The Costume Confusion

My oldest daughter is getting ready for the Halloween dance at school. This means it's time to come up with a costume. My 8 year old is so easy she picked up the Costume Express catalogue and said I want to be a ninja. I Looked at it, it was cute so sold. I ordered that baby and she is very happy. Now for my 12 year old well it's a long drawn out process. Last year she was a gypsy and won a prize for most original costume. Well this year she wants to win again. However, she wanted to do a group costume with her friends. Not so easy. Just too many cooks if you know what I mean.

The main problem of course is that I don't want her to wear some skimpy costume that isn't appropriate. There will be none of that in my house not to mention she'd be sent home from the dance. So they had to come up with something fun and cute and age appropriate. First thing they thought of was a group of superheroes. This was a cute idea and I was fine with it. That didn't last long though. Next they wanted to be Deal or No Deal girls and I'm thinking cute yet you can't wear dresses like that to school and I'm not buying you a prom dress at the age of 12. Then a few wanted to be faeries, but some of the others not so sold on the idea. I just wanted them to hurry up and decide because then I have to put the costume together. Finally, my daughter and one of her friends stuck firm with the fairy idea and 2 others decided to go as cute nerds. Okay we now have a costume idea, but how am I going to get it together? The first thing I do is call mom. My mom that is.

She's great at this kind of stuff and well I'm okay, but with her help I know we can get it together. So today I spent most of it trying to find a long sleeve or short sleeve leotard for the girls to wear on top. We were not successful at the stores we went to so I'm going to look on line. However, we went to the fabric store and found the most beautiful fabric to make a fairy skirt. It's pink, light blue and lavender and has glittery butterflies on it. We snagged that right up. We plan to make a sort of beach cover up skirt with it. Also we hope to get some tulle with glitter on it for a top layer give it that magic feel. They had that as well at the store, but I'm not sure what the tops to these outfits will look like yet so we have to wait. There will also be a flower wreath and maybe a flower necklace or something. Not really sure on that. I don't want her to look to much like a little girl even though to me she will always be one. If anyone out there has any ideas I would appreciate it.

For now this is what we are going with. I think it will be very pretty. I just hope she likes it. I honestly never know anymore

The Study Fight.

My older daughter has a very difficult science teacher this year and when a test is coming up she literally has to know the chapter. We're talking the little blurbs under the pictures and all the charts on the side. This is the first time she's had to worry about every detail and it's difficult. Anyway, she studied for a while and then she asked me to quiz her. This is a normal occurrence and I'm happy to do it. I see it as part of my job as a mom. Well I start quizzing and she starts getting confused. She gets angry and says "but I know it." I try to stay patient and tell her that she needs flash cards. It's getting late so I make them and tell her she needs to study them and I'll quiz her in a little while. I have to dry the little one's hair. Well that sets her off she thought she was done studying and that it was now TV time. My older daughter loves TV. She looks forward to getting her homework done everyday so she can just chill out in front of the TV. She has so much homework she's lucky to get an hour of TV a day. However, last night I wasn't satisfied with the studying. She jumps off her bed and runs into the bathroom slamming the door leaving me staring after. I'm thinking you've got to be kidding me. Seriously, if she just sat down and looked at them for about 15 minutes she would be fine. Oh no we have to have drama 24/7. Okay she finally calms down and I'm telling her to just do it and that I'm only trying to help. I mean really do you think I wanted to write out 20 flashcards? I had a disaster in the kitchen waiting for me. Anyway she studied the flashcards and guess what? She knew the material so much better. I know it's shocking mom was right. she'll do great on her test now. It was just a matter of getting her to study. Don't get me wrong. I mean I get it no one wants to spend all day studying, but if you want good grades you have to put some effort in. She went off today feeling confident and having the flash cards mom made to review before her test. I'm telling you middle school is going to be the death of me.

We Have an Official Case of the Mondays!

Okay right the day starts off with my alarm going off. It's still seems dark outside. My bed is warm and I'm so comfortable and I'm pretty sure the dream I was having is way better than what's going to happen when I start this day. I get up though because if I don't get moving immediately the whole household will be thrown off. I head down stairs and grab a quick cup of cereal flick on the news to check the weather. Heaven knows what kind of day we'll have in New England. I'm not a coffee drinker so no caffeine pick me up. I know shocking, but I never cared for the taste. The only coffee I like is Dunkin Donuts coffee coolatas and we all know that it may have that fabulous caffeine, but it also has tons of calories so that's a treat I only have once a week. Maybe today the way things are going. Anyway moving on I put the dog out. She's the cutest little thing ever and I need to make sure the coyotes don't get her. Yes, they would think she's a great snack. Anyway it's then time to wake the girls. The little one is the easiest I go in and she pops out of bed right away and heads to the TV to get to it before her sister. It's SpongeBob time. Good thing I already caught the weather. Moving on to the older one. She's a little harder. Completely covered by her comforter I have to pop the shade to get the light in the room and remove the comforter and ask if she heard me. I usually get a grunt and I move on hoping she'll get up because I have to get the breakfast going and make their lunches. Neither one is a fan of hot lunch so they take it everyday. The little one is halfway through eating when her sister arrives and plops herself on the couch. Still not talking. I hand her breakfast she eats in silence. When they're both finished it's upstairs to get dressed. Apparently this is a race because I hear arguing all the way up the stairs and someone touched someone. It's irrelevant. I just want them to get moving so they won't be late. Then there's the bathroom. Someone made a mess with the toothpaste there is water everywhere from when they washed their faces and of course they try to do all of it at the same time so there is more arguing. What's a morning without it? I'll tell you it's not a morning. It's now a race to get back down to me so they can get their hair done first. They both have long hair. This is usually just a pig tail, but we are still in lice alert so we have braids going on. The little one beat the big one. This is a very usual occurrence the older one is much slower. I had to yell up three times this morning to get her moving. All with the same response. "I'm coming." Sure she is and so is Christmas. She made it down as I was finishing the lunches. I did her hair through all the complaints that I was pulling it. The girl has really long hair so snarls happen. I don't mean to pull in fact I don't think I even did it's just the fact that I'm doing it at all. It's time to find shoes. They're never where they should be. Heaven knows why. They find them and the older one informs me that her sneakers are dirty and she is trying to get them clean. Seriously you have to be kidding me. We were out in the rain the other day and they got dirty so now I have to clean these shoes in 2 minutes. I grab whatever cleaner was on the counter. I think it was Windex. I get them done just as daddy is heading down the stairs to drive them. They head to the car, but not without hitting each other accidentally with their backpacks which are totally weapons with the amount of stuff they have in them. This leads to more arguing. I kiss them and then my husband. Close the door and wave as the garage door goes down. I then go inside and collapse on the couch for a moment trying to get motivated to do what needs to be done. Oh yeah I definitely have a case of the Mondays.

Glee, I love it!

This show is so much fun. I saw the commercials for it back in the spring and they had my attention. The music was great. My older daughter was also interested. I wasn't sure if it was okay for her, but I thought we could give it a try and if I deemed it inappropriate then I could always pull the plug. I watched it with her and I couldn't stop laughing and the music was just so great. The kids on this show are so talented. My daughter went to itunes and bought the cover they did of Don't Stop Believin. She listens to it all the time and I have to say I do as well. The thing with this show is that it is basically making fun of high school and all the things that go on in high school. My thought is some of the shows they make aiming for the same age like Gossip Girl, and 90210 my daughter is not allowed to watch, but this one I think is okay. First off we watch it together so if anything questionable comes up we talk about it. I'm not going to leave her thinking about these things on her own. Second it's really the music that she loves. We DVR the show and she always goes back and rewatches the musical numbers. Third this show basically laughs at everything and everybody. No one is safe. I love that because if you can laugh at yourself then maybe just maybe things will be a little bit more fun in life. If you think about everything in a tweens life it is so full of drama so if this makes her laugh and see that things can be funny I'm all for it. Bottom line this is a must watch program in my house. I don't feel however my younger daughter is ready for it. Though I do let her see the musical numbers and she loves that. As a mom you must always make the final decision on any type of program your children are watching. Just because I think it's okay doesn't mean another mother will feel that way. My advice check out the show before you let your child watch it or watch with them and make it a conversational piece.

Oh I've also just discovered that the Glee soundtrack is available for pre-order at Amazon. It comes out on November 3rd. This is a must have for Christmas. Not sure if it's a must have for my girls or for me but it's a must have. Anyway you look at it if I buy the cd all three of us can load it onto our ipods so everyone is happy. This won't be the last time you hear me talk about this show. I just love it.

New Moon Party Supplies!

Seriously I can not believe that they now have party plates and napkins with pictures of everyone's favorite vampire and werewolf. My daughter was so excited. Really how fun for girls to maybe have a little party or get together before or after they go see New Moon on November 20, 2009. You know grab a little pizza have some Shirly Temples and off you take them to go see their favorite movie. I think I may have to pick some of these up. I'm only afraid she may want to hang them on her wall as opposed to eating off them. The Twilight frenzy can only continue.

Time To Worry About High School?

The other night my daughter's school had a high school fair. Granted she's only in the 7th grade and she still has another year to figure out where she's going to high school. However, everyone kept telling us how important it is to start looking now. Okay right so here we go. First off my daughter usually wears a uniform to school but for the fair she could wear whatever she wanted and I told her to look nice. She comes down the stairs sporting a cute skirt and and sweater her grandmother got her from Abercrombie & Finch. It's her favorite store. Actually I think it's everyone in her classes favorite store. Personally I think they're a little pricey and always head to the back of the store where the clearance racks are. Anyway she looked beautiful and all grown up. Realization was seriously settling in on the fact that she will soon be heading off the high school. I took a deep breath and we headed out to the fair.

We entered the school's gym and there were about 15 schools set up. It was so overwhelming. She saw her friends and immediately went to them and her father and I had to follow behind. She had no idea which school she wanted to check out first so we kind of randomly picked. A few we skipped because they were all boys so clearly there was no need to check them out. The first school we looked at she had heard about and it's not too far away. When we got to the booth my daughter just stood there having no idea what to ask the girls that were there anything about the school so I stepped in and started asking questions. The girl was very sweet and you could tell she enjoyed going to this school. It offered many things that my daughter wanted and they were giving out free pens and a cute little mirror compact so she thought they were great. Moving on the next school was the one I attended in High School and well it's a really wonderful school, but it's also almost an hour away and would be quite a drive. Again she didn't really know what to ask, but soon found herself getting more into it. She's so shy I worry about her going to a bigger school for high school. The one she's in now is small and she's been there since nursery school. Needless to say she is very comfortable there. She's also very bright and has a lot to offer any school she attends. I have no doubt she will succeed wherever she chooses to go. Okay back to the high schools. There were a few others we check out and asked questions and everything seemed to be so crazy. What was more important the proximity of the school, AP classes, Clubs, or sports. My head was spinning. My daughter really enjoys track and drama so whichever school she chooses they must have that to offer, but she excels in math so we want a really great math program. It's just so hard you want to make the right choice for your child. Not to mention private schools are so expensive. How will we pay for college once we get through paying for high school? I guess this is why they tell you to start early so you can weed out the schools you have absolutely no interest in going to. One mom asked me if we could please go back to nursery school. I looked over at my daughter who looked so grown up talking with her friends and I really wish we could go back because I'm not ready for my little girl to go to high school.

How To Ward Off Lice.

Okay it's that wonderful time of year when I open up the girl's backpacks to find the notice that I despise. Lice is in the school. Then my daughter informs me they did a head check at school. Reflexively I begin scratching my head. The mere thought of them makes me feel ill and itchy all over. My girls have very long hair so if they ever got lice it would be a huge pain in the you know what. Not to mention they would totally freak out. So what can I do to keep those little critters away from my girls hair? Well a few years ago I spoke to my pediatrician about it because the note came home and I panicked. I thought if I treated her hair with the anti-lice shampoo they sell at CVS that would prevent the lice from infecting my girl's hair. They told me immediately not to do that if she didn't have lice because if she did come down with it the shampoo would not be as affective and it would be much harder to rid her of it. So this left me with the question of what I could do to prevent lice. Well they had a few syggestions for me. First off contrary to popular belief lice do not like dirty heads. They told me to load her head with hair spray, mousse or gel. Also to keep her hair in pig tails or braids and not to let it hang down and loose. Lice is spread from head to head touching or if things like hats and combs are shared. Okay so my children left for school today with the youngest one sporting a tight braid sprayed heavily with hair spray and the older one with mousse on the top and then a pony tail sprayed heavily with hair spray. Then I gave them a quick talk on not touching any one's head and not putting on a hat or using anyone's comb. Okay fingers crossed they don't get it. I have done everything I can think of to prevent it so hopefully all will be well.