Category Archives: Toddlers

MIR: The Good, The WTF, and The Alt-Good. Welcome to Life, 2017-Style. It's Been A While.....Time to Catch Up.

It’s been some time since I’ve blogged. Over a month, actually. Why? You could say that life has gotten in my way. Or, more specifically, work.

So. Much. Work.

Report card time can be stressful when you service, IDK, about 60ish students, I am learning. Also, dedicating a week-plus to writing up a detailed report on every kid’s progress to the detriment of sleep, family time, and at times, my sanity, has, plainly, sucked. Plus, after finishing all 60 reports, I then had to enter another round of student observational data, or risk falling behind on that. Because you know, after writing 60 reports, writing 47 more narratives is exactly the kind of wind-down activity I long for.

Yeah. It’s been a rough life, these last few weeks. Continue reading →

Christmukkah 2016: Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas, Toddler/Tween Edition Making our older baby and baby adolescent smile since Holiday 2006!

 

Christmukkah cheer.

Another holiday season is upon us! When you celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah like we do in my home, there is double the pressure to find the best gifts for the (lack of) money we have. Quadruple, if you multiply two holidays by two kids. And this year, both holidays fall at the exact same time. This phenomenon has definite pros, but also significant cons.

Pros: I have a bit more time to bargain hunt than when Hanukkah falls at the start of the month. That year when Hanukkah merged with Thanksgiving? Yeah, that was stressful.

Cons: That’s, like, a ton of stuff to seek out, purchase, and wrap by a certain date and time. Oh, and Mike and I are hosting Christmas dinner this year too, because apparently, we enjoy chaos. Pile it on, yo!

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I[/embedyt]
OK, it’s not at the level of pressure described in this song, but holiday time is still filled with pressure when you are a parent. Plus, its a Freddie Mercury-David Bowie duet, for Pete’s sake. That’s reason enough to throw this video into a post. Continue reading →

WIR November 8-November 15: Post-Election Suckage Not A Political Post. Well, not completely. Kinda not.

Twas a horrendous week last week, beginning with a traffic-filled, chock-full-o-illness, fear-inducing Election Day last Tuesday, and ending with gray skies and torrential rainfall this past Tuesday. In short, last Tuesday-Tuesday sucked.

Yes, Axl. I do need some time on my own.

Election Day-last Tuesday pretty much consisted of one crappy incident after another. In fact, plucking 3 highlights out of last Tuesday-Tuesday is going to be a definite challenge, because as of right now, I got nothin.’ Lowlights, however, I got plenty! Sigh. Here is to a better week this week. I gotta believe that.

This small town girl will NOT stop believin,’ Steve Perry.

Though I usually start with 3 highlights, I am at a loss for any possibilities in that area at the current moment. Therefore, I’m going with the yucky stuff first. Continue reading →

My Daughters Have A Big Age Gap, And I Love It I'm Guest Blogging on Be Your Best Mom This Week!

Big age gap siblings S2 and S10, 8 Years Apart

S2 and S10 have a big age gap being 8 years apart.

This week, I am thrilled to be guest blogging for the great Milena Barett at Be Your Best Mom Dot Com! My guest post is about loving the big age gap between my two daughters, S10 and S12. This age gap wasn’t planned, but I ended up loving it anyway. Eight is great, indeed! Follow the link below, and I hope you enjoy the read: Continue reading →

Week in Review: September 2-September 9: The First Week of School! It's The First Week of School! It's The First Week of School!

Yes, the first week of school has cometh. Joy for many parents across the land, I’m sure…..unless those parents are teachers like I am.

Haha J/K

Oh, Alice, I’m sure if I was a rock and roll star, I’d be smiling while sending my kids back to school this week too. 

I love my job. I really can’t complain. It’s not an easy job, and I’ve been moved around more these last few years than many teachers are in their entire career, but at least the powers-that-be always have kept my strengths in mind when moving me. Continue reading →

Daughter Different: When Siblings Are Polar Opposites They may be opposites, but my love is equally fierce.

When I was pregnant with my younger daughter, I was pretty confident that I’d have this “raising a small person” thing down pat the second time around. I mean, I had raised a daughter, pretty successfully, for the last 8 years! Another girl? This was going to be easy-peasy. Plus, I was older. Wiser, too (so I thought). Heck, I was straight-up walking, talking, Parenting Wisdom. Bow down to my daughter-raising smarts, all ye who enter here.

#LOL
#HowaboutNOPE Continue reading →