Posted
July 22, 2009 at
5:36 pm by
Kymberly
If you spend your life trying to impress and keep up with everyone else, you are not living your own life - you are living theirs. ~ Unknown
Like most couples Mr. Wonderful and I certainly had our “salad days.” We lived on love and not much else. Back then, our financial discussions would go something like this: He would ask: “I really need ___? Do we have any money?” “Nope!” I would answer brightly, and we’d both be fine.
Granted, we were blessed with a warm home and gainful employment. We were hardly dustbowl Okies struggling to survive. Our particular hardship was definitely of the still-blessed-to-be-an-American kind. Our struggles were more about store-brand groceries, hand-me-down baby clothes, and strolling the mall with my baby for exercise alone.
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Posted
July 16, 2009 at
5:34 pm by
Kymberly
It’s been a few years, but I’m fairly certain I taught my son to speak. I have a dim recollection of spending many happy afternoons coaxing his sweet baby-self to say “mama! Ma-ma! You can do it sweetie, Mama!” only to thrill to that blessed, blissful day when he cracked a wide, gummy grin and said clearly and with great feeling:
That one small instance of treason aside, I’m certain I taught the boy to talk. How then, to explain the fact that he is apparently struck mute when it comes to middle school? My formerly chatty child seems, overnight, to have become somewhat succinct in any speech pattern relating to school activities. Is he attending spy school up there or what?
How was your day dear?” “Good.”
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Posted
July 5, 2009 at
4:42 pm by
Kymberly
People are often surprised to discover that I camp. I know how that is. I’m often surprised myself.
I am not an outdoorsy type of gal. I’m more the indoorsy type - with cable. When we camp I expect, at minimum, an air mattress to keep my princess-and-the-pea-like self off the unforgiving ground, decent meals, and clean hot showers. Since we camp in tents rather than recreational vehicles, the latter can pose a problem.
It is a testament to my ability to forgive that I am still on speaking terms with one dear friend who inadvertently arranged for us to camp in a primitive campground. For the uninitiated this means that upon arrival her young son hopped out of the car and made a beeline for the restrooms only to return, perplexed, and state “but mom I can’t find the flusher.”
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Posted
June 30, 2009 at
8:43 pm by
Trish
This morning we had parent/teacher interviews with both the girls’ teachers. I wont reveal the details of the discussions obviously but I will say that there is an issue with one of our children that is of some concern and we will be monitoring things closely, as will her teacher.
One of our kids is not playing nicely with some of her fellow students. She is doing well academically, but there are some shenanigans going on during the recess and lunch breaks that need to be addressed quickly.
My younger brother struggled to get along with some of his peers, and his troubles were exacerbated by a general lack of interest in school and a sometimes difficult relationship with his teachers (who were not at all curious about why he might not like school so they just stuck him in the corner and told him to be quiet… thank goodness modern education allows for different learning styles in students… but I digress).
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Posted
June 27, 2009 at
4:36 pm by
Kymberly
A few years ago I wrote a column about how that upcoming summer’s gas was predicted to top $2.50 per gallon. At the time that seemed outlandish. Now it just sounds quaint.
Gas. My husband once noted, dryly, that I was less “stay at home mom” and more “gassing around three counties mom.” He had a point. In truth, we weren’t so much raising our children in the country, as raising them in their car seats. I once asked our pediatrician about the risks of curvature of the spine from the hours spent in the car as we commuted to distant parks, playgrounds, shopping venues, and the homes of friends. She assured me my babies would be fine. (A little shorter than nature intended, maybe, but otherwise just fine).
This year, finances are tough and seem poised to get tougher everyday. Like most anyone with an ounce of sense, we will be looking long and hard at how much we spend on gasoline (and other luxuries like, oh say, food) and adjusting our expectations accordingly. If we lived anywhere near close to anything other than cows, I’d make outlandish claims to walk or bike everywhere I needed to go this summer. In fact, since we are approximately 100 miles from everywhere I CAN make wild, outlandish claims like that, and then act disappointed when I realize it won’t really work. So consider that done.
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