24 Hour Strike!

Today the terms of my "mother" contract were renegotiated with my children successfully. My Union Leader (Bill) helped mediate the process. Effective Contract Negotiations will always include the following:

I. Know what your goals are and prepare a strategy:
What do you want. (*** This was easy! Children who do not whine, fuss and tantrum whenever asked to do something they do not wish to do.) What can you reasonably get: ***(Children who most often do not whine, fuss and tantrum whenever asked to do something they do not wish to do.) Identify and understand your strongest points and particularly why the other side needs you.***(They like to eat, wear clean clothes and get picked up from school. They also enjoy bedtime stories, homemade cookies and play dates!) Use your strong points and the reasons the other side need you as leverage to get what you want/need. ***(This took place during the "renegotiating" phase, and using these techniques the Parent Union successfully negotiated the following: No more tantrums when asked to do things they know they should ie: pick up possessions, put away clothes (washed by the Parent Union), as well as a sundry of other chores as agreed upon. The family rule of work first, play second should be honored. The new contract is currently on a 2 week probationary period, after which time a review will be necessary and rewards will be doled out liberally for holding up the terms.

Super Bill

I often tease Bill that he is Clark Kent by day and Superman by night. (I am not sure that is entirely accurate, just ask his boss, he is often Superman by day as well.) He comes home and rips off his suit (or business casual, or jeans, whatever-- you get my point) and turns into "SUPER BILL". Super Bill can coach 5 year old soccer, rake thousands of leaves, and renovate entire bathrooms in a single weekend! When his Super Son wants to make his room "super-cool"
by screwing a hundred records onto his wall, SUPER BILL is there with his power drill and trusty side-kick SUPER TARA (who can eyeball a straight line at a 100 paces!) And when the youngest SUPER BARBER decided he wants to ride a two wheeler. SUPER BILL is there with a wrench to dismantle training wheels and an ability to follow behind his small child with a steady hand!




When all at last is quiet in his SUPER HOME, SUPER BILL then retreats to his computer, once again a quiet Clark Kent solving his homework problems and saving small internet companies in a single bound! Is there nothing this SUPER HERO can't do?

My kid is smarter than your kid!

At least that was the feeling this morning at Romney's ELP assessment. We have a happy dilemma with Romney (We also have it with William, but William is settled in his school and doing well.)in that he is bright and learns easily. We have a choice to make that will affect his future schooling for years to come and it is daunting. Should we let him go to first grade, bypassing Kindergarten. This would make him the youngest and smallest in his classes forever! Should we put him in the ELP program (Extended Learning Program) at the district for the gifted students. Or should we let him go to normal Kindergarten in the school we love? Like I said, it is not a bad problem to have. We haven't made any final decisions yet, but we need to keep all of our options open while we do, which means we had to sign up for an ELP assessment at the district. Today was Romney's appointment day. What a surreal experience! I am a reserved chic, but even I, when at a table sitting across from someone, will toss a smile their way. I was in a waiting room full of waiting Mom's and the mood was tense in a strange way. I sat across the table from a woman and her child and kept trying to make eye contact with her to smile and maybe say "Hi", but she would not look at me even though I was 2 feet away from her. The mother at the next table also would not look at anyone or smile and the last woman kept her eyes on her magazine until her teenage daughter walked out with the Tester. At that point she assaulted the person who had tested her daughter about how she did and when they would know if she "got in". The tester wouldn't say anything, only coldly said "They will mail the results at the end of May". One by one, the other mother's charges were brought back to the waiting room with the same results. I was already 99% sure that I didn't think the ELP was a program that would fit our family (at least not our family's ideas about Elementary School), but being in that room for 30 minutes pretty much solidified it. I am curious to see where Romney tested (I will get those results in the mail by the end of May, you know.) And that lady across the table, 20 minutes later she still hadn't looked my way to receive a smile. Hope her kid "gets in".

Life's Work

I have been reading a book called LIFE'S WORK. It is really a collection of articles written by a New York Times Columnist about trying to balance working full-time with motherhood. I don't work outside the home and I have, of late, really been feeling de-valued by family, friends, and even myself for my choice to not work (for $). Am I smart enough to work outside the home? Do I even have any qualifications? What would I want to do that I am qualified for? Would anyone hire me? Would it make me more interesting to have a life outside of the walls of my home? What on earth would my resume look like? Would people take me seriously? Bill asked me the most important question: "Are you wanting this for yourself or because you want to impress other people?" Hmmm... hadn't thought about that question. A bit of both perhaps. Let's face it, it is nice to have people think you are an interesting, accomplished individual. The feminist in me wants to know that I COULD have it all, if I CHOSE to have it all. But then I got to thinking. Why do I need it all at the same time, no other generation of women in history has tried to manage as many of these rolls simultaneously as our own. I am not just sitting at home bidding my time until the kids leave and my "real life" begins. My real life is happening now. I have goals waiting to be accomplished as well as goals I have achieved. We all make choices in our lives about the direction we will go, if we all went the same way, how boring would life be.