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

Still No Photos

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I was really hoping to have a camera in time for Chloe’s birthday tomorrow.  But we didn’t make it to the store.  And I’m bummed about it, because I will be in Chloe’s class serving cupcakes and won’t have the evidence to prove it (ok, they’re not homemade)!  

What Chloe doesn’t know is that I plan to take her out of school early so that we can enjoy the afternoon together.  And this is a good thing, because I’m really ready for the weekend to begin.  And I’m looking forward to having some mommy time with my big girl.
Sophie worked on her first homework assignment this evening.  It was a coloring page highlighting the letter ‘r’.  The instructions dictated that Sophie color all of the letter r’s red.  Try explaining that to a 3-year old.  It took several minutes to make her understand that purple r’s, green r’s, pink r’s or yellow r’s were not going to do the trick.  When she finally realized that she could color the rest of the picture whatever colors she chose, she relented.  And took out a sparkly red crayon and did what she was supposed to do.  And proceeded to go crazy on the rest of the sheet.  Go, Sophie, go.
I honestly had forgotten what it was like to teach the concept of homework.  That there are rules to follow.  That’s a difficult lesson to inculcate in a toddler.  We’ll see how it goes.  The good news is that she’s starting to remember the names of her new friends, Ava, Alice and Jonah.  And she was invited to a birthday party, too.  Sophie’s social life is blossoming…
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

More Mop Action

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I really can’t get over the fact that my girls actually made a go of mopping the floor the other day.  I had posted a photo of Chloe at the handle, but think it’s only fair to showcase Sophie channeling Cinderella as well.  

The more I think about it, the more it might make sense to stop the cleaning team every other week and hire my girls instead.  They need to learn the value of working.  And with our college savings accounts tanking, they’re going to need to be ready to earn a living sooner rather than later.
Chloe’s 8th birthday is quickly approaching and I can’t believe how rapidly the first eight years have passed.  Which scares me – because before I know it, she’ll be 16 years old (and I’ll be 48) – a junior in high school, taking SATs, thinking about prom (or not) and getting ready to apply to college.  But I’m getting ahead of myself – something I’m often prone to do.  
Back to the present, Chloe decided that she was going to start rereading the Harry Potter series.  She didn’t have school today (snow, yet again), and opting not to pursue a play date, read for most of the day and finished the first volume while ensconced cozily in the corner of the couch.  High school seems a long way off…
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Sophie at School

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This is a photo of Sophie slipping and sliding in our rejuvenated sunroom (now officially called the “den”).  Shortly after that photo was taken (prior to the theft of our camera), she fell on her butt.  Luckily, she has a lot of cushioning on her butt.
Sophie started her second week of school today.  So far, so good.  Although she’s still a little shy, apparently.  Which is funny to me, because she’s such a pistol when she’s in a small group.  I think she’s naturally feeling a little overwhelmed by the noise and activity.  And tomorrow, she’s going to ride in a school bus for the first time to go to a local children’s museum.  Not sure what she thinks about that – when I mentioned it to her this morning she seemed a little nervous about the prospect.  
I still can’t believe she’s in school.  Probably because we made the decision to enroll her so quickly and didn’t have much time to mentally prepare for the milestone.  But she’s going – and our schedule is more complicated than it used to be – and I’m not sure how we’re going to manage in the fall when she’ll be in school full-time, but we’ll figure it out.  We have a few months to get used to the new routine.  
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Our Camera Was Stolen

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I am disappointed in my fellow humans today.  Our camera is gone, presumably stolen from a bench at the American Museum of Natural History as the girls were taking a break from running around the exhibition space.  This is a place that’s swarming with children, for god’s sake.  We had just taken some adorable pictures of Chloe and Sophie as they frolicked among the butterflies and gleefully pointed out the Tibetan tribal masks.  And quicker than you can say “Cheese!” the camera had disappeared.  

Of course, the girls immediately realized what had happened – it didn’t help that I was cursing up a storm.  It was an interesting experience actually. I’m a cynic, and I had to rein myself in after a couple of minutes.  Although I didn’t believe for a second that someone had “found” it and would turn it in, I felt the need to mention that such an outcome was a possibility (even though it was clearly an afterthought) when Sophie started to say, “A mean man took our camera.”  
We went to the security desk and filed a lost and found report, and checked in before we left.  Nothing, nada, rien.  A mean man (or woman, no need to discriminate here) took our camera.  Where do people get the nerve to do something like that?  Needless to say, I am not posting any photos tonight – I’m symbolically mourning not just the loss of the camera, but people’s ugliness.  Melodramatic, I know, but I am so pissed off right now…
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Be Still My Beating Heart

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Not because our sunroom is finished, but because Chloe and Sophie were ARGUING over the mop.  Yes, my two cleaning-averse daughters who complain every time we ask them to pick up after themselves, were fighting for turns with the mop.  Granted, they were more hindrance then help as they “cleaned,” but I’ve never seen so much excitement for a chore as I did this morning.
My husband would argue that the most startling sight this morning wasn’t the girls mopping the floor of the rebuilt room, rather it was his wife’s mopping the floor of the rebuilt room.  He even has the incriminating video to prove it.  Which will never make its way onto this blog.  Let’s just say that it’s evident from the incriminating video that the girls inherited their lack of cleaning skills from their mother.
Thanks to the extraordinary group effort, for now, the sunroom is the cleanest room in the house.  This will last until tomorrow, once we’ve started to move back into it.  But for now, you can admire it in all of its virgin glory, as we’ve been doing all day.

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

TGIF

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Sophie survived her first week of school!  And she liked it, we think.  No complaints on Thursday and next week she’ll experience her first class trip on a school bus.  She is, of course, very excited about that and was very keen on knowing whether or not it is going to be a big school bus or a little school bus.

Chloe has started Harry Potter all over again.  However, she remarked this evening that she’d rather have a more Nancy Drew books, or the 3rd book in the Sisters Grimm series.  For those of you reading this blog who are wondering what to get her for her upcoming birthday, there you go.  She’s read the first 14 Nancy Drew books.  It’s crazy how much she’s been reading.
I’m glad this week is over.  It was a long week, and a somewhat stressful one at work.  There’s definitely a sense of anxiety in the air – everywhere.  I’m looking forward to the weekend.  First item on the agenda:  moving back into the sunroom.  It’s finished (except for the outside stucco, which will be taken care of once the weather gets warmer) and it looks great.  Believe it or not, my husband chose the color and he was right.  He and color don’t really get along, so it was surprising, to say the least.  Second item on the agenda:  buy Chloe her birthday present (a Nintendo DS).  Third item on the agenda:  get a manicure.  And on Sunday, a trip to the museum sounds appealing…

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

Hope for Tomorrow

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It’s been there for a few months now.  This feeling, despite the endless bad news, that come Tuesday things will start to turn around.  The economy sucks, we’re still fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan is a mess, bin Laden is still alive, Pakistan and India are one terrorist attack away from trying to annihilate one another, Israel and Hamas are at war, North Korea may have weaponized plutonium…and yet, and yet…

Continue reading Hope for Tomorrow →

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

Peace and Quiet

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My husband left with the girls earlier this afternoon to drop Chloe off at mom’s for an overnight stay.  For a glorious hour, I was alone in the house.  It was quiet.  I lay in bed and watched a movie, without interruption of any kind.

When he returned with Sophie, she was sleeping.  And she slept and slept, until about 6 pm.  She woke up cranky, but it didn’t last very long.  And after days of the girls going at each other, it’s been nice to enjoy several hours of peace.  
This is a photo of Sophie playing with her special Fisher-Price computer keyboard.  She’s “learning” to draw letters and is always very proud whenever the image she traces appears on the screen.  She’s very excited to start school on Tuesday, as are we.  She chose a backpack at Target yesterday, and try as we might, we were unable to convince her to stay away from the pink Disney princess model.  I’m learning to choose my battles, but Sophie is quickly turning this “Pink Me Not” blog into “Pink Me Most of the Time.”  C’est la vie.

A Mom's Ramblings About the Marvels & Mishaps of Parenting, the Joys of Family Travel & the Writing Life