I'm a Chicken

Being a PTA committee chair is a lot like having a real job, except, again, it doesn't pay $. It's almost like the things I didn't like about real jobs, too. There are meetings, for one, where you're expected to know stuff you've never even thought about before. Also, other people have "great ideas" and then suddenly it's your job to implement them. Except all they give you is the idea and you have to find your own resources. And then if the idea turns out to be a bad one, everyone looks at you because you're the one working on it, but if the idea is good, everyone says, "Look what we did!" and maybe you get a, "She did a lot of the work," and maybe not. Now I'm really wishing I had taken a year to be on a committee, rather than heading one up.

Attn: Mr. Bus Driver

How come you get to decide whether my kid needs transportation to school? Do you really think anyone believes you when you say you really are driving the route you're supposed to? What? Does the bus go into stealth mode when you pass our stop? And if it does, couldn't you at least honk to let us know you're there? You know what really pissed me off? It was the fact that you were at the school when we arrived to drop Pete off this morning. If you hadn't been there yet, I would wonder if maybe we just hadn't waited long enough, but clearly, if you had come by our stop, it would have had to have been before we piled into the car and made the trek ourselves. You know what else pissed me off? I was stuck behind you leaving the school. And when we got to that really long light at the end of the street, I actually thought about whether I would have enough time to get out and confront you. I had thought about it at the school too. Lucky for you, I had Lulu in the car. And I hadn't had any breakfast and knew my words would have more impact if I didn't look crazy.

You think you're safe because of the driver shortage, right? Well, you're probably right, but think about this. Today the school called your supervisor. Next week, if you still don't stop for my kid, I'm going to start calling your supervisor too, and I'm thinking I may not mention it to the school so the guy is actually getting two calls about your... slackness. And I might even call your supervisor's supervisor.

It's not up to you which kids you pick up. If you can't find us, ask someone! Pete, really the smartest kid I know, suggested that you talk to the lady who drives the route in the afternoon. She knows where our stop is.

Get a clue, buddy.

Angrily,
Pete's Mom

Lulu's Open House

Thursday morning was the open house at Lulu's school. We went and met her teachers and some of the other children. Everyone seemed very nice. It was right at Lulu's nap time, though, so she had a little meltdown when one of the other children accidentally bumped her with a toy. She was comfortable there, though, which was nice to see. She played with the toys some and looked around at all the other stuff. She pointed out stars and bears and fish and elephants. Every time the gate across the door was opened, she tried to run out, though. I hope that doesn't become an issue. She does like to explore...

I'm gonna miss her.

Nope

It didn't come.

More About the Bus

Okay. Pete came home on the bus yesterday. They were 20 minutes later than they were supposed to be, but I wasn't surprised. I had spent the afternoon watching the clock so I could be at the end of the driveway when she got here, and Lulu and I actually went out early so we were out in the heat for a really long time. But eventually the bus came. And Pete got off. And ran across the street (I need to talk to her about walking feet...). I said, "Yay! You're home." And she said, "They said I was going to have to be taked* back to school."

???!!!

Apparently the driver couldn't find our house. Pete said, "We were even already in my neighborhood!" It sounded like they had even turned into the neighborhood onto our street. Thank goodness they had to drive by here to get out.

Anyway, she's home and today the driver knows where to stop. And she's supposed to get picked up this morning too...


*Yes. She said "taked."

Security

A few months ago, I looked into having our security system activated. I called three companies, and made appointments to meet with two of them. After the first appointment, I cancelled the second one, which was with a guy who had to ask me for directions to our house because 1. the first appointment went really well and 2. do we really want people who can't use mapquest in charge of monitoring our family's security? But here's the thing. Yesterday, 2 or 3 months after I made the original calls, the third company finally called me back. Are you kidding?! It's a big, nationwide company, probably the most widely used around here. Thank goodness we didn't go with them! If it takes that long to make a sales call, how long is it going to take for them to respond to an alarm?! I laughed at the guy and basically told him they shouldn't have taken so long to get back to us. Did they really think we were going to wait 3 months to get a security system? Great customer service, people! Keep up the good work. Meanwhile, we'll be looking for someone who can help us right now.

The Bus

This morning, there was a chance that Pete's bus would be taking her to school so we waited at the top of the driveway for 20 minutes, knowing beforehand that we might end up in the car again this morning. Three buses drove by. Two of them had bus numbers that were nowhere near Pete's bus number, but there was a moment of excitement as a bus approached with a number very close to Pete's bus. Turns out that Pete will start riding the bus to school tomorrow morning. Knowing ahead of time that she might not get to ride this morning didn't help very much with preventing Pete's disappointment when we got in the car. But she should be riding the bus home (waiting to hear from the AP about that to be certain). I'll be anxiously waiting from the time her school lets out until she gets here. I'll let you know what happens...

Then Lulu cried again when we let Pete out.

Even More About the Tic

It seems to be gone. Magically. The afternoon of the first day of school. I asked her about it yesterday after school, and she said it's all gone, too. Yay for Pete!! Poor kid.

LL Says:

Lulu says, "Poooo." It means prunes. I think it's appropriate.

Lulu Made Me Cry

I was fine with the whole back-to-school thing. I missed Pete like crazy yesterday and really relished having everyone at the table at dinnertime, but I hadn't been sad or anything. It might have helped that Husbandguy dropped Pete off at school yesterday, the first day, and I didn't have to deal with that officially-over part of it. I don't know. This morning, though, Lulu and I took Pete to school. It was just like last year, same route, same idiots trying to crash into us, same drop off spot (different teachers helping, though). Except that this time, when Pete got out of the car at school, Lulu, who had refused to play with Pete in the car the whole way there, cried like her little heart was broken. It was so sad.

So of course I cried too.

We're both better now.

Pete Says:

Pete's mom thought this was cute. Maybe she's the only one...

When Pete's mom picked Pete up from school yesterday, Pete's mom asked Pete about Pete's day, including if Pete got to play outside. Pete's answer was, "Yes. Before lunch!" Pete sounded totally amazed. Last year Pete's class ate lunch first. Then Pete said, very importantly, "We have a different schedule."

We Have a Winner!

You know those claw games with the toys inside that are next to impossible to win? Well, we were at the mall this past weekend and there was one that was CRAMMED FULL of Care Bears, and Pete wanted to try. I totally thought I could win it so we asked Husbandguy for 50¢ because he was the one with pockets with change in them (his choice), and I told Pete she could play one time and that was all. Then I helped her position the claw over this one yellow bear that looked like it might be pick-up-able, and I told her to push the button. And SHE WON!! That thing, small and cheaply made as it is, is totally worth 50¢! Especially when you add in Pete's excitement about actually winning the game. Totally worth it.

The Quiet

This morning, Husbandguy took Pete out to breakfast and then he's taking her on to school. It's the first day. After they left, Lulu and I sat down at the table to finish her breakfast, and all of the sudden I was overwhelmed by how quiet it is around here. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but right now it's strange. I may have to go put Pete's Lion King CD in her CD player and turn it way up...

Get This!

This weekend, you know, Saturday morning, family time, etc., I got a call that went like this:

Me: Hello?
Her: Hello. Mrs. [Nintendo]?
Me, hesitantly, already: Yes.
Her: This is Barbara. I'm not going to keep you. I'm just calling to let you know that we're doing our annual fundraising...
Me, interrupting: I'm sorry. Where are you calling from?
-Meaning "Who is doing their annual fundraising?" because, see, she hadn't bothered to say. I know her name, but I'm not going to be giving money to just "Barbara".
Her: Florida.
-Seriously! For real! She said Florida! Like that mattered! I still didn't know who was doing the fundraising. But she did answer my question, I guess.
Me: No. I don't care what state you're in. What are you raising funds for?
-I really said that. And I totally sounded annoyed by how stupid she was being.
Her: The American Breast Cancer [something].
-I don't remember what she said, honestly, because at that point it didn't really matter.
Me: Yeah. I'm not interested.

Note to people trying to get money from me: It's a good idea to start out sounding like you know what you're talking about. Otherwise I'll assume you're just some stupid criminal and you'll lose my attention.

More About the Tic

Because this bothered me, I need to write about it.

Recently someone pointed out Pete's tic to her. No big deal. Husbandguy and I have done it. But the thing was the way they did it. Like she was making the noise on purpose to bother that person. The poor kid can't help it! I know it's disturbing to listen to. I live with it. But there are gentler ways to ask a 5 year-old why she keeps making a noise. Including asking her mom about it first! Or at least saying, "Are you okay? Because you keep making a noise." That would have given Pete's mom or even Pete a chance to explain without making Pete too uncomfortable. She actually looked kind of embarrassed as she explained that it just feels like she needs to clear her throat. Pete's mom took care of explaining that she can't help it and that it's a vocal tic that's she has had for several years and that calling attention to it can actually make it worse. I think Pete is looking forward to it going away like it always does.

Wish I Got a Video of That

Just a little bit ago, I turned to see Lulu sitting backward in this chair with her little legs straddling the back. At first I thought she was just "talking" to the princesses. Then I realized she was actually playing peek-a-boo. With the princesses. First she covered their eyes, then threw her little hands in the air and said, "Bo!" Then she covered her own eyes and did the same thing. It was so cute. I went to get my camera, though, and she got down so I missed it. But the camera is by the chair now so I'm ready if she does it again.

The Ants

You know those ants in my kitchen? They're outside too. All over the place. Yesterday morning, there was a bee stuck in a spider web across our front porch (it was one of those big spiders that builds a web for the night and cleans it up in the morning - it was back in the same place last night so I couldn't help Husbandguy take out the trash because it might crawl on me and really, we shouldn't knock down its web unless we have to because it's not hurting anyone [those reasons in that order]). Anyway, the spider had caught a bee in its web and when it packed up and moved wherever it went for the daytime, it left the bee behind in a little bee-carcass heap on the porch. And when I went out to feed the cat those awful little ants were swarming all over it. Gross! I HATE those ants. Pete would say that I just said a bad word, but I really do HATE them.

Whew! That's Over!

Actually, it wasn't so bad. The two things I could have done that I didn't were make a sign that said "Join the PTA!" and make up a schedule for people to cover the Join-the-PTA table. But it wasn't a disaster because there were enough people willing to help that we didn't seem to need a schedule, and the fact that the PTA table was right inside the front door and looked like it might be a place where you were supposed to sign in meant that we were able to just say "Join the PTA!" to most people. And I talked one of the dads into joining my committee! Now there are two people on my committee (including me). Woo-hoo!

Oh Crap!

I think I've dropped the ball. But I didn't ever really see where the ball was to catch it. How can they expect someone who has never even been to a PTA meeting to plan an entire open house in, what? a week-and-a-half? I feel like a deer caught in headlights. I normally try to avoid cliches, but here's the thing: it occurred to me that this particular cliche is good for this situation because, that's really how I feel and I'm terrified that, just like in that situation, the deer (me) is going to do a ton of damage to whatever's got those headlights (the open house tonight).

Maybe I should have asked for help. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to be a chairperson. Maybe I should have waited until school started and I went to a PTA meeting to agree to be a chairperson.

I know why I did it though, agreed to this. It's because now I have to do it. If I had just told myself that I would join the PTA this year but not be responsible for anything, I would have found a ton of really lame excuses for why I couldn't go to meetings. But as a chair, I can't skip out, and the part of me that wants me to succeed knows that and makes rash decisions on my behalf that trap me in situations where the rest of me feels like it would be better to get the stomach flu right now and just be sick all weekend.

The...(gasp!)...BUS! AAAIIIEEEEE!!!!

Okay. I only sort of feel that way. A little bit of a lot, as Pete would say. I think Pete is too little to ride the bus, but at the same time I think she is big enough, but also she's not. But she's going to. When I talked to the assistant principal at Pete's school last week - she handles all the bus stuff - she commented that she had children, PreK children even, who were getting on the bus more than two hours before school starts!! That's more than two hours on the bus because they don't pick them up that early and take them right to school!!! And some of them are 4 years old!!!! Poor kids! I told Pete that we would still look into letting her ride the bus because she's wanted to ride a school bus since she was a toddler and first noticed those big yellow cars on her way to preschool. The one year we sent her to a real private school she was very disappointed that they didn't even have an activity bus for field trips (I was a little surprised by that too, actually, considering how much it cost to go there), and when we went on her offsite meeting last year, we took an activity bus and she loved it. So I asked the AP to look into a bus stop for us, and I told her that if the bus came for Pete more than an hour before school started we weren't interested. And here's what she found out: the bus will pick Pete up 6 minutes before we would normally leave for her school in the morning and drop her off 4 minutes later than we would normally get home in the afternoon. We can't pass that up. But she's so little. But she's sooooooo excited. We can always change our minds. Right?

Circle of Life

That Lion King CD was one of the best purchases I ever made. It helps, I think, that I saved $15 by being all momlike and waiting to buy it when we got home from the show, but even if we had paid the full overprice, it would totally be worth it. Pete loves it. She and her sister listen to it all the time. In fact, they're listening to it right now. I can't hear Lulu over the music because the door to Pete's room is closed (don't worry - if she cries I can hear her), but every now and then I hear the melodious sound of a 5 year-old belting out, "Oh I just can't wait to be king!" or "Oh, mamela!" or "...the circle of... LIFE!" It's fantastic. I wish you could hear it!

There Was a Hole In It

Yesterday I had a banana with my dinner. I actually shared a little bit of it with Lulu, but that's neither here nor there. When I peeled the last bit at the bottom, I noticed that there was a black mark, and since I'm not a fan of banana bruises, I decided not to eat that part. When I looked closer at it to see if I could just take off the bruised section, I realized I could see all the way through it! Ew! There was a hole through my banana. Through the peel on one side and through the middle of the fruit and through the peel on the other side. Ew! I didn't finish it.

Hey! Do you know that joke?

Q. What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?
A. Finding half a worm in your apple.

Poll Results

The results of my poll were split right down the middle: 50% like chocolate covered strawberries and 50% like chocolate covered espresso beans. Why that is interesting is this: I like both things a way, way, way lot. It would be hard for me to choose. So I'm 50/50 too!

Tics

Not "ticks," "tics." "Ticks" are creepy and gross. "Tics" are worrisome. My Pete has one, a vocal one, and every year about this time it shows up. We think it's the pending change to her daily routine, what with summer ending. Last year it was a little hum that would escape her while listening to a story or watching TV or something. This year it's throat clearing, constant and persistent throat clearing. I've looked it up in the past and again this year and the advice "they" give is that it's normal and that most kids outgrow it and that you'll just make it worse if you try to stifle it or call attention to it. And I wouldn't try to stifle it because... well... how? But I can't help asking if she's okay when she's always clearing her throat and that calls attention to it. And she just says, "I can't help it!" And I just want to snuggle her and take her stress away. She's five! Poor kid. Stupid kindergarten! Stop threatening my kid!

So you know, I don't really think kindergarten is stupid and I am super proud of my little early reader who's going to be a real force to be reckoned with in class this year what with her plethora of previous Montessori experience and finally being one of the big kids in the "classroom community."

Accidental Practice

So yesterday, on the way to the doctor I realized that in exactly one week to the minute my girls and I would be making the same trip we were making yesterday. Except yesterday I went past the turn for Pete's school and on to the doctor's office and next Monday I won't be doing that. We accidentally practiced going to school. We got up and got breakfast and got dressed and everything and left at the same exact time we'll need to do it next week. But it was an accident. But it went really smoothly so I have high hopes that the first day of school will be a success.

Pete Says:

Pete told Pete's mom not to worry about needing a bathroom because if Pete's mom had a pee-pee accident, Pete would just buy Pete's mom "grown-up Huggies." "With a little thing called 'Hugflex'."

They're Pro-Steroids

Husbandguy, the Grandpa, and a couple of guys from DH's work think I should take steroids more often because of all the stuff I got done last week while I was being treated. But here's the thing: I'm not 100% sure that it was just the steroids that got all the stuff done. I, being a mom, firmly believe that Pete's little trip to her Nana's was a big help too. It's way easier to get things done when there isn't a 5 year-old hanging around complaining that you're not playing with her because you're folding laundry or something (apparently it's not a fun game to roll socks with Mom; who knew?).

Enough Already!

Jeez! I know it's August, but this is silly! It's been over 915º every day so far this month! That's too much HOTNESS! I really, really, really, really don't like heat. I'm done. Seriously. It needs to at least RAIN, even if it's just a quick drenching that ups the humidity and makes everything seem hotter. On Friday, I think someone spilled something because the ground almost got wet, but it wasn't rain. It was more like that wet ring your glass with ice in it leaves on the table, except not nearly as refreshing. This sucks. IT REALLY DOES.

Waiting for October

Before he left this morning, Husbandguy turned on the weather and it was already over 80º! I really dislike the weather in the summer around here. It's gross! And weird! And I miss needing a sweater when the sun goes down.

This Just Happened

Lulu, in her head to the tune of "Jingle Bells": Helping Mom; helping Mom; helping Mom, that's me. Oh what fun it is to unplug the cord while Mommy is vacuuming (everyone say Hey!).

Me, Mean-Mommy voice: NO! Dangerous!

Lulu, gleefully: Ha! Ha! Ha!

You Know that Saying?

"When the cat's away, the mice will play."

Try this one: "When Pete's unseen, her mom will clean!"

Cheesy, right? But here's the thing. It's true. And now I can see the floor in Pete's room. All of it! The whole thing! I thought, since she's at Nana's today, and while Lulu is napping, I would take advantage of the me time I had and, instead of eating bon-bons and reading with my feet up, I would clean up Pete's room. She made her bed before she left so aside from having to investigate what the lump halfway down under the covers was (turns out it was a blanket), I didn't have to mess with that. And after more than an hour of steadily and correctly putting everything where it belongs, I have to admit that I did some general stuffing of things into their approximate places. But the important stuff, like her music and books, I did first so that got put away right. Now I need to vacuum, but that's going to have to wait until after lunch so Lulu doesn't wake up prematurely.

Phew!

Now I want bon-bons! That might just be the steroids talking, though.

FYI The Grandpa

Because I thought you might be wondering. I woke up this morning feeling way better, and I've got still one more day of treatment. It looks like the three-day treatment will be sufficient and I won't need the five-day, which is good because it is a lot harder to recover with just those two extra days.

Mystery Solved

Lulu has little abrasions on the back of her fingers from cramming her hands into her mouth, her whole hands fingers first, sometimes both at once. Fortunately she's outgrown the idea that it's fun to gag herself and is just putting her hands into her mouth. It seemed like a lot for a tiny front tooth (what are those? incisors?), but I thought, seeing that she just got tooth #7, a tiny front tooth, a week or so ago, that she was cutting tooth #8, and I was almost right. But here's the thing: I was wrong about where the tooth was coming through. She's got a molar! And two more on their way that I can see! No wonder I never see her fingers anymore! And there are big spaces on her gums where the rest of the teeth I thought she'd get before her molars came in are supposed to be. This kid! Well at least we know why she's always got wet hands. And maybe I can start feeding her raw fruits and veggies soon. And at least three of them have already cut the gums with little or no sleep disruption.

She's got molars! I wonder if she'll let us brush them...

Finally! Some Action!

Jeez! What's a girl got to do to get some steroids around here?!

I called on Friday morning and my doctor did have a prescription called in for the kind I know we've talked, more than once, about being difficult for me to take because of their size and horrible taste - one or the other I can handle, but both together are too much. But that apparently isn't in my chart. Why would it be? It can't be important. Right? But so okay. I decided I could handle it this one time and remember to mention it when I have to call next time. But then the pharmacy called to say they didn't have enough in stock to fill the whole prescription, but they would fill part of it and I could pick the rest up on Monday. Again, I've had trouble with this sort of thing in the past, but I reluctantly agreed to it because the frequent vertigo and cold prickly patches on my legs said to just go ahead. So everything was settled. Husbandguy agreed to stop on his way home from work and pick them up. Thank you, DH. Then the pharmacy called again and said that, since they don't make a generic for the prescription my doctor wrote at the dose he wrote, it was going to cost me almost $300 to pick it up. They make a generic, but the dose is 1/16th the dose that was written, which would have required me to take more than 200 pills every morning to reach the more than 900mg my prescription required. I wished then that I had just asked for the IV! So I called DH and told him to just come home instead of stopping at the pharmacy. Then I called my doctor's office and left my phone number on a pager because they close at noon on Friday and don't have an answering service or any way to leave a real message. Then I waited. I kind of put it to the back of my mind because VW and Ginger were here for Ginger's piano lesson, and I was busy. But I remembered when DH got home from work. Then I wished that I had just waited to make the first phone call to my doctor on Monday. It would have been less stressful for me to make the decision to put it off myself instead of having it forced on me. 'Cause it sucks not to be in control of something about this stupid disease. After a crappy weekend, which was easier once I decided to just give up and not let the whole fiasco upset me the whole time, I called again first thing on Monday. I didn't hear anything back on Monday at all, which really messed up my Monday evening because again: No Control Over the Situation. They finally straightened it on out Tuesday and called me like I hadn't been waiting and made comments about how I hadn't started the therapy over the weekend, you know, like I just chose not to. I suppose in a way I did. I chose not to pay $300 for something my doctor doesn't know.

Anyway, it's straightened out for now. And when I get back from dropping Pete off at her Nana's house, I'm going to look into switching doctors, try to find someone who specializes in my disease, not just the field of medicine into which my disease falls.

I've wondered this before: If MS is an autoimmune disease, why aren't immunologists involved in treating it? Isn't calling it a neurological disease really mostly just addressing the symptoms? The symptoms are caused by my immune system. What do neurologists know about the immune system?

Pete Says:

Remember: Pete is 5 years old.

Pete, this past weekend, asked Pete's mom this question:

"Mommy, when can I get a cellophone?"

Remember: Pete is 5 years old.

The Phone Just Rang

Just now I was feeding the cat and the phone rang and I ran to answer it because I've been waiting to talk to my doctor since Friday afternoon and when I picked it up, there was a pause and then a recorded voice said, "Are you in a wheelchair?"

Apparently the Do Not Call list doesn't cover phone calls where a recorded voice asks you invasive questions.

Because maybe they're not really calling you? You know, since it's a recording? That way, "they" can have an alibi, like, "It wasn't me! I was eating breakfast at the [discount store] snack bar. At least 9 people saw me there. I think there's probably a security camera."

If I hadn't been waiting for a phone call (you may get a post on this topic too, by the way), I might have listened to the whole phone call so I could report "them" to that agency that regulates the whole Do Not Call thing (I don't remember which one it is, but it's easy enough to look up and doesn't matter now anyway). I might have...

Vegetables

Lulu won't eat vegetables. I've tried everything I can think of, aside from going back to the mushed up ones she has to eat because I feed them to her on a spoon. I've cut them up super small so she doesn't have to take bites; I've left them large so she can take bites. I've mixed them with macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes or alfredo sauce or other vegetables. I've given them to her while she waits for the rest of her food. The list goes on... Yesterday I thought I'd managed to get her to eat a pea. She was playing under the table after eating all her dinner except her peas, and (usually I don't let her eat anywhere but her seat at the table) I said, "Do you want this?" and I gave her a pea, and she put it in her mouth and didn't spit it out before she disappeared around the corner. So I called, "Do you want more?" and from the other room I heard, "Mo. Mo. Mo." and she came back so I held out another pea and she spit out the first pea and threw it on the floor and then refused the other one. She won't eat them from her plate or from my plate or from her sister's. One time she ate green beans with ketchup on them. But only one time. Pete showed her that. Pete used to eat all her vegetables. She's five now so she only eats what you tell her she has to eat, but we're pretty sure she'll grow out of that. I don't know what to do about Lulu, though. She can't just eat fruit, especially since a lot of times she refuses to eat that too. Maybe it would be easier if she had molars...

How Does It Work?

When you say, "I didn't even [something], let alone [something else]!" which thing comes first, the greater one or the lesser one? Like would I say, "I wasn't in the PTA last year, let alone on a committee!" or would I say, "I wasn't on a committee last year, let alone in the PTA!" How does that work?

A Random Thought

That movie could maybe have been saved if the other kid's dad had also been a delusion and not a real person. That would have been unexpected, for sure. Boy did Hollywood miss the boat on that one!

I'm Already Lost!

It's starting already. I got emails this morning from the PTA VP and Chair of Communications. They went out to everyone, but in one of them she specifically asked me a question. That I can't answer. 'Cause, uh, ahdunno.

The PTA Needs Chairpeople

The wife of the president of the PTA is a friend of mine. She's Berry's mom, Beryl. She's trying to talk me into taking on a PTA committee chairpersonship. There are several available, but the one she's pushing for is the Family Involvement committee. This is what that committee does:

Family Involvement

1. Run the annual PTA Membership Drive
2. Assist with tours/open houses during the CMS lottery process
3. Create & plan opportunities for school families to interact socially
4. Support parent education efforts

And here's the thing. I think I really want to do it. I might be good at it. But here's the other thing. I don't have any experience or resources. At all. Last year I wasn't even part of the PTA. I went to one meeting - the one when the primary classes did their music show (it was Super Cute). I have a couple of ideas and stuff for cool socials and whatnot. So I know I'd like to be part of the committee. But the chair? Really? I'd have to deal with a budget. Talk to people I don't know. What if I suck at it?

But honestly this is one of the reasons I left Big Bank Land - to do stuff like this. And if I don't do it... well... I think I have to. Don't I?

Maybe I'll get a school nametag with my photo on it like all the other cool parents.

Almost Perfect

Okay. We went and looked at the preschool we're thinking about sending Lulu to this fall. The tour we got today from the teacher from the 4 year-old room was minimal. But it was sufficient for us to decide that we will probably be sending our Lulu there this fall. Lulu was comfortable there. She even said a couple of words, which she usually won't do around strangers. Her classroom is small but it sounds like there would only be 8 kids in there with 2 teachers so it wouldn't be crowded, I don't think. We'd have to pack her lunch, but then I'd know what she is eating so I don't mind that. Except I need to know if they provide milk or if I'll have to pay extra at the grocery store and get those little cartons of organic milk that don't need to be refrigerated. They had two Bye-Bye Buggies. Lulu will enjoy that. There's a "music teacher." That's cool. Pete's preschool, which cost more than twice as much as this one, didn't have a music teacher (or anything extra, really). The only flag for me, and it's not even a red flag, maybe a yellow one, is that they also have a bible story teacher. Why that's an issue is a topic for another blog, though (not just another post, but a whole other blog). Husbandguy and I talked about it, and we don't think it's a problem. She doesn't have to go there next year.

It's almost exactly what we were looking for. It's a half-day program (all of it - there's no full-day care at all). It looks like a very personal environment. And there's more structure than at home; they have circle time, even in the toddler classroom. And Lulu will learn to be with other people without me (which will probably be harder on me than on her!) and make friends.

I want to meet the director and Lulu's teacher. I'd like to see the classroom when it's put in order (they had been painting so it was all moved around, apparently). I still have a few questions that they couldn't answer today but said the director would. So far so good.

We're going to go again on Monday when the director is back...

¡Hace Calor!

Yesterday mid-morning the AC came on. It finally turned off last night after everyone was asleep. It ran all day. I think it's supposed to be even hotter today. If I didn't have to go outside, I wouldn't. August is my least favorite month.

PSP Inspired Me to Learn This

For some reason this won't work in the comment box so I'm posting it here to show PSP that ME TOO!

I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night

...or sleep. Either way, Lulu had other plans. If anyone was awake from 11:30 to 3:15 last night, you could have called me. I was up. Don't know why. She was just awake. Maybe tooth #8?

LL Says:

Puppy dog is "Mmmm-mmmm." Cookie, or any kind of dessert, is "Cookook." All of her grandparents are "Puh puh," until you remind her that some of them are called Nana or Grandma or Meme or something. "Puh puh" can also mean puppet. Or hippo. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? is "Poh Ber! Poh Ber!" Lulu's sister is "zhehsheh," Lulu's real nickname is "nehneh." That is also apparently the word for anyone her size. Crayons, markers, pencils, etc. are "cah" (I think she's saying color). Lulu loves "buhbuh" and will tell you that in the kitchen, "buhbuh" are "hah!" I'm not sure she understands that she shouldn't touch hot bubbles, but she'll tell you all about them. Boo-Boo the bear is "bobo;" Homer and Elmo are both "momo" or "emmo," as are all of Elmo's friends except Big Bird, who is "birbir." And she's never seen Sesame Street. "Buh" is also the word for buttons, which Lulu likes to push. She likes to "raah, raah, raah" in her sister's little rocking chair. She'll ask you to pick her "uh-P!" or to "hep" her "dow!" She likes to, "Go! Go! Go!" And when she's going she'll tell you "Bye-bye!" She really enjoys eating "nyanuhnuh" and reminds me to get them at the grocery store, which I do if they're still a little green (cause I don't like super-ripe bananas). Husbandguy swears she said umbrella the other day, but I didn't hear her.

Now when she says "taco" she gets a little mischievous glint in her eye. She's telling a joke!

And there is a bunch more. I don't remember having to translate this much for Pete when she was learning to talk. Then again, I don't really remember Pete learning to talk. DH and I don't remember her first word. We both swear that she woke up one morning talking in sentences and hasn't stopped since.

Bye-Bye Tomato

Pete just gave away a tomato. To the little girl who lives down the street, for her mom. Isn't that sweet?

LL Did:

She pee-peed in the potty! I am 98.99% certain that she didn't mean to and that it won't happen again any time soon, but she did it. In the big potty (with the little seat on it). Just like her sister!

Pete Says:

The first time Pete saw President Bush on television, Pete said, "He looked different than I thought." Pete's mom asked Pete what Pete meant, and Pete said, "He wasn't a bush!"

Lulu's Daytime Office?

Oh. This Thursday we have an appointment to visit a little preschool five minutes from here and see if Lulu wants to go there a few mornings each week. Oh.

The woman on the phone, who is a teacher filling in for the director while she's on vacation, said that the cost is less than half what Pete's old daycare had quoted us for the same amount of care - time-wise, anyway. The other moms I've spoken to who've sent their kids there speak very highly of the place. One lady said they do a good job with the "social" stuff, even if they don't do a whole lot "academically." I'm going to need to ask about that at our appointment, but the reason to allow Lulu to have a daytime office is for the "social" stuff anyway so unless they're opposed to the alphabet and never count with or read to the children... Well, we'll see. We might have to keep looking. Or we might have a morning coming up to dread/look forward to.

It'll be good, though, for everyone. Lulu will meet new people and have new experiences she's not getting spending every minute with me. I'll have at least two, probably three, kid-free mornings to get stuff done (or read all morning) without being interrupted by lovey-pants sweeties who are to cool to resist, even if the laundry that needs to be folded is from two weeks ago. And I'll be able to do more stuff at Pete's daytime office - like reading buddy or library help, stuff that would be tricky with a toddler in tow. And I won't need to get a sitter to observe Pete's class.

And it's only five minutes from here. So if I missed Lulu too much one day, I could just go get her...

Oh.

This Movie I Watched

The other day on TV there was a movie that I thought looked like it might be interesting so I watched it. It was about this mom whose son was killed in a plane crash and nobody remembered him except for her. Everyone around her was convinced that she was delusional. Husbandguy said that he had heard that the ending ("the twist") was actually pretty stupid. I believed him because I decided pretty early that it could be a good movie if it turned out that she was delusional and that it would be dumb for it to be aliens. Guess what. It was aliens. Guess what. It was dumb. Guess what. I watched the whole thing! Hmmm. Even after she managed to convince some other guy that his daughter had been killed in the same plane crash and I knew it wasn't going to be the way it should, I still watched. If you do watch it (and you'll know it's the same movie when you see it), be prepared and really think whether that's the way you want to spend your time.

LL Says:

I think Lulu is actually saying "cookie" when she says "taco."

Note added 8/5/07 - Nope. She's saying "taco" because she knows I'll complain.

I've Got Ants in My...

...kitchen. I've got ants in my kitchen. Teeny tiny ones. They're coming in on the wires. Mostly they come out of the outlets, but this morning they were coming out of the stove! I turned all of the burners on high for a few minutes (Run, little ants! Run! Bwha! Ha! Ha!). That seems to have stopped the parade for the moment, but I bet they'll be back. Ants suck! It could be worse, though, I guess.

Question

Does it bother anyone else that one of the M&M's on the double-decker bus in the ad is eating a bag of M&M's?

Lulu

She's a Monkey. Whoa whoa whoa, she's a Monkey.
Talkin' about that little Monkey, and the Monkey is mine.

(sorry Tom Jones)

She'll climb anything!

Listening

This morning, Pete and Lulu were listening to Pete's radio. Pete came out and said, "Mommy! Guess what! In my room, we're listening to the president. No! I mean. Not the president... um... god! We're listening to god! I mean, we're listening to someone talking about god. They're talking about god." Then she said, "I think I'm going to put on country music now." And she said "country music" with the same amount of amazement in her voice as when she said "the president" and when she said "god." Probably Pete and I should have a talk...

Kinda Funny

So a minute ago, I turned around and in the next room I saw the back of a little girl with long blond hair. Neither of my girls have long blond hair and for a second I was like, "Who is that?!"

Guess what! It was Pete! In her Hannah Montana wig! And I didn't recognize her!

It was from the back, after all. And she was wearing a wig.

Stood Up

Husbandguy and I used to get stood up all the time by our couple-friends. There was one couple in particular who were really good at it (bad about it?). We would make plans to go to dinner or something with them and they would pretty much always cancel. And they always gave some lame excuse like their babysitter was having mouth surgery and couldn't make it (for real! that was one of their excuses!). But it hadn't happened in a long time. Possibly because we aren't friends with those people anymore and also because most of the stuff we do now is with Pete and Pete's friends and their families, which is different.

But this past Sunday, we got stood up again. And this time was the best of all, I think. We made plans to meet some friends of ours and their kids at that nice restaurant I told you about, and they showed up early and put their name on the wait list and waited for a table with us and got seated with us and ordered drinks with us and then went home. They didn't order dinner or even finish their drinks. They had a good excuse - the mom's expecting and wasn't feeling 100% - but DH and I kind of got a kick out of it because that was honestly the most elaborate way we have ever been stood up! And the nicest, in a way, because it's hard to have your feelings hurt when someone waits 45 minutes with you and gets you a table at a busy restaurant before leaving, I think.

We had a nice dinner, though, because we're old pros at the being-stood-up thing and it just doesn't bother us anymore, really (which still doesn't make it okay if it's like those other people used to do). But I still want to have dinner with those people. Pete was disappointed because their oldest son is Pete's "little brother who doesn't live with [her]" and she hadn't seen him in forever and she's not used to being stood up... yet... Stick with us, kid!

LL Says:

Lulu says, "Taco!" A lot. She thinks it is funny to say taco when I'm trying to get her to say the other words she knows. I say, "Say ice cream." She says, "Taco!" I say, "Say duck." She says, "Taco!" I say, "Say [Lulu]." She's quiet for a second, and I think she's going to say [Lulu]; then she says, "Taco!" Silly Lulu!