I admit it...when my youngest went to kindergarten I found myself going through my day with my hand extended, waiting for him to take it!  I'd forgotten he wasn't with me and was in school all day.  It made me sad to realize that his little pudgy hand wouldn't be in mine as much anymore.  Somedays I hate to see my kids grow up, but most of the time I take pride in the young people they are becoming. 

I am wondering though why the parents in my neighborhood sit at the bus stop with their middle school kids in their cars until the bus comes!!  What is up with that?  These kids are 12-14 years old!  I remember a lot of fun (and eye opening) conversations going on at the bus stop.  It's just a little unsupervised time at the beginning of a very supervised day for them!   Why not let them WALK to the bus stop and wait there on their own til the bus comes?  Maybe those parents are having trouble letting go of that hand too! 

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I am struggling with our family meals these days.  With both kids in after school sports on varying days, I am rarely at home in time to get a healthy meal prepared.  I want to teach my kids to eat the right things, but it is hard when you are constantly running in at the last minute trying to get food on the table.  Does anyone out there have any tried and true recipes that your family likes and can be made ahead or at the last minute? 

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I'm not sure what to do.  My son wants to use $120 of his own hard earned money (earned by babysitting, cutting the grass, and allowance) on a pair of designer sunglasses. 

He told me that they are great for being on the water and he is going to sailing camp for 4 weeks this summer, but I seriously suspect they'll be lost.  Having said that though, he really hasn't lost anything in a while. 

I just hate to see him fall victim to commercialism and peer pressure.  Kids are into designer labels and brand names, but maybe it's no different from when we were younger.  It's just that the price tag is higher! 

He told me that lots of boys at this camp wear that type of sunglasses!  Do I let him use his own money and buy something that I think he's buying just for the brand name?  Maybe he'd take better care of them because he's using his own money.  Any advice? 

 

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Standing in the front yard on a beautiful afternoon, a rather new neighbor/acquaintance of mine recently commented on what a great mom I must be - she said my kids seemed to get along so well and were so polite.  After I picked my jaw up from the ground, I proudly thanked her, flicked my hair behind my shoulder and announced that I had to go inside to complete my five course evening meal that would be served on the dining room table with freshly polished silver.  Then I went in the house, heard my youngest son yell at his sister that she was a stupid moron, watched as my daughter pinched his leg - hard - and told my oldest child for the 1000th to finish his homework NOW! 

It occurred to me however, that my kids are relatively well behaved around other people - and especially when they are not around one of their siblings.  But at home, where they feel the safest, they can really let it all out.  They work so hard at holding it together at school and out in the world, that it seems to just break down at home.  So far they haven't permanently damaged each other.  And there are rare and brilliant moments when they all three seem to break the sound barrier of life and get along.   For those moments, I give thanks.  And if you know how I can create a world where we have more of them - you are my hero!!

 

 

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I have two college age boys who grew up on a pretty tight schedule that I now see is paying off in college.  Most of us function better with a routine of some kind.  The hardest thing about college for one of my boys was creating his own routine (no parents or coaches there to do it for you),  From about sixth grade on he did not get home until about 6:30 every night and then it was dinner, maybe 30 minutes of downtime and then homework.  When a parent was at home it always got done, but if we were not at home there would definitely be some procrastination, so we made it a priority to be there.   After years of doing this it becomes habit  and has definitely made  him realize how much better he functions on a routine which he has now created for himself.   Any suggestions from other parents on how  they have prepared their kids for college  life (not academically speaking).  

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