brilliant or crazy, you get to decide!

I've been having TROUBLE this year. With school papers! Every year, I come up with a new organizational system, one that breaks down soon after.

This year, was my "throw everything in a pile and sort out the pile every night" system. Lemme just tell you now, that is NOT a good system.

Especially when your PILE resides in the dining room, which is where we do homework, eat all of our meals and keep the recycling bin.

Things are getting lost, getting food on them, turned in late... I'm having trouble keeping track of administrative type papers like lunch order forms and homework papers, like PROJECT NOT DUE UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY VERY IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION PAPER.

I've been searching for a solution and saw this in the last Ballard Designs catalog.



Maybe a wall pocket for each kid would work! I've never tried a system like that. (I've done chronological-by-due-date, schoolwork vs. paperwork, color sorting (also not a good system, but pretty!), the aforementioned PILE system.)

I recently gave up trying to make our dining room look like a Nice Dining Room. It's our hub. It needs to work like a hub. I made a little mud room section because the kids had nowhere to put their backpacks and coats. Because those fancy dinner parties I envisioned myself throwing? Yeah, you guessed it. Never happen.

Realism takes over. So let's hang some wall pockets on the wall!

Except, being that they are from Ballard Designs, they are a little pricey. $89 for the four-slot one. And, knowing my history here, I'm just not SURE this system will work for me. I might EVENTUALLY want to buy the Ballard ones, but I'd like to try it out first.

So I checked office supply stores and organizing stores and even IKEA and OF COURSE, since I had already seen the nice ones from Ballard, NOTHING looked good to me.

So I started brainstorming... (that was that burning smell the other day)

What could I hang on the wall and keep papers in???

The logical answer, of course...

GIFT BAGS!

I went to my basement stash of gift bags just to look at sizes and see if papers actually fit in them, and I found this



A Target CLEARANCE pack of 6 toile gift bags! Aren't they cute?! Can you SEE that price tag? $3.24 for SIX! They are even a little sturdier than your usual Target bag because they are from the wedding aisle. They are supposed to be used as goody bags for out-of-town guests.

(Sorry out-of-town guests to my wedding. I had NO IDEA I was supposed to make you a goody bag!)

And guess what? They are the perfect size!

Then, I had ANOTHER flash of brilliance. (Seriously, check your smoke detectors.)

YEARS AGO, I saw some numbered hooks in a magazine layout and I went to the buying guide and immediately ordered them. They are numbered 1-4. At the time, I didn't even HAVE 4 kids, but I thought they would be so cute.

Ok, the receipt was still in the box. This was 2004.

Then I promptly stuck them in a closet and never used them. (They aren't really strong enough for towels or coats, and I never had another use.)

But ALAS! Here they are:



And they're black and white... LIKE THE GIFT BAGS!

Go ahead, call me genius. Here's what we ended up with.



Ok, need to remove that tag that says Welcome! We're so glad you are here!



Ok, much better.

Now mind you, this system totally cleared up The Pile, but it still did not stop me from forgetting to turn in the Pizza Tuesday Order Form you see there in bag number 2 on time. But at least no food was spilled on it!

So you decide. Brilliance. Craziness.

Vote below.

elsewhere

Yes, yes, yes! I will be back soon with documented evidence of my organizational genius. As soon as I have finished photoshopping all the CRAP out of my pictures!

In the meantime, come listen to me whine wax philosophical at DC Metro Moms.

And PLEASE, someone answer the question!

she went in with an earache and came out with asthma

So I had a great post all lined up for today about a STROKE OF GENIUS I had yesterday. Seriously. I should win the Nobel Prize for Organizing for this one.

Or perhaps it's sheer lunacy. I'll let you all decide.

But instead of uploading pictures of my brilliancy, I spent the morning in the pediatrician's office.

Guess who.

Shout woke up this morning, well... SHOUTING. Loudly.

Her ear was hurting. If I can just review for a minute, she got tubes in her ears last March and by November, one had already pushed it's way out.

And it's still trapped way in her waxy swamp ear canal.

So off to the pediatrician we went. Dr. Everything Will Be Alright wasn't there. We saw a new member of the practice, a nurse practitionista.

One of the first things she did was stick a strep test down her throat. Which is weird because her throat wasn't hurting. And it wasn't red. And she had no fever.

But whatever. Maybe there is some rampant strain of strep running around that is entirely symptomless, right? Except it was negative.

Next, she checked her ears and said the one tube was blocked. The tube that's not in her eardrum. So I mentioned that the ENT said that tube was no longer in place and she said it looked fine to her. Except it was blocked.

????

Except, I have a cheap-ass otoscope from Amazon and even *I* can see that the tube is not in her eardrum.

Hmmm...

But she prescribed some drops to clear the tube that might also relieve the pain. So, yeah. We'll try it.

Then.

Then, my friends, she listened to her chest.

And she said she was wheezing.

And I said, "HUH?"

Wheezing?

She has no cold. No cough. No allergy. NOTHING.

All I could say was, "Seriously?"

They checked her pulse ox and it was 98, which is essentially NORMAL. Then they gave her a nebulizer treatment. Which she hated. I had to sing. And dance. And make crazy faces. Just to get her to keep the mask on.

Then they checked her pulse ox again, and it was 97. Which is technically worse. But still totally normal.

After listening to her chest again, it was decided that she needed ANOTHER nebulizer treatment.

(Can I just mention here that these are inhaled steroids?* That make you CRAZY. And this is the kid who NEVER sleeps and ALREADY IS CRAZY.)

More singing. Dancing. Facial gymnastics.

Then.

THEN, we were given a nebulizer to take home. Where we are supposed to continue doing this every four hours for the next three days.

Whaaaaa? SERIOUSLY?

Cheer is the only kid in our house who has ever wheezed. And he has REALLY wheezed. To the point where we almost took him to the emergency room. But we never got a nebulizer to take home.

Weird?

(I went along with it all because I actually figured that I could use the nebulizer and medicine for him. Not Shout. Who, as far as I can tell, IS NOT ACTUALLY WHEEZING.)

After making 3 different trips to the pharmacy (and don't even get me STARTED on all that), I have all the medicine and put some drops in Shout's ear.

For the EARACHE.

THE ONE WE WENT TO THE DOCTOR FOR.

They didn't really help.

gah

* I stand corrected. My mommy lung expert informed me they are bronchodilators, not steroids. (Thanks, A!) The effect of a preschooler on crack is the same though.

the circus circle of life

I went to Bounce's basketball game today. You know, a team of 8- and 9- year old girls. May I also mention that she plays in the CATHOLIC sports league, also known as CYO, which apparently means Cream Your Opponent.

The game was pretty much a smackdown. The other team played like they took a girls football team and stuck them on a basketball court. They weren't playing a whole lotta basketball and there was a lot of pushing and shoving. And apparently talking smack. And by smack, I mean appalling racial slurs and cursing.

Our team works hard, but I would say they are lacking a bit in athletic prowess. (Ok, a LOT. They'll kick your ass in a Spelling Bee though.)

I won't go into specifics because it doesn't really matter, but the showdown ended with adults screaming at kids, then adults yelling back at other adults and then finally, things got so heated that I was pretty sure punches were about to start flying. I was trapped with my three younger children... a screaming, angry clot of ridiculous acting adults between us and the door.

I grabbed the hands of the younger two, looked right in Bounce's face and said "GET OUT! NOW!" and made a run for it. I don't know how it ended up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the police were called. (You know, to the GIRLS CATHOLIC SCHOOL BASKETBALL GAME. Where the ADULTS were fighting.)

Of all the crazy, ridiculous, embarrassing things my kids have done (see, almost every other post in this blog), I think this is the most absurd story I have ever posted here. Adults, acting like children, raising children who act like assholes.

The circle of life. Isn't it sweet?

dumb things i had to do today

Call pediatrician to FINALLY schedule ADHD/ADD evaluation for Bounce. And now that I have finally made the big step, I have to wait until March 3rd for the appointment.

Print out questionnaires for Bounce's teachers about her behavior in school. (See above.)

Email mother of Tide's friend, who according to Tide has agreed to take 6 middle schoolers to see The Lovely Bones on Friday. Seriously? The Lovely Bones?? It's about a serial killer and a rape and murder. And a family falling apart in the wake of violence. Can't they see The Chipmunk Movie?

Stress about whether or not "movie outing" is actually a triple-date in diguise. (Me thinks it is. And? GAAAAHHHH.... I'm not ready for DATING... GOOD GOD the kid can't even cut up pancakes by himself... DATING???)

Email teacher-neighbor about her thoughts on switching Bounce to public school next year.

Stress about how much Bounce hates school this year. Wonder how much of this would be resolved by treatment for ADHD.

Curse myself for not scheduling evaluation YEARS AGO.

Curse pediatrician's office for not having an appointment until MARCH 3. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. I've finally pulled myself out of the river of denial. HALP!

Email neighbor with daughter in Bounce's grade in public school about visting the school for the day.

Field phone call from Bounce regarding stomachache and pleas to COME HOME NOW.

Retrieve Bounce from school.

Debate over whether or not Shout needs an occupational therapy evaluation. (Because? OHMYGOD she is uncoordinated. To the point that I think she is a danger to herself.)

Email educational consultant who is supposed to be helping us set up a home tutoring program for Shout to try and catch her up to her age group.

Email Cheer's teacher about bad grade he received on a reading test.

Virtually flog myself for not spending more time reading with Cheer.

Debate on whether or not I can get away with having a glass of wine at 10:30 in the morning.

This parenting gig can be rough, yo.

ironically, i think i got sick at the health and fitness expo

Sunday afternoon here was a bust. It was cold and rainy outside. The kids were bored and fighting.

I happened to be on Facebook (ok, yes, spying on Tide) and I noticed that at the DC Convention Center, one of the local news channels was sponsoring a Health and Fitness Expo. (The 17th annual, to be exact. Where have I been?) Children's Hospital had a large exhibition area and was giving away prizes. (PRIZES!)


I decided I needed to get out of Dodge and I was going to take Bounce with me, but as we headed out the door, Cheer and Shout got into a smackdown, so we grabbed Cheer and took him too.

I must say, I am STILL not brave enough to take all 4 of my kids on the Metro by myself (especially not after hearing my friend's story of losing 2 of her 4 kids on the Metro on PARIS and none of them speak French!!), but taking two of them is like a walk in the park.

There was a tiny bit of whining and attitude, but mostly, it was all fun. They got to perform an appendectomy on a Care Bear, with real surgical tools and doctors. They met famous news anchors. I joined the National Bone Marrow Registry, which is something I've always wanted to do. They practiced CPR, got their fingers casted and collected lots of fun freebies, including two Razr scooters! I know!

It will be really ironic if they break their arms on the scooters and end up at Children's Hospital for a REAL cast, right? (Should I even TYPE that stuff on the internet?)

Overall, it was a successful day. Laundry Dad was busy at home with the other two, staging our next home renovation project. (Oh, what's that you say? The last one isn't actually FINISHED yet? Well, yes. That is correct.) A home improvement post is due soon.

But now, 48 hours after our fun-filled adventure into health and fitness, I have a scratchy throat, a foggy head, and every part of me aches. I'm pretty sure I know where I came into contact with hundreds of the masses of germ-carrying humanity.

Irony.

(photo from here)

it's a lot like leaping off a cliff

Whelp. I did it.

I went and registered for the first of 7 classes I need to take to apply to nursing school.

I have wavered over this for a LONG time. At least a year. After a year, I STILL want to do it.

It won't be easy. It will be expensive. I will be asking for some serious responsibility-shouldering from my family.

But after being a SAHM for 10 years, I am DYING to do something else. Something that will help people. Something that I am really interested in. Something that is flexible enough that it would work with the Laundry's schedule. Something where there are actual JOBS out there. (Seriously, have you all LOOKED for a job lately? I watch CNN and all, but as part of this whole process, I decided to look for a job in my former fields and see what was out there. NOTHING. Especially not for someone who hasn't worked in 10 years.)

So here we go.

It is terrifying.

And? Exhilarating.

When I got my registration form and paid my bill, I felt a little thrill. That rapid heartbeat, tingly scalp, adrenaline rush.

Then, I went to the bookstore and bought my books, and I got that other feeling. The one in the pit of your stomach that makes you feel like you might barf.

So I went outside, with my new textbooks hugged tight to my chest, breathed in some icy air and told myself I CAN DO THIS.

It's one little baby step. And there's always a chance to modify the plan along the way if I need to. But it's the first step I have taken for ME in a very long time.




Confidential to Jennifer: The Dansko clogs feel FABULOUS on my feet. I have achy feet and legs just in a regular day. Honestly, that is one of the things that makes me nervous about nursing... how much my legs will hurt at the end of a shift. But, my nurse friends rave about these shoes, as does my OB-GYN, and I have to agree. They are a little heavy, which takes some getting used to. I would say they are worth the investment. I have also heard great things from nurses about Crocs. They have a professional line . Non-skid, reinforced toes, no holes (gotta keep fluids off your socks). I don't think either one will win you a fashion award, but I wear Crocs around the house a lot and they also help my achy feet and legs. I'd love to hear about your nursing school experience, by the way!! Email me at laundryforsix@gmail.com.

Confidential to Erin: I will definitely do a review of the Flip. The one thing I can say is that it IS hard to hold steady because it's so small. So some of the videos are more herky-jerky than they would be with a bigger heavier camera. I do love the size though - I can throw it in my purse and pull it out to film some of the silly things the kids do that I normally would not have captured. I don't have an iPhone, maybe an iPhone can do the same thing? We do have a bigger video camera that is not digital, and I think we will be keeping that too for videoing birthdays and Christmas.

i TRY not to complain

Oh, who am I kidding?

I LOVE to complain. It's what I'm good at.

This week is the pit of suckitude.

Tide, being in middle school now, has MID-TERMS. Yuck. Mid-terms conveniently coincide with the end of the quarter. Which is also when all of Bounce's and Shout's teachers feel the need to have a test in EVERY SUBJECT.

Need I mention that Laundry Dad is also out of town?

Throw into that mix basketball practices, a Girl Scout meeting, preschool co-oping, a preschool parent's meeting, a rather inconveniently scheduled cardiologist appointment for Bounce involving no less than 28 phone calls to re-jigger the carpool schedules, SOMETHING SECRET THAT I WLL DISCUSS IN MY NEXT POST, cleaning up Christmas because I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE (I stayed up until 4 in the morning but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT), regular homework, laundry, dinner, a freakazoid 4-year old who doesn't get NEARLY enough sleep, and 250 things I can't think of right now because I'm so tired.

Suckitude.

It takes all afternoon to do regular homework. Then, lo about 6 o'clock, when I am racing to get dinner on the table, Bounce informs me that she has forgotten her science worksheet. Oh, and by the way, she has a social studies test.

As I am processing all this information, I find Cheer's Christmas journal, in which we are supposed to write 3 sentences each night about what we did over Christmas break. Except it was due last week, and we are about 3 days behind in journaling. (Which is a P-A-I-N-F-U-L process.)

I manage to find another sympathetic mom to read me the worksheet over the phone while I type it out. I hit the print button, only to hear the most horrific sound of paper crashing into the innermost printer parts as it folds over on itself and becomes wedged in the unreachable recesses of the printer.

I spend 30 minutes with the printer, tweezers and needlenose pliers.

I give up, in utter frustration, but decide to google "paper jam" and my printer model.

First hit on Google says to clear paper jams from the rear door.

Huh? Rear door?

Paper jam cleared in 2 seconds.

Worksheet printed and handed to Bounce with the instructions "DO IT."

Bounce remembers that she forgot her science textbook and can't actually do it anyway.

I wrap my head in copious lengths of Ace bandage to keep it from exploding.

We manage to eat dinner, clean up dinner, P-A-I-N-F-U-L-L-Y finish the Christmas journal, study for the mid-term, study for the social studies test. Do Cheer's assigned reading for the night. Shower several dirty kids. Get everyone to bed, asleep and out of my hair by 10:30pm.

I KNOW! 10:30PM on a school night! There was just no time in there to stop and spend the excruciating time and energy on getting Shout to bed while the other kids were still studying.

Which, I'm pretty sure, is a REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE of why the two-parent system was invented.

Is it Friday yet?

it's funny what you find when you download pictures from the camera

That's totally not the story that I got on how those ceramic ceiling fan pulls got broken.

7 years of cheer

I cannot believe it's been SEVEN years since that cold December night when we made our mad dash to the hospital, arriving with little time to spare, NO time for the anesthesiologist, and barely enough time for the doctor to even don a sterile gown. You were in a big hurry to get here, and now that I know you, I'm not surprised at all.

I named you Cheer for a reason. You are full of it. Once again, you spent the year celebrating, decorating and anxiously anticipating the next holiday season. Your tired old mom is not really a festive gal, but I have no choice but to be dragged along with your mood-setting and celebrating. I even let you talk me into buying a huge inflatable igloo with penguins popping out of it for our yard display this Christmas. (Which, sadly, we did not get to use because of all the SNOW, but if I know you like I think I do, I'm sure that thing will get dragged out of the closet several times during the year, just to bring a little cheer in the long dreary days of February. Or the hot days of August. Or whenever you decide that we all need a little Christmas.)

Sometime this year you turned into a giant. I didn't really notice until you started first grade, how HUGE you are. You are one of the tallest kids. It must be all those bowls of Cheerios you are constantly eating. I am getting seriously worried about how I am going to feed you as a teenager, because at 7, you already go through several boxes of Cheerios each week. I keep telling your older brother and sister to be nicer to you, because very soon, you will be able to half-Nelson them in seconds. (Also, I imagine that one day soon, you will be able to lift heavy things, and it's ALWAYS good to have a brother who can lift heavy things.)

You never stop moving, talking, bouncing, playing, jumping. Except at night, in your bed. If you lay still for 3 seconds, you fall instantly asleep. Maybe I should have named you Inertia. You are the only kid in the house who doesn't need to be coaxed, coddled and sometimes berated into sleep. But you are up with the birds, unlike everyone else in the house. And I apologize for not being very nice at that hour of the morning. I will teach you to turn on the coffee pot this year and perhaps we can start the day off together in a slightly more civilized manner.

Your teachers love you. You listen. You follow the rules. You are a wide-eyed and eager student. It is refreshing to hear when there are skeptical, moody preteens in the house. I hope you always keep your sense of wonder. Even when you are a moody preteen. You learned to read this year. And swim. And ride a bike. You lost two teeth. FINALLY. Here's hoping the next set is better at cavity-resistance than the first one.

I also learned this year that you are quite a good actor. You can fake a stomach-ache like no one else. It's those big eyes and that serious look you get on your face. You had me fooled for the first few weeks of school. And the school secretaries just recently figured you out.

Although you are good at it, I think school can be hard for you. It confines your ability to move and create and quickly move on to the next thing. Which I guess you feel it in your gut. It's not so much a stomach-ache, but that anxious, impatient feeling that we all get when we are ready to burst out of our little boxes and discover something. Although you still have to go to school (for at least like 15 more years), I hope you don't ever lose that feeling in your gut that you need to just burst out and Do Something.

It's one of your finest qualities.

Happy Birthday, my (GIANT) baby.

Last year's birthday post.

where did tuesday, wednesday and thursday go?

I've come to a revelation. I can either exercise, clean my house or blog. But only one of those.

This week I exercised. Don't worry. I'm sure it won't stick. Because SOMEONE is going to have to take down the Christmas tree one of these weeks.

I've been downloading all the Christmas break pictures and remembering all the fun we had over our unexpectedly long break. (HELLLLO blizzard.)

We went to see ICE at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor. It is a bit pricey, but totally worth it. There's nothing else like it. (Except the OTHER ICE displays at OTHER Gaylord hotels.) It runs through Sunday if you live in the area and are interested. Jessica and her crew went. Taza and Husband saw it. And Melanie and her monkeys. Frostbitten thumbs up all around.

It is basically a HUGE tent full of elaborate ice sculptures. (Including some ice slides that were fun, but your butt can really only take a few slides down solid ice.) It is actually TWO MILLION POUNDS OF ICE! And it's 9 degrees in there. They give you a great big coat to wear. Bring gloves!









We also went to the U.S. Botanic Garden to see the annual Christmas display of trains, poinsettias and natural replicas of DC landmarks. Simply amazing.


South Side of the White House. Check out Sasha's and Malia's playground, and Michelle's vegetable garden. SO cute!







We also did our traditional viewing of the train displays at Union Station and the College Park Airport Museum, pizza night at Unos in Union Station. (True fact, we got engaged at an Unos. Not this one though. I'll share the story some day.) This year, we did just a drive by of the National Christmas Tree (true fact - I ALWAYS cry at the National Christmas tree)* and Mormon Temple lights, due to sleet and generally fuhreezing weather. It was pretty all the same.

(I'm catching up! Hopefully I can stop talking about Christmas by the time I take the tree down. Or Easter. Whichever is first.)

*I thought for sure there would be a story I could link you to about this, but I can't find one. If you have never been to the National Tree, there is one big (national) tree and then each state and U.S. territory has a smaller tree decorated with ornaments handmade for that year, in that location. Sometimes they are made by children, local artists, disabled people... each year, each state has a story.

In 2005, patients at Louisiana Children's Hospital were selected to make the ornaments for that year's tree, but the hospital was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. So that year, the Louisiana tree sported one ornament donated from each of the other state trees.

Touching, right? I shed a tear or two.

The NEXT year, the Louisiana tree was covered with ornaments that said "THANK YOU, MARYLAND!", "THANK YOU, PUERTO RICO!", "THANK YOU, ALASKA!" and well, I just lost it right there amidst the masses. Now, my kids won't even walk through it with me, because I just can't pass the Louisiana tree without tearing up.

these are a few of my favorite things

Whew! It's been a long couple of weeks! We've been merrymaking, mess making and snuggling. (It's VERY COLD here and we got lots of Snuggies for Christmas.)

But today is back to real life, and although for me, that means cleaning out the refrigerator (and can I just say, EW!), it is high time for a little structure in our lives.

I have so much to say, I hardly know where to start. But let's start here... with a few of my favorite things from Christmas.


Flip Video Camera - awesomeness... stay tuned for annoying videos from moi!


These shoes... my dad says they are ugly. My feet are in love.


This coat. Continuing a long-standing tradition where the aforepictured child will not wear a coat unless it is a REALLY COOL ONE.


These noses, which blink.


This doll.


And this doll. (And Grandpa is pretty awesome too.)


Dress (total clearance sale score at Hanna Andersson)


UnderArmour hockey wear


L.L. Bean fleece bathrobe, tired preteen sold seperately


Leather bomber jacket, total SCORE from Value Village


One of the Snuggies. Go ahead and make fun. You should SEE how cold it is in my house right now!


Yankee Bobbleheads. (Sorry Christine.) Right in there with Mary, Joseph and, you know, The Newborn King. (And some apparently deceased sheep.) (There is a Pete Rose one too, but he was excluded from the Hall of Fame manger scene.)


This guy had a birthday.


We celebrated here.


He also lost a couple of these. (Don't even ask how long it took the tooth fairy to remember to do her job. FAIRYFAIL.)

How were your holidays? Any BIG HITS? Any disasters? Tears? What's a Christmas morn without at least ONE KID crying?