Mommin' It Up!

August 12, 2011

What I learned on my summer vacation

Just in time for back-to-school, here’s a “What I learned on my summer vacation” essay. Ha! Whatever. You guys know summer isn’t a vacation when you’re used to having your kids at school and then all of a sudden they are home and IN YOUR FACE all day (11 more days, 11 more days, 11 more days)…nevertheless I DID make a goal for myself to learn something this summer.

I wanted to learn how to French braid Sophie’s hair. My mother passed down to me a tradition of not being able to fix hair, and I’ve never been able to do it, never thought I could, and never really tried. PLUS, before this summer, Sophie never would have sat still for me to do it. But this year she is a little less like a wild animal and a little more like a human child, so, now she’ll sit for me to braid. And God Bless her, she has been patient this summer.

It literally has taken me just about all summer to learn this. I’ve wanted to give up several times, and honestly the process didn’t do much for my self-esteem. I am NOT a natural, and it was hard for me! But finally, I think I’ve about got it. Wednesday at Sophie’s gymnastics class her braids were just about perfect and they stayed in wonderfully even after 45 minutes of bouncing around the gym and tumbling. I was super-proud (of you know, myself.)

Of course I forgot to take a picture.

I’ll take one next time I achieve French Braid perfection.

But anyways, I am excited to send Sophie back to school with a hair-do that is adorable and keeps her hair out of her face (and her glue and paint for that matter!)

What did YOU learn this summer?

August 11, 2011August 25, 2011

Making Back-to-School Fun

For families with kids, nothing marks the passing of time quite like the first day of school. I’d say it’s even more momentous than New Year’s Eve, and not only because I’m actually awake. It’s a big part of our kids’ identities… for a year, a first- or second- or third- grader is what they are.

Going back to school requires a lot of preparation – shopping for school supplies, getting new clothes and shoes – and it’s also a big shift in routine. I know it’s going to take our family some time to adjust to using our evenings just to prepare for the next day. There will be lunches to pack and clothes to lay out and baths to give… and we’re all going to have to start going to bed a lot earlier!

In other words – back to school is a big deal!

And things that are a big deal for my kids tend to bring out the obsessive compulsive side of my personality (which is typically so buried beneath the surface, right? *ahem*), so of course I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time lately thinking about how to make the first day special, and to make it fun.

And by “thinking about,” I mean “googling.”

I’ve discovered all sort of fun things other (more organized, crafty, or thoughtful) people do to create BTS traditions for their kids. The obvious being, of course, the requisite first-day-of-school picture.

I ran across an article on RocketCityMom.com with a number of suggestions for creative ways to do the pictures. One idea was to add text to a photo that says the kid’s age and grade, and a few of their favorite things. I really like that one. I also like this idea, which I completely ripped off of that post:

Cute, huh?

Besides the picture, though, there are a million was to celebrate the first day back to school. A treat in their lunch, a trip to the playground after school, letting the school kid decide what to have for dinner… the list goes on.

So tell me, how do you and your family make back to school fun?

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Country Crock via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Country Crock.

August 10, 2011August 10, 2011

Death by FUN

Remember my FUN ROOM? Well, it is still fun. For the kids anyway. But you see, when we (and by “we” I mean, “My husband”) painted the door in the FUN ROOM with dry-erase paint, we *ahem* forgot to specify to our four-year-old that the door frame was not dry-erase.

Oopsieeeeee.

So, Sunday I spent a great deal of time scrubbing dry-erase marker off the door frame. First with dry-erase marker remover (ineffectual) and then with hairspray (slightly less ineffectual) and THEN I went to Rite Aid an spend some +UP Rewards on the best invention EVER, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. And I scrubbed that dry-erase marker right off that door frame. I am now a firm believer in good ol’ Mr. Clean. But it took a LOT of “elbow grease” to get all that marker off the wall.

And my back, neck, and shoulders hurt like a MOTHER. I do not know what I did with that scrubbing, but I messed myself UP. Four days later, and it’s just getting worse. I’ve been sleeping with pain patches on my neck and back at night, and have to take some good old “PM” drugs just to get to sleep it hurts so bad.

As I sit here this morning, it’s not feeling any better. I think I’m broken.

Which is why, I’m going to be like Mrs. Duggar, and just get myself totally made over with robotic parts. Because clearly, that is the only way all that Duggar business is possible! I may start rusting after awhile but at least I won’t feel the pain!