Instances in which Mommy is wrong

It probably will come as no surprise to you that I'm a little tough on Madeline when it comes to academics. I expect perfection even though it's clearly not realistic. I was an overachiever as a student and I still feel that competitive urge when I see papers with A's and 100s come home. When it comes to homework for Madeline, everything must be checked by me. Handing in homework with mistakes is a fate worse than death in my mind. (Blame my struggles with perfectionism for that outlook.)

Madeline had a single page of math homework tonight which is unusual. On an ordinary day she has a fact practice sheet and an assignment relating to the unit they're covering in class. When she brought her worksheet to me the first time I found several errors and a math problem that wasn't even attempted. So I sent her back to fix the mistakes and oversight. Then I sent her back two more times to fix this one particular problem. She was getting frustrated with me and kept insisting that she was doing her best but kept getting the same answer of 555. So in my slightly condescending tone I tell her that we're going to do the problem together [certain that she was going to feel a little sheepish when we arrived at the answer of 565]. Yeah, we got the one's column right (It was right all along, so that was expected.). Then, we moved on to the tens column (The only number that was "wrong."). So as I'm talking to her like she's not the brightest person, I come to the startling realization that she had been right all along. Talk about a lesson in humility! I promptly apologized to Madeline and explained that she was right and that I was the one who added wrong in the first place. (Oops!) She was a bit angry with me and cried (She cries easily, so don't think I'm a monster of a mom.) because I wasted her time and made her do the same problem four times when it was right the first time.

So the lesson I learned today is that 1+4+9+1=15, not 16. Oh, and I learned that I should try to have a little more humility. Clearly, I'm not always right.

I'm still here

To look at my blog, I get the feeling that I must have fallen off the face of the earth or I've hit a major time warp. Actually the time warp thing is partly right given the recent time change for daylight savings time. Let me just say that I think that particular practice should be abolished. I'm taking a beating with the time change. Who would have thought that "gaining" an extra hour of sleep could screw a person up so much?

My past week has been a whirl wind of activity. Friday was jam packed with fun and not so fun moments. I saw the classroom Halloween party that I planned for Madeline's class come to fruition. For the most part, I'd say it was a success. The kids, the teacher and the wonderful parents who took a few hours out of their day to help run the party all seemed pleased with my efforts. Bryan took Ellie on her field trip to the pumpkin patch before he dropped her off at Madeline's school for the class party.

When I finally returned home on Friday afternoon I spent a couple hours engulfed in Madeline's social studies project. Sadly, the project was a bust and I found myself redoing it this afternoon. At long last, it is finished.

Since Bryan took Friday off to take Ellie on her field trip and to go to the doctor we decided to head out to the Olive Garden for a much anticipated dinner. Once we arrived at the restaurant, disaster struck. As soon as I got out of the car I heard this loud hissing sound and immediately suspected the tire I was standing next to. Sure enough, I had a tire that was going flat. Figures, when I'm starving and haven't eaten since 7:30 AM we would encounter a flat. Ugh! I wanted to scream and cry. I think my blood sugar had totally plummeted by the time we arrived at Olive Garden based on the massive headache I developed and we weren't able to go eat because of the tire. We rushed over to Target so Bryan could get fix a flat so we could make it home. The Olive Garden is about 30 minutes from our house and once the flat was discovered our new focus was to stop the leak and get home ASAP. The drive home was interesting. We only made it home thanks to the little air pump in my car, and the lovely air pump at the WaWa. Of course, when we got to the WaWa with a gas station we had to wait for the air hose. While waiting for 10 minutes, the tire went completely flat and all of the fix a flat oozed out of the tire. I had to yell and scream at someone who decided to butt in line and take the hose. Extreme hunger, less than desirable situations and cranky kids and husband can make me lose my composure very quickly. After letting the poor inconsiderate man from Delaware have it, he backed off and got in line for the hose. Bryan was annoyed and willing to let the guy go ahead of him, but I wasn't having it and neither was the man who was next in line. The moral of the day for the young man from Delaware was don't mess with a tired and hungry Karen and wait your turn like everyone else. We managed to make it home. Within seconds of pulling into our garage the tire was totally flat. Turns out we had quite a large gauge in the tire and how we managed to make it home is a mystery.

Saturday saw a day with a no-show soccer team (Madeline's opposing team decided not to play and didn't think to let the soccer club know.) and trick or treating. Sadly, trick or treating wasn't all that fun. It started off rather nicely with just Bryan, the girls, Oscar and me. By the time we almost made it around our block our neighbors asked us to join them. I didn't want to simply because one of Madeline's soccer teammates was going with them and I wasn't fond of the mother. Before we were done trick or treating I found myself wishing we had taken a different route when we set out. The mother of the soccer teammate criticized my dog's appearance, his rectum and the fact that we actually paid money for him when he's "so ugly". My decision to stay at home was also attacked and the mother asked me if I at least had a college education. She seemed rather stunned when I told her that I did. (I don't stay at home because I can't find a job or because I'm uneducated. I stay at home because I don't want someone else raising my children.) This woman then began to go on about how "superior" her children are because they are or will be going to private school. Her son goes to the local parish school and her daughter is in Madeline's school. They don't use the public middle school because of the "riff raff" and because their children are "superior" to the "inferior children who go to public schools". She went on and on telling me how her children are better than every other child who gets a public education. I held my tongue and decided not to say anything to her. I just said oh and I see as she and her children went on about how "superior" they are. I found it really sad that this woman has warped her children into sounding a lot like Hitler youth. And I learned that if I want my children to be "superior" all I need to do is give them a Catholic education. Since I know that our local Catholic school has a curriculum that lags behind the public schools, I'll let them find out for themselves how "superior" that education they're paying for really is. My "inferior" children will have to go to the public school and learn that not everyone is as blessed in life to have all the nice things that they do. I try to teach my children to have humility and not flaunt anything that they have and quite frankly, I'm shocked that there are parents who teach their kids that they are better than others. It's something that I found totally sickening.

Sunday was Bryan's birthday. I took the girls to Mass early in the morning and they both behaved for me (What a shock!). My CCD class was half empty due to illness for the second week in a row. I'm beginning to wonder when I'll have a full class again. The girls both had soccer games in the rain at the same time on Sunday. I'll be so happy when we can have a weekend without rain.

I don't know that I remember Monday. I'm sure I spent most of the day reading books that I have waiting for me to review. I know that we had to take Madeline to my parent's house to spend the night so they could take her to the dentist since my car went into the shop Monday night.

Since I had the tire issue on Friday, we sent the van to the Toyota dealership for repairs. I wound up with new breaks, four new tires and a bunch of routine stuff. So my flat tire led to a $1,200 bill. Just what we needed.

While Tuesday wasn't the most delightful day thanks to the car repair bill, I did have a good day. My parents took Madeline to her dentist appointment and I did some of my Christmas shopping from home. When they brought her back home, I got to go vote and I'm happy to report that New Jersey will have a Republican Governor. So I certainly feel like my vote counted. I also stumbled upon Halloween costumes for 75% off at Target. Madeline found a costume she liked for next year. She's going to be Super Girl and for $7.50 with all accessories included I'm one happy mom. I LOVE a good bargain.

Madeline is off from school all week (except Monday) so after we dropped Ellie off at school today we did a little more Christmas shopping. Then later in the day I immersed myself in Madeline's social studies project. I'm happy to report that it's finally finished and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I hope it gets an A. I even got some Christmas gifts wrapped today. Now I just need to go relax and read a book.

I now feel like I'm caught up.

Pop Quiz!

Ever feel like God wants a little humor and so he throws a little pop quiz your way?  I do.  I'm pretty sure a few minutes ago I had a pop quiz.  It's amazing how everything can go from perfectly normal to crazy in the blink of an eye.

Despite my protests, I wound up outside watching Ellie.  Madeline went outside for Mr. Softee and then stayed outside playing with the neighbors.  Ellie wanted to go play, too.  The problem with Ellie is I have to be out there with her.  I didn't want to be outside, but you can't just let an almost 4 year old go out front by herself.  So I capitulated to her pleading to go play outside. While I was out there I figured I'd clean all the trash out of my car and vacuum out all the cracker crumb debris.  Everything was going beautifully.  The kids were happy, I was cleaning (which is Karen for happiness) and the dog was behaving inside (that's what I was choosing to believe--more on that later).

So out of nowhere the universe shifted and it was pop quiz time.  The neighbors left for a t-ball game and Madeline decided it was time to run around the corner to try and attract more kids to play with.  So I get a frantic Ellie asking where Madeline is.  I tell her she's with the neighbors (that's before I knew they had left) and she starts freaking out.  So I come out of the garage and Madeline is rounding the corner to come home asking if another friend can play with her now.  So in my annoyed state (because she ran off and didn't tell me where she was going) I shouted at her and told her no.  I let her know that it was time to play with Ellie.  

Less than a minute later Madeline is having another one of her the world is ending overly dramatic moments because the ball went across the street.  So I tell her to go get it and stop crying.  Mind you, we taught her how to safely cross a street last year.  So my child decides to run across the street without looking both ways.  I shouted at her to look both ways before coming back.  She ignores me and bolts back across the street, only this time there's a car coming right for her.  Yay! I got to experience anger and fear at the same time.  Thankfully, she was spared and did not get hit by the car.  I don't think she understood the gravity of the situation she nearly encountered.  I started ranting at her about how careless she was and told her it was time to go inside.  I'm sure it was quite a scene.

Somehow on their way in, the ball wound up in the street a second time.  I was about to have Madeline properly cross the street to get it, but our neighbor from across the street ran and got it for her. Only now Ellie is screaming her head off.  I didn't see what happened, but I'm assuming that she fell because her knee was all bloody.  She managed to scrape off a wart that was on her knee and it was bleeding quite a lot.

We moved into the house so I could bandage up Ellie.  I had blood dripping all over the floor while I patched her up.  Ellie who is usually a trooper for this type of stuff was inconsolable.

Once I finished up with Ellie I started to move on to the task of cleaning the blood off the floor.  This is where naughty Mr. Furkins re-enters the story.  As I go to get paper towels and windex, Oscar decided that he was going to help with the mess.  I can't tell you how repulsed I was to see the dog licking up Ellie's blood.  I chased him away so I could finish cleaning the floor.  

Amazing how much can go wrong in a matter of 4 minutes. It was like the day had been suddenly turned upside down.  I handled the situation with as little grace as you can imagine (that means I probably failed the quiz).  I also discovered that Oscar was chewing on some toys the girls had on the steps while we were outside, so he wasn't behaving like I had assumed he was.

Now that the craziness has passed I can sit down and collect myself.  I'm thankful that Madeline didn't get run over and that Ellie's knee has stopped bleeding.  Here's hoping that the rest of the day will be boring.