The kids are ready to walk out the door for school at 7:15 this morning. I remind my oldest daughter that she typed an essay yesterday for US History class, and does she have it with her? Nope, it's still sitting in the printer. Oops!! The printer only printed out part of the first page and had a paper jam, so we now have to reprint all three pages, but luckily her laptop was powered up, so that didn't take TOO long.

Then, I remind my younger daughter to take her science project to school. Her father and I were gluing the printout to posterboard and burning the power point presentation to a CD at 10:00 last night. By the way, while the kids were eating breakfast, the cat jumped up on the dining room table, picked at the corner of one of the pages on the poster and started chewing it. That was quickly taken care of with a glue stick, though, and I told her to tell her teacher that the cat ate her homework.

We FINALLY get in the car 4 minutes late (believe me, every minute counts on school mornings) and my daughter tells me that she can't find the CD for her science project. May I remind everyone that all she had to do was walk from the dining room to the garage with it, and managed to lose it. We ran back in the house to look for it, but it was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, my older daughter is screaming that she's going to be late for school, that she has a Chem test first period, and that she's going to get a detention for being late, on top of missing valuable moments for her test (and the way she's doing in Chem, she needs every second, trust me).

Well, we still can't find the CD in the house. I tell my daughter to run out to the car and see if she put it in her backpack. She finds it on the seat of the car. She couldn't find it originally because she was sitting on it.

We finally drive off to school 7 minutes late, and 3 minutes before my older daughter's first bell. At red lights, between screaming the words, "How many times have I told you kids to have everything ready the night before?!", I'm scribbling an excuse note for my older daughter so that she won't get detention, and finally dropped them off and came back home.

I was just wondering if these things happen to other people, or is it just the complete and utter anarchy that reigns in my house?

Yep. Nothing like having a deadline to hand in your thesis, and have to stand in line at the printing lab for a half an hour, only to find that the professor went home early for the day, and it won't be due for another week. All in a days work.

Don't feel bad. It's everybody else, too!

You sure that you're not talking about my kids?

Very stressful indeed. I just have those kinds of days once I get into work.

I want to be a fly on the wall when your daughter tells her teacher the cat ate her homework. Priceless!!!

As far as your daughter's cd, I haven't heard the words "sit on it" since reruns of Happy days.

Boy that is so true! I remember those days so well. The checking homework, dropping off, picking up, going to school events, etc. I always hated it when the kids needed rides to this and that event and my kids would say, "so and so's mom can drop us off, if you can pick us up." I always felt "I" was the one who would have to leave just before bedtime to get in the car. That made me so mad. Now, with both daughters grown and on their own, I look at those days fondly believe or not.

I am amazed when I see my daughter so busy with three kids, all the time and ask myself, "did I actually go through that too?"

True story that gave me a chuckle: A couple weeks ago my daughter and I went to the Italian Market. She had the baby in one of those pouches you carry over your chest, and the two others pulling on her pantleg asking question after question, picking on each other, etc. A guy in the store looks at her and says in a joking way, "So, what do you do in your spare time?"



TIS

Well, at least I'm not the only one. I see some of these moms at school, every hair in place, and I wonder how they juggle everything. Usually, after a morning like that, I have to go to the office, but at least today is a work from home day.

My daughter's science teacher is a good guy, and he's allergic to cats, so he'll love this story. However, I really should post the rubric for this project. Keep in mind that these kids are 12!!!

Each student was assigned an element to research, and given 26 questions to answer. The assignment was to do a poster, plus either a diorama (I still don't understand what those are), a video, a board game or a power point presentation based on your answers to the 26 questions. And they were instructed that the 26 questions were a MINIMUM. We went with the power point (how do you do a board game about sodium?), which had to be a minimum of 15 "content" slides (title and bibliography don't count) with a minimum of four graphics/animations/pictures/sounds per slide. But it shouldn't be distracting!! How do you do both?????

You're frightening me SB! So what you are saying is that once they hit kindergarten, I should ship 'em off to boarding school? Thanks for the sneak peek into my life 8 years from now!

Good luck in maintaining your sanity.

Is that close to diarrhea?

Those moms with the perfectly coiffed hair probably just drank a shot of taquilla or are on their way to visit Dr. Melfi as we speak.

I've experienced quite a few of those moments.

My two sons (6th and 8th grades) go to middle school, and have to get their bus at 7:00. My older son is pretty responsible, but my younger son is looking for his homework or still packing his bag at the last moment.

My daughter (3rd grade) goes to an elementary school, which is directly across the street from my wife's business, so she gets a ride from my wife. She too frequently forgets things in the morning.

What happens to us is that I may get a frantic call in the afternoon that one of the kids left his or her bat bag in my car from the previous night's practice, and they need it right away.

Six kids and every day was a Tabula Rosa. Fortunately, the grandkids are in awe of granddad and do just what I tell them.

8 years from now?? Heck, in 3rd grade, there was the project to make a model of the Earth, Moon and Sun and the Earth and Moon had to both rotate AND revolve. Try to get an 8 year old to figure that one out.

Or the other 3rd grade project when they had to make a model of a lunar module out of completely recycled materials, and then write a letter to NASA explaining WHY their vehicle should be chosen, and there had to be actual scientific reasons for the materials you used (for example, the old tinfoil was a heat shield, the corrugated cardboard would glide over the moon's surface, etc.).

Or in 4th grade, when they were studying Native Americans, and had to make a model of a longhouse out of actual branches and tree bark (a wonder nobody caught lyme disease).

Or in 8th grade, when they had to make a model of The Washington Monument that was in proportion to the actual monument, because they were studying ratios in Math and going to Washington that spring.

Or when they had to build a model of an igloo out of sugar cubes for History class in 7th grade (try it - it's NOT fun). OR the family tree that had to be made out of an actual tree ($27 at the craft store), and not just drawn on paper.

Mr. Babe and I keep a catalogue of stupid projects (read a book, write a one page summary, then draw a picture of the main character and make a jigsaw puzzle out of it!!) that we've worked on over the years. And the school tends to keep them (I'm sure that they throw them out), so that you can't reuse them for siblings.

I'm a firm believer that those projects aren't designed so much to teach the kids, but rather to frustrate the parents.

Our diaramas (and I only learned that word from my kids) involved making colonial farmhouses, and biological displays. We also did the solar system project, which seemed easy, but turned out to be painful.

I didn't serve my son well in October when he had to make a self-propelled vehicle that travels eight feet,using dowels, rubber bands and cd discs for wheels. Two years earlier, I successfully helped my older son build one, but in October, my younger boy couldn't get his car to go 8 ft.

So, a month ago, they were required to build a desk top catapult that could launch a marsmallow 6 feet. We made one that threw the damned marshmallow 40 feet to make up for our earlier failures.

By the way, that science project about sodium seems like a parental nightmare.

My daughter completes all her homework at least 3 days before the deadline. And my son not only finishes his own homeworks on time, but also helps his sister by cross verifying all the answers. On the days of test, they get ready two hours before the actual test time. They take turns washing my car, feeding the pets and shining my wife's shoes etc. I drop them off at the school one hour ahead of time ....they do their revision for the test in the backseat of the car, while I peacefully drive listening to radio.

This is why I believe in cloning.

Yes. Only I'm too tired of going through similar things to type my day down to make you feel better and not alone.

That's the type of parent that gives other parents nightmares!!

That reminds me of the time my daughter failed her Technology project (what we used to call Shop) because she couldn't build a bridge that would hold the weight of a textbook, using only index cards and string.

It would be a miracle if my 10 year old son would get ready for school on time. We live close enough that I take him and pick him up everyday. The other day we were running late I manage to get him to school on time but wouldn't you know it he forgot his bookbag at the house I even put it right by his coat and shoes so he wouldn't forget it and he did.

Well maybe if you stopped cooking his leather britches, he wouldn't be late because he wouldn't have to look for his pants!

He don't like leather britches

I understand totally!
Four kids aged 11,9,7 and 8 months!
I work shifts with plenty of over-time on top!
I have a Mother who makes Tony Soprano's mom seem like Mother Theresa....
Yeah we have stress days here too

SB, all this stuff happened today cuz it's Friday the 13th.
Are you superstitious?

I realized that while I was writing my daughter's excuse note for being late. It struck me as rather ironic!

Diversity makes the world go 'round. Sometimes I wonder how some people make it through life. My daughter is 27 and we still have to help her make decisions and cope with life.....and this is a girl who has a Masters degree and teaches 8th grade! A parent's job is never done. Hang in SB. Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems. Wow, I'm glad I'm normal ;>/

MC,
Ask her if she makes her students do these kinds of stupid projects.

Time hasn't definitely changed for better during last 20 years. I don't recall getting help on doing my homework from my parents. If I was lucky, I could ask my sister or brother to help me, and that was if they felt like it. Even for writing skills, no one had time to give me a dictation; my mom usually would've told me to write from the book!!! and then write something wrong so she can correct it and give me a grade!!!

Of course we walked to school and sometimes my dad would've given me and the neighbor's daughter a ride. But then I should mention that I never sat behind locked doors because no one was at home to open the door, my breakfast was always ready and my clothes was always clean so that I can get to school in time.

But now things have changed. My brother and sister seem to do much of their kids' school work, and the school work seems to be more suitable for parents than kids. You can't let kids walk from schools, because in the best case scenario, they are too careless and they may get run over by cars. They also don't seem to feel responsible for preparing their bags, or trying to hold on to their stationery for one lousy day.

And yet, as we all know these things, we can't help but help kids and push them forward, because it is somehow a more competitive world than it used to be. I pity these kids, I really do.