the street) — on New Year’s Eve.

Yes, I know, they’re old enough now. Yet, it was still a bit hard for me to let loose of the reins. But I finally decided they should go because they wanted to (a first), and I thought my husband and I could use this as an opportunity for a much-needed date night.

So we fought the crowd and managed to eat out with only a 1.5-hour call-ahead (plus another 10-minute) wait time.

I don’t like waiting for most things in life, and food is definitely at the top of that list. But, I thought we should embrace the opportunity and live it up. (And, perhaps, have one meal without a food fight or a discussion about why we need to eat our vegetables.)

So we had a nice dinner (yes, I made my husband eat a few vegetables, too); then we came home to ring in the new year in style.

OK, so we made brownies and drank milk instead.

After that was the best part though. Our evening’s entertainment consisted of turning on the TV to watch the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Party in NYC … but then muting it and turning on the surprise high school playlist I made my husband (just for the evening) instead. All the excitement of NYC, but with better music — for sure.