Gratitude

 January 9, 2022

There is a lot going on in the world that causes stress, anxiety, and sadness.  That's why it's important to take time frequently to think about the things for which we are grateful.  Here are five things I am grateful for today:

1.  I am grateful I am getting to spend time with Nicholas while he is staying with me, before he moves to start his new job.  Since the kids are all grown up, the extended times with them are fewer and farther between.

2.  I am grateful I get to text or talk with my kids several days each week.  I like to talk to them, and they like to talk to me!

3.  I am so grateful that although Nicholas got Covid, he is experiencing relatively mild symptoms.

4.  I am grateful for Lisa and Mo.  Man, I don't know where I'd be without those two.  They are my sounding boards, they make me laugh, and they check in on me all the time.  I do the same for them.  Having best friends makes doing life wonderful.

5.  I am grateful for a seemingly endless supply of books.  So many ideas and stories we can inhabit for a time.  It's kind of mind-blowing to think about the millions of ideas and perspectives out there that we can enjoy and learn from.  That's pretty cool!

Growing Up as the Kid of a Teacher

August 19, 2014

Today was the second day of back to school prep and planning meetings.  At least four of my colleagues brought their young kids to school to help with the classroom set up, which means a little bit of help and a lot of coloring and racing wheelie chairs down the hallway to the joyous sound of chortles and giggles and belly laughs, and generally spending time charming all the other teacher-friends of their mommies and daddies.  It's seriously one of the things I love about the pre-school planning week.  We get to feel like the aunties and uncles of all of these kids that we are watching grow up year by year, just like when my kids were younger, they looked to all of my friends as their own personal bonus family members.  I remember being equally at home in the hallways of my mom's school when we'd go help her set up her classroom every year.  It's strange to think that there are lots of kids around for whom this is not the norm....  Anyway, I got to see several of my favorite kiddos today, and tomorrow I get to spend time with one of my very favorite kiddos, because Danielle has volunteered to come and help me out in my room tomorrow--and probably wheelie-chair race and charm a few of my friends along the way.

Little Fishies

July 9, 2012

While I was visiting Lisa, I got to go with her to take the littles to their swim lessons.  Riley was super excited to show off his ability to jump off the high dive.  He was fearless!  I loved that he kept asking me, "Aunt Donna, did you get a picture of that one??"  Emily was a little more timid; her class stayed in the shallow end of the lap pool, mostly getting used to the idea of getting their little faces wet, blowing bubbles, and kicking their little feet while the teacher held them afloat.  I think it's amazing that with help from foster mamas like Lisa, these kiddos get to have experiences like this that they might not otherwise get to have.

My Birthday, Part One

June 14, 2012

Doug had to work during the day of my birthday, but all three of the kids were at home.  These days are more and more precious, since there's pretty real likelihood that there won't be too many more years when all of the kids will be able to join me on my birthday.  They're growing up, and although we'll still celebrate birthdays, it might not be all together at the same time.  I told the kids I wanted to go to PCH Subs for lunch, and honestly, we had a great time just laughing and playing and being silly.  Hanging out with my kids--the best kind of birthday present.

Parenting Is Not For Wimps

February 6, 2011

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) where you feel like you're just falling down on the job of parenting? When the offspring--pretty good ones, in general--suddenly conspire to test your every nerve and every bit of patience simultaneously? When one of them decides to perfect her dripping sarcasm? And uses her powers of intellect for evil--you know, quick-witted retorts and verbal parlays designed to cut an opponent down to size mercilessly? And another one decides this is the time to give a sloth a run for its money, so to speak, vying for the title of slowest-moving, most non-doing-anything creature known to man (including a marked aversion to any semblance of chores)? And another one decides to ratchet up the drama queen diva emotional roller coaster, giddy and cheerful one moment and reduced to tears for a seemingly unfathomable reason the next?

And if you have ever had one of those days (or weeks), don't you just love how it makes you feel? Completely second-guessing yourself at every turn, stepping outside of yourself to watch irrational arguments spiral out of control, defenses already on high from the previous crossing of wills? And don't you love how other caring, well-meaning people in your life want to tell you the 'right' way to have handled it, letting you know that here you have been far too harsh and quick to punishment, and here you have been the picture of leniency, allowing the child to take advantage of you? And how sometimes when you just want to vent and complain to blow off steam, it only makes you feel worse, because no matter what you did or how it turned out, you apparently did it incorrectly, and you should have either a) cut them some slack because they've been sick/tired/working hard/teenagers or b) grounded them for life and canceled Christmas for the next three years for good measure? If you have ever had one of those days (or weeks), doesn't it make you forget, even temporarily, all the good days and good weeks, and all the great things you've done in parenting your kids, and all of the great ways they've shown good judgment and positive attitudes and the caring, loving, wonderful people they can be--and usually are?

Oh--no? You haven't ever had one of those days (or weeks)? No?

Me either.

(I am a good parent I am a good parent I am a good parent....)

Girls' Night In

January 24, 2011

My girlfriend Lisa (Alicia) texted a few of us last week letting us know it was high time for a girls' night in. We all have kids and it's not always easy to get away all at the same time, so we decided we'd bring the kids with us to hang out and entertain each other at Lisa's house, and we'd get a little chance to indulge in some girly chattiness. We each brought something to contribute to a taco bar for dinner (super easy, so no one had to stress out about cooking), and let the kids play on the Wii while we sat around the table to do some much-needed catching up. We're all smart girls, so I can't for the life of me figure out why we've never done this before, but we had such a great time that we've decided to make it a monthly event. We all went to high school together, so it's really pretty cool that all of our kids are friends now. Here's to old-school, long-time girlfriends!

Transformer Mom

October 10, 2010

I feel like I've actually become my mini-van in the past two weeks--a Soccer Mom Transformer. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love that my kids are involved and active. I think it helps keep them balanced. And to be sure, there will be days in my not very far off future when I'll miss these days, these snippets of conversations we have traveling to and fro, often one-on-one while I transport one kid or another to the soccer field, or play practice, or choir practice, or Robotics, just to name a few. Yup, I'm tired at the end of the nights, and the van is filled with the accessories of youth perpetually, but the alternative simply isn't an alternative. Time flies, and before I know it my mini-van will become superfluous and will transform and shrink into a sensible two-door car fit for one whose kids have moved upward and onward. Until then, I'll relish in the miles I put on the road with the kids, and do my best to make the most of that time together.

Sometimes it Helps to Remind Yourself

June 2, 2010

What's making me crazy right now:

--A crazy, cantankerous neighbor who is unhappy with her life, so she wants to complain about everyone else. Right now, I'm her target. It's a moving target, so it'll probably pass, but right now she's annoying the heck out of me!

--Not looking like I'd like to look too close to my reunion. Sigh...

--Rising temperatures, which are sure to make the summer months less than comfortable

--The on-going struggle to accept those things which I cannot change

What's making me happy right now:

--Three healthy, happy kids who are counting down the days til summer (just like their mama)

--Getting the pool fixed after having it out of commission for WAY too long. It's going to make those triple digit heatwaves bearable!

--Doug's job, which looks like will continue for a little while longer before the project is complete

--Getting to go to Disneyland with my sister tomorrow when we chaperone Grad Nite. Yay!

--Having only one kid out of four classes of seniors who didn't pass and who won't be graduating. It's the most frustrating thing to have kids who give up so close to the finish line, so I'm very proud of the few who were on the brink and pulled themselves through.

--The Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is THIS week. Yup, I'm a nerd. I can live with that.

--Finally having my credential renewal complete. Those folks over at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing were taking their sweet time.

--A pretty smooth end-of-the-year wrap-up here at school

--Finding classic books (Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights) for $2.50 each at Target so I can stock reading group books in my classroom.

--My birthday, which is coming up this month

--Having spent time with great friends and family this past weekend. Oh, how I love those people. (You all know who you are.)

--Doug, who is handsome and funny and talented and smart, and who loves me in all my smooshiness for him. Sometimes I still can't believe how lucky I got.


SO, in the balance of things, although I've got some things in my life I could do without, I've got a whole lot more things things to be grateful for and to smile about. It's a pretty good day, after all.

Tour of the State Capitol Building

May 19, 2010

On Monday I traded in a day in the classroom for a day trip to Sacramento with a bus load of fifth graders. Danielle and all her classmates have been studying the state of California, and I got to accompany them on their visit to the Capitol Building.

We got off to a very early start for the three hour bus ride north. We loaded the buses at 4:45 a.m., so that meant my day started at 3:45. Honestly, I didn't sleep very much anyway, because I was so worried I'd accidentally sleep through the alarm and fail to get us to the buses on time. Danielle didn't sleep much either because she was so excited. I actually figured we'd get to fall back asleep on the bus ride, but those kids were much wider awake than any of us chaperones were.


We arrived and checked in and got a tour of the building. Our tour guide was impressed by how much our kids knew about the government and the state of California (which means their teachers did a great job preparing them!). We saw the inside of the rotunda, the original governor's offices, and the Senate floor, as well as our current governor's office.


Once the tour was over, we headed back to the buses and were off to Old Town Sacramento. There were seven kids in my group, and we had lunch together, roamed around Old Town, and shopped. All of my kids were so polite--it really was fun wandering around with them. They thought it was amazing how many candy stores there were in such a small space. I think there were five of them. Naturally, they wanted to check them all out. I hope they didn't come home with too much of a contact sugar rush.

(Danielle with her teacher, Mrs. Nunes.)

After a few hours we needed to get back on the buses so we could get home. Danielle and I sat together, her head in my lap nearly the whole way home. That was probably my favorite part of the trip: )

Sign in the Capitol Building:

Part of it reads: "During reconstruction, worker's reinforced the drum exterior..."

Wouldn't you think if they were going to engrave signs and post them up in the State's Capitol Building that they'd want to check to make sure they weren't using an unnecessary apostrophe? That's supposed to be plural, not possessive!

Christmas Part 2, New Year's Eve, and Softball Saturday

January 8, 2010

We had a wonderfully prolonged Christmas this year, since we had our family celebration on Christmas with Doug's side of the family, and then a week later with my side of the family.

Lisa and her girls came up to visit on New Year's eve, and arrived at around six. I gathered up my kids and my hubby, and we all went over to Jim's house for the festivities. We had a taco/burrito bar set up for dinner--nothing formal, but tasty and filling. We also had a few close friends come join our little family gathering. It was great having Bill and Pat and Michele hanging out with us. Naturally, the evening turned toward karaoke after everyone had let their dinner settle a bit, and almost everyone took a turn at the microphone. After awhile, we broke out the board games and settled into competitive rounds of Scattergories and Sorry.

Just before midnight, we broke out the champagne and sparking apple cider to get ready to toast the New Year. There was Carson Daly, the on-screen countdown,the Ball dropping in Times Square, and then, of course, much clinking of glasses, hugs and kisses, and well-wishes for the year to come. There aren't a lot of people I would rather be with ushering in a New Year.

The next day was our Christmas part 2--the celebration of the cousins. Lisa's family and mine (along with Jim and Kathryn) got to exchange gifts among ourselves. The kids were all pretty excited that they had more presents to open a week after Christmas was over. Afterwards, the discarded paper and ribbons and bows decorated the floor of the living room while the kids all checked out their new toys. We grown-ups got in a little bit of an afternoon nap, which is a bit of a Christmas gift in and of itself.

Earlier in the day, my sister Laura had called to let us know that she would, in fact, be able to come up for the holidays for a quick two day visit, which was a welcome but unexpected surprise. She was traveling with her boyfriend and expected to arrive in the early evening. In the meantime, my kids' dad had plans to have dinner with not just our kids, but all of Lisa's as well. As it turns out, he was brave enough to take all of them (six of 'em) on for an overnight visit. That left us a little time to hang out as adults with Laura and her boyfriend before subjecting him to the firehose that can be our children in full force at Christmas-time.

Laura and her boyfriend Jonathan, Jim and Lisa, and Doug and I all went out to eat dinner at Applebee's. When we were done, we decided to walk across the parking lot to the bowling alley, where we all bowled pitifully but had a grand time doing so. (In all fairness, perhaps you couldn't call Jim's bowling pitiful, but I'm fairly certain that the rest of us fall pretty safely into that category.) Even Doug and Jim, who can be notoriously competitive, managed to scale it back a little and just enjoy the evening, even when it meant laughing at ourselves. Not ready yet to call it a night, we all came back to my place to play a little more Scattegories. We had a lot of fun, but realized the moratorium on competitive spirit only lasts just so long. For some people, playing the game is the fun; for some people, winning the game is the fun. It's probably a good thing we stopped when we did!

The next day was the real highlight of vacation. We decided to have a softball rematch (our first one was after Thanksgiving), and once again, we sent out the word to all of our friends who were in town. We welcomed anyone who wanted to show up, and we had quite a good turn-out. I believe it was close to thirty people, including Grandma, who came out to watch. Lisa and I were team captains again, this time heading up Team Danger and Team A Dingo Ate My Baby (Team Dingo, for short). Lots of strikes (Seven strikes? That's okay, let's try it again.), wild over-throwing to basemen (who were sometimes of the three-feet-tall variety), an abundance of good-natured heckling, and one super collision between Sister Captains later, Team Danger emerged victorious. The game wrapped up with team pictures and then a little jaunt to the adjacent playground for some swinging, monkey bars, and a rousing game of tag.

Later that evening, we dropped in our favorite local pizza place in full force. We had other friends who joined us there, so we definitely filled the house. As always, the pizza at Me 'n Ed's was great, but the time with family and friends was priceless. Thanks to our Facebook posts, we even had people join us we hadn't seen in years--it was so great catching up with every one! Afterwards, my darling daughter Brianna agreed to babysit some of the kids who were in attendance, and the adults went out for a little while to sing karaoke. Bree adores the kids she was watching, and all of the adults had a fabulous time. (We were especially excited that Lisa, David, and Carrie were all in town--that doesn't happen nearly enough!)

Incredible family, incredible friends, incredible couple of days.