I've known people all through my life who have held down three jobs just to make ends meet. They go from one job to the next, barely enough time in between to feed or even say hi to their kids, and this is their life. The whole family adjusts to this crazy schedule...but it's only crazy to those not in it. What is crazy to one family may not be so crazy to another.
As a writer, I can work from anywhere. Right now, I am in the backyard with the laptop, sitting at the table while Amy plays in the water table and slides down the slide. Diana is learning Spanish at school and Matt is at work. It's quiet for the most part, aside from lawnmowers doing their business and some birds chirping.
For the last few months I have been writing a column for the local newspaper about being a stay-at-home mom. I've gotten good feedback from it and I really enjoying writing it. Last week, I picked up another freelance writing gig and I have another prospective offer to do some freelance work for a local company. That's three jobs. And I haven't even mentioned the stuff I do for Matt's basketball team and freelance work I do for some of the other sports teams at Solano, some PR stuff I do for the Solano president and part-time PR for Diana's theatre company. Whew.
That's OK. It's projects, and I love projects. I love staying busy and keeping my creative juices flowing.
I had a coffee meeting with a friend this morning and she said that maybe I was just going to be one of those people who freelances. I said I was OK with that because freelancing allows me to be involved with my kids' lives. I can take them to gymnastics, theatre and all their other activities and still have some money coming in. I just have to make sure I am cutting back in places.
The thing I look forward to every day though is taking Diana to school and picking her up. She really looks forward to school and I have been able to help out a friend/neighbor by having her daughter walk with us to school every day. I realize that there's nothing quite like being there to tell your kid to have a great day and being the first one to ask how their day was. Yes, all the in between stuff is hard - disciplining a 2-year-old, coming up with creative lunches every day, cleaning the house, staying sane - but it's all worth it when that little first grader runs over to me in the afternoon and tells me all about her day on the way home.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
First day of first!
There are new routines to adjust to on the first day of school. We have to get up a little earlier, there's more of a sense of urgency as the morning progresses and the to-do list is a little longer.
On Wednesday, Diana started first grade. She's been ready to go back to school for a while and, frankly, so have I. Unfortunately, even though she's excited, she still has no sense of urgency.
Diana woke up around 6:15 and got dressed right away (just like I told her was going to have to happen). I made breakfast and then got Amy going around 7. The little one is getting up about 30-45 minutes earlier than normal which sucks for her. Amy likes to chill in her crib for a while before greeting the family. She did well Wednesday though.
At the breakfast table, I had to remind Diana four times that we are not in talkative, summer, goof-off-at-the-table mode anymore. It's all business baby!
I admit to having a little anxiety on Wednesday but I wanted to make sure we got out of the house on time. Anticipating the traffic at school was at the forefront of my mind as well.
Once breakfast was over, Diana brushed her teeth and hair and put her shoes on. Once the clock struck 8, we were out the door and drove the 1 minute and 30 seconds down the street to school.
NEVER AGAIN.
So much traffic, so many people. I know it was the first day of school and all, but I had to park way down the street from school - it was nearly the equivalent of being at my house. What a waste of time.
There I was, pushing Amy in the stroller, lugging two reams of copy paper, a box of Kleenex and my purse with the camera in it. Meanwhile, Diana has a backpack that the crossing guard says makes her look like a turtle because it's so big. It's filled with supplies and she's carrying her lunch. We looked ridiculous but as I looked around at other families, we fit right in!
Diana was the first one in line and I didn't speak but two words to her the rest of the time. Once her teacher came out to greet the class, she went with her, put her backpack away and sat on the carpet. The teacher told the students to say "Hasta Luego" to the parents (remember, she's in Spanish Immersion) and Diana was still staring at the teacher as if to say "Yea, can we just start learning now?"
She finally turned around, waved and we left. I got a little misty eyed but I think it was more hurt feelings because my baby wouldn't say bye. Whatev, D! Momma doesn't forget! :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The next Erin Andrews
We put our kids in sports in hopes they will become the next great superstar athlete. The chances of that happening are slim and we all know it, but we have to take a chance, right? Besides, they are getting some exercise, making new friends and learning valuable lessons along the way. There are really few negatives to being involved with sports.
In the past nine months since Diana has been involved with various athletic endeavors, she has learned that maybe she actually enjoys sports. She tries really hard at everything she does, she smiles, she has a great attitude toward her coaches and teammates and it's led to an interest in the sports we watch at home on television.
Since it's summertime, that means she's paying more attention to the (World Champion) San Francisco Giants. They are on nearly every day and even though most of the games are on past her bedtime, she can catch the games when they playing on the East Coast. (I am sure that she will be a fan of the National League East someday).
Diana can tell us what the score is, what inning it is - including whether or not it's the top half or the bottom half - and knows that three outs is all ya' get. Now, granted, these are basic baseball facts that everyone should know, but remember, she's a girl and she's just started showing interest in baseball. She's picked it up pretty quick. Her favorite player is Pablo Sandoval but I don't think she could tell you any other player.
I was excited the other day to learn that she's been paying a lot more attention than I though after talking to a friend of mine (a sportswriter) who struck up a conversation with Diana at a barbecue.
He told me that he was impressed with Diana's baseball knowledge. I had no idea what he was referring to.
He said that she was excited because the Giants has won two games in a row and that they won that day 4-1. She was aware, he said, of the Giants' streak of hitting a home run with no runners on base (something Dad must have taught her). I was blown away by all this knowledge. My friend was impressed.
I thought all day about this and later told Matt that if nothing comes of Diana being an athlete (with the legs she's grown over the summer though, I am pretty sure sports are in her future), she's got a career in broadcasting for sure! I can just think 20 or so years from now watching Diana on SportsCenter - blonde hair and all - as the next Erin Andrews (minus the stalker of course).
See, there's more to participating in sports than the physical side of it!
In the past nine months since Diana has been involved with various athletic endeavors, she has learned that maybe she actually enjoys sports. She tries really hard at everything she does, she smiles, she has a great attitude toward her coaches and teammates and it's led to an interest in the sports we watch at home on television.
Since it's summertime, that means she's paying more attention to the (World Champion) San Francisco Giants. They are on nearly every day and even though most of the games are on past her bedtime, she can catch the games when they playing on the East Coast. (I am sure that she will be a fan of the National League East someday).
Diana can tell us what the score is, what inning it is - including whether or not it's the top half or the bottom half - and knows that three outs is all ya' get. Now, granted, these are basic baseball facts that everyone should know, but remember, she's a girl and she's just started showing interest in baseball. She's picked it up pretty quick. Her favorite player is Pablo Sandoval but I don't think she could tell you any other player.
I was excited the other day to learn that she's been paying a lot more attention than I though after talking to a friend of mine (a sportswriter) who struck up a conversation with Diana at a barbecue.
He told me that he was impressed with Diana's baseball knowledge. I had no idea what he was referring to.
He said that she was excited because the Giants has won two games in a row and that they won that day 4-1. She was aware, he said, of the Giants' streak of hitting a home run with no runners on base (something Dad must have taught her). I was blown away by all this knowledge. My friend was impressed.
I thought all day about this and later told Matt that if nothing comes of Diana being an athlete (with the legs she's grown over the summer though, I am pretty sure sports are in her future), she's got a career in broadcasting for sure! I can just think 20 or so years from now watching Diana on SportsCenter - blonde hair and all - as the next Erin Andrews (minus the stalker of course).
See, there's more to participating in sports than the physical side of it!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Our venture into signing
Amy began her second week of speech therapy this week. I sit on the couch and let the therapist work her magic for 30 minutes twice a week. She's teaching her a little bit of sign language which I am not totally for, but it's not a lot of signing. She's taught her how to say "more cookies please", "fish", "apple" and some others. She brings Amy snacks and encourages her to use her words if she wants another snack. I practice her signing with her at home while also encouraging her to use her words when she needs or wants something.
The two of them play with a train and the therapist shows her pictures of objects, encouraging Amy to look at her mouth while she says the word. She's impressed with Amy's jaw movement and how well she uses her tongue to chew, etc. The words will come, she tells me. (I'm still not concerned.)
The thing I realized this past week and I think the therapist realized it too, is that Amy just doesn't want to talk. She's not ready. Diana wasn't ready at this age. She knows how to ask for more cookies or Goldfish crackers, but instead she whines and points to them. We remind her to use her words and after a little bit of encouragement, she signs for them. The therapist says that she has several kids who are in the same phase as Amy and they don't seem to want to talk either.
While the girls were at Camp Gramma V, Diana taught Amy to say "Dada" so now everytime Matt comes home, he asks Amy who he is. When we sit down to dinner, he looks across the table and asks her who he is. "Dada" she replies. He chuckles. I just remind him who her favorite is...he shrugs because he knows the answer to that is me.
Amy's vocabulary is slowly expanding. I just don't know that it's because of speech therapy.
The two of them play with a train and the therapist shows her pictures of objects, encouraging Amy to look at her mouth while she says the word. She's impressed with Amy's jaw movement and how well she uses her tongue to chew, etc. The words will come, she tells me. (I'm still not concerned.)
The thing I realized this past week and I think the therapist realized it too, is that Amy just doesn't want to talk. She's not ready. Diana wasn't ready at this age. She knows how to ask for more cookies or Goldfish crackers, but instead she whines and points to them. We remind her to use her words and after a little bit of encouragement, she signs for them. The therapist says that she has several kids who are in the same phase as Amy and they don't seem to want to talk either.
While the girls were at Camp Gramma V, Diana taught Amy to say "Dada" so now everytime Matt comes home, he asks Amy who he is. When we sit down to dinner, he looks across the table and asks her who he is. "Dada" she replies. He chuckles. I just remind him who her favorite is...he shrugs because he knows the answer to that is me.
Amy's vocabulary is slowly expanding. I just don't know that it's because of speech therapy.
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