The last (silent) word

Okay so anyone who's not me will most likely chuckle when reading this post. With biggirl's very full gymnastics schedule, we made a deal before school started that she is to be in bed by 8:30 p.m. every night except Saturday. I know this may seem harsh for an 11 year old, but she is on the bus by 7:30 on weekdays and at the gym at 8:00 on Saturday mornings. We feel that in order to function properly at school, gymnastics, and at home, that is the most appropriate bedtime. On evenings when she has gymnastics, she is normally in the door by 7:50 p.m., which leaves her 40 minutes to shower, brush her teeth, and get to bed. Any mother out there knows that 40 minutes to do that is a luxurious span of time, heck need I make a list of everything I can get done in 40 minutes? Actually, that might make for a good blog entry!
Anyways, tonight, biggirl was sluggish when she got home. She suddenly had many things she wanted to tell me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for talking, just not when it's late and we have a schedule to respect. So, once again, I found myself constantly reminding her that the clock was ticking and she tells me that she's sick of me bugging her to get things done all the time. Soooooooo... what do you think I did? I backed off. Way, way, off.
It is now 9:05 p.m. and she is not in bed. She is practicing Mary had a little lamb for the 50th time on her recorder (homework states she is to practice for 5 minutes). Plus, she is laughing loudly, talking, and making noise in every way she can think of. I know she is just waiting, longing for me to go down and get upset. But no way.
I have backed off.
I will let her deal with the natural consequence of being tired.
There.
I will have the last (silent) word tonight.

The worst thing is... getting to bed on time is actually considered a paying chore in our house. That is how important we think getting to bed on time really is for her. Unfortunately, we rarely have to pay for that one!

If only I could figure out how to get paid for getting to bed on time... any ideas anyone????

Frazzled...

Yeah, tonight I'm pretty darn sure that this word must have work-at-home-mom in its definition in any respectable dictionary. Anyone out there who isn't frazzled can look it up and get back to me, personally, I just don't have the time! Of course, the frazzled WAHM feeling is present any day of the year, but when back to school time hits, frazzled is a word which paints such an accurate picture of what I'm feeling inside all the time!
As a bonus, I kind of think it's a funny word, not the feeling, the word. Just saying it somehow seems to make me smile. Heck, you have to smile about it...the only other option is going completely insane!
So the next time, you're feeling overwhelmed, declare yourself frazzled and break out a smile!

Summer chips

This is what, on any given day, I have been reaping from my garden lately. I like to call them our summer chips because as soon as they are washed and deposited on the table, they disappear just as quickly as a bowl of greasy chips. Who am I to complain? It seems it took planting these babies in the garden to get babygirl to eat tomatoes. So worth it!

Notice that I haven't included pics of the garden itself... that's because I have somewhat mistreated it and the weeds are unfortunately just as bountiful as the tomatoes and herbs!

Luckily, it doesn't seem to hold a grudge because day after day it's rewarding me with a bowl of tomatoes... I've invented and tried so many types of salads this summer, I just love these little red candies sooo much! Makes me sad to think that in a few weeks I'll have to fork out over 15$/week to purchase only a fraction of the tomatoes we are currently eating and, naturally, they won't come close to tasting as good!