Category Archives: Education

There’s always that one week in September

Listen. You didn’t mean to be that person who was flipping off the sun while screaming a few choice words in the middle of your kids’ elementary school playground at 2:30 in the afternoon (much to the horror of the teachers and the utter delight of the students).  

But in your defense, that wasn’t really you. You’re not That Person. It was the heat that made you do it. The unrelenting heat. Standing out there on the endless blacktop as it beat down while you waited for the kids to get out of school. Sweat in your eyes, a swamp developing in the rear, a lake forming in your bra. 

It’s enough to drive anyone insane. 

Welcome to That One Week In September. When a heat dome has settled over Your Area, making it 97 degrees with the humidity of hot garbage. Despite the fact the calendar clearly says September and you’ve been having semi-erotic dreams about cute beanie hats for weeks already. 

It happens every year. Summer refusing to leave, clinging like a cranky toddler and smacking you in the face with your flip flops that have been on their last legs since the middle of August.

And this is always a particularly evil weather development because what else happens every year? That Week Before That Week In September. When there is a hint of a whiff of the promise of fall in the air. A cool breeze that flirts shamelessly with you. Humidity so beautifully low you want to try to limbo under it. 

In fact, it gets cool enough that you can look at a blanket. Not use it yet, of course. But cool enough to at least look longingly at it and contemplate using it sometime in the near future. 

“Absolutely picture perfect day, Kate,” smiles the cute meteorologist from the local news that you definitely don’t have a weird crush on. “So make sure you get out there and enjoy it.”

But just as quickly as the meteorologists giveth, they taketh away. 

“This week will be warming up, with potential record breaking heat hitting the area,” he says with his stupid handsome face the next week. “In some places the heat index could reach into the triple digits.”

You sink to your knees in despair. “No! NO!” you cry out. It can’t be. You’ve already done your time! Summer is OVER. You run outside, sure it has to be some kind of mistake. Some cruel, cruel hunky weatherman mistake. 

But as air the consistency and temperature of soup envelops your body, you realize with horror that Zack Green of WBZ is actually good at his job. 

Stupid, stupid Zack. 

No! You can’t do this anymore! The only reason you survived summer was because of the promise of fall at the end of it! Your hair has been in a messy bun on top of your head since the middle of May! Your pores are exhausted from non-stop sweating! And you can’t even look inside your closet, with all your oversized sweatshirts in there looking sad and unslouched because you can’t wrap them around your incredibly poor posture yet. 

All the swimsuits and beach towels have already been organized and put away for the season in a still slightly damp pile in the back of the van. Not that you could go swimming even if you wanted to. The pools are closed and all the lifeguards have gone back to wherever really tan and fit people go when summer is over. CrossFit maybe. Or meteorology school. I don’t know! It’s too hot to think! 

It can’t last forever, you tell yourself as a small comfort. But then there he is again, standing in front of a map with a dangerously deep color of red splashed across it. 

“Well, looks like today will be even hotter,” stupid Zack says. “And tomorrow a heat advisory has been issued. It sure doesn’t feel like fall out there, Kate. Ha ha!”

“Oh, laugh it up, Chuckles, with your stupid perfectly white and straight teeth,” you scream at the TV as your children look on concerned. But you don’t care. You’ve already moved on to researching how much jail time you’ll get for kidnapping someone and forcing them to change the weather forecast. 

On and on it continues, each day more miserable than the last. By day five, your family finds you in the kitchen sobbing while cradling your crock pot, mourning your dead dreams of making chili. You can’t make chili when the heat index is 103! It’s wrong! It’s downright unholy! 

Your children risk asking you when you’re all going apple picking, which only makes you sob harder. They slowly slink out of the room. 

This too shall pass, your stupid reasonable husband tells you, gently removing a ladle from your iron grip. You know he’s right. It will. You allow him to help you off the kitchen floor. Someday the sun won’t shine again. Someday, the clouds will come and people will begin using the word “brisk” again. 

Someday stupid attractive Zack will say those three little words you’ve always wanted to hear from him.

“A cold front.”

And all will be right with the world. 

That is, until That One Day In October where it’s unseasonably cold and you find yourself sinking to your knees in despair again as you remember winter is on its way. 

The Post-Summer Pre-Back-to-School Domestication Process for Children Who Have Gone Feral

Good morning, small humans! I know, it IS really early. So I hope you all had a long, restful sleep. Just kidding. I know you were up playing in your rooms until midnight despite repeated and increasingly explicit warnings to go to bed. But that all ends now. School starts in less than a week and the time has come to reintroduce you to proper society. Which has super fun things such as rules and schedules!

Which brings us to our first lesson. Allow me to introduce you to Clock. This is your god now, children. And it is a cruel god. When it says jump out of bed, you say how high. When it says it’s time to go, it does not mean 45 minutes from now. 

No, no. We do not hiss at Clock. Nice Clock. Pretty Clock. Clock controls all now. You will obey Clock. 

Next item up, pants. P-A-N-T-S. Say it with me, kids. PAAAAANTS. They go on your lower body. Along with underwear. And not underwear from three days ago that you picked up off your floor and turned inside out and therefore are declared “still good.” No, clean underwear. From a drawer. Say it with me now. DRAAAAAAWER. 

OK, can anyone tell me what these things are? Ah-ah! Stop. Drop it. I said drop it. Just look. Now sit. Good children. These are typical breakfast foods. Bagels, eggs, fresh fruit, cereals not prominently featuring marshmallows. Every morning you will choose one or more of these items and eat it at the actual table. No more root beer and Cheez-Its eaten in your blanket fort while playing Minecraft.

Whoa! And no more of THAT language, thankyouverymuch.

Speaking of which, where does cursing belong? That’s correct! In the #$%&*@! home. Not in the classroom. I do not want a repeat of the 2018 Preschool F Bomb Blitz. And the 2020 Remote Learning Shit Show. And last year’s But A Bitch Is A Female Dog Fiasco. 

Alright, moving on. Pop quiz, kiddos! How often should one take a bath? Yes, with soap. AND shampoo. Yes, they are different. So, how often? Um…good guess but no. Also ew. The correct answer is every day.  And then after our bath we…are you kidding me? Stop gnawing on that! Give it here! After bath we brush our hair with this hairbrush. What do you mean why? Yesterday a bird tried to nest in yours. 

Who can tell me what shoes are? Anyone? Anyone? OK, we’ll come back to that one. 

Now this should be an easy one. Do you remember this object? This is called a book. It’s just like your tablets but without videos or games or music. No, stop swiping at it. You open it. See? And then you read the words…stop swiping it, it doesn’t work like that. You read the words…poking it doesn’t work either! …and then you can see the story inside your head! Pretty cool, huh? OH MY GOD, STOP TRYING TO SWIPE THE PAGE. 

Hoo boy. Well, I’m just going to assume you aren’t ready for pencils again either. Can you stretch your hands out yet or are they still molded in the shape of the Nintendo Switch controllers? Oof. Remind me to call your pediatrician. 

Let’s circle back to shoes. Ring any bells yet? No?

OK then, let’s discuss possibly the most important lesson: Appropriate topics for what we did this summer. When people ask you, you can tell them all about the beach trip we took last week, or how we got a new puppy this summer, or that fun outing to the science museum. What you should NOT bring up is that time the plumber came to fix our bathroom and we all had to pee in a bucket your father affectionately nicknamed The Chamberpot. Or when the TV broke and the little one somehow got ahold of a knife and threatened to go back into my womb until she could watch Bluey again. Agreed, I never should have explained to her what a C-section is. 

And please, please do not bring up that 3-hour traffic jam during our road trip to Canada where mommy threw a tantrum and you all learned a new and very naughty word. I never should have called all Canadians that. Yes, you are correct, they both start with the letter “c”. But I never should have said it. Look, it doesn’t matter what it means, all that matters is that you don’t repeat it. NO! DO NOT TURN IT INTO A SONG! STOP DANCING!

Oh god…

OK…

You know what? 

How does everyone feel about homeschooling? 

So, how was school today?

Well, the first week of school is officially over. And what an amazing week it was!

I think.

I actually have no idea what is going on, because small humans are awful at communicating (albeit very good at communicating awfully loudly). So far, this is the information I’ve managed to glean from our chaotic post-school conversations:

No one noticed the first grader’s very new, very super cool LOL doll-thing snack bag. 

Third grader: Zombies!

OR HER NEW LIGHT UP SHOES!

Third grader: Zombie blood! 

Someone did mention her dress pockets though.

Lunch on Wednesdays is pizza. Duh. Everyone knows that. 

First grader is pissed they haven’t learned science yet. 

I did not pack them nearly enough snacks. 

So many more graphic details about zombies for some reason. Random reference to Minecraft. 

THEY’RE STARVING. 

First grader got a lollipop from someone. She thinks their name might be Fuchsia. 

Third grader’s teacher’s name is pronounced Frlskjfkshfkjsh (98 percent sure this is incorrect).

First grader LOVES her teacher. Teachers. First grader has three teachers this year ??? One is Mrs. Theolien. One has blonde hair. One is *indecipherable murmuring*

Zombie blood coming out of all kinds of eyeballs! And butts! And penises! 

First grader can take out TWO library books this year. 

I bought the wrong cartoon-shaped graham crackers. 

Apparently all zombie content is related to playground game and/or unsanctioned LARPing during class time. Or video game ???

Third grader can TOO wear a hat all day in the building, MOM.

Yasmin has better snacks. 

ON CHICKEN PATTY DAY THIRD GRADER DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO EAT ENTIRE CHICKEN PATTY. THIS WAS NOT OK. 

There are anywhere from two to five third grade teachers. They all wear glasses. One is a man. Although he might teach fourth grade. 

Once again, the first grader did not do any science experiments involving goggles and dangerous chemicals that go BOOM. 

Third grader may have illegally drawn a few new pages in his comic book during class time but the POINT IS he didn’t get caught. 

Comic book is about zombies. 

Wait, maybe Fuchsia isn’t her name. It might be Sparkle Shine. 

Third grader has a locker! His very own! 

First grader is devastated that she has a mere cubby. 

Third grader’s locker doesn’t have an actual lock, if that makes her feel better. 

It weirdly does. 

Can first grader spend the night at Lollipop Girl’s house, whose name is definitely Jessamalyn, this weekend? Or maybe her name is Fuchsia? Yeah, definitely Fuchsia. PLEASE?

Third grader’s socks felt weird but he didn’t have a tantrum because he was at school. Also he is going to be a zombie for Halloween. 

MOM! PERIWINKLE IS MY BEST FRIEND! WHY CAN’T I SPEND THE NIGHT AT HER HOUSE?

Welcome to summer school, kiddos

Well friends, we almost made it. Just a few more days left of school! Who is ready for summer!?

Summer school, that is! Yay! Oh yes, I know you kids were looking forward to a carefree summer full of sun and fun but learning never stops. Especially when you will be home for the next three months, wreaking havoc on my home and sanity. So welcome to Mama’s Summer School for Wayward (and Slightly Feral) Children! Get ready for exciting learning opportunities, such as: 

Are These Socks Dirty or Clean? A Symposium On Hampers

When Pants Attack! A Lecture Series On When Pants Are Optional & When They Are Mandatory

This Is Called A Dishwasher 

Proper Aluminum Foil Application On Leftovers

There Is Pee All Over The Floor: Who Should Do Something About It (YOU!) & When (IMMEDIATELY!)

Nutrition 101: If You Were Really Hungry, You’d Eat The Apple I Already Offered

Nutrition 102: No, You Cannot Have Another Snack

The Planet Is Boiling Alive & You Have Irish Peasant DNA: Sunscreen Basics For Genetic RedHeads

This Is Called A Broom 

Wet Towel Math: How To Calculate How Many More Times I Need To Yell At You To Pick Up Your Wet Towel Before You Are Grounded

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream About Screen Time: A Seminar On How To Earn Back Your Tablet

And later this summer, we’re going to take some refresher courses before you head back to actual school, such as:

Why We Don’t Wait Until The Second-To-Last Day Of School To Tell Mom About All The Missing Library Books

Where Is Your Snack Bag From Last Year: Fun With Hazardous Materials

You Need How Many Cupcakes!? When!? Son Of A…: School Fundraiser FUNdamentals 

Curse Words Belong In The Home, Not In The Classroom

Please Learn To Tie Your Shoes, People Are Going To Start Judging Me

What I learned on my kids’ school vacation

Hey! Hi! 

Hey, guess what? Did you know that my kids had this entire week off school? Yeah! ‘Cause we live in New England where someone at some point inexplicably thought it’d be a great idea to send all the children back to their parents during February, the coldest and most miserable time of the year. 

Oh! And hey guys! Did you know that my youngest also got sick this week? Which meant we couldn’t leave the house. But that’s OK. It gave us time to learn lots of new things! Like, did you guys know that ancient Egypt is in Africa and they have mummies and they pulled the mummy’s brain out through their nose? 

Through their nose! 

And did you know that kitties are the cutest animals? Followed by puppies followed by unicorns, no WAIT, followed by baby unicorns followed by unicorns followed by baby foxes. 

Oh! And um, did you know the difference between mummies and zombies is that zombies are of right NOW and mummies are from long ago. Also mummies don’t eat brains. 

King Tut is from Egypt. Bet you didn’t know that. You know what else is cool? Ancient Greece. The Parenthesis is in ancient Greece. 

Oh, and hey, um…did you know…uh, did you…know…that, um, oh no, I forgot! YOU GUYS MADE ME FORGET! This is all your fault! This is the worst vacation EV…oh wait, I remember. Hey, um, do you guys think unicorns are real? Because they are. My daughter saw one one time. 

Also, it is too called the Parenthesis! It was in a book my son read so it has to be true. 

Oh, and hey! Guess what! My daughter’s one classmate never listens to the teacher and sometimes makes poor choices but that doesn’t make them a bad kid they just get in trouble sometimes and one time my daughter was on the swing and they wanted the swing so they pushed her out of the swing and she got a boo-boo but you can’t see it anymore but it was a big boo-boo, like really big, and Wednesday is pizza day and her reading buddy’s name is Tristan. 

Anyone want to hear a real quick fast fact? Dinosaurs did not live in ancient Greece. 

Also, dinosaurs are cool. But not as cool as baby unicorns. Everyone knows that. It’s literally a FACT. 

Oh! And here is something I learned that my kids didn’t teach me. Did you know a buttload is a real thing? Yeah, it’s a now obsolete but once very real measurement of weight that equaled about 384 gallons. Cool, huh? 

OK, well, I’m off to go drink a buttload of wine right now! Bye!  

Everyone should learn a foreign language

Where’s My Coffee? A Remote Schooling Pop Quiz

Q: If I wake up at 7 a.m. and remote schooling starts at 8:30 a.m. for my first grader and 8:45 a.m. for my preschooler, at what time will I take my first sip of coffee? Please show your work.

A: 9:07 a.m. Because the children got up at 6:59 a.m. and began immediately fighting and demanding things and the dog pooped all over the only carpeted area in the house and everyone wanted something different for breakfast. Carry the one nerve I had left over.  

Q: If I am helping one child with a math assignment in the dining room and then the other one yells for my help during her small group live instruction in the bedroom, where will I eventually find my coffee after a frantic search?

A: On top of the bookshelf in the hallway.

Extra credit question: Will it still be hot?

A: Nope. 

Q: What is my favorite brand of coffee to make at home?

a. Starbucks

b. Dunkin

c. That fancy one I can’t pronounce 

d. Any that finally finds its way into my hands. 

Q: Where do I most often find my coffee?

A: In the microwave. Where I warmed it up 40 minutes ago.

True or False: Whoever finishes the pot of coffee has to make a new pot.

True. RYAN. 

Q: If my preschooler is having a meltdown because she can’t cut out her shapes perfectly and my first grader is going on another angry rant about how he hates school and he knows everything already so why does he even have to get on Zoom, will I slip out to the front porch or the back porch to enjoy five minutes of peace with my cup of coffee?

A: Trick question. They discovered that’s where I hide last week. The answer is now the basement. 

Q: During the afternoon, if I scour the entire house for 20 minutes for my coffee but still cannot find it, where is my coffee?

a. The coffee never existed in the first place because I am going insane. 

b. An interdimensional portal that opened up because it’s 2020.

c. Does it even matter? It’s just easier to get a new cup and find the old one six months later when it has grown fur and possibly consciousness. 

d. In the bathroom where I optimistically brought it an hour ago in the vain hope of finding two minutes to brush my teeth.

True or False: Some people don’t drink coffee. 

False. Probably. Who are these people? And what mystical elixir do they drink to prevent familial homicides? 

Q: If it’s a half day Wednesday and both kids have different schedules and extra long Zoom sessions, what will you find in my coffee mug?

A: Correct. The answer is indeed whiskey.

Q: What is an appropriate amount of coffee to drink in the year of our Lord 2020?

A: ALL OF IT. 

Essay Question: How is coffee made?

Little caffeine fairies collect the magic beans in the enchanted forest and give them to dragons, who roast them. They are then collected by really hip dressed baristas and distributed to the masses, who mix it with hot water to make that bewitching hot bean potion that keeps the world running with its life-giving and slightly addictive properties. 

Blame it on the alcohol

Guys, I did something stupid. Something really stupid. 

I got drunk last night and paid off a student loan. 

I’m not even sure what came over me. It was so reckless, so impulsive. I mean, what was I thinking? We are in the midst of a pandemic. Democracy is crumbling. Corruption is rampant. All our institutions are teetering on the edge. We are staring down the possible beginning of the end. 

And what do I do when facing the apocalypse? Drunkenly make a mature, responsible decision for the future and start paying off debt like there’s actually going to be a tomorrow. 

I admit I’ve always been a bit self-destructive but this is a new low, even for me. I’ve gone so far around the bend of self-destruction that I am now self-helping myself into a better credit score during ARMAGEDDON. Which really shows you the depth of self-loathing I must harbor. What idiot finally decides to get their shit together but only once it probably doesn’t matter? 

I’ll give you a clue. She’s super hungover right now. 

Maybe I should have seen it coming. I have been drinking more lately, the stress of *gestures widely to everything* getting to me. But I thought I had it under control. I never thought it’d come to this. That I would actually use our hard earned money for something that didn’t provide instant gratification. 

Yet the details keep coming back in bits and pieces this wretched morning. It was my second, no, my third drink of the night. OK, yes, we all know it was my fourth, shut up. My husband was giving the kids a bath. I was alone with my laptop. It started so innocently. I just went in to pay off my monthly statement. Something I’ve been doing since I graduated in 2004. Maybe on a different night, maybe on a sober night, things would have been different. But on this particular evening, when my eyes passed casually over the remaining balance, unseemly thoughts started forming. 

“Gee, that number actually looks manageable.”

“Golly, like I could just pay it all off.”

“Right now.”

*hiccup*

“God, how I hate paying this bill every month.”

*burp*

“What if I just…”

And then I just. This is what you get when you abandon bottled wine and start buying boxed wine because it’s less judgmental.

It’s 2020, goddammit. The world is literally on fire. I should be spending any and all income on overpriced Renaissance Festival dresses I only get to wear once a year. I should be tracking down how to buy my own llama. If there was ever a time to justify the purchase of a pimped out RV I absolutely cannot afford, THIS IS IT. Seriously, nothing is guaranteed anymore. LET THE BACCHANAL BEGIN! 

But oh no. Not me. 

Sigh. 

I really expected more of myself. 

Actually, no I didn’t. Because honestly, what else can you expect from a woman who started running after the birth of her second child, not to get in shape, but to punish her body and mind for convincing her that having two kids would be easy. 

LIARS. 

But all this does lead to the more distressing issue of this is what I do when I’m drunk now. That’s how I celebrate my lowered inhibitions now that I am on the cusp of 40. By NOT buying overpriced candles I can’t afford in bulk after chugging craft beer with an irresponsible alcohol content followed by purchasing $60 worth of food from the local pizza place, which I eat until I want to die.

Who am I? What kind of grown-up monster have I become? 

I haven’t even told my husband yet. I’m still too ashamed. Is this the same woman he fell in love with? The same one he married? The carefree girl who would get drunk in bars and then blow the rent money on giant stacks of books and boots with varying amounts of fur? Followed by ordering $60 worth of food from the local pizza place, which she ate until she wanted to die? 

I mean, what’s next? Texting people back in a reasonable amount of time? Starting a college fund for at least one of the children, whoever ends up being my favorite? Finally tracking down my social security card which has been lost inside this house for almost a decade? 

It’s enough to make a gal want a drink. 

But at least this time I can take comfort in knowing that no matter how drunk I get, I won’t be able to pay off my second federal student loan on a whim since it has a much, much higher balance because college is ridiculously unaffordable.

Cheers. 

When the future seems too cucumbersome

The other day, my 4-year-old daughter came tearing through the house, her tangled hair flying wildly all around. She slammed to a stop in front of me, her eyes wide and bright, and promptly shoved two strange green objects directly into my face. 

“MOM! We got gherkins!”

“Wow, that’s amazing, baby,” I said while internally giggling because gherkin has always sounded like a dirty word to me since it rhymes with merkin and deep down I am forever 13-years-old.

“We’re going to eat like cakes tonight!” she proudly declared.  

“Or maybe like kings,” her 6-year-old brother deadpanned. 

“EAT LIKE CAKES!” she bellowed excitedly again while running manically around in circles with the gherkins held high above her head.

The point of this adorably heartwarming story? My family has successfully gardened. Like some kind of coven of dirt wizards. We took a bunch of tiny seeds and stuffed them haphazardly into the ground and remembered to water them like three times but mostly ignored them and BEHOLD. We have grown our own food! Well, gherkins. And cucumbers, which are technically food even though they taste like water that is whispering the word “lawn.” We also successfully grew some sunflowers, so if you are ever in the mood for a pickle and cucumber salad sprinkled with sunflower seeds, come on over. But hurry. I only have enough for like three of you. Maybe two and a half. Also the lettuce never sprouted, or the tomatoes. Or the dozen other seeds we stuck into our much too small gardening box so they had to fight for survival Mad Max-style. The pumpkins thrived for awhile but then got a fungus or something according to the half-hearted Googling I did. 

Anyway, back to the point. 

There is one. 

I’m assuming. 

We’ll see.

Anyway, all in all, it weren’t too shabby for our first time gardening, if I do say so myself. (You can read about how it all began here). In fact, all this successful mastery over the land makes me wonder what else I could learn to do for myself. You know, if civilization eventually collapses or something (not that it will *hysterical laughter hysterical laughter hysterical laughter tiny sob*). I mean, I read “Little House on the Prairie” as a kid. And “Hatchet.” And spent an entire summer obsessed with “The Island of Blue Dolphins.” AND I’ve seen the 1985 Canadian made-for-TV-movie “Anne of Green Gables” starring the inimitable Megan Follows no less than 140 times. I’m practically a pioneer woman already.

All you really need are the basics. And there’s, what, like only four or five of them, right? 

For instance, food. BOOM. Done. Pretty much mastered. 

Oxygen? Already know how to use it. Next. 

Shelter? This one does seem a bit more involved. And possibly out of my league. Mostly because of the paperwork involved. I can likely figure out four walls and a roof and a massive walk-in closet. But I’ll probably have to get a permit or something. Something will likely have to be notarized. Which sounds like a whole thing. Also I don’t have money. Maybe I’ll just keep renting for the moment.  

Now clothes on the other hand, that I know I can handle. I’m old enough that I was forced to learn to sew by public educators. Of course, I only learned how to sew one thing so my family will all be wearing ill-fitting shorts that fall unflattering just below the knee. But they WILL be clothed. Partially. 

And, perhaps most importantly of all, alcohol. Because if the apocalypse does come, and I somehow manage to survive, I cannot make small talk with a bunch of smug doomsday preppers while sober. So, let’s see, I’d need grapes for wine, potatoes for vodka, hops and barley(?) and wheat(?) and organic carbonization(?) for some craft beer. All of which I assume you just mash up together and wait a hot minute and it magically turns into quality libations. 

So, see? We’re all going to be fine. FINE. Just fine. If my family can make it, so can yours. 

But, just as a back-up plan, please vote this November.