Category Archives: Treasures from the Archives

Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Homework

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I have officially decided that I can’t stand the way kids are taught math. Chloe’s school uses the Everyday Mathematics series and I hate it.

Today’s assignment involved data collection – mode, median, range. Not particularly complicated, except when the fact pattern is not clearly explained. Kids collect pill bugs (what the hell are pill bugs?). But how to calculate the total number of pill bugs collected? When the data indicates in a chart that three kids collected two pill bugs – does that mean a total of six were collected for the group or just two?
Needless to say, I needed to scour the web to try to find the answers so that I wouldn’t mislead my daughter and further confuse her. Luckily, we have the internet. Because a nice teacher somewhere in the US had posted the answers to this particular exercise. It turns out that no multiplication was involved – and that the three kids collected a total of two pill bugs. Had I not found the answers, I would have steered my child toward the wrong answers, making her (GASP!) do multiplication when it wasn’t necessary.
And this is just one example – what was wrong with the way we learned math when I was a kid? I can multiply in my head. We memorized the multiplication tables. I don’t use my fingers. And I don’t need a calculator to do basic math. I was a great math student, and I suspect that when Chloe starts to learn algebra I’ll have no clue what the hell she’s supposed to do.
My Artists & Writers in Training

Chloe’s Poem Challenge

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I’m in need of a blog entry tonight, so I’ve enlisted Chloe in a poem challenge. I’ve just announced to her that she needs to come up with a few lines about…

Challenge #1: MATH

Math, math
You can add or subtract.
Math, math
You can divide or multiply.
Math, math
It’s easy to do.
Math, math
I love you.
Challenge #2: LOBSTER
Lobster, lobster
You’re so yummy
I never have enough
To fill my tummy
I like you when you are freshly caught
And I like it when you come to me brought.
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Peace!

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I’ve noticed something pretty remarkable over the last week or so. Chloe and Sophie have been getting along better. Less arguing. More playing. Chloe has been spending time with her little sister – helping her, doing art projects with her, keeping her company. The fighting has subsided significantly.

Chloe has been more forgiving than usual – dismissing Sophie actions that, in the past, would have resulted in the little one getting yelled at and sometimes spit at or worse.
Is this a sign of our eldest child’s newfound maturity? That’d be nice. Is it a sign of Papa and I making a concerted effort to be more calm at home? Maybe. I’ve played more games (Monopoly, Boggle, Trouble, Hungry Hippo, Clue, to name a few) in the last two weeks than I have in the last two months. Hell, I even spent two hours this weekend trying to make progress on the 1,000-piece puzzle that Grammy dumped on us awhile back. All in the name of bonding with my kiddies.
I have noticed that we’ve done a fairly good job of reducing tension by turning potential meltdowns into occasions for laughter. And the girls are mighty adorable. We were at the mall today and the number of compliments we got on their “cuteness” was impressive. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside.
How long will this peacefulness last? No clue. But I’ll take whatever I can get!
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Supermarket Excitement

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Little did Chloe know when she decided to accompany to the supermarket today that she would have the best supermarket experience ever!

A new Stop & Shop opened nearby and I wanted to check it out. When we got there, we discovered that you can use scanners as you’re shopping (similar to baby and wedding registries) to keep track of your purchases, thereby allowing you to pack up your recyclable bags as you shop. Once you’ve finished cruising down the aisles, instead of having a cashier ring up all your groceries, you simply turn in the scanner and pay by credit card.
Needless to say, Chloe was in heaven. She was scanner queen for the day, making sure everything we placed in the cart was accounted for on the handheld computer. The best part is that I now have a weekly food shopping companion, at least until the novelty has worn off. Who’d ever thought that a supermarket could be so much fun?
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Fun With My Girls

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My husband was traveling on business for a few days this week, which meant that I had a chance to spend some extra-special time with the girls. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a lot of extra special time – it amounted to a few extra minutes hanging out every evening – but it was fun nonetheless.

Sophie and Chloe had a great time jumping around in the attic, enjoying the company of the ladybugs that have sought shelter there. They played tag, jumped over each other and over me, did handstands and drew pictures. The best part of all? They actually got along. I let Sophie fall asleep in our bed, and she asked that Chloe keep her company. Which Chloe devotedly did, until she got sleepy herself and returned to her own bed.
The second best part? I stuck to the army schedule. In the bathroom washing up and brushing teeth by 7:40 pm. Reading books to Sophie by 7:50 pm. Giving hugs and kisses to both girls by 8 pm. Turning on the TV to watch my shows by 8:05 pm. Like clockwork for three nights in a row. The hubby is back now, and it’s 8:18 pm. I can still hear the girls running in the hallways. Fun for the girls. Not sure it’s that much fun for Papa. The guy has no discipline!
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

I Want a Pet

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Sophie doesn’t consider Alubus to be her pet. She’s draw his portrait from time to time, but that’s about it. She’s clamoring for a pet of her own (hear that, Papa?). Tonight, we were reading “Annie and the Wild Animals,” a story about a little girl whose cat goes missing in the dead of winter, only to return home in the spring after giving birth to kitties.

The book put Sophie in a bad mood. Why? Because Sophie wants her own pet. Reading about fictional cats just doesn’t cut it for her. Problem is, I hate cats. Her father might be willing to indulge her at some point in the future since he grew up with cats, but I really hate cats. My dislike of the creatures stems from one the jobs I had in Paris. I worked out of my boss’s apartment, and she had a cat. And the cat was psycho.
I guess kittens are cute enough. But as they get older, they’re not nearly as fun as dogs, and those litter boxes are gross.
Sophie may have to settle for something a little less ambitious. We have ladybugs in our attic and they’re sort of cute, no?
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Boyfriends?

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It’s time to display some photos of the girls from almost three years ago. Aren’t they cute? Time flies.

Sophie, now 4, who is already talking about boyfriends (apparently one of her classmates has a boyfriend), and is coyly refusing to divulge any information about Justin, a little boy in her school. I hadn’t heard his name before today, so I suppose this is a recent development. I think she may have a little bit of a crush.
Chloe is happy that she doesn’t have to worry about boyfriends for at least another few years. But rumor has it that she and her two girlfriends were mighty excited yesterday when our neighbor came over to join the fun with his two friends. The six kids horsed around, but my husband told me they were pretty happy to have the extra company.
If this is a preview of what we’re going to be dealing with in the not-too-distant future, it’s already giving me agita. Which is why these old photos come in handy. Because they remind me of the fact that no matter what happens, Chloe and Sophie will always be my little girls.
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Hugging Police

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Sophie caught my husband and me in an embrace a little while ago. She doesn’t like when we do that. “No hugging!” she emphatically yelled, adding, “You’re not supposed to be in love together.”

When I suggested that the three of us hug together, she replied, “Just you and me.” When I told her that Papa would feel sad if he were left out, she smiled and said, “Just you and me. Not Papa. Because he stinks.”
Poor Papa. Left out in the cold again. But Sophie likes me these days. Probably because she’s not seeing that much of me. That’s the upside of not being as available to my kids as I would like. At least they love me more than usual. I know, I know. I’m totally rationalizing here. But a working mom has to make herself feel good to get through the tough times. I think I’d much rather be in a position where the girls were sick of the sight of me, but that will just have to wait.