The Life of a Substitute Teacher

Before I start this  lil blogger I wanted you to know that I am sittin here contemplating the whole SAHM aspect of this blog and how I can re-claim that!

So it’s Monday night and I pick up the phone and call the “sub hotline” I listen to my job list and almost push 7 to “cancel” job. I don’t, I have commited myself and even though I would rather walk barefoot on hot coals, I decide this must be done. I lay out my clothes for the following day and try and sleep…

I awake at 5:00 am Tuesday bright eyed and bushy tailed,shower,flat-iron my hair-do,apply my face,sip some go-go juice,watch the news, wake the beans and make them breakfast-it’s their choice,whatever they want-they deserve a hot fresh breakfast, right?

We head off to school/work and I am ready to make an impact on a beans life. I am alert and driven. I have my lesson plans in hand and by golly everyone is gonna have a good day…

1st hour:   I have the only 7th grade class of the day-they are courteous and attentive and I really adore them. They are doing 141 Geography Q’s that we will work on all week together-I have my handy dandy answer key and they have their books -the deal is this: We will work collectively as a group as long as everyone tried to answer a question here and there and I will make sure they have the correct answer IF they try-They do and you will not hear me refer to this 7th grade class again in this blog…they were rewarded with “heads up 7 up” on Friday because they were a GREAT bunch of beans! 

2nd hour: ahhhh my planning period-they tried to take my planning hour away from me later in the week and I threatened to leave and never return and as an added bonus I threatened to remove my 2 beans from the school IF they tried to make me fill in for an absent teacher who couldn’t find a sub…I got my planning period all 4 days…cuz thats how I roll…

3rd hour: a decent bunch of 8th graders,kinda talk-a-tive but I think most student beans always try and see what they can get away with when a sub is present. I lay down the law or ummmm the weekly lesson plans which basically had us reading chapter 15 section 1 through chapter 15 section 4 for the week,then doing a reading guide and re-teaching guide then a quiz per day. We can do this the hard way OR the easy way, I ask them which way they want explained first…

4th hour: another lively bunch of 8th graders,more talk-a-tive then the hour before BUT none-the-less get the same speech as the above class

the HELLION hour: words truly can not describe this class but for the sake that anyone does read this blog I will try. Think of the worst “group” (it MUST be a group) of beans you have ever encoutered then multiply by 10. If you need a refresher course on this class then click here. This class of 30 proudly boasts 4 lovely lil girl beans the rest are all boy beans. They are a chapter ahead of the other 8th grade classes because it is the, gulp longest hour of the day…They get a speech too-just not so much like the previous classes.

6th hour: my oldest bean is in this class and really it is a pretty good class, out of all the 8th grade classes- by far the best class-it is a smaller class 18 beans and 2 were absent so that equals 16…oh they get the speech too…yanno the hard way OR the easy way

7th hour: I seriously think about renaming this class the “hellions part deux” they were the rudest,most disrespectful class of the day, yep even more so than the hellion hour. They get the speech too…and then some…

Just to clarify “the speech” & “the hard way vs the easy way”

The easy way: I have the answer key for everything we are doing for the week and I basically let them know we can read each section in the chapter aloud then answer the guided reading and reteaching guides together as a class,BUT everyone must participate meaning I didn’t want 2 or 3 of the beans answering all the questions I wanted full on class room participation and I would make sure they had the correct answers..in the end everyone would get a 100% for that days class-work. PLUS I would do a quick review of the quiz with them before the quiz(I didn’t let them know BUT I used the actual quiz as the review in class) ALL they had to do was pay attention-the days work would be on the board, YES you need your books everyday this week, YES I will be here the rest of the week…

The hard way: You read silently,I give you the handouts you do them on your own and you get whatever grade it is you get…and the review, you do on your own…oh and by the way YES everything is due at the end of the hour whether you are done or not..and YES you need your book and YES I will be here all week…pretty simple right?

I get this lil folder with pertinant info, like office extensions for ICE,the room key,my teachers badge proclaiming me a sub teacher for the day and a lil sheet I like to call the “Don’t ask IF you really don’t wanna know how my day went” questionaire…I fill it out stating up until 7th hour I feel the day was productive BUT 7th hour was very rude and disrespectful-I drop all of the above off at the office and go home….I did notice there was no happy hour coupon or a stun gun in the folder.

I awake at 5:45 on Wednesday kinda red-eyed and bushy tailed,shower and opt to do my hair curly,apply my face,sip some go-go juice,listen to the news,wake the beans and instead of a home-cooked breakfast they get frozen options that I am more than willing to fix for them…

We arrive at school where the assistant principle greets me at the door so happy that I returned a second day(this teachers sub record isn’t so good-usually they come, show up for a day,  only to NEVER return again…)and asks me to explain who was the problem in 7th hour the previous day-I inform her the whole damn class-they sat where they wanted to,they talked over me,even after I had explained what we would be doing for the day, they were more interested in who was goin out with who and OMG DYK(a lil homage to a fun game) then when I was moving on they would be like WAIT!!!! what are we doing????? she said to expect a visit 7th hour from the principle…

remember I said you wouldn’t hear from 1st hour again because those lil suckers just flat out rock….so on to…

2nd hour: at last check, they didn’t  try to take my planning hour from me EVEN though they were short 2 teachers for the day 

3rd hour: they are very close to “the hard way” but a few stern words an they are back on track

4th hour: again like the previous hour-they really aren’t sure I mean BIZ yet

the HELLION hour: they live up to thier name today,loud,rude,obnoxious,out of control-Thank goodness I wore my comfy clothes today(khakis,white tee-shirt,levi denim long sleeve shirt and gators-in case I needed to run far away) I give them the speech again and let them know they can work independantly and they can get whatever grade it is they get…

6th hour: I find out that I apparently let oldest bean cheat on yesterdays quiz(gotta love the word of mouth-NO really if you need advertising for your biz just turn it into a small rumor and whisper it to an 8th grade girl bean-BELIEVE me it will spread like wildfire!) and that she is getting special treatment because I am her mom…pffffttttt I say I would NEVER ever cheat her out of her education…supposedly I let her re-do yesterdays quiz UNTIL she got a 100%…well she did get to re-do yesterday’s quiz BUT ONLY because she has class-room modifications in effect, while everyone else made a 90% or higher she made a 20% when that happens she allowed to re-take OR re-do her work-technically she should have been able to use her book BUT being her mom I didn’t go that route-she re-took the quiz to get a 70% without a book…

7th hour went smooth because the “principle” was present…One student came in tardy and I was told to mark him tardy meaning he gets afterschool detention…I ask him where his book is…he doesn’t have it, I ask him “didn’t I let you know yesterday that you WILL need your book?” he replies “yes” and the principle says you can go to SAC you are NOT gonna sit here and do nothing! SAC=a no talking, very prison like class room-I could NEVER sub for the SAC class I like to talk to much….

They didn’t give me the “Don’t ask questionaire” today…but I turn in my key and badge and head home….

I am mentally and physically exhausted at this point…mr gp is on the night shift and having to stay awake when he gets home at 7:30am to take lilest bean to school at 9am then come home and try and sleep,I am getting off work running middle bean to track practice,taking oldest bean to tan,then picking up lilest bean,then getting middle bean from track practice,then coming home and trying to cook and do homework-I wanna stop right here and say a lil diddy to all homesteads who have 2 working parents OR even a single parent household, who do this daily regimne(i don’t know if i spelled that right-spell checker isnt working) and pull this off  MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL! Because I am spent! I find myself praying for the asteroid and trying to find a way to bring liquor into the school-house,not to mention my gaylord poster-I mean all things are possible with and IF you have a gaylord poster! I am NOT complaining…just venting…and I REALLY want my SAHM doodies back and back right now!

Thursday I wake at 6:00am bright eyes and bushy tails a thing of the past…I am groggy and not a happy camper,I shower… while downing my go-go juice(YES I am in the shower with a cup of coffee) AND without wetting my hair(I am multi-talented)-it is getting pulled up ina clip anyway…the morning news, whats that? I haphazardly apply my face-I wake the beans and tell them there is cereal on top of the fridge, that it is yo-yo morning(meanin your on your own) Oldest bean looks at me and says “your goin to school lookin like that?” I wonder how many years I would get for a child murder… perfectly justified in my eyes however I opt for the response of “I don’t have anyone to impress, shoot those hellions barely know I am there”

No one meets me at the door today…but thats ok…I pick up my folder,my key and my badge-they are prolly pissed because I refused to give up my plan/free hour…pffftttt to them…

Skip to 3rd hour and they are startin to see I mean buisness-IF I am gonna stand up here and read paragraph by paragraph with you THEN go over the answers with you to ENSURE you get a 100% then by golly you better have your book,pen and paper and be prepared to work!

4th hour pretty much the same as above

The hellion hour: Oh Lord ta Day they chose this day to throw rocks at me, when I say rocks I mean the kind you find in a rock shop, that you fill up in a lil velvet bag(I know this, Thanks, yet again to mr gp and my beans LOVE of rock collecting) they are out of control-I literally have to raise my voice and I ask them “have I been such a bad sub?” “Do they not enjoy having me?” “WHY OH WHY are you acting this way?” I call the office and ask for assistance…while waiting I have flashes of the last time I subbed for this class-when I thought I would surely die or at the very least come out disfigured…it’s 10 mins till lunch time and the assistant principle arrives to go row by row and check pockets for rocks-I seriously doubted she would find any contra-band because I picked up at least $25 worth of rock shop rocks off the floor,out of my shirt and hair-good grief I didn’t need lunch, I needed a drink! The asst principle didn’t find any rocks on any bodies and the students were given a mere 12 mins for lunch…WHY WAS I BEING PUNISHED??? that meant I got those same mere 12 mins for lunch too! No “good” buzz can be had in 12mins….

6th hour: I had a bone to pick this hour, someone accused me of letting oldest bean cheat-if you know me,then you know this couldn’t be farther from the truth(fortunately during my Blessed 2nd hr plan time I got to speak to the actual teacher and let her know what had happened regarding this rumor-she knew better and told me I owed NO ONE an explanation) I chose to give the explanation…I start off by saying one of you or two of you or maybe the whole lot of you thought I let abby have an un-fair-advantage on Tuesday’s quiz,then I asked them if any of them had an IEP OR knew what it meant to have a classroom modification? They didn’t, then I asked them if any of them ever had a rumor started about them, well 90% of the classroom raised thier hands…I told them all, I owed them an apology and that abby had a classroom mod and that meant if she failed a test/quiz/assignment she could re-do it(I wanna stop and say I sent oldest bean to the office with the attendance and asked her to take her time-meaning she wasn’t present for this conversation) I explained that during the past 2 days there were several other students in different hours that had classroom mods in effect and that I had let them re-take thier tests and even let them take thier tests home to re-do…I let them know if they felt they  were given an unfair advantage then they could re-take thier test when Mrs Smith returned to school…the BIG Q of the DAY what did WE make on that quiz…so I called out all test scores, again the lowest being 90%(aside from oldest beans 70%) no one said they wanted to retake the quiz…I asked them to please, not judge, just on sight alone and sometimes things are not as they appear and if they are ever in question they should feel comfy enough to just ask….

7th hour: They are on their best behavior because yesterday we had admistration in our classroom-I do have them read on thier own and work on the hand-out and let them know it’s due at the end of the hour….

What I don’t get is this…IF I am willing to stand up there day after day and read with them,then go over the reading/re-teaching guides with them AND go over the actual quiz with them AND make sure they have the correct answers WHY in the world would they not care OR not try? I didn’t sit down for 4 days, nope I walked back and fro reading and keeping up with hellions who could have cared less…BUT I cared and if I could be a fly on the wall in 35 days when they take thier 2nd semester tests I bet they will remember Chapter 15 section 1-4, my hopes, they pass that section and I will feel like I did a good job during the week of March 24th through the 28th….

I awake Friday morning at 6:30 grab the phone and truly consider canceling the job-yes I have given myself one hour to get ready AND this is typically when I wake the 2 older beans (so there are 3 of us trying to get ready at the same time)…the shower is much needed,the coffee is something I sniff as I am running through the house trying to find a bra and panties,the news is no longer even turned on,my face being applied, is, well applied if you wanna call it that and my hair can longer be called hair…breakfast, I have decided is over-rated and consists of a banana at home and I will give you money for breakfast at school IF you think you REALLY must eat and do not even think about commenting on how I look! I am making a fashion statement…

I arrive at school with my “I ain’t takin your crap” face on-It’s Friday and I actually fit in today-Fridays are casual days jeans and a tee-I should be estactic but I can’t even enjoy the fact it’s Friday,because if they see me smile or happy those hellions might mistake me for kind and compassionate…

The day goes relatively smooth-I had teachers stop in and check on me because they heard of yesterdays rock incident, administration  it seemed, was never out of ear shot! The day goes as smooth as it could…I find myself writing TGIF on the attendance sheets to the office, then it turns into TGIF with a smiley face then TGIF is it 2:40 yet??? The attendance girl calls me and asks if I am ok…I consider telling her that I opend the windows and set the hellions free but didn’t think she would think that was very funny. I keep reminding myself that $55 for 5.5 hrs(5 if you count the 30 min lunch) of work isn’t bad.

A teacher stops by before the end of the day and asks me if I could sub for her next Tues-Thurs…I look around the room then back at her-she says I have all of the same students gulp just not all in the same hour…so I commit to working 3 days for her.

My confession for today: I really need my head examined

I am Legend…

I am not talking the movie either…which btw I really didn’t care for. No, I am Legend to my lilest bean…

Last Wednesday during Spring Break we took a trip to my Favorite Place, just her and I. All the way up there she wanted me to tell her what we would do first,then after that and so on…I was thinking geesh she is just like me, I do the same thing to mr gp. It’s not like reallyplanning, more like dreaming and useing your imagination and picturing it all in your mind…what can I say, that’s how we roll…

I do admit I was a lil bit worried about all the Noah’s Ark rain the area had gotten-would we be able to cross over 2 specific bridges or would we have to turn around and go that really curvy way-which by the way can be a really cool lil drive especially when the clouds are low,it seems like you are driving through them-the beans and I expierenced this about 6 yrs ago when I brought them up and they thought it was the neatest-they still ask are we gonna go through the clouds again? I get car sick going the really curvy way. It was cloudy and cool and we didn’t bring jackets, I kept checkin the temp in the car and the closer we got to ES the cooler it got-Our first stop was the Giant Wind Chime…

We rolled in to town later than we had hoped but still early by most peoples standards-and as soon as we parked the clouds parted,the sun came out and it was just beautiful! We found a parking spot in the lot down from Mud Street Cafe(a perfect central spot for parking and walking back to unload all those packages that lilest bean bought), I needed a $5 but all I had were $20’s to put in the lil box-so we jump out and run up to Romancing the Stone-of course they can’t make change unless you buy something-I respect that butttt I didn’t have time to search for a gift from the Easter Bunny since I am currently breakin the law by parkin and not paying and I didn’t want a ticket or whatever it is you get for parkin and not payin…I find some hair thingies for the girl beans, pay and grab them,my change and lilest bean and runnnn back to the lil pay box I put my $5 in and sigh a sigh of relief. Yea, we are here we start walking back up and I stop and ask lilest bean was our parking spot #42 noooo mom it was #43 Oh SHOOOT…so I grab lilest bean and we runnnn back down to the car and sure’nuff I deposited my $5 in someone elses spot. OK so I put another $5 in the correct slot this time and we are off…

Once the parking spot/slot drama is behind us I take a look around, WOW the town is bustling-I have never been to ES during the week before. Apparently it is spring break for a lot of other people’s too. We see lots of moms & dads with their beans and extended families and friends-I admit I am use to the slower pace of the off-season months but lilest bean didn’t know the difference-the look on her face is priceless-she “gets it!”

She’s the boss,I go where she goes and she chooses her stores by what’s in the window-Glitzees is her first stop,she loved the shop they had “webkinz” and all kinds of cute lil princess bean things. The Rock and Mineral shop was another favorite-we got things for the whole family from the Easter bunny in there-the beans collect lotsa things like sno-globes, pins from places we have traveled BUT they mostly collect rocks…I have mr gp to thank for this. Lilest bean finds an un-opened geode(for her brother),polished petrified wood and a fossil(for her daddy), a HUGE green diamond shaped crystel-like a paper weight(for her sister) and lotsa items for herself. We shop and shop. We don’t do so good on our Rachel Ray $40 a day thingy-Thanks goodness for “Weee-Saaa” yanno, Weee-Saaa going shoppin and Weee-Saaa is my bestie, until the Weee-Saaa bill comes and then I don’t like Weee-Saaa so much! weee-saaa aka VISA!

We decided to have a late lunch at Cafe Santa Fe where we share fajitas and figure out what she wants to do next…

She wants to go and check out The Princess Jessica Eureka House Oh goodness…

The Eureka House for those that haven’t had the luxury of staying there YET is just out of this world awesome! The princess explored every single inch of the house,she studied the pics on the wall and wanted to know who everyone was, I only recognized Ms Margie and Beau-she found a painting of her Favorite movie, The Dorothy Pic by Zeek, she LOVED the stairs, oh my gosh those stairs-because they are at an angle they were super duper cool. J&K had left her some long sparkly necklaces that she wore everywhere-and some flowers that are in a waterless vase in her room right now. She absolutely loved the swing-she wanted me to try it out because it was sooooo much fun,but I didn’t think the swing could hold my bootylicious!  She staked out “her side of the bed” checked out all the movies,opened every single door in the house and once she saw the size of the closet asked if we could sleep in there! What is it with beans and closets? I got one of my BEST nights of Sleep in that downstairs bedroom. She checked out the Satellite tv-which I would have needed a manual and tutorial to figure out but she had it down in 5 seconds flat! She found the games and we played Uno,she wrote in the journal,she loved the sunroom and planned where our everyone in our family could sleep- A HUGE Thanks to Jan and Kim for opening up the Eureka House to us and making lilest bean feel like she was The Queen!

She wanted to go for a drive and explore, so we drove the Historic route and stopped at the Cresent so she could walk around, we explored the grounds and up to the 2nd floor-she wouldn’t ride the elevator because she thought she saw someone in there-she has these episodes where she sees people….at any rate we explored and came down to sit in front of the fireplace when all of a sudden the Piano started playing on it’s own-she got up and watched it play then I couldn’t convince her that it was set to automatically play and she wanted to leave immediately…

We stopped at the ice cream shop where she saw Carolines bunnies roaming around outside the store-she was amazed and now wants a bunny of her own-she is an animal lover and wants to be a vet when she grows up-she can’t watch those aspca commercials without crying…we stopped at sleepy’s where she got her pic taken in the big rocker. The animal planet channel is her favorite with disney a close 2nd…

It was time for the Ozark Mountain Hoe Down…and what a time we had! We were front row center and there for the pre-show. She just LOVED Granny & P.Nutt, I gotta tell ya I have NEVER seen her laugh so hard OR as much as I did this night! After the pre-show I went up to meet Jet aka Jeff with Thach Photography, what a GREAT Gentleman he is!  The Ozark Mountain Hoe Down was a fun family show that everyone should expierence at least once in their lifetime! I was sarenaded by the Blues Brothers and lilest bean sat there laughing so hard while taking pics, to bribe me with at a later date! Then right before intermission she was picked to come on stage and help P.Nutt & Girl, where I sat laughing hysterically and taking pics to bribe her with at a later date…The show was FANTASTIC~!!! At intermission I realized I left something back at the princess jess eureka house that we needed, so we had to leave and missed the last part of the show…we are planning to come back with the whole family this time so they can expierence what we did. Thank you Ozark Mountain Hoe Down and Jeff for making Wednesday night entertainment the BEST!!!

We woke on Thursday to go home and I think lilest bean had that same feeling I always get when it’s time to go home…mixed feelings not really sad because you KNOW you will be back, it’s just how SOON can I get back! All the way home she thanked me and talked about how much fun she had and when can we go back-she said “Mom ima Lifer like you” I giggled because once you visit Eureka Springs you know what I mean about being a “lifer”

My confession for today: I truly am Legend….at least in the eyes of a 10 yr old and I can live with that!

Boys VS Girls….very long

I really didn’t know what to name this blog…it coulda been “I’m NOT one of THOSE moms!” or “Boys duke it out” or one of any other number of things that came to my mind while typing this…but I guess I am sticking with Boys vs Girls. Because I have dealt with far more girl fights vs boy fights…GOD HELP US ALL!

 Do you know that when girls get into a fight they handle it differently than boys? Boy did I ever get schooled this weekend on how boys handle their differences…Girls well they are nasty and malicious,they try and turn others against you-they use words! Hell everyone one knows…”sticks and stones” I can so handle girls-well sorta…maybe, BUT BOYS? 

I think in a previous blog I mentioned middle bean being “left out” or dumped by his friends one weekend. Well Saturday everything came to a head or end or…

I got a call from middle bean Saturday evening, he sounded out of breath and like he had been crying(something I am reminded of BOY’S DO NOT DO! ok ok if ya say so…) I could barely understand him and I heard lots of screaming in the background. I panic and I mean literally panic,middle bean sense’s this and yells to “whoever” is in the background to “Chill out, can’t I even make a call to my mom in private?” he says. Finally he asks me to come and get him, that him and his bestie got into a fight “A fight?” I say “Mom don’t start, just please come and get me”

I wanna stop here and say middle beans bestie has been his bestie since 1st grade and we know his parents very well…both parents work and they have an Auntie that lives in thier home to help out, middle beans bestie also has 3 older siblings 2  boy college age beans(maybe they are adults now BUT that is 100% debatable IMHO) and a girl senior sister-bean. They really don’t know what is going on in their beans lives BECAUSE they are NOT present! BUT they trust their beans and have the auntie sooo they think all is well(I at this point don’t wanna sound hostile and I DO believe EVERY parent should trust their beans!-BUT….I also don’t wanna be “one of those parents”)…I on the OTHER hand, have WAY to much time on hands and I know EVERYTHING(well almost everything) there is to know about my beans…NOT because I pry BUT because they share(is this roots? Good GOD please tell me I have done something right!) and because I sub at their school…kinda hard to hide from things when you sub there…yanno? And don’t think for one second I haven’t heard it all…I even had had one bean ask me what middle bean hates to be called so he could make fun of him! Are these beans really that dense that they would ask the parent this stuff AND do they really think the parent would respond??? This is our future! Good Grief I so hope they Mature!!!

Sorry for the above rant…

So I arrive at his bestie’s house and middle bean is no where to be found, however, I am met like I am a Rock Star-it seems everyone in the neighborhood turned up for my arrival. Middle beans bestie tells me that him and middle bean got in a fight and “HE”isn’t sure why-he is very shakey, then bestie’s Aunt proceeds to spew all this horrible stuff about middle bean, like he “ran away” and he called one of the neighborhood girls a “dick”and he called his bestie a “Jew”etc… I just personally bite my tongue and let her say whatever it is she feels like she needs to get off her chestie…I am trying to practice the rule of “Think before you speak” I am proud of myself for practicing this…

Middle bean finally makes his grand appearance by throwing his bag into the back seat and slamming the car door. I ask him to get out and join us and I Politely ask that the paparazzi  cease and de-sist…the paps comply,middle bean not so much. He is VERY upset and I can tell it is time to go and let him cool off, BUT not before I ask him to apologize to his bestie’s Aunt, she was walking down the street concerned she couldn’t find middle bean and he had scared her and been disrespectful. He complied…

Once home,I ask middle bean to shower and then we will chat(boys are smelly yanno-I never knew this-in THIS sense-I didn’t have brothers!) He has a bloody lip and a huge bite mark on his arm(biting is so what 1 to 2 yr old) goodness

So he is squeaky clean and he crawls in to bed with me and we chat: before we get into the chat I tell him….you CAN NOT TALK LIKE THAT!!!! He is well embarressed he knows better,he screwed up,he sais something he shouldn’t have he was pushed to his limits-so he tells me….(I know boys will be boys and they DO talk like this-THANK YOU SOUTH PARK!) some of this stuff I already knew, Like the fact that he was dumped a few weekends ago,that his bestie has been kickin him and pushing him at school etc…what I didn’t know was that they has been getting into actual “physical” fights yanno punching until ya bleed kinda fights and that on Saturday they got into one of those punchin, bleedin fights and middle beans bestie’s older brother had ummm “egg’d” them on…NOW I know what your thinking Where in the HELL-FIRE was/were the parents??? My thoughts too! Apparently they fought so much that day middle bean had enough-hence the call to me…

Well I gotta tell ya I am heart-broken! First I knew for a fact that middle beans bestie’s parents HAD NO CLUE what was going on-when I type/say this I mean it-the older siblings are the ones who carpool not the parents! Second I was quite pissed off to listen to the Aunt saying middle bean did this and middle bean did that…without for one second stopping and thinking what role did my child/nephew play in this? HENCE the whole NOT my Child mentality! Yanno I really feel sorry for those parents, no really I do, THOSE type of parents are the ones who have their children end up in trouble with the law at a later date yet still have the nerve to say NOT MY CHILD!

After our very long talk,I let middle bean know that I plan on calling his bestie’s parents-something that for a boy bean can be the KISS OF DEATH! Because they are ummm MALE and they don’t need their Moms sticking their noses in stuffs…but middle bean didn’t protest-I hugged him,kissed him and told him IF he had lied to me, well I would find out!

It doesn’t help  that I had NO place to vent…

1)lovely county was down

2) my blog was down

3) the geekster was down

4) my email was down

5)this is NOT how I roll…

6)I had a parent to call

So Sunday comes and well I make that call to the other mom and I am met yet again with all the horrible things my bean has done and said (keep in mind they have NEVER-EVER had a problem with middle bean before) so I listen and I listen….then I start stating facts that I know and can prove and it all of a sudden it gets hauntingly quiet….and the tone turns to OH OK and I am finally heard…they are listening to me…they REALLY are listening to me-it is prolly cause I have proof that contradicts what their bean has said that makes their ears perk up….but non-the-less they are listening….

Middle bean gets a call later that night asking if I can bring him over for a “family” discussion(what should I bring MY family? are we gonna be ganged up on? did they REALLY listen to me?) I do what any mom with “proof” would do…I go…

Yanno that weekend he was ditched-well he was invited to a Christain Concert only to be told they didn’t have room for him….he was invited a week in advance and at the last minute he is told sorrrrryyyyy we don’t have room for you….I find out during the above phone conversation that the parents didn’t even know this happened-hence the family meeting I am certain!

So we show up, middle bean and myself and at first it is still a lot of well, middle bean did this and middle bean did that…UNTIL I started speaking my mind…in a very nice way of course-again I gotta tell ya-these parents that truly think their beans can do wrong-well I feel for ya…

I first and foremost had middle bean apologize for his language(we have always told him his mouth WILL get him in to trouble) We are not your typical parents so we have this open relationship with our beans and well their actions they are accountable for…We can only help out so much …so he apologizes, then I discuss all this pushing and kicking and middle beans bestie is blown away that when I subbed I saw it…and he comes clean, I also address his language barrier via text messages with my oldest bean, again I am met with shock, WOW a parent that actually knows whats going on…WOW a parent that will say something! He had a lot of explaining to do…to say the least-I am NOT proud of the fact that I had to give another parent information about their child…thats never easy NO matter what side your on! The Good Lord Knows I had Heard my fair share of bad-mouthing and info on my middle bean…but still it didnt make me feel good to provide that info…

Then the parents ask middle bean what else has been goin on and he informs them that THEIR children call him “GINGER” at first I am like wait, thats my weenee dogggers name BUT NOPE it is a derogatory statement to him because he is a red-haired freckled faced lil bean…I am truly saddened that my middle bean has gone through this AND with his bestie AND that he thought it was OK!

The “family” meeting was good I think a lot of eyes were opened and I do think things will get better from here…boys are different than girls…they don’t question friendships,they just deal with the name callin,the fightin,the the the…SO, SHOULD you write off your friends???? (and some may question me here BUT I CAN’T CHOOSE THEIR FRIENDS!!!!!)….welll I don’t think so, boys are so different than girls! Just because someone wrongs ya doesn’t mean you write them off…especially at the ripe ol’ age of 12…They are young,they have to make mistakes and they have to learn from all of the above…whether they are to blame or not….will this be the last fight they get into? Hell NO! am I a bad parent for knowng this? Hell NO! Is there a damn thing I can do about it? Hell No!!!!!! I CAN’T CHOOSE THEIR FRIENDS!

My confesssion for today: my beans are NOT perfect and I know it! BUT they are damn close! and I LOVE them!

Sisters

I wanna take this time and THANK my mom for the love I feel for my sisters…I dont have brothers and ummm  I dont have boy cousins…but dang-it she sure as hell in-stilled sisterly love in us…

Growing up I was well jealous, of what you say…well prolly the same shit my beans are jealous of….I feel for my mom and it’s only now I realize how hard it is being a  mom! She wasn’t perfect-no one is…but she did the best she could and good grief I am doing the same…the times have changed but the “root” is still there, we all want the same thing in the end…FAMILY…Roots….don’t get me started on wings…

I can’t count on my fingers how many times I have called one sis or another for a pep talk…

My youngest sister got pregnant at a very young age and I so admire her(YEP YOU HEARD ME RIGHT), she now has 3 beans and is still married to her man. Her oldest son, my nephew Casey will graduate this yr and he is everything any mom could ever hope for in a son! Yes he resembles Drew Carey(sorry Casey) but he is a super-star, well rounded and smart, an athlete-right now he is deciding what college he will go to….that is so fantastic…deciding what college to go to…I hope one day to be able to call her and ask her for her advice….

My middle sister yanno the one(and NOT ina bad way…)…we are the same age for 10 days in December(geesh I hated that growing up)…she is the smart one-she went to college and became a Nurse,she married her high-school sweet-heart…what mom wouldn’t want that? Her oldest bean, my nephew, Hayden was born on April Fool’s day…another how cool is that moment? She is living the American dream….I so admire her and I know if I ever needed her I could count on her! She is kinda like my rock…and let me tell ya we have been through some stuff….that’s how I know I could count on her…

So I have shared prolly too much personal stuffs  BUT thats whats makes US, well…US…we are all falable to some degree,no one’s perfect even if we have this perfect senerio set up in our minds…and I am so GREATFUL for my sisters! I honest to God don’t know what I would do without either of them!

SO with that said…a  lil poem:

We are three sisters
Three sisters are we
I love each of you,
And I know you love me

We’re not always together,
Life sometimes keeps us apart.
But we’re never separated
We’re in each other’s heart.

Now I know we’ve had our troubles,
But we always get thru.
The real message is you love me,
And I also love you.

We have had lots of good times
That we’ll never forget
Sometimes we worry
And sometimes we fret

But if God ever gave me
Something special you see,
It might have been the blessing of,
Three sisters are we.
The Lord above has gave me lots
Of happiness and glee
But the most special thing he did was
Make us sisters, all three.

Sister Poems, Three sister’s by Francis I. Gillespie

I am so not a poet and I give credit above…oh my sisters how I love….

Spring Break

Well today at 2:40 the beans will be officially out for spring break. That means my quiet mornings and afternoons will be a thing of the past for the next 10 days. That means I actually got to have “lunch” type foods in the homestead. That means there will be fights galore on the scale of Mike Tyson and the whole ear biting off thingy… I would say fighting like cats n dogs BUT my cat and doggers get along just fine-the beans not so much…

Don’t get me wrong I love having the beans home with me-there is no place I would rather them be,than home with me but it seems they don’t like each other that much sometimes.

I am certain I will be accused of loving one bean more than another bean at least 50 million times during the next 10 days,or that I let this bean get away with murder, or that this bean always gets what he/she wants and said bean doesn’t,that I treat this bean better than I treat this bean…and so on….

Oh it will be a joyous time and I have the solution to their Mike Tyson-esque’ fighting-I am gonna pimp em out! Yep each time they start fighting or arguing they will do a chore,yanno something they really hate, like vaccuming,dusting, sweeping and mopping, cleaning the toliet with a toothbrush all FOR FREE and TOGETHER. If that doesn’t work then I may just take em to a busy intersection with a big ol’ sign that reads ”I Don’t Play Well With Others” and have them standout there and wave to people as they drive by…maybe that will make them think twice before trying to kill someone in the homestead!

I know as a bean growing up my sisters and I fought,I know it’s normal that they fight-I mean these people who think everything between siblings should be candy apples and roses perplex me….so we fought and we are OK-right? Well I guess that’s debateable, but I think we are ok…I LOVE my Sisters and don’t know what I would do without them! My goal one day they will love and enjoy spending time with each other, Like I do with my sisters…

We had a HUGE problem here the other day lilest bean wore one of oldest beans zip-up,short sleeved cute green jackets to school-without asking permission! “If I was a GOOD mommy, I would have known this”-I was informed when oldest bean saw her in her attire-well in all fairness to me, it DID fit lilest bean and GEESH I can’t honestly be expected to keep up with what I actually buy each of the beans, am I? I don’t think oldest bean has ever even worn that green jacket and I am pretty sure when I bought it, I bought because it was $1.99. Had I been able to see into the future and known what chaos this lil green jacket would have caused, I prolly would have passed on it….So I hafta have this talk with lilest bean about other peoples belongings and stuff and her reply is “but it’s N-O-T-T-T other peoples stuff, it’s Abby’s” “but still we have to ask to borrow someone else’s things”, I tell her…she apologized to her big sister and all was good for at least 10mins before another fight/argument breaks out…

So my ex is taking oldest & middle bean to Six Flags over Texas next week. I am very happy that he will get to spend some good ol’ Mike Tyson,ear biting-fightin time with them two!  There is nothing quite like being coop’d up in a car with more than one bean for any amount of time! I wish him luck….

I am taking my lilest bean for an over-niter to Eureka Springs so she can feel like she has a story to tell/write about when she goes back to school and everyone writes “what I did on spring break….” Well thats not entirely true, I do want her to have someting to write about, but I also just want to get-away with her so we can bond and have some “mommie n me” memories and what better place than in Eureka Springs!

I have compiled a list of 3 places so she can choose where we stay,she has already said she wants to eat at the “victorian” mcdonalds & subway(I say we can do better BUT she’s the boss for this trip) I wanna stop and say during my “motel” hunting I found some GREAT rates and more people just willing to take my $$dollars$$ BUT one place which I will not name refused a one nighter during the week, I have to admit I was shocked, I have NEVER-EVER had anyone say “Thanks but No Thanks” basically we are holding out for someone who actually WANTS to stay longer than one nite is how I felt. Needless to say and this pains me to say this… I will never reccomend this establishment and to be honest with you I can find the good in any person,place or thing. This just completly surprised me-But with that said I am glad they are doing so good they can turn away biz…

So hopefully by tonight we will know where we are staying and if I know my lilest bean she is probably already packed and ready to go even though we aren’t leaving until next Wednesday…it is good to see that smile on her face, i just know she is gonna find new things she loves about ES and as she gets older and has her own family she will remember the times I took her to Eureka and maybe do the same with her children…

My confession for today: Life is like a box of Chocolates…and my lil weenee dogger just dug in the trash and ate rotten chocolate covered strawberries…

Who woulda thunk…

No seriously who woulda thunk that this     could do this

Middle bean was out playing some hoops when the basketball got the best of him. He comes inside and says “Mom, I got some bad news, I am gonna owe Dad some money” he then opens his wallet and pulls out $23 and says “It’s all I got” I had no idea what he was talking about…he tells me “I broke dads window” All I can think is how in the heck did he get $23, I don’t even have $23 dollars and last I heard he was BROKE! He tells me he traded his “black” nintendo ds for a “white” nintendo ds + $20…ok ummm, I think! So what about the other $3, he then tells me he bought a 50cent cookie at school and re-sold it for $1 and then sold some of his donut tickets for two more dollars…how can I be mad he is a genious! Kinda like the time he was 5 and decided he would paint some rocks and set up a lemonade-esque’ type of stand and sell them to passerby’s as pet rocks…which by the way worked he made a whole $3.50-he sold them to the school kids as they got outta school…suckers! anyways where was I….oh yessss

Lilest bean over-hears this(yeah thats the tattle-tale right there~~~~>)  and runs and tells mr gp…who, to say the least wasn’t a happy camper!

It was an accident and I felt bad for middle bean-that’s him in the orange~~~~> I told him he shoulda told me in private then I woulda taken the blame for it…Bless his heart he couldn’t even eat his dinner last night and not because it had yung-yins in it either. Needless to say mr gp has an appointment at 4pm today to get his windshield replaced and he did NOT take that $23…

My confession for today is: like the pen being mightier than the sword, so is the all mighty basketball…

80’s Music revisted

All this roots,wings and music talk has me totally getting nostalgic….be-fore warned this is another very interactive,clickable blog and I may repeat myself….like right here Phil does indeed rock I dont care what my beans say…

 I loved 80’s music, was a big 80’s hair band music lover and a BIG one hit wonder fan… I always at the time wanted to turn up the radio.

Ummm mr gp is insiting I add the following Red Ryder, Billy Thorpe,shooting star’s BREAKOUT which from the you tube gods can not be found, but he swears IF you can find it, it will be sooooo worth it , Gary Newman, Donnie Iris, The Buggles, The Fixx how bout a lil rainbow and while sooooo not a one hit wonder another song by BOC  because we love them…..

There is always the B-52’s which may or not be very 80’s…the Talking Heads and I am soooo hysterically laffin at the fact that anyone would wanna be a cowboy…didnt we all want Betty Davis eyes? OH you know theres gotta be some Hall & Oats involved here, and Saga is on the Loose…It is Always hard to say I’m Sorry. Air Supply was one of those bands for me,they could make love outta nothing at all .

When MTV played “music videos” the Pet Shop Boys was one of my favs. Ever feel like somebodys watching you? My my my how the videos of my days have changed…who could forget Falco,Michael Sembello,Quiot Riot,Toni Basil or Ah-Ha. I remember running off the school bus to get home so I could watch my MTV. I am definately a by-product of the 80’s everything I ever found cool,hip or happening came from the 80’s.

I preach this lil diddy to my beans all the time. I wanted to rock down to Electric Ave. One New years eve I saw the Divinyls perform on MTV. Surely you have all skated to Rappers delight or Queen…which makes me stop and giggle, why, at the time, girls and boys alike always carried a comb in their back pockets and on the all boy skates the girls would stand by the rails an hold their hands out with the hopes a cute boy would come by and slap your hand inevitably leadng to a couples skate…OHHH those were the days…and my how things have changed!

Remember when Frankie went to Hollywood? This song by the weather girls reminds me of my gaylord poster. But no walk down the 8o’s lane would be complete without some Glam Hair Bands…gosh all the boys wanted to be them and all the girls wanted them! I am certain the hairspray industry took a huge hit after the hair bands became extinct. I blame the demise of the great 80’s hair bands all on Kurt Cobain and the grunge era…

I will start with some of my favorite “power” ballads like Save Your Love,Heaven,November Rain and something I need a lil more of Patience! I LOVED Def Leppard and Love Bites and as if that wasnt enough Every Rose has it’s thorn. Is this Love? There was definately a pattern to those ballads of the 80’s, You never  Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone). The Damn Yankees(I know I am 1990 here BUT I saw them in concert and I love them…) So they will get 2 clickable links from me. I have to add a lil bit of Tesla. Lastly they definately qualify for Glam and Big hair they just aren’t male Heart rocks and who could forget Alone!

I remember struttin my stuff(or so I thought) at the caravan to Girls,Girls,Girls and the Crue! Hangin out at the local Q-Spot ona Friday night and me my “crew” would put quarter after quarter in the jukebox to hear Rock Me . At the ripe old age of 16 I so wanted Bret Micheals to Talk Dirty to Me and I was never ever Nobody’s Fool and one more by Cinderella. Dokken could break my chains any day of the week. Remember when I said I LOVED Def Leppard?  Pure Hysteria (in good way)at the thought of Joe Elliot Pouring some Sugar on Me and I ain’t Foolin! He would be my Rock of Ages!

The Scorpions sure could Rock You Like A Hurricane and they made sure you knew There’s No One Like You! Ratt’s Round and Round was another big night at the caravan song! I remember crusin’ the Fontana with Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City BLARRRING from my windows…

Bon Jovi had me Living on a Prayer and when I saw him in concert he SWORE I don’t give love a bad name! Who could forget Skid Row…well, I still Remember You! I think Danger Danger were very under-rated for the time bang bang!

I couldn’t end my blog without mentioning a few more songs that bring back some memories…

Ladies Night

Keep on Lovin You

Only the Lonely

Who Can it be Now

Hold Me

Every breath you take

Here Comes the Rain Again

Jamie’s Cryin

Thats a lot of music folks and it doesnt even scratch the surface of the 80’s era…I know music is a very personal choice and for one reason or another each song listed above brings back a memory for me….

My confession for today: The 80’s were so “kick-ass!”

I have had to edit this blog since Naturegirl brought something to my attention…

The Bee Gees with their super sweet melody how deep is your love, night fever ,some jive talkin or Too much Heaven, stayin alive  reminds me of when my mom worked at pizza inn,in Muskogee and she would play this at 1am when she was closing up and my sisters and I would be falling asleep in one of the booths…no matter what song is your favorite they have beautiful falsetto’s

My week in review

Since I last left you all with my trip report, a lot has happened…

Before I get into all of that I want to stop and make a world wide web announcement…I hurt my “bestie” with one of my blogs. That was never my intention…I write and type and something takes hold of me…I LOVE to write-I am in NO way shape or form a pro nor do I pretend to be….the end product, a blog…which in turn  1)doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings 2) makes you laugh…if I can can acomplish those 2 things I am doing good… I never for one second thought anything I ever typed would be hurtful or taken the wrong way. So to my bestie I am sorry,I never meant to hurt you in any way shape or form…I am, to say the least, very falable…I like to make peope smile,make people laugh but never at somone else’s exspense! So I hope you can forgive me…

Ok…when we last left each other I was still on my ES high, typed up a blog and had to sub…scarey thought me subbing again, but I gotta tell ya…when people say don’t judge-you really shouldn’t judge. Let me explain, last year I loved the 8th graders,refused to sub for 6th graders and 7th graders were somewhere in between.

This year I have found that 8th graders HAVE to be the devils spawn,6th graders when their teachers have 5th hr plan are angels and I have a new-found appreciation for those 7th graders(yanno the ones I refused to sub for last yr-that would be those 6th graders) are you following me? I dont wanna confuse anyone….well my subbing doodies Mon & Tues were for 7th graders and I gotta tell ya they have REALLY matured since last yr! They were a pleasure to sub for,and at this point I am thinking they are more mature than those darn 8th graders I subbed for earlier this yr…yanno the ones who tried to kill me….I just wanna say so much about these beans right now but I dont wanna hafta do the whole *names have been changed thing-if any mom from SMS happens upon my blog for the last week of Feb. 2008 just know your child was a doll to sub for and I hope I was a positive influence in his/her lives for at the very least one day…

I got respect and they earned my respect,I felt like I did a good job…like maybe I made a difference in one beans life…it was a good 2 days…

I wake up Wednesday suppose to be a subbin only to find myself…well not myself…something nasty had taken over my body and at this point I am willing to confer it may be alien life form! Yanno the feeling,you can feel it coming on,some of you may pop vitamin c,d,a,e,f,z or even g. Me on the other hand tends to “wait things out”  Well I fell hard,I had to cancel my sub job and crawled back into bed after I had all the beans off to school…

I wanna take this moment to stop and say that this week(it will be last week when you finally read this…) starting Monday was a day of firsts. Middle bean decided he was gonna go out for track…oldest bean had 7th grade cheer clinic-meaning she had to stay after school and help the 7th grade girls who wanna try-out for 8th grade cheer learn all week-clinic…so keep in mind, I am by Wednesday feeling like, well basically shit…and mr gp is on the night shift(11-7) meaning he gets home at 7:30am and sleeps until,well until…I am trying to not be hostile as I type this since he does work so I can stay home with the beans BUT, remember I feel like shit! At some point I am hoping for a “honey,you take it easy and sleep,I will go get the beans and take care of them”  no that doesnt come,so I suck it up and do my mommie doodies(yea the beans laugh everytime I say doodies=duties)

So the beans are doing track/cheer clinics and practice and I am goin to pick up lisest bean at 3:40 then come home and make “TEA” ok, tea around here is a monumentaul thing, I still boil my tea on the stove, fill my jug with ice and a cup of sugar(sweet by some standards) but non-the-less it is OUR tea! They pick my tea over soda,pop,cola,whatever is your flavor of terms,my tea even beats out juice and water-it gets me through the day…. Then I am off to pick up the beans at 2 different schools. Keep in mind I feel like death warmed over, aka shit….I cook dinner each night…thats my doodie…right? I am a good mom…I am planting those roots right? Never let em see ya sweat… oh hell by this point I am spent! That is basically my Mon-Friday routine last week, Mon & Tues not so bad but after that it went downhill…and I find myself starting to resent mr gp because he gets to go to work then come home and sleep. While my work may be never-ending-the household chores like laundry,dishes,vaccumming,runing the beans here and there etc…you pile the word SICK on top of it and my life takes on a whole new meaning. I am not a very good sick person…

So we get to our Friday night and mr gp promised everyone dinner at the “fish shack” a very yummy-semi-local restaurant…but the beans have other plans…oldest bean has a cheer end of season party at ugh ci-ci’s one of the worst pizza places ever planted on this earth,middle bean has been invited to a local Christan concert and lilsest bean was invited to stay the night with her bestie….so we send oldest bean off for her cheer endeavors….soon I learn that middle bean has been “DUMPED” upon,ditched,ummm whatever other term you wanna use…I am pissed! Not my lil alien dude,he’s my baby boy,he’s my bubba luv….DON’T mess with a momma and her ONLY son! So the 4 of us go to the Fish Shack-it is very good-only thing was I really cant taste much…being sick has a way of doing that to ya…

This was also “MY” weekend meaning I dont gotta share my beans with the sperm donor…thats prolly a whole nother blog in itself for me, BUT, yeah again with the BUTs…  it is MY weekend…oldest beans stays with another cheerleader friend,middle bean is soooooo upset he was ditched and lilest bean is staying home with mommie because mr gp has to work 11-7…I am 1000% certain she woulda rather went to her besties house…but she stayed home with me….for a moment I think thats those roots…

So Saturday rolls around I get oldest bean home(I even made her walk home-her friend lives 11 houses down from us-BUT the beans NEVER walk the streets) and I am ina fit to be tied,I still feel awful but some reason my house isn’t my house…my homestead looks like it should be decalred a diaster zone,there are coffee cups here n there(yep lilest bean drinks coffee)there are clothes ga-lore every-where,clean and dirty-at this point I cant tell the difference! ALL I can think of isssss it’s strip your sheets day,I mean we dont want bed bugs right…and ummm this is what moms do right? we strip sheets every-other week? UMmmm they-the beans should know this… I make it known no-one is going or doing nuttin until they realize the maid apparently didnt show up all week and pick up after them. Middle bean even had the nerve to tell me “Mom we don’t have a maid, you always do this stuff….” ummmm if I had any strength in me at all I prolly woulda strangled the middle bean right then and there! So they help out getting the house looking semi-normal. I am trying to not get upset as I pull airhead wrapper after airhead wrapper from between the sofa cushions,pudding toppers from under the sofa,fruit roll up wrappers scattered all over the end tables…I sit down on the floor completely depleated and wonder who are these 3 beans standing in front of me? I will NOT cry, I repeat to myself, I will NOT cry…do I really do this much picking up after them??? At this point in all my glory sittin on the floor of the living room covered in every kind of wrapper imaginable to a kids liking, I call a family meeting and inform them that I have officially had it!

“From here on out things are gonna change” I inform them. Lilest bean asks me why I have wrappers all over me, I give her THE LOOK!  No one speaks another word until I am done ranting and I ask them if they understand what I have said…they give me a hug,tell me sorry,help me up off the floor, then middle beans tells me  “Mom I didnt eat all 112 airheads by myself…the girls had some too!”  Then lilest bean asks me “Mom are you gonna make me get a job too?” 

So we are all shave your legs sheet clean(ladies you know how good clean sheets feel especially after you have just shaved your legs),the homestead looks somewhat like a homestead again,life is good…and my middle bean is still tryin to hook up with his friends who are at this point still be ditchin him…(insert broken moms heart here) my lilest bean is goin with my bestie to spend time with her bestie and oldest bean wants her friend to come over to spend the night. Mr gp is off work tonight and I plan on going to bed early…which I did…I plan on sleeping in and getting some much needed rest…

At 5:30am mr gp comes into the bedroom and asks me if I wanna go to breakfast,huh? what? did you just seriously wake me up at 5 freaking 30 to ask me to breakfast? He also at this point decides he wants to carry on a conversation with me,telling me that he has been up since 4am-he couldn’t sleep,nights really mess with him he informs me,that he hasnt eaten in over 40 hrs and he is going to start the coffee….I give HIM “THE LOOK” He returns at 8:30am to see if my demeanor has changed. I really don’t feel like going to breakfast but the beans are up and they are going and last night was the first night in many nights that I actually slept,my nose that had become a faucet had slowed to a dribble and I didnt cough the entire night…so I get up,dress,brush my teeth,pull my hair into a pony and attach a ball cap to my mop…

Breakfast was good, it gave me some energy and I was actin goofy with my middle bean who decided he wanted to sit next to me-he NEVER wants to sit next to me or anyone for that matter…anytime we get a large table he is always way at the end by himself…so I start singing to him and he calls me a REE-TARD of course I inform him I am NOT a REE-TARD ima Re-A-Tard yanno it rhymes with Le-A-Tard…no really, I didnt just type that for your benefit, I actually said that to him-he laughs at me, ahhhh a smile, finaly a smile and I can tell I am starting to feel a lil bit better…. 

Sunday was a nice family day,I lounged in bed most of the day and mr gp dealt with the beans. I really,really wanted to go get a shot of dimerol BUT that would mean I would be down another 3 days and I can’t hold fast to the fact that my saturday family meeting actually sunk in…as a matter of fact it is now Wed March 5th and as I look around the homestead I KNOW nothing I said on saturday actually sunk in! So I help get the beans ready for the week ahead,make sure they have homework done and clean clothes yanno all that fun stuff!

Monday was a cold,rainy,sleety,snowy day,the fireplace roared as I layed on the sofa and slept…Oldest bean has 9th grade cheer tryouts all week till 5pm. I hope she makes it,mr gp wishes she would go out for basketball -mainly because it’s about $1500 cheaper, if she makes it I dont know how we will afford it,but it will work out-it always does OR so I thought up until yesterday when they went for their 6month teeth cleanings…oldest bean has a cracked tooth that to fix will set us back after insurance pays it’s portion a whopping $616 and lilest bean has several issues that will cost us $624.60. I was skeered to tell mr gp because I knew what his reaction would be and well I was close…he said there goes our summer vacation….so I did a lil googling and found this….taken from the ASU website

  The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock!  That doesn’t even touch college tuition…………..For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child’s name here). 

For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless. But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That’s a mere $24.44 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.  Still, you might think the best financial advice says don’t have children if you want to be “rich.” 

It is just the opposite. 

What do your get for your $160,140? 

Naming rights. First, middle, and last! 

Glimpses of God every day. 

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day. 

You get to finger-paint, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and fly kites.

You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, and going to Disney movies. 

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. 

You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel. 

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren. 

You get education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. 

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

So I really hope oldest bean makes the 9th grade cheer squad AND plays basketball if she so desires,I hope middle bean becomes a track star and that next yr when he is an 8th grader he will be the best football & basketball player he can be and when lilest bean finally decides what she wants to do I want to know in my heart we did everything possible to make their dreams come true and that we didn’t hinder them for one second because we didnt know how we would pay for it …teeth and all!

My confession for today: A Bottle of Nyquil is almost as good as a shot of dimerol…