Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The school project that has become a family project
If you are like my co-workers and have never heard of Flat Stanley, let me bring you up to date. Flat Stanley is a book written by Jeff Brown in which the main character, Stanley, is flattened to one-inch thick when a bulletin board falls on top of him. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop, discover that it is cheaper to mail Flat Stanley to visit relatives versus buying a plane ticket. Thus, Flat Stanley travels the country via the U.S. Postal Service. In my children’s school, an annual third grade project is to create your own 12-18” high laminated picture of Flat Stanley and send him along with a journal to friends and family across the country. It is a lot to ask of people – the premise is that we will learn about their communities …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Trying to keep the birthdays simple this year
It was not easy, but I just said no. This year will be the second year that I have said no to throwing three kids’ friend birthday parties. My children’s birthdays all take place within 3½ weeks of each other. We did not plan that well. Well, we did not plan that. Throw Halloween into the mix and you’ve got four major Yevchak holidays jammed into a short period of time. It’s not that I don’t love a party. I do! But are three, two-hour orchestrated kids’ birthday parties really worth the money and stress they cost me? The kids want the parties because their friends have the parties. As a parent, we feel pressure to have our kids fit in and for them to have what their friends have. But let’s consider the costs involved. First, the physical …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Is it a requirement of parenthood to watch every single game?
The working mom guilt kicked in when I realized that my work schedule overlapped with almost every one of my fifth-grader’s soccer games. Partly, it’s the league’s fault. All of the games are played on weekday afternoons or early evenings. This is so not conducive to working parents’ schedules. On the other hand, this leaves Saturdays and Sundays free from school soccer commitments. I broke the news to my daughter early on. “Sweetie, I don’t think I am going to make it to many of your soccer games this season.” Her response totally surprised me. “It’s okay. I think I play better when no one is there watching me.” What? All those hours wasted watching soccer and basketball games! All that time sitting through practices! Here I was …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
It Takes a Broken Foot and a Mom of Six to Prompt Some Responsibility
Many things my children have done while I've been recovering from my broken foot inspired the following “poem.” My writing style was inspired by the popular children’s book “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” by Laura Numeroff. This column is dedicated to my girlfriend KB who only packs a sandwich and drink for each of her six children’s school lunches – if they want anything else to go along with the sandwich, it is their responsibility. Brilliant! If you give a kid a sandwich, she will not starve during the school day. But she’ll probably want a snack to go with it. She’ll learn to pack her own snacks. Having to pack her own snacks will teach her where you keep the Ziploc bags. Finding the Ziploc bags will remind her that she’s hungry for …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The importance of who sits next to whom
My son was devastated to find out he was seated between two girls in his new second grade classroom. “It’s not fair! Why can’t I sit next to my friends?” It may not be clear to him, but it’s perfectly clear to me. He is a boy’s boy. He is a good student, but would much rather be running, tackling, wrestling, throwing, catching, jumping, riding or any other physical activity available. “Buddy, get used to it. You will be sitting next to girls for the rest of your school career.” Rolled eyes back at me. "Trust me, someday it won’t seem so terrible.” In my son’s particular case, sitting in the middle of two girls who pay attention and follow the rules directly results in better behavior. The teachers are obviously on to him. My third grade …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Is there ever a convenient time for a Mom to get hurt?
It only took me 40 years to break a bone. I wasn’t watching where I was walking. I didn’t see the dip and my foot rolled. My husband knew it right away. “It’s broken.” “NO! I can’t have a broken bone!” This just doesn’t fit into the schedule. This isn’t on my agenda. This is not something I have time for right now. This is so inconvenient. I refused to believe it was true. That is until it started to swell, until it started to really hurt and until I couldn’t put any weight on it. My friend offered to watch my kids. My oldest daughter was in a panic and started crying. “I am so worried about you!” “I’m going to be fine.” But inside I was worried right along with her. Although it was an unlucky day, I was fortunate that my husband happened…
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Trip to Ellis Island renews interest in our family’s history
Nearly 100 years ago, when my great-grandmother was about my age, she traveled from her home-country of Poland to the coast of Germany. She then boarded a steamship and traveled for about seven days across the Atlantic Ocean. She entered the United States through Ellis Island on June 25, 1913. She wasn’t alone; she made the move with two young daughters — my grandmother, age 11 and my great-aunt, age 7 — in tow. It took me more than 40 years, but I finally made the trip to Ellis Island. She arrived on a steamship; I arrived on a ferry. She was 37; I am 40. She had two daughters with her; I had my girls, ages 10 and 8, with me (and my son, too). She had nothing; I had an iPhone and a debit card. We drove to Liberty State Park and took …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Big Time Rush is the boy band du jour
My older sister did not allow me to have a crush on Donny Osmond when I was little. He was reserved for her. So I was directed to have a crush on Donny Osmond’s younger brother, Jimmy. I remember dictating a fan letter to my older brother to send to Jimmy. I am not sure if that letter was ever mailed. I never got to see Jimmy or Donnie in concert. It would have been so dreamy. So I can relate when my daughters were thrilled at the chance to see Big Time Rush in concert this summer. I received one of those Groupon emails for $15 lawn seats to Big Time Rush’s August 18 concert at PNC Bank Arts Center. I scooped up eight tickets and prayed for no rain. In case you’re not hip to the 'tween girl music scene, Big Time Rush is akin to the late-…
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Will I have enough time to complete our summer to-do list?
The older I get the faster the summer seems to fly by. How is it already mid-August? Every summer, my kids and I think about the things we want to do. A checklist of fun things we like to do or new things we want to try. I feel like this year, we will run out of time before we get the chance to complete them all. We still haven’t gone mini-golfing. We still haven’t made it to Breakwater Beach in Seaside Heights or Hurricane Harbor in Jackson. We still haven't made it to the Cape May Zoo. We still haven’t tried a new ice cream place. We still haven’t watched the sunrise on the beach. We still haven’t eaten dinner on the beach. To add to the pressure, my daughter checked a book out of the library titled, “101 Things You Gotta Do Before You’…
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
I wanted to be Nadia Comaneci when I was little
When I was a young girl, I dreamed of being Nadia Comaneci. You may recall that Nadia was the first female gymnast to score a perfect 10 in the 1976 Summer Olympics. She also went on to win two gold medals in the 1980 Summer Olympics. I was obsessed with her. I got a leotard. I lined up the picnic table benches in my backyard and pretended they were a balance beam. I practiced back bends and hand stands. However, much to my dismay, I later discovered that one cannot be five feet 10 inches tall as I am and be an Olympic gymnast. I could dream though, couldn’t I? Now my children are at about the age I was when my Olympic dreams began. We have been watching the current London Olympic games as much as we can. There are several things I love …
Courtney
11:50 am on Wednesday, October 17, 2012
I as well had to do the flat stanley project and it was so much fun I still have all 3 of the flat stanley projects as my 3 daughters all had to do it. It was very time consuming but so worth it in the end!!! more ›