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

Back to Work

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Sadly, tomorrow is around the corner.  Which means it’s back to work.  Tomorrow marks my year anniversary at the firm.  Time flew.

It’s nice having a vacation at the end of the year – I feel renewed and ready for the new year.  As long as it doesn’t bring too much negative news.  But 2008 was so bad on so many fronts that I truly believe things will start to get better (perhaps not before some additional economic hiccups, however).
Chloe has started to write a chapter book about a girl named Melanie, who is on an adventure to solve a mystery.  Once she’s finished (who knows when that will be!), I may serialize it on the blog.  And look for a publisher…I’m hoping to live vicariously through my daughter.  Having always dreamed of writing a book myself, I suppose the second best thing would be to have a daughter who might actually do it!
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

January 1, 2009

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Here we are closing in on the end of the first day of 2009.  It was a fairly uneventful day, as I’ve found most New Year’s Days to be.  We lounged around in our pajamas until 11 AM, played board games and I escaped for a couple of hours to check out the sales at the mall – a disappointing excursion that didn’t yield much, except for two very cheap pairs of pants from J. Crew.

The girls were still going at it this morning, but they seemed to have reached a bit of a truce this afternoon.  They even expressed love for each other – without adult prompting.  Sophie initiated it, and those three simple words, “I love you,” brought a big smile to Chloe’s face and an “I love you” back.
Three more days left of vacation, and back to the office on Monday, which will mark my one year anniversary at the firm.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, time has flown by this year.   I hope 2009 brings better tidings for everyone – family, friends, strangers…less war, a better economy, happiness and health for my girls, a good teaching job for my brother…and if we can swing it, a nice vacation in July for my husband and me, to celebrate our 40th birthdays and our 15th wedding anniversary.  Oh – and hopefully, no more drama with the house.
    
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Au Revoir 2008

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This is how we’re ringing in the new year.  With a demolished sunroom that was collapsing because a previous owner didn’t bother to pour a foundation when it was built.  The good news is that it’s now on its way to being cured.  The bad news is that we have to do rebuild it in the first place.   At least one thing is sure about the imminent arrival of 2009:  it will be memorable for the new and improved room.  

The last few days of 2008 have been notable for the increased frequency of sibling fighting.  Chloe baits Sophie, Sophie hits and kicks.  Sophie baits Chloe, Chloe hits and kicks.  They seem to be doing this for our benefit – because our babysitter often remarks as to how well behaved they are when she’s on duty.  But the constant bickering of the last 10 days is definitely taking its toll on the parents.  
We’re not quite sure how to make them understand that it’s too much.  That life is too short for them to lose time not appreciating one another.  That they’re sisters – and that Chloe should know better than to let Sophie get the best of her.  They’ve been banned from TV tomorrow – which I know is going to cause Sophie to melt down in the morning because she won’t remember the punishment when she wakes up.
Suffice to say, I will admit to the fact that with every new argument I’m looking slightly more forward to returning to work on Monday.  Ugh.  We’re definitely going to have to find a way to nip this in the bud before they grow up hating each other.
My New Year’s Resolutions:
– find a way to keep Sophie and Chloe from attacking each other;
– cook more on the weekends, and recruit Sophie and Chloe as sous-chefs;
– save more money.
Happy New Year! 

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

Shrinkwrapped!

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I have discovered the best new punishment ever (ignore Chloe’s smile in the photo).  All you need is large cellophane bag and a vacuum cleaner.  You put the misbehaving child into the bag, turn on the vacuum, and voila!  Instant immobility.  

Of course, we tried this experiment in the context of a visit to the museum, so it was funny.  In fact, I did it also in order to test its effectiveness.  I couldn’t move anything – not even my pinky.
But imagine the possibilities – Chloe and Sophie swipe at each other.  No problem.  We have told them over and over again that there are consequences for bad behavior.  Until now, none of our consequences have had much effect.  Starting in 2009, however, both of them will be individually shrinkwrapped in their separate corners whenever they transgress.  Although they’ll be able to make noise and eat (and maybe even sleep if they’re tired enough), they WON’T BE ABLE TO MOVE…AT ALL.
Hee hee hee…
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Does One Night a Pattern Make?

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For the first night since before I turned 40, Sophie slept.  Quietly and peacefully.  Without waking up once.  I woke up this morning and slowly realized that we didn’t have a little Sophie in our bed and that I had no nightmarish memory of my husband or me sleepwalking into her room in response to her screaming pleas.

We can only pray that last night marked the dawn of a new day in Sophie world.  Of course, I realize that I’m probably jinxing it all by setting it down in the form of a blog entry, but it’s hard to rein in my excitement at the prospect of getting two straight full nights of sleep in a row, since it’s been so long.
To be continued tomorrow, with what I sincerely hope will be an affirmative answer to the question in the title of this blog.
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Ho Ho Ho!

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Sophie was evidently amazed (see hands cupping chin in wonder) at the treasures underneath the Christmas tree this morning.  Chloe was pretty happy, too.
It was a lovely holiday.  Everyone was pleased with their presents, including my husband and Grammy.  We had a yummy dinner of Greek chicken and braised squash last night, and pancakes this morning. Convincing Sophie to wait to eat her chocolate Santa was a bit of a challenge, but I never said it was a perfect day.
Chloe even made progress with Alubus and Gloup.  She was initially very scared to try to coax them into her hands because she was afraid they’d nip her.  But she conquered her fear and each hamster had a turn with Chloe, and she did great.  The hamsters enjoyed their brief extra-cage adventure and Chloe was happy, too.
Chloe has a new favorite game – Life.  Sophie has a new Fisher-Price computer and has made progress drawing the letter ‘K’ and the number ’10.’   Really now, who needs school?
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

It Wasn’t Even Officially Winter…

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…when it snowed last Friday.  I really do not like winter.  And the fact that we’ve enjoyed fairly mild winters these last couple of years makes me nervous that the recent snowfall is a harbinger of what’s to come over the next three months.

I don’t mind snow in of itself.  But our town is so lame when it comes to clearing streets that in addition to school being canceled on Friday, there was a delayed opening yesterday.  What in the hell was that about?  The most idiotic thing about it, however, was that the school district’s web site didn’t even bother putting up an announcement about the delay.  I found out about it on a third-party site.
Were the 60-some hours between Friday evening and Monday morning not enough to clear the snow off the buses?  The town did a crappy job plowing over the weekend, which might explain their inability to open the schools on time yesterday – since the slush on the roads, which hadn’t been properly removed, froze Sunday night.
But we don’t live in Florida – we live in a place where snow is expected.  Perhaps not as much as there used to be (thanks to the increasingly polluted world we live in), but we generally get one or two good storms a year.  I guess the snowplowers were out Christmas shopping over the weekend.  Anyway, for all the obscene property taxes we pay to live here, we shouldn’t have to worry about what to do with our kids three days after a few inches of snow falls.
Anyway, no more snow days until at least January 5.  ‘Cause it’s vacation!
Frazzled Working Mom's Fleeting Moments (2007-2013)

Chocolate Mousse!

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Chloe, Sophie and their Papa made a huge bowl of chocolate mousse yesterday to share with Chloe’s class today.
What’s the best part about making chocolate mousse, you ask?  Licking the spoons and the bowl after it’s been prepared, that’s what.
Chloe had an international food festival today – of the 13 or so dishes, only three were sweet.  Needless to say, it was a big hit.   We put a heaping spoonful in each of the cups and some of the children (and parents) were not shy about helping themselves to multiple servings.  Sophie was a little uncomfortable sharing any of it, but calmed down once she received her own portion.  The mousse and a Portuguese pastry were the only items that were entirely gone by the end of the party.  
It’s nice and everything that the parents were trying to provide healthy “main course” food for the kids, but at 3 pm what kid wants to eat taco meat or vegetarian Indian food?  I know, my miserable attitude is a good reason why my kids aren’t adventurous when it comes to cuisine, but it’s the holiday season, for crying out loud!  Bring on the sweets!

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