When I began blogging, I focused on my experiences of being head room mom in both sons' classes for the year. It was very rewarding, but difficult and exhausting, too. Along the way, I didn't always have enough time for my home. So now everything is in disarray.
The boys are starting school tomorrow because they go to a year-round school. I thought I would be able to do some organizing while they were home on summer vacation. We didn't go on any trips because we got a new puppy and didn't want to take him with us because he's not completely potty-trained yet and didn't want to leave him at a kennel. I didn't sign my sons up for any camps or activities because there wasn't anything that really interested them and therefore it just seemed a waste of money. So I erroneously thought we would have time to go through their toys and clothes and get rid of some and maybe even sell some on e-bay.
But things always got in the way of this well-intentioned plan. The boys were always running off to a friend's house or having friends come over and the puppy is a constant distraction. I find that when I'm trying to focus on a project, it's time to take the puppy for a walk to see if he has to go to the bathroom. Also, he's had a lot of accidents. So invariably, I hear "mom, Lucky peed" or "mom, Lucky pooped" and I have to stop whatever I'm doing to go clean it up.
So now I'm giving myself a goal for this year to really try to get as organized as possible - as organized as one can be with two tween boys, a new puppy, a cat and a husband. And when I talk about organizing, I'm talking about many aspects of my life: the house, the toys, the boys' clothes, my clothes, household items, exercising, our finances, etc. Today I'm organizing all the supplies, forms, checks, etc. that the boys need for the first day of school tomorrow. Tomorrow, I have to go through that stack of mail that has piled up on one of our kitchen counters and pull out the bills since it's near the end of the month and they all need to be paid.
This is the start and I will keep chronicling this throughout the year and posting any tips I come up with. Focusing on this on my blog will hopefully keep me on task throughout the year and I'm hoping that by this time next year, my house (and even myself) will look measurably better.
About Me
- wiimom.com
- I am a stay-at-home mom of two sons, 12 and 10. I used to be an advertising manager. I love my new career and have thrown myself completely into it.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Party's Over
OK - my experiment with being room mom in both my sons' classes officially ended about two weeks ago. It's taken me this long to catch up with things and actually get back on my blog again. Things got really crazy after we came back from spring break, which was April 19.
Let me digress for a moment before I go into the details of the last two months of school. When I signed up to be room mom in both classes, I meant to be a room mom in both classes, like out of 3 or 4 moms. However, I somehow became HEAD room mom in both classes, which surprised and kind of worried me because I had never been room mom before. For some reason, the teacher from my son's 5th grade class signed me up as the head room mom and no other moms signed up for my other son's 3rd grade class. I think the 5th grade teacher picked me because I talked to him in person about my interest rather than just filling it out on paperwork that came home in the beginning of the year. I was scared when I found out I was the only room mom in the 3rd grade class. The teacher asked two other moms if they would help me and they agreed. They ended up helping a lot and I became friends with one who I hadn't previously know and better friends with the other one. So I ended up being in charge of all the money for the two classes, sending letters to parents, planning parties, figuring out teacher gifts, etc.
So this is a summary of the last two whirlwind months of school. We got back from spring break and the 5th graders were having an event in about a month (May 25) called American Heritage Day. It's a fun day where the moms get various speakers to come into their classrooms and talk about what it means to them to be Americans. We had an Auschewitz camp survivor, a Pearl Harbor survivor, a woman who lived in a Japanese internments camp, a woman who grew up on an Indian reservation and others. Then the children have a performance that they put on for their families in the evening. Well, we had different committees to help plan this day because it's fairly complicated to put together. I signed up for one of the committees, but didn't want to be the head of it. Well, suffice to say, I became the head of it. So I was very busy for a month getting information for a letter sent home where each student would select which speaker they wanted to hear for each of 3 sessions, then assigning each student to specific speakers each session and creating programs and nametags. There were many details and it was very time-consuming. Everything ended up going smoothly and the day turned out great!
Then the next week, the 5th grade teacher had a baby shower at school. The week after was the 3rd grade teacher's birthday. I was also putting together scrapbooks for each teacher as an end-of-year gift. Now that was quite a feat because I'm not a crafty person and have only done one scrapbook in my life and that was a collaborative effort. Thankfully, all the room moms in both the classes really helped me out with that.
The week after the 3rd grade teacher's birthday was a lunch I organized for the whole 5th grade, then the day after, we presented the end-of-year scrapbooks to both teachers. The final week, I helped plan and came to a pool party for the 3rd grade and the last day of school, I planned and organized a lunch for both classes.
During this time I had to send multiple letters to parents in both classes, get money (birthday gift) and scrapbook pages from the kids, get kids to sign cards without the teachers knowing (baby shower and birthday), buy gifts, cards, food items, etc. The amount of details was staggering! I woke up a number of nights with details swimming around in my head because I was so afraid of forgetting something. I had a long to-do list and then would break it down by day so I wouldn't forget important deadlines.
Somehow it all came together and it was all successful (whew!!) I had good help from a number of moms, which made it manageable and more pleasant.
OK - so now would I do it again?
If I had the same choice at the beginning of the year, I would do it again. I formed some new relationships and built some closer relationships. I got to know the teachers much more personally than I would have and I was fortunate that I really liked the teachers! My sons enjoyed that I was so involved and enjoyed seeing me in their classes so much, although I do know they have no idea how much behind-the-scenes work I was doing. The best part of this experience was that the boys did get a sense of pride having me be "head" room mom in each of their classes and I really enjoyed building the relationship I did and know that will continue. I also enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from actually achieving success in this endeavor. I haven't worked officially for almost a decade and this taught me that I still have marketable skills, namely managing, organizing, planning and negotiating. It felt good to use these skills again and know that they haven't atrophied from non-use.
Will I be room mom again in either of their classes? I won't say never, but I've done it, it was successful and why push fate. The down-side was that family issues came up during the year that I wasn't able to put my full attention to or effort into. And that sometimes made me sad. I also realized that I did this mostly for my sons and if I neglected other issues that affect them because I'm caught up in details and busy-work, then I'm not really doing what I set out to do - I'm not reaching my real goal - to stand beside them with support and guidance.
Let me digress for a moment before I go into the details of the last two months of school. When I signed up to be room mom in both classes, I meant to be a room mom in both classes, like out of 3 or 4 moms. However, I somehow became HEAD room mom in both classes, which surprised and kind of worried me because I had never been room mom before. For some reason, the teacher from my son's 5th grade class signed me up as the head room mom and no other moms signed up for my other son's 3rd grade class. I think the 5th grade teacher picked me because I talked to him in person about my interest rather than just filling it out on paperwork that came home in the beginning of the year. I was scared when I found out I was the only room mom in the 3rd grade class. The teacher asked two other moms if they would help me and they agreed. They ended up helping a lot and I became friends with one who I hadn't previously know and better friends with the other one. So I ended up being in charge of all the money for the two classes, sending letters to parents, planning parties, figuring out teacher gifts, etc.
So this is a summary of the last two whirlwind months of school. We got back from spring break and the 5th graders were having an event in about a month (May 25) called American Heritage Day. It's a fun day where the moms get various speakers to come into their classrooms and talk about what it means to them to be Americans. We had an Auschewitz camp survivor, a Pearl Harbor survivor, a woman who lived in a Japanese internments camp, a woman who grew up on an Indian reservation and others. Then the children have a performance that they put on for their families in the evening. Well, we had different committees to help plan this day because it's fairly complicated to put together. I signed up for one of the committees, but didn't want to be the head of it. Well, suffice to say, I became the head of it. So I was very busy for a month getting information for a letter sent home where each student would select which speaker they wanted to hear for each of 3 sessions, then assigning each student to specific speakers each session and creating programs and nametags. There were many details and it was very time-consuming. Everything ended up going smoothly and the day turned out great!
Then the next week, the 5th grade teacher had a baby shower at school. The week after was the 3rd grade teacher's birthday. I was also putting together scrapbooks for each teacher as an end-of-year gift. Now that was quite a feat because I'm not a crafty person and have only done one scrapbook in my life and that was a collaborative effort. Thankfully, all the room moms in both the classes really helped me out with that.
The week after the 3rd grade teacher's birthday was a lunch I organized for the whole 5th grade, then the day after, we presented the end-of-year scrapbooks to both teachers. The final week, I helped plan and came to a pool party for the 3rd grade and the last day of school, I planned and organized a lunch for both classes.
During this time I had to send multiple letters to parents in both classes, get money (birthday gift) and scrapbook pages from the kids, get kids to sign cards without the teachers knowing (baby shower and birthday), buy gifts, cards, food items, etc. The amount of details was staggering! I woke up a number of nights with details swimming around in my head because I was so afraid of forgetting something. I had a long to-do list and then would break it down by day so I wouldn't forget important deadlines.
Somehow it all came together and it was all successful (whew!!) I had good help from a number of moms, which made it manageable and more pleasant.
OK - so now would I do it again?
If I had the same choice at the beginning of the year, I would do it again. I formed some new relationships and built some closer relationships. I got to know the teachers much more personally than I would have and I was fortunate that I really liked the teachers! My sons enjoyed that I was so involved and enjoyed seeing me in their classes so much, although I do know they have no idea how much behind-the-scenes work I was doing. The best part of this experience was that the boys did get a sense of pride having me be "head" room mom in each of their classes and I really enjoyed building the relationship I did and know that will continue. I also enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from actually achieving success in this endeavor. I haven't worked officially for almost a decade and this taught me that I still have marketable skills, namely managing, organizing, planning and negotiating. It felt good to use these skills again and know that they haven't atrophied from non-use.
Will I be room mom again in either of their classes? I won't say never, but I've done it, it was successful and why push fate. The down-side was that family issues came up during the year that I wasn't able to put my full attention to or effort into. And that sometimes made me sad. I also realized that I did this mostly for my sons and if I neglected other issues that affect them because I'm caught up in details and busy-work, then I'm not really doing what I set out to do - I'm not reaching my real goal - to stand beside them with support and guidance.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Cleaning Up For A New Friend Visit
Right now my boys are downstairs playing with a new friend. This is his first time here. My sons met him through another friend and he likes to play Yu-gi-oh as do my sons, especially my younger one. We happened to see him with his mom and sister a day after they met and his mom and me agreed that it would be nice for them to get together sometime. So after a week or so, we invited him over.
Since his mom has never seen our place, I wanted to straighten up and make the place look nice and neat, like it always looks like that (ha,ha). So beyond the usual picking up, I vacuumed, cleared tables and counters (as much as possible), wiped down sinks and counters and re-folded the bathroom towels. Then I brushed my hair and put on new lipstick. It was as if we were having company. Mind you, I do not go through all of this for all their friends. Once we get to know them well and feel comfortable with them, I relax.
Do you find that you do this too? It's just that I want to make a good impression on a mom that I'm getting to know and I want her to feel comfortable having her son at my house. I like when we get past this stage because it's a lot of work and truth be told - I really don't like cleaning, although of course it's a necessary evil.
Since his mom has never seen our place, I wanted to straighten up and make the place look nice and neat, like it always looks like that (ha,ha). So beyond the usual picking up, I vacuumed, cleared tables and counters (as much as possible), wiped down sinks and counters and re-folded the bathroom towels. Then I brushed my hair and put on new lipstick. It was as if we were having company. Mind you, I do not go through all of this for all their friends. Once we get to know them well and feel comfortable with them, I relax.
Do you find that you do this too? It's just that I want to make a good impression on a mom that I'm getting to know and I want her to feel comfortable having her son at my house. I like when we get past this stage because it's a lot of work and truth be told - I really don't like cleaning, although of course it's a necessary evil.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament - Oh My!
My youngest son is currently obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh. A friend of his got him into it and now he collects the cards and watches episodes on the computer. He's even gotten his older brother into it, although he's not quite as interested. So his friend told us about a card shop that has tournaments on weekends. He's been going about every other weekend for about a year now and my son really wanted to try it out so I agreed.
We met the friend, his mom and another boy there to try it out. It started at 2pm on Saturday and the mom told me it could last until 6 or 7! I already told my sons that we would only stay for a couple of hours, not the whole time. Well, all I can say is that it was strange. There were probably about 25-30 people there and everyone except for my sons and the two other boys was in their teens or their 20's. The guy my youngest son played (he's 9) seemed to be in his mid-20's. My 10-year old played a guy who seemed a little younger, like his early 20's. Of course, my sons couldn't compete with these guys and the one playing my older son seemed nice but the other guy was strange and not very nice and my son said later that he was mean and he didn't like him. After the first game, both sons had had enough and didn't want to continue with the tournament. That was fine with me! The whole scene kind of gave me the creeps. It seems odd to me that men in their 20's would be so into Yu-Gi-Oh. I didn't think the tournament would be like that - I thought it would be a bunch of kids playing together and that it would be kind of cute. Boy was I wrong!
Have any of you had any Yu-Gi-Oh experiences or similar ones with other games or collectible items? What were your thoughts?
We met the friend, his mom and another boy there to try it out. It started at 2pm on Saturday and the mom told me it could last until 6 or 7! I already told my sons that we would only stay for a couple of hours, not the whole time. Well, all I can say is that it was strange. There were probably about 25-30 people there and everyone except for my sons and the two other boys was in their teens or their 20's. The guy my youngest son played (he's 9) seemed to be in his mid-20's. My 10-year old played a guy who seemed a little younger, like his early 20's. Of course, my sons couldn't compete with these guys and the one playing my older son seemed nice but the other guy was strange and not very nice and my son said later that he was mean and he didn't like him. After the first game, both sons had had enough and didn't want to continue with the tournament. That was fine with me! The whole scene kind of gave me the creeps. It seems odd to me that men in their 20's would be so into Yu-Gi-Oh. I didn't think the tournament would be like that - I thought it would be a bunch of kids playing together and that it would be kind of cute. Boy was I wrong!
Have any of you had any Yu-Gi-Oh experiences or similar ones with other games or collectible items? What were your thoughts?
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Last Quarter of the School Year
Well, I can't believe the last quarter of school is here. This year has gone by really fast (they all seem to when you look back on them). My experiment of being room mom in both my sons' classes is coming to an end soon. I'm kind of sad about it. I've had fun, although there have been some hectic times. I'm gearing up for things to get really busy at the end of the year.
Right now I'm heading a committee for a day-long celebration for the 5th grade called American Heritage Day. This is a day where we will have various speakers talk to the children and their parents about their specific experiences of being an American. I'm not sure who the speakers will be yet but in the past they have had people from various countries talking about what it meant to them to become American citizens, someone serving in the military and a politician. There will be three sessions throughout the day with three speakers per session. My committee is in charge of sending out sign-up sheets for the children to select which speakers they want to hear each session. Then we will assign the kids to the various speakers throughout the day and make a program highlighting the speakers and the schedule and registering the children the day of the event. The next few weeks will be busy getting everything organized for this. Everything seems to be fairly quiet in 3rd grade until June, so I'll be able to focus on this.
I also need to start working on the end-of-year gifts we'll be giving to the teachers. I'm planning on putting together a small scrapbook for my sons' teachers with each child making an individual page with a note to the teacher and any pictures they may want to include. I'll also put together some pages with pictures of events throughout the year like field trips and parties. Unfortunately, I can't find our camera - it's been missing since Easter. So if I don't find it, I'll need to rely on pictures from other parents.
I'll keep posting the goings-on for the next couple of months. More to come!
Right now I'm heading a committee for a day-long celebration for the 5th grade called American Heritage Day. This is a day where we will have various speakers talk to the children and their parents about their specific experiences of being an American. I'm not sure who the speakers will be yet but in the past they have had people from various countries talking about what it meant to them to become American citizens, someone serving in the military and a politician. There will be three sessions throughout the day with three speakers per session. My committee is in charge of sending out sign-up sheets for the children to select which speakers they want to hear each session. Then we will assign the kids to the various speakers throughout the day and make a program highlighting the speakers and the schedule and registering the children the day of the event. The next few weeks will be busy getting everything organized for this. Everything seems to be fairly quiet in 3rd grade until June, so I'll be able to focus on this.
I also need to start working on the end-of-year gifts we'll be giving to the teachers. I'm planning on putting together a small scrapbook for my sons' teachers with each child making an individual page with a note to the teacher and any pictures they may want to include. I'll also put together some pages with pictures of events throughout the year like field trips and parties. Unfortunately, I can't find our camera - it's been missing since Easter. So if I don't find it, I'll need to rely on pictures from other parents.
I'll keep posting the goings-on for the next couple of months. More to come!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Why Is It So Hard To Roast A Chicken?
I really am a good cook. I used to be even better, but now I'm always rushing and cooking unfortunately has become more of a chore - it used to be one of my hobbies. One dish I just haven't truly mastered, though (I'm ashamed to say), is a roast chicken. I've tried a number of times because roasting a whole chicken is economical, delicious and every good cook should be able to master it (I've been told). So I tried again last night. I follow the recipe from The Joy of Cooking and I had even seen an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" show which showed how Thomas Keller roasts a chicken. It all seems simple enough.
I had the chicken sit on the counter for about half an hour so it would warm up. I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I rinsed, patted dry and trussed the bird. I put melted butter all over it and sprinkled some kosher salt on it. When the oven was ready, I put the bird in. After 5 minutes, I turned the heat down to 350 degrees. I basted it 2-3 times and let it cook for over an hour and a half (it weighed 4-3/4 lbs). During the last 10-15 minutes, I turned the heat up to 400 to try to crisp and brown the skin more. Then I took the chicken out and let it sit for about 10 minutes, while I tented it with aluminum foil.
It still had some pink (even red) areas that looked undercooked. My husband absolutely hates that and was getting turned off as he was carving it. Also, even though I truss the bird and baste it a few times during cooking, the sides of the legs don't get crisp and brown. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong unless my oven just isn't working right. Maybe my oven's thermometer is off and I need to increase the heat the whole time to 375.
Any ideas? Any opinions or tricks that have worked for you? I'm getting gun-shy about trying roasting a chicken again but I sure would like to figure it out?
I had the chicken sit on the counter for about half an hour so it would warm up. I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I rinsed, patted dry and trussed the bird. I put melted butter all over it and sprinkled some kosher salt on it. When the oven was ready, I put the bird in. After 5 minutes, I turned the heat down to 350 degrees. I basted it 2-3 times and let it cook for over an hour and a half (it weighed 4-3/4 lbs). During the last 10-15 minutes, I turned the heat up to 400 to try to crisp and brown the skin more. Then I took the chicken out and let it sit for about 10 minutes, while I tented it with aluminum foil.
It still had some pink (even red) areas that looked undercooked. My husband absolutely hates that and was getting turned off as he was carving it. Also, even though I truss the bird and baste it a few times during cooking, the sides of the legs don't get crisp and brown. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong unless my oven just isn't working right. Maybe my oven's thermometer is off and I need to increase the heat the whole time to 375.
Any ideas? Any opinions or tricks that have worked for you? I'm getting gun-shy about trying roasting a chicken again but I sure would like to figure it out?
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