Crab Legs - T goes to pick up A from school on Thursday, A hands him a paper towel with something wadded up in it. He unwraps it - it is a crab leg!!??? Story is that a class mate went to Alaska or likes crab - not real clear which or perhaps it is both, but he brought crab legs to share with the whole classroom as a snack. Yes I agree this is a bit odd for a classroom snack - but hey a break from crackers and cheese!! A stated to T that "I don't like crabs, you like lobster, and a crab is like a lobster, so I saved you my crab leg". Such logic!! Needless to say T was touched.
First Dance -Also on Thursday when T is the one picking up the girls - K has the news that the first Middle School Dance is tomorrow (Friday). After a state of shock (his little girl actually wants to attend this dance - isn't that what teenagers do, not my little girl?) he calls me at work (this is what you do when you are parentally perplexed if you are T). I know nothing about the dance. Apparently you don't know anything about it until the day before - then a permission slip is sent home and the family life is turned upside down with what to wear to the dance and schedule reshuffling. K was very excited to go to this dance and a classmate of hers traditionally has a party before the dance where all the 7th and 8th grade girls go to her house and get ready, have dinner, and then go to the dance together. We agreed she could go to both the party and the dance. Agreement was that she could stay at the dance until 8:30, at which time I would pick her up. If she wanted to leave sooner, she could call me and I would come get her. Thank goodness for cell phones!!!
K stayed at the dance until 8:30, sent me a text at exactly 8:30 asking "Wher R U?", and then talked non-stop on the way home telling me about the dance. On the way home we called T to let him know we were on our way home and he asked how was the dance she said - "Ask mom the details - I have given all of them to her!" When we got home, she fell into bed exhausted! Sorry -due to the short notice, I forgot the camera and did not get a picture of this -- darn it.
Lemonade - we made lemonade this weekend. This was not in my plans for the weekend, but A was persistent that we need to make lemonade. I made the lemonade so that she could see the process (and to shut her up about making lemonade). Prior to making the lemonade, she had developed her own process - she got a lemon out of the refrigerator and poked it with a pin and was squeezing it. I guess she thought you could "tap" a lemon to make lemonade. When it didn't produce the lemon juice, she continued to poke the lemon with the pin - this is where I finally saw what she was doing and decided it would be better to just get some lemons, and make lemonade with the kid!! Our friend J was over visiting on Sunday when we made it and so each of the girls got to take a turn squeezing the lemons. A kept stating "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" It was pretty fun. Although now I have created a monster - A is now pondering how you make ice cream. I guess this weekend we will have to make some ice cream as I can only imagine what she will come up with for how to make ice cream.
Mondays-Monday morning hit like a ton of bricks. No one wanted to get up or get ready for school. The routine to get out the door involved a bunch of nagging and yelling by me. On the way to school we discussed at length how we can cooperate and do better getting out the door to school. We come to some agreements (I hope) and then start talking about school and other things and listening to the radio. I think all is okay. We pull up at the school with about 2 minutes to spare. As we get to the school, A bursts into tears - "I don't like Mondays, I don't want to go to school, I want to be homeschooled, I want a kitten (this is A's latest)..." and she won't get out of the car. WHAAAAT??? The first bell rings. K gets her backpack, a kiss from me, and heads into school - thank you K! A is in the car crying and determined not to get out. Finally I tell her this is unacceptable and if she ever wants me to even consider a kitten, she needs to get out of the car and head into school. She agrees to this, but is giving me the evil stare (T's side of the family knows this stare - it has been known to burn a hole in your shirt). I walk her to where the class is lined up - luckily the teacher has not started moving the line into the school. Whew - no tardy!! She is in tears and the teacher looks at me confused - I shrug and say "Rough Morning? I think she will be okay, but call me..." I was very concerned, so decided to circle around through the other entrance to the building and check on A in her class. The class was just coming up the stairs into the class room - the teacher saw me and said "She is fine now". I ducked behind a corner so that A could not see me (I was concerned if she saw me, she would either evil eye me or start crying) - and yes she was absolutely fine. However, her day must have continued to be a bad day. On some of the class papers for that day, on the line for name - she wrote "Gloom". I asked, "How did your teacher know who's paper it was?" to which she replied, "Simple, no one else uses the name Gloom. When the teacher was handing back the papers and said Gloom, I got my paper!!" What a nut!!
On Monday, as I got back into the car - it occurred to me - when the world overwhelms you don't you just wish you could just break down and cry like that and go on and on about how you wished things were better?! Especially on Mondays!
Rock Climbing wall (surprised A isn't still climbing that wall).
It's the Prize Lady
