Thursday, October 14, 2010

I Don't Know What it All Means!

My boys have a few times recently uttered the phrase "pee lightsabers" as they headed towards the bathroom when they both needed to go at the same time. While I find the phrase disturbing, I haven't asked them about it, because I'm convinced I really just don't want to know!!

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My 7 year old turned in his first real school project yesterday. You know the type -- read this book; create a cereal box about the book; come up with a unique name for your cereal; illustrate the front; on the sides provide a summary of the book, list of main characters & setting; and on the back do some sort of game that relates to the subjects in the book (crossword, maze, etc.). Oh, and don't forget to include a prize inside the box and a picture of the prize on the front.

Really, I should just be thankful that we made it all the way to 2nd grade before first experiencing the joy of the school project, I've heard from parents at some other schools that for them it started in kindergarten -- crazy! But, I must say I'm not a fan of the school project, especially when my kid is too young to really do the whole thing on his own. And my husband and I seem to disagree on just how much to help. My husband leans toward the heavy assistance/doing parts of the project for the kid side while I lean towards the side of setting the child up to work at the dining room table, going into the kitchen to bake bread and every once in a while yelling out, "You can do it, Sweetheart! I know you can! You always have great ideas!"

And at one point towards the end of the project when I realized we have years and years and years of school projects times 4 kids ahead of us, I nearly hyperventilated!

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I meant to mop my kitchen floor today.

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Speaking of to-do items, why is it that every day I check about 6 items off my to-do list and add about 10 more?

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Where do you fall on the to-do list? Do you write down every single activity you need to do that day or just the big, unique ones? For example, I never write down "pack kid lunches" on my to-do list because I do it every day, but I had a friend in college who would even write "shower" on her to-do list. I'm kinda beginning to wonder if I ought to be putting more of the things I know will get done on my to-do list just so I have more to cross-off. Actually, I don't cross-off, I'm a check-off-the-things-that-get-done kind of person.

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I have not gone electronic with my to-do list, yet. My husband has. Yep, remember the iPad that wakes him up to the sound of a rooster crowing every morning? Well, I mean it when I say that iPad runs his life. He has a to-do list set up on it with end dates and boy does he scramble to get things done before they're late! I'm not sure what he's afraid the iPad will do to him if he doesn't get a task done by the designated time, but I am thinking of sneaking into his system and changing the due date of the "clean out the garage" item from
Dec. 31,2010 to Oct. 18,2010!


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Happy Friday, y'all!



Mommy's Idea

11 comments:

  1. HA! Pee light sabers! That is hilarious.

    I totally write down the little things on my to do list. It's because I get so much pleasure from checking off every. little. item. It makes me feel like I got something done.

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  2. I would ignore the "pee light sabers," too. Some things are just better left to the imagination. Besides, if you don't think it, then it's not really happening, right?

    I agree with the above commenter, checking off even the tiniest of tasks makes me feel good.

    I did that school project a million years ago, using Ramona the Pest as my book. Good times!

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  3. I loathe school projects with a fiery passion. Getting my eldest to do them was and is like getting blood out of a stone and therefore totally traumatic for all involved. My other two are more independent thankfully.

    Pee light sabers definitely falls into the "don't want to know" category.

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  4. I never write these kinds of posts but love reading them. There's so many little interesting things going around in our heads or our lives that make for great blog material.

    When I know I wont get a lot done on a given day, I sometimes write out things I know will get checked off, just to visually see that I accomplished more than it felt like.

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  5. I just found your blog from Missey's It's Naptime! adoption blog roll from a few months back! We are adopting a SN daughter from China and I'm intrigued by adoptive families' blogs.

    Anyway, I am a list-maker and yes, I would write "shower" and "eat breakfast" on my list just to have something to cross off. And I mark off items...vehemently scratch them out. A check mark just doesn't seem robust enough for completing a task like eating a poptart. :)

    Enjoy your blog!
    Sandra

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  6. I do make to-do lists, but like you, just for the unique things that come up, not the every day stuff.

    Those school projects are a joke! I think they expect too much from the kids a lot of the time. I always hated those science fair projects. I feel bad for parents because most I think end up practically doing it for their kids. If I were a parent, I think I'd be like you--encourage them to do it themselves, perhaps give a few suggestions and provide them with the necessary supplies needed.

    Definitely change that clean the garage date in your husband's ipod. Mine wakes up to the alarm on his cell phone, a rooster crowing sounds much more fun!

    Stopping by from FF.

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  7. So, so, so much to do! arghhhhh

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  8. I vote with the people who write everything down and then cross it off with a huge thick line. I no longer have as much to do, so it makes me feel that Life is Not Wasted.

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  9. My children are all grown, but I do remember those school projects. Some I helped with, and some I didn't even want to get involved in.

    I meant to do a lot things around the house. LOL

    I make a list only when the things to do gets so long I forget things.

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  10. I'm not looking forward to entering the era of school projects. I remember as a kid being pretty much on my own to do them and I would do a good job, but then you would go into class and see projects that were obviously mostly done by the parents. That just didn't seem fair.

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  11. I've heard that rooster call, and it's kind of scary! My heart goes out to you.

    That's quite a project for a 2nd grader-Wow! As a teacher, I have to laugh when I see projects clearly done by parents.

    I wiped up my floor after the party. Well, I got through most of it, anyway...

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I'd love to hear what you think!