Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there working a full time job and rushing home to pick the kids up from their after school program hoping that all the home work is done for the evening.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who sit in traffic for 40 minutes before you get home where you then have to make sure the kids get home work done and start dinner.

Happy Mother's Day to the moms who stay home day in and day out, who are with their kids 24/7 for the thousands of reasons that a mom would stay home. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you moms that are working during the day, going to school at night, sending the kids to school, stopping by the drive through because you wont have time to cook, put the kids to bed, and do your end-of-quarter exam.

Happy Mother's Day to the moms who are out there hitting the pavement jogging or walking to stay in shape, tending to the kids and cleaning house. Where do you find the time to do it all?

Happy Mother's Day to you moms who for whatever reason at all may have had to let a child go, lay them to rest or send them off to college. If you've had to say good-bye to a child for any reason at all this year or in your life time, Happy Mother's Day to you!

Happy Mother's Day to you expectant moms out there.

Happy Mother's Day to you moms standing in the "proverbial" adoption line. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you neighborhood moms! You know, all of the kids from the neighborhood gather at your house because they can sense your kindness and patience with them or because you have all of the good "treat" at your house. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you 3rd shift moms out there.

Happy Mother's Day to you if you've ever thought of yourself as a sub-standard, below the bar or sub-par mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day Stage Moms! I understand you!

Happy Mother's Day to you Hollywood Mothers!

Happy Mother's Day to the plumbers and janitors and doctors and friends and detectives and cooks and coaches and teachers and guides and boo-boo kissers and counselors and preachers and judges and photographers and encouragers and bike mechanics and tutors and chauffeurs and trainers and playmates that we all are!!!

 I hope this day has been, if nothing more, stress free...for a little while! :)

Linking this post up here and Just Write.
Stephy

Dodging Perceived Bullets

Well hello there...

It's been long enough. I figured I'd better pull myself out of this "don't have the time or words to blog" mode that I've been in and get back to it. wondering about the title of this post? Well, I'll jump right in. At the beginning of this school year, there was talk of Madison's little school closing. I didn't give it much thought seeing as how our school system is one of the best in the state and the school that she attended had won several award for excellence and test scores and things like that. Well as you may have already guessed, as of two weeks ago, it has become official, the school is closing. So is the elementary school in our district closing along with the middle school. The thing is a lot of our county's schools are operating under the enrollment capacity for the building and the budget for the county is blown more and more each year. So not to bore you with too many details, there's a brand new school that isn't being used that half of the kids will attend and another school in a nearby district that the other half will attend. Color me overprotective, but I'm glad my little 6 year wont have to go through such a huge change like that so early in her life and school years. Hence the title of this blog. I consider it a "perceived" bullet because the kids will be attending a higher rated school or the brand new school, that's not too bad and for some parents is a God-send since the closing school is nearly 30 years old.

I do feel sorry for the teachers who will lose their jobs and/or tenure but I'm sure the vast majority of them had time to prepare themselves for the changes. The girls and I ran into a parent and her boys, the youngest of which was in Madison's class and her reading group while she was at the school and he gave her the biggest hum and told her that he misses her so much. That was really sweet! We also ran into another family from her class at the park last week and another hug and another "I miss you forever." Affecting the kids like that did weigh in on our decision to pull her out, I didn't wan to upset those kids too badly but my kid's own self esteem hung in the balance and was just a little more important factor in the decision making process.

Well that's all for now, I'm just trying to get back in the habit of blogging about our homeschooling process there is definitely more to share. We are still learning ALOT from each other and about each other....

Until the next though...

Stephy

Getting Back to Business

Whew! I cannot lie and say that coming back after Spring break has not been hard. The first day of school was AMAZING! It's getting back to blogging that is proving to be a bit of a challenge for me. I had some great ideas to mention earlier today but taking into account my short term memory hiccups due to juggling a million things and a million hormones roaming through my body...I have completely forgotten them.

The kids were excited to get back to school this week. They had a fun-filled Spring break which included two egg hunts, a sleep over, some thrift store hunting, plenty of bike riding and I cant even remember what else, still to hear them after climbing into the car as we were leaving my Mother's house say, "tomorrow's Monday, back to home school." Trust me, it didn't sound as dreadful as it may read. It made me excited for a couple of reasons; 1) it lets me know that our school has enough structure that they realize that we don't just stay home all day to play and be with Mommy but that it actually really is school. That's especially important because, as many of you know, I took Madison out of school during the middle of the year and I did not want to take it lightly. I didn't want to "say" I was home schooling but I actually really want to continue my children's education and feed their passions.

Also on my walk tonight, I had a huge dialogue going on in my head about what type of example am I being to my kids. I'd gotten up at 6am to walk . I was able to be there as the neighborhood woke up from it's slumber. Owners had let their dogs out (without a leash), husbands were leaving for work, cars were warming up in their driveways and then...the wives began to step out of their homes. Nicely dressed, coffee in hand, heels clicking as they made their way down the drive to hop into their vehicles to do whatever glamorous thing it is that they do. And for a second, I was a little...jealous. So much so that during my 6pm walk, I was still thinking about it. I was wondering what type of example am I being for my girls by staying home everyday. Sure teaching is truly its own reward. Especially when the teacher is Mommy, I honestly could not feel more honor and satisfaction from what I do BUT today, my thoughts were of my girls' future, their career choices and if they'd choose to work outside of the the home and if they wouldn't choose to do so. What would that mean for them? I came inside after coming to the conclusion that we as people have to choose what is important to us. To some women, Mothers, it is important to have a career, to climb the ladder...to others, it is important to be there; to instill value in our girls and boys, to protect them, to love them, to shape and mold them. So then, I had to ask myself that question...what is important to me?? I recognized that in that moment I was dealing with the feeling of "self-importance". Having a career and leaving my kids everyday is no more appealing to me than a banana that has been picked over in the fruit bowl until it has turned brown and mushy.

I love my kids and want the absolute best for them but beyond that (yes, there is a beyond that) I want to GIVE them my best!! Every single day of my life, I endeavor to be my best and give my best to my girls. They didn't asked to be here, I asked for them to come here and it is my plan to teach them all I can and to shower them with as much affection as my heart can give. I'll let you know how that all works out. :) Later.