Spanish Questions

Last night L had to ask me a bunch of questions for Spanish homework.  Initially I was afraid that she was going to ask me in Spanish, which would have not been conducive for a productive question and answer session on my end, however, I ended up being more apprehensive about the question content than the language in which the questions were asked!  Let me explain:  I have a difficult time remembering what I did last weekend.  My short term memory is shady at best.  I'd like to blame "Mom Brain" but who really knows?  Which might explain why my kids get away with so much.  Hmmm... I think I need to look into this more later.  If I remember.

L was asking me basic questions such as:

"What hospital was I born at?"

"How big was I?"

"What was my first word?"

"When did I first crawl/walk/talk?"

All those things I could answer pretty quickly, but then she asked me what her favorite toy was as from age 0 to 24 months old.  Really?  #1 - I don't know about your kids but I've never met a newborn who has a favorite toy.  #2 - There's such an age gap between newborn and 2 years old.  Not only does a human change exponentially between those ages, but so do their personalities and therefore their preferences of toys, food, clothing...  Think about the last time you let a two year old attempt to dress themselves.  Yeah.

I thought that maybe these were questions that she had come up with herself, but these were questions her teacher wanted her to ask.  I was floored when L asked me the next question - "What was my sleeping schedule between 0 months and 24 months?"  Huh?!  Do you mean did you sleep throughout the night?  As a newborn - no way.  As a 2 year old - yes.  She was not satisfied with my answer and said she needed to know what her sleep schedule was between those ages.  What time did she go to sleep and how long did she sleep.  She said my answer was to include nap times as well.  She showed me the paper but the questions were written in Spanish, which I don't speak or read, so I had no idea if that was the real question or not.  

I sorry, but don't remember what her nap schedule was.  It's been at least 13 years since she's taken a regular nap.  I told her to make up whatever she wanted and put that down.  Her teacher would never know if it was right or not, and if her teacher wanted to take it up with me I'd welcome it.  What stupid questions.  At least ask something that would even be included in her Baby Book.  Ha ha!  At least her Baby Book would have some information in it!!

Odds and Ends

I've been reading this blog called The Looks for Less and I've liked it... Until today.  I'm not big into the latest fashion for myself, but with two teenagers in the house who "absolutely positively have to have the latest fashion", I've found it to be an insightful blog with ideas of where to get a pair of boots that look identical to the ones Nicole Richie was seen wearing for a fraction of the cost.  Ok, I should come clean.  When it comes to purses and shoes I do buy my share, but as for sunglasses and skirts etc I don't care.  However the article today left me scratching my head a little bit.  The lady writing the article talks about dresses from Target that she ended up really liking, but then she goes on to say that she doesn't like dresses and isn't a girly girl.  Umm... What?  You write a blog for fashion and you say you're not a girly girl?  Every picture she posts of herself highlighting the latest bag or shoe that she's talking about - she's in a dress, yet she doesn't like dresses?  I'm a little conflicted.

On a different thread, I really would like input from whoever happens to read this or comes across it randomly.  My older brother, Eric, got engaged over Christmas and they're planning on a wedding in Colorado in June of 2012.  I've been engaged since 2007 and have yet to get married.  I cannot tell you how many friends/family have become engaged and gotten married in the time that I've been engaged.  Now, I'm not REALLY complaining but I guess I'm feeling a little sorry for myself.  When Eric got engaged I swore to M that I was NOT going allow my future SIL to rub it in my face that she got married before I did when she got engaged after I did.  And trust me, she will find a way to do that in not so many words.  I cannot get married until I can pay for it and with all the crap with M's job the last 4 years I never have anything to put away to save.

I came up with an idea about a month ago and M and I have been tossing it around.  We'd send out invitations to a BBQ at our house and put on the invitations somewhere that we have an announcement that we'd like to share that will not be repeated, and we'd really like you to be there.  Or something along those lines.  Then when people show up - we surprise them with the announcement that they're attending our wedding.

M's Aunt has already agreed to perform the ceremony and this way everyone is super surprised AND no one is under any pressure to get a gift, dress nice, find a sitter, rent a hotel room, etc.  It also exonerates me from having to choose my bridesmaids or pay for a hall and food, which I was really stressing about every time we thought we'd be able to plan a "wedding".  This would be so laid back and low key - kids would be invited, we'd cater from a local restaurant, have a bonfire and just in general have a BBQ with a wedding ceremony thrown in.  Obviously I'd have to let key people know what my plans are, such as my parents and brothers, M's parents and his Aunts and Uncles (they're more like siblings to him as his mom had him young and he grew up in a house with all of his Aunts and Uncles still living there).  But other than that, if someone decides not to come to the BBQ then they miss out.

What are your thoughts?  Is this cheesy?  If you were invited to this BBQ and attended, would you be surprised?  Most importantly - is this trashy?

Break

I need a break.  I need a break from talking about my delinquent child.  I need a break from trying to keep the peace in my home all the time.  I need a break from my extended family drama.  I spell my break like this:

B-I-N-G-O

Yes you read that right.  I'm playing BINGO tonight.  Go ahead.  Laugh.  Get it out of your system.  I'm aware that the mere mention of BINGO elicits thoughts of little old ladies with blue tinged beehives who can't see over the steering wheel.  And yes, I'm aware that I'm only 34 years old therefore I shouldn't be excited to play BINGO tonight, but I am.

It's Jessie's birthday today and this is what she wants to do.  Isn't it funny how your "entertainment" changes as you get older?  It used to be that when it was someone's birthday we went to clubs.  Then it was bars.  Now it's BINGO.  Go figure!  The first time I went to BINGO I was 18 years old.  I went with my ex-sister-in-law and her neighbor.  It was a way to spend the evening without a crying baby, but I remember being 18 and thinking that this was stupid!  This was how they spent their time?!  I couldn't fathom BINGO being my main form of entertainment. 

A couple of months ago my friend Gina asked me to come to BINGO with her and a co-worker of hers.  I had nothing better to do and needed a night out so I did.  I didn't remember BINGO being that much fun!!  I had such a good time that we made plans to do it again the following month.  And the month after that!  The third time I brought Jessie with me and when Shelly found out we went to BINGO without her she was FURIOUS!  Unfortunately, we hadn't been back since then due to financial reasons, but we're going tonight.  For Jessie's birthday.  And I cannot wait!

Playing BINGO with Gina can get expensive.  Gina loves to gamble and BINGO offers tons of opportunities to gamble.  She plays all the games, and she plays the pull-tabs (they're like lottery tickets), basically she'll play any game that offers her a chance to win money.  She's a blast to go with, but she's hell on my bank account.  It's hard not to catch her enthusiasm for the games and want to play, too.  Jessie picked BINGO because if you only play the game and not all the side games it's relatively cheap to play.  I think the smallest packet of games is about $15.  Give or take a couple dollars.  Of course the cost of drinks too, but since I'm driving that won't be a lot.

The nice thing about this place is that they have a main area where everyone sits at their BINGO tables, but they have a little bar area as well which you can sit in and play (everything is announced over a loud speaker), but you aren't bothering the "hardcore" BINGO players.  That's where we're hoping to end up tonight so that we all can sit together and enjoy ourselves, but not bother the older crowd who will not hesitate to beat you with their canes and walkers if you mess up their BINGO experience.  I think Jess said she was expecting about 13 people so it should be fun!

My kids are gonna make bank tonight as well.  They're both babysitting at Jessie's house for all the little ones.  The kids will range in age from the youngest who is 11 months old to the oldest who are almost 8 years old.  There will be three 8-year olds, one 3 or 4-year old, one 2-year old, and one 11-month old.  L will handle the littlest two and K will play with the oldest four.  I'm hoping that it goes well....

And This Is Why I Drink

All had been going well with K.  She seemed to be responding to therapy and there hadn't been any real issues at school.  Until yesterday.  And that carried into today.  I had talked to K's social worker at the school yesterday evening at about 3:15 pm.  She indicated there hadn't been any issues and that all seemed to be going well.  She was completing assignments, wasn't disrespectful to teachers, etc.  Her social worker did mention that the core group of girls that K is hanging out with may not be the best influence on her as they all have similar social and/or anger issues.  She indicted that nothing in particular had happened but that she wanted me to be aware of the people K was associating with.  Not an hour later and I got a call from the Assistant Principle.  It's never good when the Assistant Principle calls.

Apparently a student in an after school activity told the other Assistant Principle that at lunchtime there were three girls with alcohol in their water bottles, and K was one of those girls named.  At this point in time school was over, the girls in question had all gone home, and the school wasn't sure if it was even a real issue or just rumor, but she told me that they were calling the parents of the girls to inform them that they'd be called into the office the next day.  I asked K who had the alcohol and she said it was Kim.  Kim had a coffee cup with beer in it and told K that it was SoBe Life Water.  K took a sip and knew it wasn't water.  She insisted that Kim was the only one with alcohol and that while she did have a sip it was only a sip and only because Kim told her it was something else.  At this point in the day I can't prove K wrong.  My gut says there was more to the story, but this happened at lunchtime and by the time I talked to K it was 5:30.  It's not like I could look at her eyes, check her breath, or anything else you'd do to see if someone was intoxicated.

Yesterday was her weekly Therapy appointment as well.  I'm always brought in at the end of the session just as a "anything you want to discuss that K isn't going to bring up on her own" type of deal.  I brought it up, and K and Jessica were able to discuss it.  I sent K out into the waiting room and let Jessica in on my thoughts about the issue and these girls in general.  She and I discussed some ways to be able to discuss issues with K without sending her into immediate defensive mode.

Fast forward to this morning at 7:20 am.  I got a phone call from the Principle at K's school.  She hasn't even been to school yet today and I'm getting a call already?  From the Principle?!  Oh, lord.  Shoot me now.  Apparently there's an issue going on with Kim and the school.  They are looking into sending her to a different school.  I don't know the reasoning for the transfer.  This obviously has set Kim off.  As it would any 13 yr old who doesn't want to leave her school and her friends.  However, Kim and K decided to take matters into their own hands.  They wrote a note to the teacher spearheading this transfer basically threatening her with revenge if Kim is sent to the "retard school".  The note was signed "From Kim and a little bit K but written by K".

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!

K has been suspended from school for two days.  She can't return until Monday and she can't make up any missed assignments or tests.  K, of course, insists that Kim wrote the letter and that Kim asked K and another girl at the table if they liked Mrs. Fitzgerald, told them what was in the works for Kim school wise, and K insists that's that.  That she didn't write the letter and had no idea that Kim was writing it.  I don't believe her.  Not at all, but I remember being a kid and my Dad blaming me for stuff I had NOTHING to do with.  I've always vowed that I wouldn't do that to my kids, but I have no idea what the hell to do with this kid.  I know in my gut when she's lying to me and this is one of those cases.  I KNOW that she's bullshitting me, but I have absolutely no proof that she's lying.  I don't know what to do with her.  I think she knows that I don't like to accuse her of stuff, but this is a kid I can catch with her hand in the cookie jar and she'll deny it was her until she's blue.

I've told K that she's no longer allowed to hang out with Kim.  That Kim is not allowed at our house, and she's not allowed at Kim's, but other than that I'm out of ideas.  I'm at the end of my sanity with her.  I really and honestly don't know how much more if this I can take.  And she's only in the 8th grade.  What the hell is high school going to be like?

I think I need a drink.