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Plans vs. Reality – Guess Who Won?
February 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today was supposed to be action-packed. I had to blink a few times and refocus my eyes when I realized I would be leaving the house at 7:30 AM and not returning home until 6:30 PM. My plans included the following:
- Two school drop offs
- Two school pick ups
- One workout
- One drop off at sitter
- One meeting
- One pick up at sitter
- One Tae Quan Do class
- One grocery store trip
Somewhere in there was lunch. Being Little Miss Prepared, I had everything set out last night and was ready to go. Here is what my day actually looked like:
- One A.P. with a barking cough
- Four “sorry, I have to cancel” phone calls
- A trip to and from preschool
It was frustrating, but I was glad I could be at home with him instead of trying to sneak him into school hepped up on cough syrup. I tried that once and it didn’t go well at all. You can read about that here. I will still share what I had intended on writing about though. It makes me feel better to at least do one thing I had planned on.
The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Travel Troupe is presenting two free performances. According to the press release, it’s a lively adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck…”Ducks don’t have the patience to hatch their own eggs,” says Henrietta Hen. “Flibberty-gibbets, the lot of them!” Jemima Puddle-Duck determines to prove the conceited Henrietta wrong.
I have no idea what that means. My working knowledge of Beatrix Potter is a little rusty and I’m telling you about this a little early in case yours is too and you’d like to check out a few books from the library to brush up, and for your kids to enjoy. The performances will be Saturday, February 27 and Saturday, March 13; both at 11:00 AM. No tickets are required, and all seats are general admission.
And now, back to the hacking.
Very Short, Very Sweet, Very Grand Rapids Date
February 12, 2010 By 9 Comments
I just got home from a date. With a six year old. Not to worry – it was with my six year old, A.P. When my husband got home from work today, ‘the boys’ went into A.P.’s bedroom and emerged a short while later high-fiving each other and exchanging ‘I have a secret’ looks. Then they took off, snickering something about groceries. They returned with the following: two bud vases filled with carnations, two little bears, and two valentines cards.
A.P. went first. He gave me my card, flowers, and bear. Then after getting a thumbs up from his Dad looked me right in the eyes and said, “Mom? Would you like to go on a Valentine’s date with me?” Maybelle was pretty smitten with her bear and kind of missed the whole date question, but once I told her she could wear her Fancy Dress and Pink Sparkly Shoes she was completely on board.
They decided to go to Olive Garden. We decided to go downtown. A.P. lives for the Amway Grand and despite my best efforts to get him to check out the JW; he’s old school. “Next time, Mom. I promise“. As we walked across the bridge from the Gerald Ford Museum (we’re both way too cheap to pay for closer parking) A.P. stopped and declared for the 500th time that he was sick of those table and chairs and just wants Nessie back. In fairness to the table, A.P. is almost certainly going to be some type of structural engineer and he sees bridges without artwork as absolutely fascinating and amazing. Slapping art on it just wrecks it for him.
A.P. loves the “Fancy Hotel” and for a six year old, has a pretty good grasp of the layout. I don’t. It has shops, restaurants, bars, several lobbies and most importantly quite a few fountains for tossing pennies in. We stopped ‘for a drink’ and he sat right at the bar next to the “Fancy People” with our Diet Coke and Sprite. I’m sure they were very impressed when he remembered to push my chair in for me. I’m sure they were very unimpressed when he helped himself to the bowl of nuts – and used the spoon to get them right into his mouth. Oops.
We ate at GP Sports. The food was fine with the exception of A.P.’s chocolate milk which he sent back on the grounds that it “wasn’t chocolatey enough”. The waitress brought him another, which he tasted and declared; “Nope. Just bring me a water. Please.” At the end of the meal, he pulled out a ten dollar bill his dad had slipped to him. He handed it to the waitress and said, “I’d like to order my Mom a piece of cheesecake, please”. I will never in all my days forget that.
Dating was completely lost on our generation and my husband and I are starting a small movement to try and bring it back. We’re trying to raise kids who know how to treat, and be treated. He surprised me by arranging these ‘dates’. Valentine’s Day isn’t a biggie for us so I wasn’t expecting it. Well played, sir!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you – whatever your plans may be.
Things I Love Thursday – Pretending I'm A Homeschooler
February 11, 2010 By 8 Comments
Well, hi there! I’m back! Work is over. It has been for a month actually. As much as I wanted to dive back into Big Binder – I had some home-work to do. First, I had to fix my kids. They got used to being in a large group of loud and semi-naughty kids with a fairly dispassionate adult tending to them. We had some attitude adjustments to make. More difficult was re-adjusting their appetites. Do you KNOW what they feed kids in daycare? It’s gross. Everything is sort of a pale yellow color and exactly the same consistency. I still get a little ‘bleccchh’ shiver when I think about it.
I think it’s only fitting that I re-emerge into the blogging world on a day I can participate in Things I Love Thursday. Jill was one of several people who talked to me or took the time to write and encourage me to get off my butt and fire up Big Binder again. It’s amazing to be thanked and encouraged to do what you love, so a big thank you to everyone who showed me the love and kept checking back in to see if I had started writing again.
My kids are both in half-day programs at school, so we have a lot of time for fun things in the afternoons. Fortunately, living in what I think must be the homeschool capital of the universe, there is a lot going on. It began to dawn on me that homeschooled kids go to a lot of performances, presentations, and seminars. And then it dawned on me that although I send my kids to school, I am also a homeschooler. Kind of. Well, sort of. OK maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but I can live with that.
A few weeks ago, I called and got tickets to the ‘school’ performance of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Lollipop Concert, Hansel and Gretel. This was WAY better than going to the Saturday morning performance – it wasn’t as crowded and the majority of the kids showed up on busses so we got a way better parking spot. The next performance is Ferdinand the Bull, a book my kids love so we are not going to miss this, (even if we have to go to the Saturday performance.) Just call the Symphony and ask when the school performances are, and get your tickets directly from them.
Next month, we are going to some homeschool programs at Blandford Nature Center. Click on their website, then go to “Education Programs”, then “Homeschool Programs”. I have two websites I like for finding more ‘homeschool’ opportunities. First is Grand Rapids Learning Exchange. It is really thorough and is a fantastic resource. Next is the Homeschool Building website, although I just look at the calendar. I don’t have enough guts to show up to anything – I’d be sniffed out as a phony in a second. But seriously; why should the homeschoolers have all the fun 
? For more Things I Love Thursday, check out the Diaper Diaries.
