Mid-CenturyModernMoms

An Open Letter to my lovely but lazy family

I prepared this post on Sunday. The family did not see it.

Dear family;

I realize it gets confusing when I'm home in the summer. I know that having all of July off and much of June and August can lead you to believe that I'm around solely to do your bidding. I do pick up a lot of the slack during those summer months: making appointments, taxiing people where they need to go, and generally taking care of details. 

But family, dear ones, it's September, and I'm teaching again. I'm waking up to an early alarm. I'm setting up my own breakfast and coffee and packing my lunch and at the same time planning ahead for supper. I come home (with a schoolbag full of work, I might add) and serve up a decent meal, often made from scratch. I'm working full time, and I'm coming home to a second shift of housework. 

So family, would it trouble you to clean the litter boxes without being asked? Empty the dishwasher of clean dishes before the dirty ones pile up on the counter? Take out the recycling? Vacuum the rugs? Wipe out the sinks? Replace the toilet paper? Clear the table after supper? Put away your own clean clothes? Get the dirty clothes into the hamper? Heck, you could even launder them all yourselves! 

As I pull together the transcripts and training records I need to submit for a lane change (the only way to get a raise in today's economy), maybe the rest of you could pull together and get the house in order. Maybe. 

Because after all, I'm your mother, not your maid. 

I didn't discuss my frustrations, but they must have been evident. 

Chuck has emptied and loaded the dishwasher every day this week. 

La Petite changed the litter boxes without so much as a suggestion. She didn't rinse them, but hey, the house didn't smell.

Amigo was a bit snippy (rotten teenager) when I helped him pack his duffel for the week, so I deserted him. He had to finish alone while I worked in the garden. He was very polite and personable for the remainder of our road trip Monday.

So many that's the answer: a virtual post! Who knew that an unpublished blog post could be so powerful?!

Big Top Chautauqua: our last hurrah of summer

Look closely - behind the gravel walkway, beyond the tent on the left, is a hill. It's Wisconsin, so we can't call it a mountain. But in winter, people ski here.

Imagine - at the bottom of the hill, a big tent made of canvas, striped blue and white, sturdy and secure, with a stage inside. This place seats 900+ people in its theater for shows that run three and a half months a year, when the ground is thawed and the snow is gone.

Also on the grounds is a tent for concessions and souvenirs. We had a fish boil - Amigo's first. While he befriended the others at the table, I visited the souvenir stand and picked up a DVD and a t-shirt. Do you see the wires above the food tents? I wasn't kidding about the ski hill. The lift wires are up all year.

This, my friends, is the home of Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. Amigo and I have fallen in love with the home troupe, the Blue Canvas Orchestra, and their guest on this lovely night, author and humorist Michael Perry. We traveled to the Big Top for the first time this year, and we'll definitely go back. 

We rode to the tiny town of Bayfield on a coach bus filled with like-minded people: public radio fans who enjoy folk music and original drama. Amigo, with his fabulous memory for detail, won a prize in the bus' trivia contest the next day. He remembered a character's favorite ice cream: raspberry rumble. Silly me: I thought it was butter brickle. If it had been cappuccino, I would have remembered!

Road Trips: the radio

The first thing Amigo does when we enter a hotel room is follow this routine: take off his shoes, stretch out on a bed, and fiddle with the clock radio. He did this on Sunday night, but all didn't go as planned. Instead of music or news, we kept hearing frogs. And crickets. and babbling, bubbling water.

"Mom, how does this work? Can you help me get real radio?" This from the teenager who can figure out just about any electronic device, despite being unable to see it or read the labels.

Well, I took a closer look and found this:

The "Listen to" section was set to Brook. We had options of Ocean, Wind Chimes, or Music/Radio. If we used the clock's alarm feature, we could choose to wake up to a standard buzzer, a high pitched bell, cathedral bells, or radio. I showed him the buttons, and he figured out what he needed - a country music station. Of course - we were on a trip sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio, and he was listening to Country.

Somehow, in the process of exploring all the buttons, Amigo must have set the alarm. Around midnight the buzzer sounded. In his sleep - he remembered not a bit of this the next morning - he rolled over, turned it off, and made himself comfortable again.

Then we went back to sleep, eventually waking up to (drumroll) Amigo's talking clock and its rooster alarm. And coffee, of course. 

Simple pleasures

What a weekend. La Petite and her boyfriend went to Lollapolooza - Lolopalooza - Lollapalooza - you know, the big outdoor rock concert in Chicago. I can't spell it. Can you? She came home full of stories and adventures, one of which involved running into her high school best friend in line for the rest room in the train station. The friend wasn't even headed for the festival; she was on her way home from grad school in Iowa. 

Amigo had another visit with his baby cousin, this time at our house. Baby, post nap and post supper, sat in our living room on a blanket, playing with toys that used to be Amigo's. Buttercup the bunny approached her with curiosity, nudged and sniffed this tiny visitor. The tiny visitor WAILED her displeasure. I caged bunny. Amigo, finished eating, sat down with baby and entertained her, and all was well. 

The next day SIL and I took advantage of morning nap time to go secondhand shopping. She found baby clothes and a cool jacket; I found a pair of jeans in my brand & my size for $2.25. w00t!! 

Finally settled at home, after a good night's sleep, daughter and I are bonding over sushi and old episodes of Glee. 

Simple pleasures, indeed. It's great to see the kids growing up, enjoying each other, having fun. It doesn't make for dramatic blog posts, but it does make a happy family.

The Sound Track of my life, or at least my road trips

First, whistle the theme to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

It should have been an easy trip home. Drive north, pick up La Petite at her summer "home," drive north again until home. Somewhere in the first leg of the journey, grab lunch.

First: I got dressed in the morning and realized I hadn't packed any shirts for myself. I packed an extra t-shirt for Amigo, so I borrowed it. Sigh. I'm not a fashionable mom, by any means. The teen looks much better in it. If there's a theme song to the show "What Not to Wear," it would fit here. 

Next: packed to leave, realized that the minivan front seats were not damp, but soaked. I'd left them open a crack - only a crack! - and the wild and woolly storms had made my ride home, well, a wet one. Sister-in-law loaned us thick towels and plastic bags to spread on the seats. My side, as luck would have it, was wettest. Sound track song? "Rain, rain, go away."

On the road! Public Radio on, grabbed a McDonald's drive-through lunch and onward! Note to self: never buy a quarter pounder with cheese again. At least, dear self, never try to eat a quarter pounder with cheese while driving. Self, that lousy excuse for 'food' isn't good for you to begin with, but even more so, it's sloppy. You guessed it, readers: ketchup and mustard on the borrowed shirt. The song to this sound track: "Pound sign, question mark, star, exclamation point." Yes, #?*! was about my speed at the moment.

Speaking of speed, the route was fairly direct - on paper. As we entered one of the lovely towns on the way, the police directed traffic off the main road. I didn't know the town at all, which made finding an alternate route tough, to say the least. At Amigo's advice, we turned on the navigator on my phone. It led us in what felt like the correct direction, but into bumper to bumper traffic. A traffic jam on Saturday afternoon? This was not a Chicago commuter drive.Sound track song: James Taylor's "Traffic Jam!"

Since we were stopped, hardly moving, I pulled out my Tide to Go pen to fix the stain on my borrowed t-shirt. Song: "(Kiss him) Goodbye" by the Nylons. Remember the commercial with Kelly Ripa? Great thinking, but no follow through: the stain remover was empty. I was stuck. Stuck in traffic, stuck in a stained, borrowed t-shirt. Song: Once again, Kevin Fowler's "#?*!" If you haven't heard this one yet, you need to. It's bound to become a classic.

Amigo doesn't handle situations like this well. He put in a folk song CD and we sang along to keep ourselves relatively calm. Theme song at this point? "Puff the Magic Dragon" - oh, how we wished for a flying dragon to lift us above the jam and onto the highway!

Finally (and I do mean finally; we lost close to an hour detouring and waiting to get back on Highway 31) We headed north. Song: Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again!" We took a quick bathroom break, I changed into the shirt I'd worn the day before (a little less dirty), and we hit the road again. I considered making a quick stop for a tacky tourist t-shirt from the mini-mart or one from the thrift store down the road, but Amigo was moody and it just wasn't worth taking the chance of another delay.

Finally! We crossed the border (it's okay, we're legal Wisconsinites) and enjoyed driving along highways surrounded by corn "...as high as an elephant's eye!" Yes, our sound track at this point was "Oh, what a beautiful morning!" from Oklahoma! Wisconsin farmland is really gorgeous in late July and early August.

We made it to La Petite's temporary home away from home, picked her up, packed the van, and hit the road. I changed into a dry pair of denim capri pants; despite the towel, I was still soaking up the overnight rain and I was close to adding a few new verses to "#?*!" as the trip went on.

At last! The home stretch. I could almost quote from Over the River and Through the Woods;my "horse" knew the way to carry the sleigh, or at least the way to turn the minivan wheels. Homeward bound! (Wait, that's another song. Maybe another trip.)

Road Trips!

Amigo and I planned to do some road tripping this summer. So far we've only "tripped" a little, but it's setting the stage for more. 

Our first Road Trip was to Miller Park in Milwaukee for a Milwaukee Brewers Baseball game. It's about a 2 hour drive, not too long as summer road trips go. 

The good? We cheered for a couple of home runs, drank our fill of sodas, and dressed in our best Brewers colors. Someone in the gift shop wanted to buy my t-shirt, in fact. Sorry, bud. No sale. 

The bad? The Brewers lost. 

The ugly? It was so hot we didn't even last long enough for the sausage races. We took refuge in the air conditioned gift shop (see above) and then left early, listening to the rest of the game in our air conditioned car. 

Another Road Trip involved a longer drive to the Chicago area where we visited the adorable Shoe Baby and her family. 

The good? Smooth highways, no traffic jams, and the iPass making tollways easy. 

More good? Happy baby, fun talking with brother and sister-in-law. 

More good? Tunes! We brought a few special CDs chosen by Amigo, and these kept us happy on the last legs of the drive. 

The bad? La Petite wasn't able to join us. She was still finishing her final ceramics class and getting her projects back to her apartment. She adores her baby cousin and wanted to visit, too.

The ugly? Weather. We got lucky on the way there, despite the heat and humidity. Had we traveled a day earlier, there would have been ugly weather; Milwaukee got his with a severe storm causing major flooding and sinkholes, including one big enough to swallow a Cadillac Escalade. Holy Hungry Earth, Batman, that's a big city sinkhole! No rain was in the forecast for Chicago, though, so I left my windows open a crack while we went to dinner and - you guessed it. Soaked! Well, supper was delicious. I'll count it on the plus side.

In planning our next road trip, we'll keep good, bad, and ugly in mind. Good: plan ahead. Bad: Make lists. Get a good night's sleep ahead of time.  Ugly: Be prepared to cope with the weather, since the weather is one variable out of our control. 

Vaccines: Not just for little ones.

I'm getting Amigo's paperwork ready for school in the fall. I'm dealing with my own health issues. And while medical care is all fresh in my mind, I find my mind wandering to my own students, those I will teach in the fall.

Last year the children in my class were hit hard by H1N1. During a three to four week period, I saw five to ten students out each day. Each one missed at least four days; the sickest of the group missed two full weeks of school.

Amigo is 18. La Petite is 23, a recent college graduate. In the five years between them, immunizations changed. It's very important to keep up on the changes; teens need regular physicals, just like babies and toddlers do.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is asking bloggers to remind parents to immunize their teens and preteens. Did you know that while most infants and children get the vaccines they need, less then half of pre-teens and teens receive the vaccines specifically recommended for their age group?

There are serious diseases that kids are at increased risk for as they approach the teen years such as meningitis, whooping cough, and human papillomavirus (also known as HPV, the virus that can lead to cervical cancer in women).

• Meningococcal infections are very serious and can result in long-term disability or even death
• Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is not just a childhood disease—many teens are diagnosed with it each year. Five years ago, one of my 6th grade students had it and generously shared the virus with me - in June.
• Certain strains of HPV, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, can cause cervical pre-cancer and cancer.

There are three vaccines recommended specifically for kids at ages 11 or 12 to protect them from these diseases:

• Meningococcal vaccine

, which protects against meningitis and its complications

Tdap vaccine, which is a booster against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis

HPV vaccine, which protects girls and women against the types of HPV that most commonly cause cervical cancer

In addition, pre-teens (and all kids 6 months and older!) should get the flu vaccine every year. Even healthy kids can get the flu and it can be serious. Just ask last year's fourth graders!

You might be thinking, "Oh, that's fine for people with health insurance. What about those who can't afford vaccines?" Many of my students and their families fall into that category. Lost job or low income doesn't have to prevent necessary health care. Look into the Vaccines For Children (VFC) program for funding sources.

Still uncertain? Look here for more information on why teens and preteens need immunizations. Watch this video on meningitis.

I focus more and more on keeping my family healthy through holistic eating and natural methods. I will never give up their vaccines, though. Immunizations are too important to miss.

I am writing this post as part of a CDC blogger outreach program. I offered to participate because I have seen the impact of pertussis, influenza, and more. The original post is on Compost Happens. 

Shoes: the gateway drug

Girls and shoes. I can read it in her face: this pair is only the first. What's next? 

It could be a collection like this, requiring much care! 

 

 Baby shoes. So cute, and just the beginning. 

A bad case of the babies

La Petite scared Chuck one day when she said she had a "case of the babies" coming on. I laughed out loud at his expression. Call it what you will: monthlies, Aunt Flo, That Time of the Month, or other euphemistic name. I knew what she meant.

 

It was a term she picked up from her college friends, and it actually makes sense. The phenomenon is a function of the reproductive system, after all.

 

The guys in their peer group learned to be cautious when all the girls were wearing sweats and looking grumpy. Ah, some real life learning outside of classes: how to understand women. If their gal pals all have a case of "the babies," the guys have learned to treat them with TLC. It'll make them good husbands some day, really.

 

Recently, I remembered why I preferred a family doctor to an OB/GYN. The latter tends to have an unpredictable schedule because of their own cases of babies: delivering them!  And then it takes a special and post-baby effort to convince the nurses that yes, my appointment is important, baby-making age or not.

 

My own "babies" are ages 23 and 18. the only case of the babies we'll deal with around our house is the potential for grandbabies or our adorable little niece. She is a sweetie, isn't she? Now that's a good case of the babies.

 

 

 

 

Party Planning: not a job for Amateurs

Ordering the cake:

"Hello, Local Bakery, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to order a graduation cake -- a half sheet."
"A half sheet serves about 30. Does that sound right?"
"Yes." We'd invited about 50, but we figured maybe half would show.
"And what kind would you like?"
"Marble, please." Family tradition: we almost always get marble cake for special occasions.
"Graduation cakes usually say 'Congratulations, 2010, the graduate's name, and the school.' What is the graduate's name, please?"
Now it gets challenging.
"We're actually celebrating three graduations together." I spell the names for her.
"And the school or schools? Are they all, um, in town?"
"Well, no. One is a local high school, one is University of Wisconsin Whitewater, and the other is graduating from UW-Madison with her Masters degree."
"Oh. Okay, we'll just leave the school off. Now, colors. Do any of the schools share a color in common? Blue? Red? White?" I could tell she was searching now.
"Two out of three share red and white. How's that?"
"Okay, we'll use red and white in the frosting. And the third?"
"Purple."
Pause.
"Purple and .... white?" I could tell she was hoping it wasn't an ugly combination such as Viking purple and gold.
"Yes, purple and white." She didn't sigh with relief, but I heard it in her voice.
"Okay, then I'll make a note to work in white, red, and purple in the frosting."

We went over the details and arranged for the pick-up time. She gave me directions to get through the annual season we call Road Construction.

Good thing the cake didn't need to include our anniversary (the previous Wednesday) and my brother's birthday (Tuesday) on top of the rest. We could have had pictures for the brand new babies who will be here, too -- okay, enough already. A cake is a cake is a cake! With that done, I could turn my attention to keeping the party eco-conscious and green.