Jeff's new gig

A couple of months ago, my husband was contacted with a job opportunity too good to pass up.  After much research and thinking on Jeff's part to make sure he was making the right choice, he started working for this new company on May 5th.  They are based in Boston, but have a Washington, D.C. office.  It's all very exciting and I know Jeff will do amazing in this new position.

I am still trying to get used to Jeff's new work schedule.  He is giving this job everything he's got.  He leaves for work by 6:35am in the mornings and doesn't usually get home until 8:00pmish.  It makes for a long day for him, me and the kids. The past few weeks have been challenging.  I am sure in a few months he will have gotten in a groove and make having dinner with the family a regular thing again. 

The biggest change for me is not hearing from him throughout the day.  Since we met over 11 years ago, Jeff has always called or texted to see how my day is going.  We usually spoke at least once, sometimes twice each day.  Now, I don't hear from Jeff at all. It is so weird.  Something I am not getting used to.

Until the dust settles and Jeff can get his head above water, I am single mothering it.  I meet my friend each morning at 5:15am to walk. I get back home at 6:30am before Jeff leaves for work.  I get the kids to school, work my part-time jobs, handle all after-school activities with the kids and make us dinner, while keeping Jeff's warm in the oven. I then work on getting Sam down to bed.  It makes for a very long day.  A huge round of cheers for moms (or dads) who do this by themselves all the time, since day one.  It's not easy.

I am not complaining.  I am just stating things the way they are.  Its our new normal.  Just need to get used to it. 

Holy Moly! Samantha is 6!

 

Sam is 6!  I'd like to say this last year getting Sam to her 6th birthday has been easy, but it's been anything but easy.  She is more spirited, precoucious, sassy and fiercely determined than ever before.  With another year of age, has come another year of her getting stronger -- good and bad.  Sam is as loving and wonderful to be around as she is explosive and unpredictable.

This year Sam started elementary school.  Her kindergarten class was made up of 22 other children she didn't know.  I didn't realize how intensely shy Sam was until that first week of school when Sam refused to go.  It was a rocky road those first few weeks until Sam got more comfortable.  Sam made a few really good friends and that helped her adjustment.  Once Sam was okay with the concept of going to school, she really excelled! Her teachers called her a model student many times. What a nice compliment to hear. The plan is for all kindergartners to learn 100 sight words by the last day of school.  Sight words are sent home in batches of 10.  Your child has as much time as they need to learn these 10 words.  When they are ready, the 10 words go back to school and another set of 10 is sent home, until eventually, all 100 words are learned.  When Samantha realized what the plan was, her level of motivation to learn all 100 words skyrocketed.  Sam used her powers for good and learned all 100 words by December 31st.  It was incredibly exciting and Sam has been working on her reading almost daily.  It has been truly a pleasure to work with her on this.  I love hearing her sound out words and try to read everything that comes in front of her.  There is no stopping Sam when she sets her mind to it.

First day of Kindergarten.  Not happy about it.  Not one bit.

 

The other area that Sam truly has flourished in is helping me in the kitchen.  She absolutely loves to cook, whether its dinner or baking some kind of tasty treat.  She puts on her apron, takes her step stool to wherever I am standing and makes herself useful.  She loves to be a part of it. 

Samantha enjoys drawing pictures of all kinds of things, from hearts, butterflies, rainbows, to drawings of us.  She never lets a free moment of time get away from her without sitting at the table and drawing a picture.  She loves to make Jeff and I notes and put them on our pillows to find later.  She is very methodical in her drawing and every color has to be just the right shade.

Her love of fashion has not diminished this past year.  Sam still changes her outfits about 4 times a day.  She has embraced wearing jeans (something she refused to put on in the past) and I have to say, she looks so flippin cute wearing a pair.  Sam is also ok with wearing shorts now.  Another type of clothing that was self-imposed off-limits to her.  Sam most definitely has her own ideas of what tops and bottoms should match.  It's interesting (and entertaining!) to get her take on what goes together.  This is where I pick my battles and have given in much more than I ever thought I would when it comes to getting out the door in time for wherever we need to be.

Her determination working for good here. 
Sam refused to give up until she could do the monkey bars all on her own.

Sam is truly brilliant.  She demonstrates out of the box thinking all the time.  One of the best examples I have of this is when she knew she wasn't allowed out of her room after Jeff or I put her down to bed at night.  Rather than break the rules, Sam used the phone in her room to call our cell phones and tell us what she needed; which of course, was a stalling tactic to actually going to sleep.  I was impressed with her creativity and blown away with her ability to come up with another way to reach us.   Sam's mind is razor sharp and her memory is a limitless bucket able to store everything. 

While Sam and I butt heads constantly, I know these qualities will get her far in life.  She is going to be a force to be reckon with.  She is loyal, helpful, funny, quirky, deep, loving and full of energy.  She is also loud, expressive, incredibly verbal and a bit on the demanding side. 

My little girl is growing up!  I love her so much and hope that this coming year is one of leaving temper tantrums behind, giggling more, whining less and above all full of hugs and kisses!

Food Renovation

I have a few friends who have done (and currently are doing) an amazing job getting their families to eat healthier.  For some time now, I've been hearing all about the crazy stuff that is getting put into our foods.  It's pretty disgusting when you take a closer look at the food label and notice that the majority of the ingredients is stuff you can't even pronounce, let alone know what it even is.

My one amazingly brilliant friend recommends that if you have to purchase packaged foods to keep it to 5 ingredients or less (if at all possible).  Then there are the tips that you should shop mainly in the perimeter of the grocery store (where all the fresh food lives), only get foods that have whole wheat/grains, and stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Or, any added sugar for that matter. There are so many names given for sugar, it's crazy!

I had a great thing going with Jeff doing all the grocery shopping for close to two years.  I have to tell you, it was really nice coming up with a list and letting him do all the work.  However, I am taking back control and going back to the grocery store.  I want to read every single label and make sure it makes sense for our family to eat.

I am drawing my line in the sand on the following:

• Enriched white flour or any white flour,
• High fructose corn syrup / corn syrup,
• Ridiculous amounts of added sugar,  
• Red 40, Yellow 12

It's not easy, but I am trying.  I freaked out (quietly on the inside) when I looked at the cheese we had in our fridge to make grilled cheese sandwiches and one of the main ingredients listed was "corn syrup".  Also, the applesauce we get the kids had the 2nd ingredient listed at "high fructose corn syrup."   Unfortunately the greek yogurt I absolutely LOVE is no longer allowed in our house -- that had HFCS in it too.  Really.  That sucked the most to me.  Buh-bye favorite yogurt.

It's interesting, Katie Couric did a show on this topic a couple of weeks ago.  I had already started making huge strides in what we are stocking our kitchen with, but her show reinforced the need to take it up a notch and really look at the amount of sugar in our foods.   An interesting example she gave was, you think you are doing the healthy thing by eating your yogurt at breakfast, however, some yogurts are WORSE than 2 glazed donuts.  From the neck down, your body has no idea you didn't eat the donuts.  Such a powerful example.  The other statistic that was mind-blowing is we are raising a generation of kids that will have a shorter life span than their parents.  How scary is that!?!?!?!   Katie was promoting a documentary she was part of called "Fed Up".  I went and saw it last Sunday evening.  It was a mix of being a huge wake-up call and incredibly depressing.  What the food industry is allowed to get away with is disgusting.  I feel like everyone in America should be required to watch this movie.  I challenge anyone to watch this movie and not start looking at food labels with a more discerning eye. 

I know that the kids will be visiting relative's, friend's, and other people's houses throughout their lives -- this is where whatever they have in terms of food at someone else's house is ok with me.  And when we go to restaurants, I am not going to be a stickler for what the kids order.  It's when we are at home, that I want to keep the options healthy and to feel good about it.

We've been doing some stuff right from the get-go; my kids do not drink soda.  They never have.  Yay for me on this one.  And 95% of the time, they don't even drink fruit juice.  It's plain water for them.  It's just the way it is and Ian & Sam are very used to it.  The other night we went to a restaurant for dinner and given any choice on what to order for a drink, all the kids said "water". 

The other thing we've gotten away from is this notion that you have to have dessert after dinner.  Jeff and I were on the same page that if the kids ate well (meaning: did a great job with their vegetables and protein on their plate), we were inclined to let them have something sweet; whether it be a cookie, lollipop, or a bite of their chocolate bar (YES!!  It is still around).  No more!  Now getting a treat after dinner is a more once a week type of thing, not an every day thing.   I am most proud that I stopped putting a cookie in their school lunch and they haven't once asked where it went.  Again, yay for me on this one!

I am only replacing our food with the better alternative as we finish what we already have in the house.  I've already switched out our sandwich bread, yogurt, cheese, crackers, peanut butter and oatmeal.  And, I've gotten rid of cheez-its, goldfish, and plain bagels for good.  Not once have the kids complained or asked what happened to a particular product.  I've been making changes now for a month and it feels awesome to know the kids are eating good-for-you food.

There are so many things that need to be fixed with the food industry -- from RED 40, Yellow 12 (WTH!?!?!  We need to dye our foods to look pretty?  Studies have shown these dyes cause hyperactivity.), to all the added sugar, preservatives (Food shouldn't have an indefinite shelf life!), and hormones.  It's just not right.  I totally get it now why people shop organic.  I even understand the gluten-free craze for those that don't need to follow-it for medical reasons. I mean if you want to stay away from the white or enriched flour, there is no better way to do that then with gluten-free pasta or bread.

I am now gravitating towards Whole Foods for some of our groceries. And I am spending more time in the healthy foods section of Wegman's. It takes time to read all the labels and it takes more money too.  Even when something says "All Natural", I still need to make sure it doesn't have a lot of sugar.  After hearing what these processed foods and added sugar is doing to us, it more than justifies it in my opinion to take the time and extra money to do a better job feeding the family.

Compound words

Sam is learning all about compound words in Kindergarten.  For more than a few weeks now she has been randomly asking me if a specific word she heard or thought of is a compound word.

Sam:  Is "Sunday" a compound word?  You know, "Sun" and "Day".

Me:  Yes, that is a compound word.  Good job!  (I did go on to explain that the other days of the week are not compound words.)

Sam:  Is "Playground" a compound word?  You know, "Play" and "Ground".

Me:  Yes, they are compound words.  You've got this!


It's very cute.  Sam is trying so hard to find compound words in everything.

Sam:  Is "Jacket" a compound word?  You know, "Jack" and "it".

Me:  No, that is not a compound word.  Jacket ends in "et", not "it". 

Sam:  What about "Window"?  You know, "Win" and "Dough"

Now if Sam only knew how to spell as well as she is able to dissect compound words, she'd be all set!

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With the warmer weather these past few days, Sam and I keep seeing men working in their yards not wearing a shirt. 

Sam:  Why are all these people not wearing a shirt?

Me:  Because its too hot for them to be outside.  By not wearing a shirt they are able to be a little cooler.   What do you think, Sam?  Do you like them better with a shirt on or without?

Sam:  WITH a shirt on!!!!  Who wants to see their belly buttons?

The chocolate bar story

It took me awhile to start eating my chocolate bar I made when we went to Hershey's Chocolate World during Spring Break.  For some reason I was showing major restraint in unwrapping my tasty creation.  The kids and Jeff were doing a fantastic job of regulating how much they ate from their bars.  In fact, to this day the kids and Jeff still each have at least half their candy bars available for consumption. 

Once I got started on mine, it took all of 3 sittings to devour and finish it.  And believe me, I showed some restraint in not eating it all at once.  Yes, I have a problem.  I can admit it.

The family and I went for a walk one evening after dinner.  When we got back home, Ian headed for the shower and I made a beeline for the 3rd and final opportunity to eat my chocolate bar.  I was still in the kitchen when Ian came down and said the following:

Ian:  The next time I am allowed to have a treat, I am eating my candy bar.  I just need one bite.  I can't stand it anymore.

Me: (feeling very guilty that unbeknownst to Ian I FINISHED mine and all Ian wanted was a bite):  Ian, if you want a bite, you can have one.  It's okay.

Ian:  Really?

Me: Yes, in fact I just finished mine!  (and then I proceed to show Ian the empty box in the kitchen trash can).

Ian gets his candy bar and starts to take a bite.  He then looks at me and says the following in a very calm voice:  "Mine is not gluten-free.  Don't you even dare think about it."

Hahahahahaha! Ian quickly did the math in his head -- hey, if mom doesn't have her chocolate bar to eat anymore, then the rest of us are in trouble.  This kid knows me sooooo well. 

It's time for a rant

....And from a page from Crazy Man's book, I've now been influenced enough by him to write a letter of my own.  This burns me up.  What about the customer always being right?  I am done with them. D. O. N. E.  

May 3, 2014

To the owners of ----- Cleaners:

I feel it is important to let you know why I won’t be giving you any future business.  Over the years, I’ve taken my son’s pants (many, many pairs) to get hemmed at your cleaners.  On February 17^th, I brought in 2 pairs of the same exact track pants, in different colors to have tailored.   This past week I noticed both pairs’ hems are starting to unravel.  I ran in to ----- on Friday afternoon to see if they could be fixed.  I was met with resistance from the young lady who always works there.  She indicated that Ian’s pants had got caught on something and it caused the hem to unravel.  I said this was not the case.  There was no way BOTH pairs could’ve gotten caught on something.  It was in a weird spot to be unraveling.  The only way this was happening was the thread was coming loose, ON BOTH PAIRS!!   Then I was told that ----- only guarantees work for one week and this was 2.5 months later.  I assured her that Ian had worn these pants only a handful of times, at the most 4 times since we bought them. 

I asked her again if she could fix them.  She said it would get fixed if I agreed to split the cost.  Seriously?  I was not going to stay there and argue with her.  I took my pants and walked out.  I will not be back. 

I had been a good customer for several years, since you opened the dry cleaners under the new ownership and name.  I value the small business owner and do my best to choose them over a bigger chain.  I can not stay loyal to a company that does not provide good customer service.  I had never brought anything back to be fixed before.  And I’ve never once complained that work on your part was done poorly.  I had been happy up until now and never even questioned what I had been told by my friends were high prices for getting clothes tailored.  I am sorry to say you won’t see me coming back.  I highly suggest you do some research on the business model Nordstrom has made famous for handling their customers.  It’s too small of a town to be treating customers like this. 

Sincerely,

Robyn Toppall

Nicknames

The other day I had raised my voice a bit to communicate something to Jeff and Sam.  I wasn't yelling or upset with them.  Nope, not one bit.  Jeff and Sam were in the other room and I had something quick to tell them.

I don't even remember what I was trying to say.  I guess I wasn't very clear and they couldn't hear me well.  Jeff replies back with; "What did you just call us?  Speedy and Cueball?"

As soon as he said this, we all busted out laughing.  Jeff and Sam sincerely thought I had just called them "Speedy" and "Cueball".   We must've laughed for a good solid 15 minutes.  Actually, as I am writing this now, almost 6 days later, I am still laughing hysterically.

The irony is, this would be the most PERFECT nickname for Jeff.  Not only does he have no hair on his head; he loves to play pool!  And the name "Cueball" gives him a bit of a bad boy edge to him.  Which as we all know, Jeff could use a little toughening up on his image.  He is anything but a bad boy. 

As for Sam, I can think of many nicknames better suited for her.  "Speedy" is ok, but my preference would be "The Loud One" or "Firecracker".