When kids behave badly !

Dear reader,
This post should be filed under Something to think about. Though it is not my intent to offend anyone, I feel compelled to write and post this. Please read it as it was intended , without malicious intent.

Yes there are parents out there who are guilty of not raising their children to know right from wrong. I know parents who are so wrapped up in their careers and the mighty dollar, that their children are raised by whatever baby sitter is available. Sadly these baby sitters do not provide upbringing , values, or morals that these kids need . I also know people who take the entitled approach to raising their children. The nobody is better than you and you are entitled to feel or do whatever you want. This usually backfires the moment that the child enters school or any group for that matter. These are sure recipes for disaster but what about parents who try ? What about parents who read all of the books, spend hours praying and discerning, but still find that they are raising monsters ? Is it true that kids will be kids and that nobody is perfect and we should just accept what is ?I personally don't think so. I do believe that we must keep trying. I do agree that no child is perfect, but that is no reason that we Mothers and Fathers should not keep striving. As with everything, though perfection may never be attainable,hard work will get you closer and closer to perfection.
This was one of the subjects that Mike and I discussed on the way home from Cedar Point last night. Though Cindy had to work ,Mike, the boys and I decided to go for a few hours and catch some of their exclusively fall( Halloweekends) shows. It was a beautiful day and the park was nowhere as busy as it had been all summer so that the boys could even get on the most popular rides with only a half an hour or less in line. In general, a good time was had by all.
What was disturbing though was how many unruly children we seemed to come in contact with. Now maybe I am just over stressed,a victim of PMS,or whatever, but these badly behaved children seem to be coming from the woodwork. It started a couple days ago when Mike and I were trying to back our car out of a drive way when a group of children probably four to twelve years old kept riding a http://www.minipocketrockets.com/cagllari-pocket-rocket/
behind the car. I finally had to get out and make sure that they did not get hit as Mike got the car on the road. As usual when we are around these children's homes, there is never any adult supervision and these kids think nothing of walking into the street whenever they please not even stopping to look for traffic.I am told that these children are baby sat by a woman who lives in this neighborhood , however I have never seen any woman supervising these children who I have seen roam many times.
Then yesterday in the park, we didn't go into one show where some kid was not throwing a tantrum, or acting up in some way. There were the parents who did try, some even succeeded, but far more just ignored the situation or handled it in such a poor way that they actually made the problem worse.One little girl was called on stage to be an assistant in a magic act. The magician asked for a $20 bill from the audience. When no one offered, the girl was instructed to look sad. She did and replied that she was good at this because she used it all the time to get her own way ( Her mother seemed amused at her telling this to everyone, go figure ) Then finally a man was put on the spot and handed over a bill. The money disappeared (didn't see that coming did ya ? ) The magician asked the girl if she felt bad that the nice man's money was gone. She replied " No, why do I care" even the magician's jaw dropped. what a brat !If she were my child I would have slithered out of the show in shame, however again her Mother laughed, ouch !
Now I do believe in using the discipline form that works for your child, be it spanking, grounding, or even time outs , provided they really work.I personally have no luck with time outs,or even groundings and though my children would like to have me think otherwise, simply talking to them and explaining why they should behave with no real punishment is a joke, so I have spanked my older two, when needed for years. My youngest has been raised by the "Look what happened to my brother and sister" philosophy. I have not implemented this but he has. He knows the rules, he has seen them broken, he has seen the punishments given out, and he is scared to break the rules. Will this always work ? Maybe, maybe not. We will of course put him in the spanking category too if and when this current category fails.
Why this post ? Am I just in a bad mood and want to complain ? Not at all. I simply want to put out there that there is hope for parents. No it is not easy and it may disrupt your lifestyle but it can and will work. Every evening there are TV shows like Nanny 911, and other Nanny shows where parents write and beg for someone to restore order in their homes because their lack of discipline has manifested in terribly behaved children who have taken over. People, it is simple. Misbehavior is not cute, it is not funny.It needs to be corrected. There is no excuse for misbehavior ( not having sensitive children, not ADHD ( BTW two of my children have ADHD and discipline still works . I have even worked as an aid in a classroom for autistic children and though discipline must be very organized for these kids it is of most importance) My second point is that if you do let things go too far it will snowball. Ever hear of teens doing drugs ? teens shoplifting ? Teens that are totally out of control ? Do you think that they were the perfect children and one day it all just changed ? I don't think so. I know better. It started with an unruly child who got no discipline. Perhaps some may disagree with my philosophy, and I pray that your children don't end up where I predict.No parent should have to celebrate their child's birthday ( tenth or even fiftieth) through glass on visiting day at the local correctional facility.
If you do see yourself in this post, don't dis pare, there is hope, talk to someone, read a parenting book, Ask for help, implement something,you may have to tweak things but commit to it and just don't do nothing. There is hope and your children are worth it !

Looks like we're going !

Robby's school has agreed to give him the four days off to go to California. There was no doubt that Michael's school would as he has taken off for competitions before and his school is much more laxed than Robby's.
Mike also talked to the head of our karate region and gave a thumps up for the boys to be officially registered.
It all looks to be falling in place... well except for the flight reservations. I had things set up to punch in a credit card number and book when I lost Internet connection. I don't know why. I called the company and was told that they were not having any problems and gave me to tech support . As always tech support knew far less than Mike ( possibly less than I know, if that is possible )so I ended up hanging up figuring Mike could handle it when he got home. After leaving it for awhile and coming back I finally was able to get back online. But ,unfortunatly the page had been closed and the new page listed a higher price. I guess it is back to the drawing board ! I just keep telling myself that God will bring me an even better price. However I think that I will give him some time before spending another hour or so searching for it.

One of the kids favorite things to do at Cedar point

is feed the carp and geese that live in the ponds

Looks like Cindy doesn't agree with what "Grandma" says

As a Mom I wear many hats......

Some I enjoy more than others

It is official. The green beld has been presented !

Congratulations Rob !

A nudge ?

Have you ever heard people say that they feel that God is leading toward something ? Have you ever personally felt that God was leading you in a certain direction ? Now for the toughie, Have you ever felt that God was giving you that nudge, however it is a nudge in a direction that you have no clue as to why ? How about when you feel that nudge towards something that seems silly or you feel that nudge towards something that seems so insignificant that you question if you are misreading that it is a nudge by God in the first place?
Ok Now at this point many of you , who know how odd I am to begin with, are questioning if I need a nice vacation in the padded room I am sure, but honestly, I really do feel that God is calling on me, not for the stuff that he calls upon me to do all of the time, like buy a bag of groceries and take them to so and so , or Call so and so and see if they need anything, or red out Robby's closet and send his outgrown gently used clothing to so and so so that their children , who are one size smaller than he , will have clothes to wear to school when it starts in a few days. No, the nudge that I am feeling right now is different. I am feeling the nudge to fly to LA and let my boys compete in The ISKF National tournament. When I first heard that the tournament was in LA I pretty much dismissed it as too far and expensive but as time went on, I got E mails for special flight deals and my oldest son started really talking about it. Not necessarily in terms of going but more matter of factly. I just blew it off at first but then Michael made a comment Sunday as we drove home from church. The comment was about aspiring for a collage ShotoKan scholarship. Not just aspiring but he honestly sounded like he seen it like it was in the bag. This comment wouldn't have shocked me at all a few years ago when Michael was the youngest in the USA to earn his black belt and was winning every tournament in his age group that he competed in. Yes, college coaches were taking notice and his future looked promising. Then, however came the fall of his feet and the year worth of surgeries and recovery . Michael tried to get back to karate as soon as possible but had some unforeseen set backs and started and had to stop for more recovery before he was able to resume. Praise God, he did recover and has been back since January. The road has been hard and Michael has and still is struggling to get back where he was. Does he still have a shot at a scholarship ? I don't know. Being out of sight for a year surely left room for others to move up, furthermore, even if we do go to LA, does Michael still have what it takes to win and regain attention ? I wish I had the answers, I really do. I really wish that I had the answer to is God nudging me to make the reservations and go and see ? After all God can get Michael back where he needs to be to be recruited . I guess that I have some praying to do. Didn't someone once say that the vocation of Motherhood was supposed to be easy ?Shoot, I guess that my ulcers are right in saying..... I don't think so !

School rules

It has been twenty one years since I was in high school. Twenty one years seems like such a long time ,but then again , living it doesn't seem that long at all.
This thought came to me the other day as I received the monthly newsletter from our local High school where Michael is now a sophomore. The newsletter contained more of the same information as every month, however I noticed a section titled school policy change.Of course I figured that this was something that I needed to know so I immediately started reading. The news was no big deal in the scheme of things but stated that the schools policy for school dances(homecomings,Sweethearts, Sadie Hawkins,Prom)had been changed and that students were no longer allowed to bring dates who were not students of the high school. Furthermore, any student of the high school who was twenty years or older, no matter what the reason for still being a high school student( those with an IEP have the option of remaining a high school student two years after their supposed graduation to attend classes at the career center and other reasons including but not limited to being held back one or more grades) at this age, would not be allowed to attend these dances. Wow, was my first thought. Though Michael has not attended any dances in his high school career yet (Most are closed to freshmen anyway) Cindy had attended several in her four years of High school. A couple of times bringing a date who was not a student. As a matter of fact her senior prom date last year was a collage student who was twenty ( almost twenty one ) at the time. Thinking of this , it occurred to me that it is not odd at all for a senior( male or female) to be dating someone who has graduated and or twenty years or older. It is even less of an oddity for a high school student to be dating someone who doesn't attend their high school. I found this new rule sad in that how many will not be able to attend these dances because of this newly implemented rule.The school's stand is that nobody will be excluded ,they just may have to choose a new date. But what if there is nobody at their school who is a willing or acceptable date ? I understand that the school has had issues of school rules not to mention ethical rules being broken at these dances and that they have no recourse to a non student, but there has to be a better way. Is fear of suspension , or less really going to stop those intent on rule breaking anyway ? Has anyone ever been suspended, or even less for breaking a dance rule ? Another school comment was that with students being allowed to bring an outside date, this prevents fellow students the opportunity to get a date with a student. Funny that this is the same reasoning that was brought forth when my Alma matter wanted to exclude freshmen from prom. Turned out that even though seniors were not allowed to bring freshmen, some people still didn't get the date that they thought they would.
This all makes me think, Are these rules really for the right reasons ( safety, accountability ? ) or just more garbage to appease those want to blame someone for their unhappiness. Come on here, is it the students who don't have a boyfriend/ girlfriend due to things like personality flaws who want to narrow the playing field ? Is it jealousy ? I don't know, however in my opinion , this is discrimination. I am for the use of Breathalyzers at the door. I am for heavy chaperoning, I am for "one violation of a rule gets you kicked out and banned from future dances", I am for discipline and accountability. What I am not for is being told who my child must date. I was more comfortable with Cindy with a twenty year old college student as her date than I would be with her out with a fellow student who may not share the same ethics and values, but may just agree because she wishes to attend her senior prom ! Is this not opening another can of worms? I don't know, maybe I am just different but this makes me think of a few girls who I went to school with. One was married ( by choice ) when she was an eighteen year old senior ( their marriage is still strong to this day ). Her husband was three years older than she. ( not a huge difference at all )This kind of rule would have excluded her from taking her husband to prom ! Another girl got pregnant and married , to a man a couple years older,before her senior prom. She also would not be able to take her husband. There were also some students who were engaged, who would not be able to bring their fiances. The school simply says find another date . Why should they. Maybe we should simply find another way to keep order. Nobody should feel forced to date anyone but who they wish.

Ear Update

Praise God, I think I am finally on my way to ear infection recovery.I spent all of yesterday and much of today in a medicated fog. I hated the feeling but I could not stand to miss a dose of medicine as the pain and swelling were excruciating.As of this afternoon, the swelling had gone down so much that the wick that had been inserted to get the drops into my ear canal fell out. My pain has also significantly been reduced from "my medicine is due in fifteen minutes and I have the stop watch going" to "Oh I could have taken my medicine fifteen minutes ago. Has it been that long already ?" Though I still have no hearing on the right side, I am still swollen quite noticeably, and the pressure is still very uncomfortable,and even painful, I feel so much better than I did. I am supposed to see the doctor tomorrow and I probably still will but I am pretty sure that the worst is over even though neither the two doctors,the many nurses nor anyone has a clue what actually caused this problem,I rest assured that it will be OK now.Praise the Lord !

Today's TRE

Today started our Parish's TRE ( Total Parish religious education) program. Cindy will not be joining our family to the once a month class this year as she must work every weekend.Since her Nursing school classes run from eight AM until three thirty PM Monday through Friday she is not able to work the two PM to ten PM shift which she had worked all summer. Obviously the day shift is out too and the night shift would not work for someone who is used to sleeping nights, especially when she would have to go to school and concentrate after with no sleep. This has left Weekends as the only working options for right now. In order to spend some family time together, we decided to spend the early morning and afternoon together and for the family to go to TRE for the four thirty PM to seven PM class. We had never attended the late class before and it was kind of nice. The attendance was much smaller than the one PM class which was a nice change and we even found that many of our friends attend this session .
The session itself was not really as noteworthy as some in the past but I did leave feeling better than I expected. For the last month or so I have had the displeasure of being exposed to the bashing given out by some Self proclaimed good Catholics. I am sure that no matter what religion you are, most have encountered these people. They are the self righteous who feel the need to preach church teachings and tell everyone else where their sins lie while living in the fantasy worlds where they lead perfect lives and would never fall to sin. Probably the biggest bashing that I have witnessed lately is over election candidates and how only one is an option for good Catholics to vote for without sinning. This has made me shake my head in disbelief for awhile . I have even voiced my opinion a few times and been the target of bashing because of it. I even at one point felt that I didn't fit in with my fellow Catholics and wondered if I should even be Catholic. Additionally The bashing of others by these so called good Catholics left me embarrassed that I was of the same religion as they. This is why I found it interesting that Father started off today's class with a letter written to all Catholics about the coming election. Paraphrasing this letter basically said that no one candidate this coming election is a total good Catholic choice and that We as Catholics are not called to vote solely on the stand of one issue (abortion) but that we should rather, carefully weigh the candidates stands on many issues facing Catholic families and decide for ourselves, through prayer who the best candidate may be. Finally, I felt as though someone seen my point, and those someones were Catholic Bishops, and even the Pope. I felt so renewed.I felt UN ostracized. I felt proud to be a Catholic again. So please everyone, catholic, Christian, whatever.... Understand that there is rarely a one size fits all . Have your beliefs, embrace them, feel good about them , but never, and I mean never be so wrapped up in your beliefs to condemn another for the slightest difference in opinion. If the Pope feels that there is no one choice, maybe ,just maybe, God feels the same. Just something to think about !

A Wish .....

For All of the Difficult People in Your Life.....

Sent by my Mother - In - Law
(Hmmmmm am I being told something lol Noooooo Never !!!!!! Thanks Linda

As the ear throbbs

My visit to the doctors yesterday went pretty well. I was given two ear drops and an antibiotic along with assurance that I would feel better in two days or less.It sounded good to me and I believed it until last night that is. As I prepared for bed, I noticed that the right side of my face was significantly larger than the left. Looking into the mirror revealed that this side from my ear to my neck was bright red. I didn't sleep much but OTC Tylenol and Ibuprofen kept me from crawling out of my skin. This morning It took all I had to get Mike and the kids off to work and school before I was rummaging through the medicine cabinet looking for some relief. I found a bottle of Vicoden that seemed to do the trick for four hours, until it wore off. After four hours though I had definitely gotten worse. I decided to take another Vicoden only I could not open my mouth wide enough to pop it in,let alone eat with it like directed.I was finally able to squeeze the pill in along with a sip of water and called Mike at work, though I could barely talk on speaker phone ( there was no way that phone was going to get to my ear)Mike left work early and called the doctor on his way home. The doctor ruled out medicine reaction as only half of my face and head were swollen to pumpkin size, but suggested a trip to the ER.I waited until Cindy got home from Nursing school at about five and decided to go once she freaked out and started yelling at me about what could go wrong if I kept waiting. Of course the ER was overflowing but I was given a " fast track " option. Now for those of you who like me don't know what this is, it is where you wait almost as long as in the ER but more like an immediate care where there is no chance of you getting " bumped by a more critical patient. Though I don't think this was any faster on this occasion,the word fast had me agreeing. an hour or so later , after severe pain set in ( when my vicoden wore off), My 1/2 pumpkin face/ head started to spread into a 2/3 pumpkin face/ head and a pumpkin neck, my breathing became labored ( due to neck swelling) and I broke down sobbing for pain medication, I was taken into an exam room, promptly given oral Vicoden and the doctor was called in. She inserted a wick into ear which was now completely swollen shut. An IV was inserted to draw blood,administer cortisone and some other steroid mixture to stop my swelling,I even had some additional pain meds thrown in. As I started to feel at ease,I was taken for a Ct scan to try to find the cause for an average ear infection to mutate into a major Emergency. No huge abscesses were found and I was let go with strict orders to come back if I even started to swell any more than the steroids had left my 1/2 puffy face. Most importantly, though I left with a prescription for vicoden. As I signed my discharge papers, the one nurse asked the doctor." Vicoden for an Ear infection ?""yep" replied the doctor "wow ! " Yea my feelings exactly Wow !

Ike's remnents

Yesterday about four thirty PM, My parents called to let me know that after less than three hours short of three days of no power nor running water, they were restored. They still have some damage to their home where tree limbs fell but they are OK and things can start to go back to normal. Also as of this morning there was only one school in the tri county area that was closed due to no power. Thankfully most in the area have seemed to get through. Thankfully, the only remnants around here are sinus infections. Michael has been complaining since Sunday but this morning a nasty nose bleed that wouldn't stop, told us that there was something going on. He still went to school so I will see when he gets home how things went and if he needs medical attention or not. I also seem to have picked up a sinus infection. Usually these don't phase me too much but this one has had me in a fetal position holding a swollen ear as I whimper in pain. Thankfully the doctor agreed to see me today but not until late afternoon. I have not had an ear infection of this magnitude since early childhood and pray that I never have another.So if any of you have an extra prayer slot, we sure would appreciate it.

Ike

Good morning all. We were among the Ohioans who lost power Sunday night. Ours went out right as the Steeler / Browns game was about to start ( eight O' clock )and was out until yesterday at about two PM. Thankfully ours was restored but I ask for prayers for the many, including my parents,( who live fifteen minutes from here) who are still without and don't have a lot of hope of being restored until the weekend. I am told that the reason for the delay is that our county sent half of it's workers to Texas because surely a hurricane would not have much effect once it reached Ohio. Though we have a bunch of tree limbs and such to clean up we are among the lucky who have no major damage. Last I heard we had a few deaths right in the area ( trees falling on and electrocution caused by trying to start generators )and the whole state has filed a state of Emergency, so the kids will not have to make up the day off of school. I realize that many have it so much worse so I ask for prayers for everyone effected.

Back in the swing.

Cindy is almost through with her first week of Nurse's school, the boys have been back to school for a couple weeks now.Even the weather is getting chillier. Yes I think Summer is on it's way out. I guess that subconsciously, I have known this for awhile but it really hit home the other night. Mike and I were setting at Quaker steak and Lube on all you can eat wing night, when we realized that one of the young girls who worked Tuesday nights all summer was not working.( We are there so much we have gotten to know all of these kids ( many who graduated HS last year with Cindy)who work regularly) Mike made the comment that she must have went back to college. "Already ?" I said, thinking we were still in July for the moment. "Yes Diane", he said. "Most colleges went back before the boys did". Wow, it hit me, he was right ! As far as summers go, we had a pretty good one. A little busier than we would like but over all good. As I thought about things we are even doing well with fall. Everyone , so far, has everything that they need for school, we are getting into the routine and everything seems to be going well.Even though I may not realize it we are pretty much back into the swing of things.Auto Pilate is serving us well, however I think that starting tomorrow I will try to mentally get with the program, who knows God willing, I may just get there before next summer.

To all the invisible moms out there!

This beautiful story comes from Michelle. Thank you Michelle for sharing

Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously, not.


No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.


I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ..

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!


Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.

We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

A cool MeMe

1. YOUR FULL NAME:
Diane Lee Parkhurst

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of your first name plus “izzle”)
Diaizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and favorite animal)
Purple Chimp

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and the name of one of your pets)
Lee Clarissa

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name and the first 2 Letters of your first name)
Pardi ( Now that one doesn't sound too bad )

6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color and your favorite drink)
Orange daiquiri (or my nonalcoholic super hero name.... Orange diet coke... Ummmm I don't think so )

7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents’ middle names)
Lee Lee ( Ok what am I relocating as ? )

New monitor update

Saturday the Staples online ad stated that the monitor that Mike and I decided to buy was on sale until the thirteenth. Because of this Mike didn't order it Saturday night as we were running behind for our dinner and comedy club reservations. Sunday morning however the sale price was gone. This little Mix up opened the door for us to look through ads and find another. personally, I didn't care what model we got as long as it was bigger than an 8" screen, however Mike spent hours comparing pixels, resolution, and a bunch of other stuff that might as well be Japanese to me. Finally I was given a choice of two monitors, both of which were bigger than eight inches( I think they were 19" actually ). I chose one of the two( Just eeny meeny miny mo ) and we went to see if it was in stock. Luckily, there was one left so we brought it home. Mike hooked everything up and I can read online again without squinting and holding a magnifying glass to the screen. Thank you Mike.... without you I would have to go back to an etch a sketch !

Loading Pops' MP3

Three years ago Santa brought RCA MP3 players for the kids. They were an instant hit with the older two and even though Robby wasn't as excited the older two loaded his and he listened to it a few times. I can honestly say that the older two got Santa's money's worth out of these as they used them constantly . Like everything, though they wore out. Cindy's stopped working a while back but with working and preparing to graduate and applying to and taking entrance exams for Nursing school, etc. She was really too busy to miss it. That is until she went to the oral surgeon and set a date to get her wisdom teeth out. Because she had to have Novocain instead of the general anesthetic which is usually given for removal of wisdom teeth fully impacted in bone the surgeon suggested that she bring an MP3 player with her to distract her from the procedure. This of course made the decision to replace her player.We debated on which model to get and how much to spend and in the end purchased one from Big Lots which will plug into her car and play through the speakers. Cindy is happy with this model so when Michael's quit being able to be programmed( for most kids this wouldn't matter as it still plays but Michael changes his programming almost daily which is probably why it quit in the first place)we went back to Big Lots. Unfortunately the model that Cindy got was out of stock but there was another that had a few less features for half the price. Michael was so involved in loading this new player that he talked about it to everyone he came in contact with. My Dad was so impressed that he asked questions. Dad then tryed the player and was more impressed that this little hunk of metal could play so clear, that he went to Big Lots and bought the same model for himself. Michael has been given the job of loading Pops' player, the only problem is that Pops wants music from 1950-1970's. Michael spent much of last night looking for said music ( most of which he never heard of so he wasn't even sure if he had found it when he did)Finally at bed time last night I agreed to look up some of these oldies myself.It is amazing what you can find on the Internet. Even songs to load a MP3 player to please a sixty three year old man who usually only listens to music from a record player !

Monitor trouble

This morning I awoke to my monitor acting up. Instead of the whole monitor working I have an 8" square in the middle that is not black. My entire screen fits into this 8 inch square but it is tiny so I will probably be spending less time online until I get a new one. I am not sure when that will happen as Mike went to get the one we want but the stores are out and we have to order it . So if you don't hear from me, you know what is going on !

Robby's karate test

Mike captured a couple still photos from Robby's karate test. Thank you sweetie !

Forms, Forms, Forms

If there is one thing that I could do without at the start of every school year, it is all of the forms. Luckily our schools send a typed emergency medical form from the previous year and if all is still correct I can simply sign it and send it back. However, there are many many other forms that must be filled out every year. Most have their purposes and I gladly take the forty minutes or so per child to fill them out even though it usually means an hour after with my hand in ice up to my elbow to try to combat the excruciating pain and cramping caused by writer's induced carpel tunnel syndrome.
What makes me mad though is the useless forms that the school wants us to fill out such as child custody forms, free/ reduced lunch forms,medication to be administered at school forms, permission to leave school with a social worker or other advocate forms,and so on and so on. Now these forms have their place for some children and the parents or guardians of those children should fill them out, but my children have never been in any one's custody other than Mike and Mine with the exception of Grandparents baby sitting for a couple hours a few times when they were small and I don't think that applies, therefore I don't fill it out.As for free/ reduced lunch, there is a chart on the page that tells you if you qualify. We don't so I don't feel the need to fill it out. My kids Thankfully don't take medications on a regular basis nor do they leave school with advocates( other than Me , Mike, or possible an uncle or Grandparent in an extreme emergency( which I would call if this situation, God forbid, came up ) or social workers, so again I did not fill out this one. Never fails a week or two down the road the phone rings. "Hello", I say. " yes this is Mr./ Mrs.______ at _______ school and we noticed that your child ______ has several pages missing from their files ( since I have gotten this same call at least three times a year for many years I am ready with an answer)" Yes I know" I state" I did not fill out the ones that don't pertain to us" " Well", the voice on the other end starts sounding annoyed " Our policy is that you must still fill them out and then check the box for does not apply"" Why ", I ask "you have my child's name , address, phone number, social security number, etc. on fifty forms anyway why should I rewrite it all on useless forms to check a box starting that the whole form doesn't apply"" Mrs. Parkhurst", the annoyed voice is now really annoyed, "This is our policy" "Why?" I ask. "Because if the form isn't there we don't know if it should apply but was lost or if it doesn't apply and was never filled out " " Well then" I state getting slightly annoyed myself, mark on my child's file that they don't apply and you wouldn't need the form"" I will send a new form home with ________ tonight. Please fill it out and send it back tomorrow" the person finally says. So the kid comes home gives me the papers. I still do not fill in their credentials but there name has been written on the top for me. I check the box stating not applicable , sign my name, and send them back. The child turns them in. the office person balks at the fact that I only checked and signed, but knows that this is the best that they are going to get and moves on. In the mean time I get ready for my appointment with the hand doctor who says that he has no idea why I had such a bad carpel tunnel flair up a week or two ago but it looks as though it has calmed down quite a bit and that surgery is not necessary at this time. I smile because I know why and consider making next years appointment as I leave. I know I'll be back !

First day of school preparations

OK I'll admit that I kept putting off start of school preparations and am paying for it now. In my defense though, This summer has been so hectic that I am just now feeling that I have a handle on things. Of course I do have a handle on June , July , and August, but that isn't doing me much good in September.
Today is the first day of school for the boys and though I did buy school clothes when I seen them in sale throughout the summer as well as picked up a couple more shirts at Cedar Point on Sunday. I also remembered to take them to buy shoes last week when we picked up new underwear and socks, but that is about the extent of my readiness. Thankfully I am a school supply pack rat so I have the basics and plan to run out tonight to get whatever they find that they need that we may not have.
All in all I think we have it all covered, except of course for the forms that I remembered to sign this morning but can't remember where I laid them for safe keeping. If there is one thing that I have learnt through the years , it is that time will not wait for me so In about an hour and a half, the boys will get up, get ready , and go. They will come home with a list, and I will take care of that then. As for now. I will breath in..... Breathe out.... and pray that God, St. Anthony, and St. Jude ( yes I acknowledge that I am a hopeless cause ), and all of the Saints and angels help me find those forms.



Update

I still did not find the forms yet and the boys have both boarded their busses and are gone. Michael, whose forms are missing, couldn't have cared less when I informed him of the situation. With a shrug and and a sigh that nothing bad ( such as his karate school closing or any other unthinkable thing )happened, he just commented that he was sure that they would give him another copy or use last years. I wish I had his kind of calmness but then again, if I did can you imagine the disorder ?