Teach Me How to Mommy

Vacations with toddlers aren't really vacations.   This will end up positive, I promise.   But back to the start.  Preparing, packing, traveling and then living on vacation is no joke.  Challenging?  Yes.  Worth it....  For the second year in a row, Jerry and I have traveled to Maine to spend time at his Pepere's lake house.  Along with us come many members of extended family.  The kitchen table is always full of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  Every bed is full and so are the couches.  Shoes don't have a rightful home, but laughs, beer and memories certainly do. So even though it takes nine plus hours in the car to get there, once you're there it's magic.  Limited internet, surplus of trees, off-road vehicles and lake walks.  Magic. Even better?  Plenty of 20-somethings, grandparents and teens who don't see my children as much as I do.  To them, most things they do are cute.  T...

The first few days of summer are in the books.... The kids have been so happy with our summer adventures that they are currently on a 7 day no-nap streak.  So even though I've enjoyed it all along with them, there are some things I have learned by spending 7am-730pm with my beautiful, busy children: 1.  Fighting screen time is a worthwhile battle, but an uphill one. 2.  Speaking of rules, many have to be broken in the summer.  I know I'll pay later, but it feels good to just let go. 3.  Working full-time affords more breaks - I've been missing my 45 minute lunch (time to go to the bathroom, eat and chat, a luxury). 4.  Things go pretty smoothly until 4pm, at that point I better have a plan or be prepared to guard the kitchen cabinets for raiders.  It's nice to have tissues to catch the many, many fake tears that are headed my way. 5.  How can I be expected to watch  Orange is the New Black  if I can't start until 10pm?  ...

Well, we've waited for it all year.  It's finally come!  It's Mother's Day! Even if Mother's Day means that the craft your kid made you at daycare has already broken and the outdoor barbecue you planned for your family will be slightly ruined tainted by pouring rain, it's still "our day." On Friday, I finished up a year long relationship with a student teacher.  The experience was such a positive one that I held back tears when I said, "good-bye" to her.  She helped me with all the taxing things that go on behind the scenes - grading, planning, copying, organizing, cleaning and the ever important report cards.  Beyond that, she became such an energetic and kind presence in my room.  She is a friend now and I will miss her dearly. She left me with a gift, that in her words, "defines who I am." I never received any of these "knit" things in my life.  I've always liked them, but isn't it kind of a lost ar...

It's Good Friday and what a good Friday it has been.  In fact, it's been a really wonderful vacation, the only bad thing being that it's almost over.  Amy talked about the "last stretch" . Fourth quarter is here, summer is around the corner.  She's right, well kind of.  May hasn't begun, and even though it's nice out, I still worry the cold air will come back and the work days will still be long.  Anyways, let's just go with her mindset - summer mode . We did a lot of things this vacation, including hosting a birthday party, a night away at the beach, the Aquarium and more.  Although many people we know went on vacations to Florida, California or further the farthest we went was outside of Boston to the Great Wolf Lodge.  I have to say that it looked really cheesy from all the ads, but it came highly recommended by a few people we know.  We wanted to take the kids somewhere  - some place new, exciting before we tackle a longer, farther vac...

The first weekend of December is officially in the books.  My kids were in bed at 7:15 and Jerry and I are too exhausted to do much, well, much of anything. Over this weekend my kids met Santa twice and will see him twice more this week.  Before you judge me and think that the season has gotten just that much out of control, hear me out... It's a lot of work to organize some of these things (Polar Express and Fire Truck Santa), but some just fall into our laps.  We went to a pasta dinner at my school this week where Santa showed up.  Score.  This upcoming weekend my mother in-law actually has a Santa come down a chimney for her grandkids (and nieces and nephews).  Pure magic. Yes, it's likely that my kids won't remember this particular year of Santa activities, but I am sure you can agree that passing on them is silly. And so although it is unlikely I'll survive this holiday season completely unscathed, I am choosing to move forward.  I wil...

Cute kids- not so cute sleep avoidance I know last week was a long week for you.  It was a long week for me too.  I know this because I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow and also, I didn't really have time to reflect on anything that occurred last week until now (and even this is a squeeze).  What's even more exciting and nerve-wracking is that after tomorrow the Christmas spirit will fill the air we breathe.  I can't wait for it all and I'm on pins and needles all the same.  I am wondering how I'll juggle it all -  I know I am bound to screw up somewhere along the way.  I think that's why I got to thinking about what happened to me last week... I am trying to do a special bulletin board/project in my classroom.  If I ever actually get it done I'll post it - it has potential, but right now it is just under construction (like permanently under construction).  It required a laminator which I don't have and to my knowledge my school...

With the help of two troops of wonderful family Jerry and I left for the weekend to celebrate my beautiful friend's wedding day.  Off to Cape Cod we went while our children were showered with love, gifts, sleepover treats, adventures and cousin time.  After checking in with them a few dozen times, I made some time to have fun.  A lot of it. If you put twelve of your closest high school friends in one house for a weekend there are a couple things that are guaranteed: 1.  You'll get no sleep.  I mean that.  One night I did not sleep.  The last time I did that was, well it was last year when John refused to sleep.  Let's just say it took me the whole week to recover. 2.  You end up reminiscing about the same memories you reminisce every time you see each other.  You also make a lot of promises about getting together again soon (let's make it actually happen). 3.  It's a good thing that snap chats disappear after 24 hours. ...

Like everyone else on the planet Amy and I are trying so hard to adjust to the school schedule that we  almost missed the fact that today is our One-Year Blogiversary! One year ago (today) we took the plunge and started this thing.  Throughout this year we have learned a lot about each other and also our "fans".  We are different, but the same.  We love our kids with our whole hearts and we make a lot of mistakes.  We are way too hard on ourselves, but we are also doing a pretty job of enjoying this chaotic time in our lives.  We are moms doing our best.  We are all living it, Amy and I just write about it. Doing this blog is an extra thing on our to-do list, but it's become a necessity.  It's added a whole new layer to our friendship and it is a major source of stress relief (a rewarding one at that).  We plan to continue forever.  Yes, that's right this will live on and on and on.  How else will we survive these turbule...

Last week was the first full week of school. Even as someone who thrives on work chaos, and especially as someone who was seriously looking forward to the routine... last week was ROUGH. Our PD did not fulfill me, like at all.... the AC was broken with not a fan to be found, I got heat stroke (it was debilitating and took me three days to fully recover), and then I thought I broke a tooth. I have no recollection of my tooth chipping, but there was intense pain radiating from my top right molars into the tippy top of my brain. It was Friday by the time I ran out of extra Strength Tylenol and decided to call my dentist. They felt "soooo bad" but they just couldn't fit me in... So, I spend my first Friday at work, before a holiday weekend, calling every dentist in the state of Connecticut. I finally gave up, said screw my anxiety, and called MY dentist back and begged to be seen. ALLL of a sudden, they could magically fit me in.  But only if I arrive ASAP. I ma...

Amy and I are not saying good-bye to summer just yet.   We will do that in video form later on, yet the time has come for one of us to return to work (and that’s me).   ·                  So while my husband is downstairs in the basement with a bunch of men creating fantasy football teams (no seriously, it’s what I am currently dealing with), I am reflecting on the best summer of my life.   Much of it was chronicled on the blog and I don’t want to be redundant.   There’s plenty I didn’t do, but I also don’t feel like talking about that either. ·              Instead I am choosing to attempt to permanently etch this summer into my brain.  The two thousand +  pictures I have help a lot.  I am choosing to let them run over and over in my mind while I sit through endless meetings tomorrow.  I am choosing to get excited to see my co-workers ...

This morning the kids and I went to breakfast and then went to a local store that has fruits, veggies, some farm animals and cute little Melissa and Doug things.  We go often - it's one of those regular joints you can always add to a morning or afternoon to "stretch it out a bit." The store connects to a warehouse in the back where they keep flowers and materials.  The doors were left wide open to this area.  John saw it first and noticed three (THREE) little toddler tractors and battery-operated cars.  They were John Deere and Mickey Mouse and were obviously for a little boy just John's age.  It obvious to me that they were for the worker's kids.  You know, they weren't put there for my kids - although in my kids' eyes I hadn't taken them to a little market, I had taken them to Disney World. I am the adult so I could tell customers probably weren't allowed back there, but to my kids the doors were open and there were toys.  It's a pl...