Thursday, June 4, 2009

Moms say the strangest things: chapter 17.

"Don't use the litter box with wet feet!" Yes, it's yet another strange phrase from my busy lips. The cat had been walking in the shower for his morning drink -- he won't use the water bowl-- and then wandered in to use the litter box. Well, that explains the tiny clumps of litter all over the bathroom floor. Stupid animal.

We're on our last day of school tomorrow. Can you hear the angels singing? We're going to take down the posters tomorrow and pack up the books. Then, we're going to listen to The Boy whine all the way to our weekly Wendy's lunch with Grandmother. ("But McDonald's is so much more awesome!") Sorry kid, but the poor woman has been taking us out to lunch every Friday since August, and we're not messing with it now! Not to mention what The Girl would do if you broke with tradition. Wherever you live, you'd hear it. Space shuttle? Yes.

We went to a pool party yesterday with the homeschool group yesterday. This is usually a VERY kind of party for me, since neither of my kids can swim at all. And I can't convince them of this. They just wander down toward the deep end of the pool and tempt fate to push them just that last two inches into drowning depth. It's hard enough with just The Boy, but with two? Forget it.

I just want to send out a holla to the folks at Stearns who make a cheap, coastguard-certified life vest in hot pink. I strapped it on The Girl at home, just to get some of the rejection out of the way, and she wouldn't take it off! I swear, she wore it in the car on the way to the party! The thing is even pinker than her swim suit, and that's saying a lot. It's PINK. Just the way she likes it. We call it a "floaty vest". I strapped a blue one on The Boy when we got there, and we were off and running. I just occasionally counted the bobbing heads, and could sit in the shade, sipping mint tea. (No juleps -- too early in the day!) What a nice time.

Everyone else is trying to pick out their curriculum for next year. Some are starting high school and All That Entails. Some are starting their third child on reading. It's a great mix.

Come to think of it, the whole group is a great mix. There were about 15 kids, ranging from ages four to sixteen. There were both what we call "little cousins" as well as "big cousins". In this group, they learn how to look out for the little cousins and "look out" for the big cousins. Each one teaches one. It works out great. If the kids were all the same size, they'd all be competing at the same age/skill level at everything, and the ones who didn't come out in the top half would be the losers. There is a certain competition between those of roughly the same age, which is cool. This way, they learn that life is a little kinder and not everyone is out to beat you. And the moms area all pretty good about reigning in the baser instincts. ;) It was so nice...

I thanked Alpha Mom again for the soup she gave me when I was sick. I told her it was delicious and that no one has cooked me soup in a long time. She smiled and said that she thought not and that her mother-in-law always makes her soup when she's sick. She's so sweet.

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