Archive for the ‘Extra Curricular Activities’ Category

…hold me.

She’s bouncing off the walls of course.
Pup: LOOK! Here’s how to put it together. Grab this, put it here.
Me: wow. Detailed. How long did that take you to learn?
Pup: twenty minutes! (she’s kidding, of course)

Pup: Wanna know how to mouth it?
Me: You already know how to be mouthy.
Pup: MOM! It’s easy. You make a fart noise. The boys caught on REAL fast.
Me: of course they did.
Pup: LISTEN!
Me: WHAT? I CANT HEAR ANYMORE ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOUD TRUMPET NOISE!

…is this what they meant by the coming of the Apocalypse being heralded by a trumpet?

Pup: I GOT SPIT ON MY LEG! GROSS.

Pup: When I went over to play for Grandpa? He covered the end of my Trumpet! He was playing with me but (fake cries) it made me so SAD (giggles)

Me: don’t they have silencers or something?
PUP: MOOOOOOOOOOOM. Hey! Mom! Don’t you dare put that on Parenting Teens! OMG you ARE putting it on the INTERNETS! I’ll be FAMOUS! I mean..HEY! I’m not a Teen!

Me: This is in case I don’t let you live long enough to OFFICIALLY count as a teen. For instance, if you blow that thing in my ear one more time…

…help me.

My girls are all about projects: drawing and creating and writing and coloring and painting and everything in between. I have boxes and boxes and piles and walls FILLED with their masterpieces, each one special and unique and showing another part of my daughters’ creative spirit – something I love to encourage.

The ever-lovely Marissa contacted me recently with a new site to check out – The Creative Park for Creative Minds site, sponsored by Cannon. It’s fun, free, and has a TON of craft projects for you’re little budding artists to try. They have ideas and templates for any lesson plan (for those teachers among us!) and helpful tips too! There’s 3D Paper Crafts, scrapbooks, calendars and even some tips for your digital photography! There are interactive projects that help teach kids about geography, history, social studies, science and more! Who doesn’t want to teach our kids something when they don’t even realize they’re being taught? Sneaky teaching is fun!

To help take those projects to the next level, check out the Learning to Create site, and then pop over to the Cannon Creative Park for even more ideas and projects for the whole family!

Some days, in this whole parenting teens business, I have moments where I really appreciate my real mom, and what she had to go through. And by that, I mean in raising my sister, because I was the perfect child and teenager, and never did anything wrong.

Stop laughing.

Anyway – AS I was SAYING.. the number one thing parenting has taught me is that my mom was a lot smarter, and a lot more patient than I thought at the time. She never could have taught me that lesson, but she delights in watching my kids do it.

Take today for example. You see, Peppermist has decided to stay in the band for another year for one reason only – Spring Break Band Trip. They’ll be going to Florida to participate in a festival, and she’s been looking forward to it. We found out about the trip at the end of last year, and were told we would get more information the first week of school.

What we got was a demand for the first payment, in a week.

…you don’t EVEN want to know my reaction to that. Or when I asked if we could make a double payment in October after dividends (which is paying for the trip) get here, and was very snootily told “Just take it from your savings or put it on your credit card.” Way to assume I have either, bitch. Sheesh. (I don’t. Heh.)

I manged to scrape it together (don’t ask, and mom, don’t worry!) and sent it in an envelope with her to school yesterday, knowing it was due today and we were in the clear until October’s payment.

Fast forward to this morning – Peppermist is sick with an earache so bad it makes her cry, so after I was done laughing at her, (…what?) I let her stay home. She called her BFF when school is over, and asked her to get the payment to the office. The payment she left in her locker yesterday, instead of turning it in like she was told. The payment that now is officially ‘late’ as the office doesn’t accept such things after 5th period. The payment which now has me so irritated I could probably kick her ass all the way to Florida with one swift punt to the britches. Yeah. THAT payment.

She enticed her BFF to try anyway, and I grabbed the house phone and called the office, and begged the secretary to please make an exception as Peppermist wasn’t at school today. Then, her BFF didn’t answer her phone or call to let us know it was accepted. So what did I have to do? Get into the car, take Peppermist to school, so that she could check at the office to make sure that the payment was made, and she was in the clear.

It’s days like this that make me appreciate my mom, and all the crap my sister we put her through: the numerous trips to school and back, multiple times a day, sometimes, for various reasons, the trips that cash was scraped up for, and even her exasperated look which I’m well on my way to perfecting myself.

So, in case I haven’t said it lately? Thanks, mom. You rock.

(…can I have a ride to the mall?)

(J/K)

Peppermist: MOM! Don’t bring the camera. It’s our first performance! We JUST learned the routine this morning! And you’re gonna put it on the internets, so leave the camera at home!
Me: What, are you freakin’ NEW?! Have we met? Hi. I’m yer mum. I bitch about teenagers on the internet. With pictures. And video. Welcome to your life.
Peppermist: MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

(For the record – she laughed. She thinks you all are imaginary anyway. )

So I told ya earlier about the color guard. The first day -she got up RIGHT AWAY. After that, I’ve had to drag her out of bed every day. She even slept through the new old style REALLY FREAKIN LOUD alarm I got her. But being the good mom that I am, I wake her up and get her to practice every day.

And her payback for making me drag her around at so early an hour? This:

For a first performance? they did really well. Especially as they only had a week to practice. Mainly this video is so that we can compare through the season, and see how awesome she – and the rest of the color guard becomes.

At least – that’s my excuse. Bottom line? I just love to embarrass my kids.

As most of you know (but if you don’t, consider this the HI GUYS GUESS WHAT portion of the entry), I live in Alaska, and have for most of my life. One of the benefits of living here is the scenery – we’re surrounded by mountains, and hills and forests and trees and all the wildlife that entails – including (but not limited too) an annual parade of Mama and Baby moose that live in our neighborhood. One year one even birthed her calves in my sister’s back yard!

I only lived elsewhere for the first 8 years of my life, and the only really vivid memory I have of that city was the HUGE climbing tree in my front yard. Coincidentally, that’s also what I miss… a good climbing tree. These up here are… spindly. But fortunately, that’s not all there is to be explored around here!

I always love it when Deana emails me. She always has the good stuff! Recently, while we were moving to our new pages here, she sent me an email letting me know about the new PSA campaign from the US Forest Service and introduced “Where the other you lives”. It’s aim is simple – help you help your kids to reconnect with nature, disconnect the Game Systems for a while, and having some good, old fashioned, outdoor adventures!

While the campaign is aimed at our tweens, primarily, that doesn’t make it any less viable for your teenagers. If nothing else, they need to scope out their next wild and parentless party and/or lover’s lane location!

….what?

Here’s the thing. U.S. children spend 50% less time outdoors than 20 years ago, and research shows that children who play outside play more creatively, have lower stress levels, more active imaginations, are fitter and leaner, with stronger immune systems, a greater respect for themselves, others and the environment. An overwhelming amount of tweens even WANT to be out there hiking the trails and kicking rocks!

So what are YOU waiting for? Check out DiscoverTheForest.org for places to go and things to do. Find your way back to Nature today!

PS – speaking of the ever lovely Deana giving us the good stuff? Stay tuned! We’ve something AWESOME cooked up just for you! Be sure to check back in the upcoming days!!!

It’s official. My teenage daughter has completed the Geek Trifecta: Choir Geek, Band Geek, Drama Geek. Now, around here, that’s not a bad thing at all, as it falls in the family tradition – I played piano, was in many renditions of choir, and also a drama geek. Nana was two of the three, though she didn’t play an instrument (unless we count playing Papa like a fiddle! badaDUM!).

Anyway, being in drama runs in the family, that’s all I’m sayin. And this weekend, The Girl officially took her place as the newest in a long line of Drama Queens, as the Cook Sarah, in The Man who came to dinner.

I saw the first and the third (final) shows, and was told I HAD to attend the last one, as in the show I missed, she flubbed one of her lines. The Drama Teacher Mrs. J didn’t even notice though, so I assured her it was fine, while telling her Drama Horror Stories of my own. (Cheaper by the Dozen. Act III. Two eerily similar lines. Said the second one first – thus skipping SIX PAGES of dialog. Calling one of the chars by a wrong name pales in comparison, don’tcha think? *L*)

The kiddos did a fine job showing off their acting chops. There were some shining stars, a couple of misses, but all in all it’s a very fun play that had us giggling and applauding throughout. When I asked one of my boys (Who played the lead, Sheridon Whiteside) how my daughter was as an actress, he said “Surprisingly good.” So I got him back after the first performance, and asked him WHEN he was gonna start acting, as all I saw in that rude ole boy was G. Ha!

As with any high school play – there were some missed cues, a couple of lighting mishaps, and a mishmash cross-section of High School Kids who had come together to create something they could – and should! – be proud of. There were geeks and jocks and cheerleaders/plastics and stoners and norms – and they all worked really hard over 8 weeks to make it all come together. I couldn’t have been prouder, even as I wished more folks had come out to support our kids and see the play.

Those of us who cared enough to go (multiple times in most cases!) however, made up for everyone who didn’t. There were flowers given, applause, and many accolades for our Drama Geeks – but we can always use more help.

Trust me on this one – if your local high school is putting on a show… go. You won’t be disappointed, and these young souls, the rising stars of tomorrow (or the Future Drama Geek Mama who couldn’t be prouder) deserve ALL the support we can give them!

So, remember the other day, when I encouraged other parents to go support their kids at concerts, even band concerts, even when they were in high school? And remember how I preened because I’d been to almost every one of my kids concerts? And you were all like “oh give me a break, no one’s that’s perfect!”? Yeah, remember that?

Yeah. That. Now? I’m having an f’in Monday.

You see, there are SOME concerts I don’t go too – namely those that involve Honor Band/Choir in cities farther then 20 minutes away. I have good excuses, of course – I go to ALL THE OTHER ONES, we have a dog with separation anxiety that can’t be left alone, there’s my other kids to think of, the car isn’t in tiptop condition and some trips I just don’t trust it on, no really I don’t want to chaperon a bunch of kids that aren’t mine, that you won’t let me beat throw off the bus throw things at, you know, like punches help ensure good behavior, in my own way, of course. (Oh stop, I’m kidding. Sort of.) Point is, there are a lot of reasons why I usually skip those long distance concerts. (Though, to be COMPLETELY honest, had someone paid my way? I’d have happily gone to the ones two years ago in Spain/France. Just sayin’.)

Well, it’s time for Honor Choir, and my 14 year old daughter (naturally) made it, and it’s in Homer this year – a two hour drive away. The permission slip came home last week, I signed it, and returned it – forgetting that this time? ALL THE INFO WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PERMISSION SLIP. The permission slip that was just turned in. That had all the info on it. Like time, place, bus info, etc. Yeah. THAT permission slip.

Which brings us to this morning.

In typical Monday fashion, I drug The Girl out of bed, with force and grumbled words and muttered threats, and sent her on her way for breakfast at Papa’s, and a ride to high school. I sent the youngest down after that… and got the phone call at 7:45am, just moments after The Girl had walked into her school.

My daughter. In tears. Honor Choir. Bus gone already. Mom, we forgot. Mom I don’t know what to do! Mom…

Ugh. I’ve been doing this parent thing for over 16 years now, and I’d NEVER EVER NOT ONCE fucked up a field trip. Not even the early morning bus rides. I make sure I have secondary parents to call and make sure we don’t sleep through the alarm, I set more then one alarm, sometimes I even STAY UP ALL NIGHT just to make sure my baby gets on that bus at some god awful hour in the morning, in the dark, to see some wonderful Alaskan thing or another, to sing with other schools, to play instruments with them, whatever. I NEVER FORGET.

I forgot.
And she was crying.
And I was crying.
Oh, the tears!

So, I asked the secretary if I were able to get the girl child to Homer, if they’d let her sing? They called the teacher’s cell phone, and no answer. They were dubious. We were dubious. My decision was already made. I told the girl to wait there, I’d be there in a minute. I called the sister (yes, more tears!) and woke her up, and got her to take the dog for the day. I called the Papa to let him know what was going on, and assured him that the car would make it even if I HAD TO PUSH IT. And if you knew the size of that last hill? You’d realize what a feat that would be! I grabbed the laptop in case I had to stay because they wouldn’t let her on the bus, and I had drive her home too. I grabbed a coat, put on my shoes (sandals, no socks) my bra (impressive, I know) and dashed out the door.

Without even COFFEE first.

The girl and I, we had fun on the way down. We reasoned that even if they don’t let her sing by some EVIL TWIST of ass-biting MONDAY type fate, we would spend the day together in homer, laughing and chatting and giggling as we always do when we’re out and about. We chatted, and giggled, and threatened to “Keel you. keel you ded. like with a rock or sumpin!” (Don’t ask – it’s a teenager thing! It’s on a sticker, apparently. It’s also hysterical when you’ve only had 2 hours of sleep and are on an emergency road trip. And have the mind of a teenage boy. Trust me.)

We had almost gotten to Homer, I was making pretty damn good time. (Going Exactly The Speed Limit. Honest. (ha!) Though we did mysteriously hit a time warp that had us making the 1.5-2hr trip in just 1hr 15 minutes or so…) I called Mom to make sure I knew how to get to the high school, then I called the high school to get notice to our Choir teacher that I was coming, she WOULD be there – just an hour late or so. Everything was looking up! They couldn’t possibly tell her she couldn’t sing once she got there. It was going to be OK!

I am driving slowly through Homer, looking for the right turn off for the school, and hey! what’s that? Oh yes. SIRENS AND SHINY LIGHTS. Behind me. Following me. Pulling. Me. Over.

Crap.

As slowly as I was going – it was 10 miles over the limit (25mph? I the middle of town? SRSLY Homer?!), my taillight was out, AND he caught me trying to slip on my seatbelt without him seeing me. Heh. Heh. Heh. He was a nice guy, and I got ticketed for the lack of seat belt, and warned for everything else, AND he gave me directions to the school.

Right across the street.
I KNOW RIGHT? Almost in the clear. ALMOST.

We got her to the school, I turned off the car, hopped out of said car, and walked real fast (I don’t run. Ever.) inside, and checked in, getting her into the theater with the Choir at 9:20am, not even a full hour late. Whew. They assured me she could ride the bus home, pointed me to the bathrooms, and the nearest coffee shop, and after a hug and exchange of lunch money with the girl, I walked out.

And couldn’t see my car. It wasn’t where I’d left it. Ummmmm… yeah. Shift the gaze over, and hey, there it is, nestled all gently, bumpers sweetly kissing, the Big Ass SUV that was parked across the way from me.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Apparently, I had neglected to put the damn thing in park, and it went on a nice slow little roll, until it bumped bumpers with the BASUV about 30 feet behind it. Whoops? So I checked it out – no scratch, no paint, just a rubber to rubber kiss, so I did the natural thing. Jumped into my car and got the hell outa there!

Straight to the coffee shop – driving a very careful 25 mph WITH my seatbelt on, where I settled down with an IV bag of Mocha, a blueberry muffin, and Scooter – my Laptop. I discovered that what once was free wi-fi all over the Homer Area, now cost at least $5 for 4 hours of use. I grumbled, paid my $5, and then? It wouldn’t. even. load. my email. OMG so slow.

It was time to give up. After I finished my coffee, I decided not to bother going around for photo ops – though I did take the one above at the Top Of The Hill, because oh so pretty! – and headed home. Driving the speed limit. (mostly.) With my seatbelt on. Singing at the top of my lungs to stay awake. Jittery from the coffee. Only to get home, get lunch, get my dog, eat and GO TO BED.

The End.

Happy ‘effin Monday, ya’ll. May Karma treat you Kinder than me!
(and you can bet she won’t miss the damn bus TOMORROW. Don’t mind me – I’ll be sitting at home, wrapped in bubblewrap, just in case.)

Ok, first off – how is it the middle of October already?! I mean, I know my parents (in one of their infinite moments of delusion!) used to complain that the years went by faster and faster as you got older, but this is ridiculous! People are talking about Christmas already, for heavens sake! We just HAD Christmas! Harumph. (I hear you laughing, Nana…)

Anyway, a couple of days ago was the my daughter’s first High School Band Concert. Now, I know I’ve bitched about band before, but I’m the first to admit that I’m glad we’ve made it through to the high school years, where they actually sound good almost all of the time! No clarinet squeaks, better music choices, leadership, ensembles and drumline – which we’ll get to in a moment.

Don’t they look nice?!

It was a relatively short concert, as it was only the high school band instead of both jr. high and high school – Mrs. S. teaches both. Along with the music choices, and the talent of the band, something else stood out to me that night – something a lot less pleasurable.

The audience. Or more exactly, the LACK of audience.

All through Grade school and Jr. High, it’s standing room only – friends and family, and random people with nothing better to do then count clarinet squeaks pile into the gyms, the auditoriums, the venues in order to support their children as they struggle to find their musical footing. At this weeks high school concert – their were more kids on the stage than people in the audience. Maybe it’s because high school kids drive themselves, but that’s no excuse. It’s really not.

I get a ton of referrals for people asking what their parental responsibility is for their teenagers. First and foremost, you are responsible to raise them well, to discipline them when called for, and to love and support them in every endeavor they choose to take on – every one of them. If you want your kids to make wise choices, then you have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is – or in this case, your ass in the auditorium seat – and support those choices, 100%.

You think those kids didn’t notices the empty seats? You think they didn’t notice who’s parents are there, and who’s aren’t? One teenager actually said in passing to mine “Oh! you’re mom is here! She’s always here, though, isn’t she? I forget that. Mine never are.” It was said matter of factly, but the look in her eyes betrayed the real thoughts behind it.

I’ve had my considerable behind shoved into many an uncomfortable seat over the years. Concerts and programs and plays and more concerts… I’ve sat through hours upon hours of practice leading up to the events, as well as more hours then I can count watching the performances too. I know we’re busy, we’re trying to support our kids in any number of ways – but don’t you think that being there is much more important than that extra hour of work? Don’t you think that showing up would mean more to them than having an extra gift come the holidays?

Times are rough all over right now, but trust me, the two hours spent in support of your teenager will go far in shaping the person they are to become. So its time to get off our asses, record Heroes like every one else in the audience did (or come to my house and watch it since I DID record it) and support your teenagers. They may act like it’s no big deal, but it is. They’ve just been trained to accept you won’t be there.

Surprise them.
Surprise yourself.
It’ll be worth it, to both of you, I promise.

Oh yeah – drum line. I’m doomed. My 9 year old watched their performance in AWE. “OMG MOM THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” Drums. Somehow, I think in a couple of years? I’ll be missing the squeak of the clarinet…

– First off, the 3rd place winner of the Giveaway hasn’t gotten a hold of me yet, so Amanda Sue in fourth place, check your email. You can give me your choice of the last two books, and I’ll hold on to the remaining one for Pamela when she answers her email. I hope to get them all out by Friday. Thanks again for participating, and to Phenix & Phenix for donating the books to give away! -

Now. Drama. This time, though, I don’t mean of the teenage angsty sort – or at least not yet. It seems my daughter decided to try out for the upcoming play put on by the Drama Club. I cannot TELL you how giddy this makes me! Of all the extra activities that my kids have participated in, the one I was beginning to figure I’d have to wait for my youngest to hit high school to participate in was Drama. Thus, I am thrilled beyond belief that not only did she try out, but she got a part her first try out of the gate! MK, her BFF (and The Boy’s GF) got a part as well, so they’re happily over at the school rehearsing today.

YAY!

In case it’s not abundantly clear – I was a drama geek in high school. I only attended public school for my last two years of high school, the same school that my two oldest are attending now. The idea of clubs and such was pretty foriegn to me, as in the tiny private schools I attended, we were more apt to have “Learn 50 Bible Verses in 50 Days” instead of “put on costumes and pretend to be someone else for a while” activities. Unless of course, we were putting on costumes to pretend to be Moses. or Jesus. You know how it goes.

One of the best high school memories I have, though, is the year the Drama Club went to New York City for a week. We raised money, we held events, we pooled our pennies, and something like 18 of us were wisked away from small town Alaska to the Big Apple. NYC will never be the same! We saw 4 Broadway plays – one of which resulted in the eventual firing of our Drama Club Teacher, because the parents didn’t approve of our just up and going to see Le Cage Aux Folles, when we got the chance. We loved it, of course, but the parents? not so much. I think my mom is STILL upset at Ms. W for that one! We also saw Cats – on Broadway. It was, quite simply, AMAZING. We also saw I’m Not Rappaport, and Big River. We did a TON of sight seeing, walking, and general ooohing and ahhing at buildings bigger then we ever dreamed. We went to the top of the Twin Towers, we hit the top of the Eiffle Tower, we hit the Crown in the Statue of Liberty. For a group of kids from a tiny town where the biggest building was 2 stories tall, a town that had just gotten it’s very first traffic light – it was a VERY. BIG. DEAL.

Now, I don’t know if my kid will be able to take a trip like that, if they even still do trips like that for the Drama club, but I do know that when the curtain rises on her very first play and every play therafter, I’ll be there, Video Camera in hand, cheering loudly for my kid(s).

After all, it beats the hell outa Band concerts!

Break a leg, kiddos! Break a leg!