Wordless Wednesday

Rainy day activity number 756.

OMG - Ohm My God

Wine or chocolate, wine or chocolate?  Oh alright. If you insist. Both.

HRH's school has a very enthusiastic PTO that sponsors many activities.  One of the main reasons I'm home with the kids is to take an active role in their lives both in and out of school.  I try to volunteer as often as I can and generally really enjoy doing it.

When the PTO posted in the school newsletter that they were desperately in need of volunteers to assist with the after-school enrichment programs, I offered my services, provided they didn't mind an additional, slightly younger student in the mix.  They snapped me up.

Reasons Christine thought it would be a good idea for the boys and me to take yoga together:
A. HRH had taken yoga in preschool and really enjoyed it.
B. Both boys enjoy learning poses from me and have 'mastered' Wii Fit yoga.
C. Winters are long here in the Northeast, with Spring beginning around June 1st. We are heavy on inside time and light on much-needed physical activity.  Yoga = exercise.  Right?  right??

Reasons Christine is a dumb-ass, rookie volunteer who deserves the hazing she is current enduring:
A. The class takes place immediately after school is dismissed for the day.
B. This class is primarily attended by children then going on to the after school day care program.
C. This class takes place hours (and hours) after lunches have been eaten.
D. This class takes place during the time that both those children going home and those going to day care are being fed snacks.
E. Yoga was specifically mentioned as the class requiring assistance.
F. In case there was any doubt, K and 1st Graders are not the target audience for a class featuring long any periods of concentration, holding still, and being quiet.

Rather than the laid back, healthy hour I anticipated spending with my boys and a handful of others in a state of blissful Zen,  I spend an hour herding cats; directing kids in and out of the bathrooms, taking bloody noses to the nurses office, and telling kids to keep their hands to themselves.  In short, I could've stayed home.

So when you do the math, it may seem like A+B+C = Good, healthy, positive time together.  Not necessarily.  In this instance, A+B+C = Effed.

Random Thoughts From an Absentee Blogger

"It's like Chelsea Handler has made the conscious decision to not look hot anymore." Manic Mommy - 3/20/10 11:36 pm

Can I Get An "Oh, poor baby..."?

What Hurts When You have a Sinus Infection:

• Hot liquids
• Cold liquids
• Luke warm liquids
• Brushing your teeth 
• Mint tooth paste
• Trying to rinse mint toothpaste out of your mouth because it hurts
• Chewing
• The sensation of having your teeth pushed out from the inside
• Standing up
• Lying down
• Trying to sleep sitting up
• Sleep deprivation
• Focusing
• Swallowing horse pill-sized antibiotics 
• Stomach from antibiotics
• Stomach from ingesting copious amounts of Advil
• Touching your face
• Loud noises
• Bright lights
• Eyebrows
• Cheekbone
• Sensation of someone trying to push your eye out through the socket
• Your cheek resting against your jaw
• Puffing out your cheek so it doesn't rest against your jaw
• Hot food
• Cold food
• Ears
• Breathing through your mouth

What Doesn't Hurt When You Have a Sinus Infection:

• Standing under a hot shower with water beating on your face.

It's Not Just Me

Scene:  Playground at school, just before dismissal.  Mom (not me!) holding her truly pissed off nearly-five-year- old.

"We don't touch other people's throw up.  It has germs.  We've talked about this."

Wordless Thursday

"To:  Dr. Seuss"

"If you find this letter blowing, let it keep on going."

They Might Be Geniuses

The curse of all parents; the dreaded kids' music playing in the car. I thought I had it licked when I found All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids. It wasn't exactly like listening to The Fab Four but at least when a song go stuck in your head, you didn't want to gouge your eyes (ears?) out.

A couple of years ago, my neighbor turned the boys and me on to They Might be Giants: Here Come the 123s. It's positively adorable. And catchy. This year, as Santa was making his list, he was very pleased to find TMBG's latest installment, Here Comes Science.

Big hits include I Am a Paleontologist and (my personal favorite) The Bloodmobile, which talks about "the delivery service inside us, carrying oxygen, nutrients, things that fight infection and the trash collection..."



Don't get me wrong, the reason my kids watched Baby Einstein videos was because they (the videos) were innocuous, bright, and allowed me to shower, vacuum, or make a meal without a child strapped to me. But with lyrics like "the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma" I'm pretty sure these guys might be geniuses. And I can't help but wonder if their music might be spreading just a little of that super-brainpower around.

At a minimum, my boys are comfortable hearing and sometimes using words that wouldn't enter their lexicon for quite a few years to come.  Best case scenario is that we're opening discussions about science and the physical world in ways that I simply wouldn't have come up with.

And I don't want to gouge my ears out.  That's what I call a win/win.



* The preceeding was not a paid post.  Simply me expressing an opinion. :-)