Month: May 2007

Today Kiki came and asked me if she and a friend could make cookies. They had big plans to make a pile of cookies and sell them at a corner stand as a fundraiser. I happen to know that lemonade/cookie stands tend not to make much money when they’re set up in quiet residential neighborhoods. But the best way for Kiki to understand this is to let her experience it for herself. I agreed to let her make cookies on the stipulation that she reimburse me for the ingredients. She and her friend happily made a batch of cookies. Burned the cookies. Then made a triple batch of cookies. By this time it was 6 pm and I told her that she’d better freeze the cookie dough. That way she can bake the cookies on the day she intends to sell them. She cheerfully did this. Then I required her to clean up every bit of the mess that she made.

So far Kiki is still cheerful and hopeful. I intend to give this every chance to succeed. I’m going to recommend that she make flyers to pass out advertising the existence of her stand to neighborhood kids. But I expect that she and her friend will sit on the corner for hours and not make enough money to cover expenses. But she will never just take my word, she’ll have to learn this one for herself. And who knows, I could be wrong.

EDIT 5/14/2007: The sale happened last Saturday. Kiki and her friend sat on as street corner for 3 hours. They came home with a profit, but only because three adults seriously overpaid for their cookies. After expenses Kiki had a $2 profit. She enjoyed the experience, but doesn’t seem in a hurry to do it again.

Today was pleasant. The whirlwind in my brain quieted a little and I was able to drift along on the current of the day rather than constantly planning the next thing while still in the midst of the current thing. We were invited over for dinner and that was truly enjoyable. Eating food I didn’t have to cook is always nice, but the company was good as well. They even had a kid friendly house so I was able to relax rather than child manage. Even better, Gleek and Patches fell asleep on the ride home, so I didn’t even have to do a real bedtime.

Tomorrow I need to pick up my motivation again and get things done, but today was nice.

I went on Gleek’s kindergarten field trip today. I had a group of 6 kids to keep track of. I announced that they were all my chicks and I was their mother hen. That meant they needed to follow me everywhere. This declaration was met with a chorus of “Yay!” then the cheerfully trailed after me and cheeped all the way to the school bus. We got off the school bus and they followed me and cheeped until we got near the farm animals. Then they scattered. I spent the next hour calling “Where are my chickies?” and counting to 6.

When the field trip was almost through one of the little boys started scowling at me.
Me: “What’s wrong?”
Boy: “I don’t want to be a chick.”
Me: “Okay. You don’t have to be a chick. Would you like to be a rooster?”
Boy scowled even more: “No!”
Me: “What do you want to be?”
Boy: “A jedi!”

I agreed he could be a jedi as long as he stayed close to me. So for the rest of the trip I was calling out for my 5 chickies and my one Jedi. Things got really entertaining when the jedi decided that his purpose was to slay all the chicks with his lightsaber. Fortunately it was time to get on the bus.

Under “Pandemonium” in the dictionary, it should list “Kindergarten fieldtrip bus.”

According to this article, mothers do 8-10 jobs and work an average of 92 hours per week. If they were to receive monetary compensation for all of this work, they would make about $139,000 per year. Now I just need to find someone who’ll actually pay me for the work that I do.

Gleek has memorized my cell phone number. She calls me frequently when I’m away from the house without her. “Hi its me, Gleek. Daddy is taking me out to lunch.” Sometimes she needs something, so she will call me to ask about it. “Hi its me, Gleek. Kiki won’t give me a turn!” Sometimes I don’t hear the phone and she leaves me messages. She’s really quite good about it. “Hi its me, Gleek. Can I go play at my friend’s house?” I love the sound of her little voice on the phone. She sounds so much smaller and younger compared to the other voices I converse with. “Hi its me, Gleek. I can’t find my swimsuit!” Often there isn’t much I can do about her predicament until I get home, but I offer reassurance and she feels better knowing that I’ll help when I can. “Hi its me, Gleek. I just want you to come home now.” Sometimes she is crying and sniffling. It makes me want to snuggle her into my lap. Instead I offer her whatever comforting words I can muster.

I love that I live in an age with cell phones. I love that my little girl can feel connected with me even if I’m gone for awhile. I treasure these little conversations because I know that a time will come when her problems will not be so simple. The time will also come when it won’t be me that she calls with her problems. I wish my voicemail would save messages for more than 14 days. I’d like to save the little six-year-old-Gleek voice so I can treasure it when she’s gone on to become an older version of herself.

“Hi its me, Gleek. I love you mommy.”

Today was the day of the bi-annual dance festival at my kid’s elementary school. Each grade learns a different dance and then they perform them all for each other and for the parents. This year I had two kids involved, Link and Gleek. Kiki attends a different school and so didn’t get to participate, but I did check her out of her school so that she could attend. This is my fourth time attending the dance festival. It is always hot. The sun bakes the metal chairs and the pavement. The crowd swelters, everyone trying to locate their child among the hundreds out there dancing. The grass and the playground are cooler. That is where Patches spent most of his time. He didn’t care all that much about dancing. Kiki did though. She wiggled up front and sat down on the front row so she could see everything.

Link and Gleek were both very excited for this festival today. They were demonstrating their dances for me last night. Link got to do a mexican Machete dance. Naturally they didn’t use really knives, but imagination can do a lot with pvc tubes. Gleek got to do the electric slide. Her prop was a pair of sunglasses that she got to keep afterwards. Enthusiasm is not the same as rhythm. It is always amusing to watch these ensemble dances. Most of the kids are close to the right move, but everyone is peeking at their neighbors, trying to remember what comes next. No one cares though. The parents are all there to love their little darlings and the darlings themselves are glad to be doing something besides math.

After the festival was over, I gathered my crew in the shade of a tree and we just enjoyed the gentle breeze for a moment. Then we headed home and all the kids informed me that they deserved ice cream sandwiches. I agreed. So I dropped all the kids at home and left Kiki in charge while I left to get ice cream. The plan was that they would all change into bathing suits and I’d turn on the sprinklers.

I was gone for 15 minutes. In that time Patches had an accident in his swim suit. Kiki was grossed out by the resultant mess and called me for help. Then Gleek couldn’t find any of her swimsuits. She has three, but they were all awol because she persists in wearing them as often as possible. I returned home and resolved all the crises, then there was splashing and the eating of ice cream. I got to sit with my neighbor and visit while we watched our kids splash together. 8 kids, one sandbox, and a hose. There was a joyful mess.

I feel singularly unmotivated to get anything done. Hopefully I’ll find some motivation in time to cook dinner, but for now I’m just enjoying the festival day.