House of Estrogen

Where did the innocence go?

Yesterday, I drove six 8-9 year olds to the Ronald McDonald House for a Girl Scout service project. I was expecting a drivetime conversation about Silly Bands, EOG's, Hannah Montana, or summer vacations. Instead, the main topic of discussion was suicide. It makes me sad that these girls even know what suicide is, let alone want to talk about it; however, a local high schooler jumped off a bridge to his death last week after leaving a suicide note on Facebook. One girl in the car has an older brother who was a friend to this guy. Another girl in the car lived in his neighborhood and remembered going swimming with him.  The girls talked about it with the very factual nature of 8 year olds talking about something that is likely beyond their understanding... although,when I think about it, suicide is really beyond my understanding too. They talked about things that they had heard from their parents... that suicide isn't ever the answer and to talk about your problems to someone if you are feeling sad. Then they also talked about how high the bridge was and what likely happened when he fell. I hated listening to this conversation, but I resisted the urge to shut it down and divert their attention to which Silly Band is the hardest to find. Although I wish the topic wasn't one the girls ever had to face, clearly it was on their minds. Letting them talk about it let me hear how they are processing it, and I decided that was a good thing. I occassionally added my two cents... offering that any time they have a problem, they need to find *someone* they feel comfortable talking to about it, even if it isn't a parent - a teacher, school counselor, or Girl Scout troop leader.  I suppose overall, it was a healthy conversation, but it just felt like such a giant loss of innocence. As uncomfortable as the "birds and the bees" conversation may be, that feels a whole lot more natural than having to explain the unexplainable. Maybe I'll just stick to driving my two year old around for a while where the conversation rarely veers from bikes, fire trucks, motorcycles, and horses.... life feels so much simpler that way.

Sweetheart Dance

I love that the Girl Scouts host the Father/Daughter Sweetheart Dance every year. It is such a wonderful father/daughter activity. All year, whenever Elise sees pretty dresses as we're out shopping, she begins planning her outfit for the event. Somehow, I never pictured J.C. as one who would enjoy the Father/Daughter Dance, but I think he looks forward to it almost as much as she does.

Nina isn't old enough for the dance yet and was crushed as she saw Elise getting ready. J.C. was planning on taking Elise out for a special dinner before the dance, so we quickly threw Nina into Elise's dress from last year. That way, she could tag along for dinner!

The dance happened to fall on J.C.'s birthday this year, so I called the restaurant and arranged for a surprise birthday dessert at the end of their meal. After dinner, they brought Nina home, and J.C. presented Elise with her corsage. The corsage is definitely a highlight of the evening for her!

After they left, Nina took advantage of her snazzy dress and my camera in hand to do a little modeling - always the ham!

The necklace she is wearing belonged to my grandmother. Her father gave it to her for her first fancy party or dance. I wore it occassionally for special occassions when I was growing up, so it is really special to see it now on Nina.

 

With three girls in the family, I guess J.C. has many more of these events in his future!
 
  

2010 Girl Scout Cookie Sales in Numbers

0 - number of moms in the troop who have volunteered to take over as Cookie Mom next year. Sigh.

1 - number of nights Elise's troop will stay at the Great Wolf Lodge on the trip they are paying for with their cookie money.

2 - a.m. - how late I stayed up the night before all the final cookie money and paperwork was due, working with the troop leader at her house, trying to finalize everything.

3 - minimum number of pounds I likely gained through cookies alone.

4 - number of cookie pick-ups from the cookie warehouse.

5 - number of times we went by one neighbor's house trying to deliver the cookies they ordered. There were at least 1-2 cars in the driveway each time. On the fifth visit, we could hear footsteps in the house. We knew they were home. I called them a minute later and said, "Hi, you ordered Girl Scout cookies from my daughters. We've tried to come by several times to deliver but haven't caught you at home. Is it OK if we come by in about 5 minutes?" The person who answered the phone said yes. When we went by a few minutes later, they again chose not to answer the door. Gotta love that neighborly kindness and respect. We gave up. We took one of their boxes to our new next door neighbor who just moved in a few days prior, and we ate the other.

18 - number of cookie transfers I did with other troops

19 - number of booths Elise's troop held, most of which I had to schedule, staff, provide cookies for, and count money after.

27 - minimum number of hours of sleep I need to catch up on sleep.

96 - combined number of Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Hydrocodone, Valium, and Ketorlac pills I took over the past few weeks for the muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder that seem to have miraculously gone away at the same time cookie sales ended. Coincidence? I think not.

180 - boxes of cookies Nina sold.

272 - boxes of cookies Elise sold.

278 - number of checks deposited from payments to Elise's troop.

320 - average number of boxes of cookies sold by each girl in Elise's troop.

374 - boxes of cookies that will be delivered to the U.S. armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan through donations collected by Elise's troop.

1625 - boxes of Thin Mints sold by Elise's troop - more than all the Daisy Go Rounds, Lemonades, Thanks-a-lots, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches combined.

 

5772 - boxes of cookies sold by Elise's troop

$3,174.60 - amount of money Elise's troop earned through cookie sales this year.

$20,202.00 - amount of money collected by Elise's troop for cookies sales this year.... staggering, isn't it?

$287,000 - what the Cookie Mom's salary should be... too bad it is a volunteer gig.

Now... I'm off to eat a few more cookies and then catch up on sleep!

Behind the Scenes

Last year, I gave you a glimpse into the world of a cookie mom on cookie delivery day. This year, I thought I would take you a little further behind the scenes in the secret life of a Girl Scout cookie.

Before heading to the cookie pickup location, there was a little prep work that needed to happen at home.

J.C. was not at all amused that our driveway was the only one in the cul-de-sac that needed shoveling. How does that happen, anyway? I don't know what our liability insurance covers for accidents caused by idiot homeowners who don't shovel their driveways when they are going to have people trudging 300+ cases of cookies up and down the driveway all day. We didn't want to find out, so J.C. spent his morning cursing and shoveling the one snowy driveway in the neighborhood.

Of course, there was the all-important cookie delivery day attire to be donned prior to the big event.

Once everything was set at home, I was off for my rendezvous with some cookies. I met up with the four other vehicles from our troop, and we caravanned over to the fire house. This was our view from outside the fire house waiting our turn.

Once we pulled in, the volunteers got busy loading (check out that gorgeous shiny new car o' mine!)

 

Mountain of Thin Mints, anyone?

They had us loaded in minutes, and then it was back home where the stash in my garage was feeling seriously inadequate compared to those stacks in the fire house.

 
 
It all looked so neat and tidy until we separated them out into each girl's order. Sidewalk chalk is my friend.

 
 
Three days later, my garage was empty save a few lone boxes of Daisy-Go-Rounds and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. We're gearing up for another weekend of booths though, so I have been loading up with transfers from other troops.

I will be glad when they are all gone, and I can take a nap.  Yawwwwnnnnn.... 

I think I may need to retire from this cookie mom gig. I'm wiped out.

 
 

Poor Neglected Blog

I like to blog.

I want to blog.

I'm too tired to blog.

It is February. The cookies have taken over my life. Bear with me.

Letter to Nina, 6 years

Dear Nina,

The day you have been anxiously awaiting has finally arrived. You are six today. This last year has been a big one for you - finishing preschool, starting kindergarten, and learning the ins and outs of being an elementary school kid. It is a new world, but you have taken it by storm.

You leap out of bed every morning at least a half hour or hour before anyone else in the family, but you just fend for yourself, playing on the computer, watching TV, or fixing yourself some breakfast. You're very independent, and I think you truly enjoy having the quiet house to yourself each morning. Once Elise is awake, and you can go back in the room you two share, you are usually the first one dressed. As soon as Addie starts making noise, you bound into her room and get her out of the crib by dragging her over the railing. It looks as awkward as it sounds, but Addie doesn't complain. Then you head downstairs where you start packing your own lunch. I rarely make your sandwiches any more. You have taken ownership of that job. You remarked this morning that you couldn't believe how much better than Elise you were at spreading jelly when you are so much younger. Elise is lucky if she is fully awake and dressed before the bus arrives though, so she never has time to make her own lunch. You take pride in doing it all yourself, so you have much more practice in the art of jelly spreading.

School is going well. When I volunteered in your classroom this week, I got to read some of your journal - what a treat! I loved entries like, "My bst frnds are Emily and Riley bcuz tha are nis and buteful." and "I am going on a flit to Teksis."  Kindergarten suits you. The 100th day of school was last week, and you had very definite plans on the design for your 100th day T-shirt. You are decisive... always knowing exactly what you want, down to the last detail. 

 

You played soccer this fall and seemed to have a good time. I think you may play again in the spring. You begged for over a year to take ballet. I finally signed you up for a 4 week session to see how you liked it, and that was enough for you! You had fun, but ballet definitely wasn't your thing. Some day I'm sure you'll find a sport or activity that you love, but I have no idea what that will be.

 

You have joined a Daisy Girl Scout troop this year and love finally being able to do all the Girl Scout activities you've watched your sister do for the past three years. You were so proud the first time you donned the blue Daisy vest. You had high aspirations for your first year of cookie sales with a lofty goal of 900 boxes. You were absolutely determined to win the digital camera; however, you quickly grew weary of cookie sales after about 125 boxes. Hopefully you'll be happy with the highlighter award instead.

 

Behavior and discipline continue to present the biggest challenges for your dad and me. You are a middle child to the core!

A few weeks ago, I discovered some opened foil pill packets on your bathroom counter with the chewable pills nowhere in sight. I yelled for you and Elise to come talk to me about it. Elise quickly denied having anything to do with the pills while you gave me a sheepish grin and said nothing. Your dad and I launched into a huge lecture about how dangerous it was to take medicine on your own, how you could have ended up in the hospital, how you knew you weren't supposed to take medicine without a grown-up, how if you had gotten sick, we wouldn't have known what was wrong, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??? and on and on. You sat there and smirked as if it was all a big joke. That just got you in trouble, and we started piling on the punishments in an effort to make you realize how serious the situation was. Through all of this, you never said much. You just clammed up and took all that we doled out. Finally, your dad was determined to find out what prompted you to eat the pills. He told you that he promised you would not get in any more trouble than you were already in if you told us why you had done it. You ran to your room, climbed up in the top bunk and started looking for something. We had no idea what you were looking for, but you eventually said you were searching for a small lotion container. We couldn't imagine what that had to do with the pills you had eaten. Did you chase the pills with a bottle of lotion? When you finally found it, the small container of normally white Lubriderm was now a small container of pink and purple swirled Lubriderm. You hadn't actually eaten any of the pills. They had been your dye to decorate the lotion... quite clever, actually. We were still angry that you had played with the pills at all but clearly relieved that you hadn't ingested them. When we asked if there were any that had been dropped or left out anywhere, you exclaimed, "only in the little blue box!"  Little blue box... that would be the RAZOR SHARP pill cutter you had used to cut the pills to fit them in the lotion bottle! My five year old plays with razor blades and pills... every mother's dream.  What a night that was. Our emotions ran the gamut from being furious that you had taken pills, to scared out of our minds at how serious this could have been, to relieved that you hadn't eaten any, to impressed at your ingenuity, to scared out of our minds again about the years ahead of us. You challenge us in ways we never could have imagined.

 

When I got my new car, you were the first one to christen it as a mom-mobile. You wrote on one of the seats with lip gloss. Awesome. Thanks.

You and Elise continue to have a love-hate sister relationship. One day you'll spend the entire morning together concocting some elaborate role play with dolls, and the next day, you'll both be screaming at the top of your lungs, "I wish you weren't my sister!!" while kicking each other.

You can always find a way to make Elise cry, and that thrills you to no end. Last night, you accomplished your goal by saying, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit" after refusing to give Elise any ice in her water. You were right there at the ice and water dispenser, but torturing your sister by depriving ice was just too satisfying. The fighting makes me insane, but it also makes me thankful for the good times.

 

Your fashion sense may send me to an early grave. I try so hard to let you express yourself with your clothing, but there are times I just have to stand my ground. Yesterday, you came out of your room in a really cute skirt outfit - a coral top with a coordinating coral, off-white, and olive green plaid skirt. It was a great set, but you had complemented it with a pair of bubble gum pink tights that clashed horribly. You were insistent about the tights, but I just couldn't let you out the door like that. I finally convinced you to wear off-white tights, but I caved on the matching tall coral fringe boots. I had won the battle of the tights, so I let you win the shoe battle. Off you went to school in your cute, preppy, plaid Gymboree outfit and your psychedelic light-up sneakers designed by some 60's hippy dropping acid. You definitely know how to make a statement.

You keep us on our toes, Nina. I love you, and I can't wait to see what comes along with age six!

Love,

Mama

Open Letter to Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,

I understand that you may not be interested in Girl Scout cookies. Believe me... I get that. You've just made your New Year's resolutions, and you don't want to be tempted. Really, that's OK. I don't need to be eating them either. However, if two little neighbor girls come by your house selling cookies, you have several options available to you:

1. Politely tell them you aren't interested. That's fine. I promise. My girls need to learn to handle rejection. It is good for them.

2. Donate a couple bucks to Operation Cookie Drop to send cookies to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You'll keep your diet intact, support the Girl Scouts, get a tax-deduction, and help out some soldiers all in one shot!

3. Buy a box to take to your next meeting at work. Your co-workers will love you for it. Take a box to Sunday School, Bunko, or a friend who has had a baby... there are plenty of ways to rid yourself of a box of cookies without eating them yourself.

4. Put up a "No Solicitors" sign in your window. We will respect it.

5. This one is the most important, so pay attention. If you are going to pretend you aren't home, REALLY MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOU AREN'T HOME!  When your two year old is banging on the window and waving at us, my girls know you are home and avoiding them. When you close your garage door moments after we walk away from your house, my girls know you are home. When we see you drive up and walk into your house, and we ring the doorbell two minutes later, my girls know you are home. There is nothing more upsetting, confusing, and frustrating to 5 and 8 year old girls than knowing they are purposefully being avoided. If you are going to hide from them, then HIDE WELL!  If you can't hide well, then have the balls to open the door and face them. I've given you some good options above. They are just little kids. Open your door.

Look at these faces. These are the looks you are creating by doing a crappy job of pretending you aren't home.

We'll be back again this time next year, so figure out your strategy now, please.

Thank you,

Ann

Halloween Weekend - Everything Else

This post is just a hodge-podge of the rest of our busy weekend.

First, the requisite Halloween attire for the end of the week. Nina, of course, chose to accessorize hers a bit!

 

   

Friday Night was the Fall Festival at the elementary school. It had all the usual suspects - big inflatables, games, crafts, polish sausage, pony rides, popcorn, and a cake walk. There was one new addition this year though, karaoke... really, really LOUD karaoke, like wishing you had hearing aids you could turn off loud. It was cute to see the kids Elise's age up there singing their hearts out to Hanna Montana songs, but seeing the fourth and fifth graders belting out lyrics like, "I kissed a girl just to try it. I hope my boyfriend don't mind it" or "Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye" was just a bit unsettling. 

   

  

We have attended the fall festival every year since Elise started kindergarten, but somehow we have always missed the "kiss the pig" event. The kids vote on which teachers should kiss the pig. Since Nina's kindergarten teacher was one selected for the honor, we made sure not to miss it this time. When I had heard about this in years past, I pictured a cute little pink pot bellied pig, perhaps Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. I had no idea the teachers had to kiss this humongous grey boar!  If there was ever any doubt as to why it is hard to attact people to teaching, it isn't just the money, it is the fact that they are made to KISS PIGS!  Mrs. S - you go girl! I think I would have called in sick (with swine flu, of course!)

  
 
  
Saturday morning, Elise made bagged lunches for the homeless with her Brownie troop. With all the excess of the weekend, I think this brought some needed perspective in her life. She came home wanting to round up our old coats and shoes to donate. One of her troop leaders was homeless for a time in her life, so she spoke very passionately and emotionally to the girls about what they were doing and why. I think it really resonated with Elise.

Next on the agenda was Nina's end of season soccer party. Nina really had a great time with soccer this season. I hope she'll decide to play again in the spring. Her coach was wonderful!

 

 Finally, just a couple pictures from Nina's last soccer game.

 

  
 Whew! What a weekend... lots of fun, but I'm glad its over!
 
 
  

Yes, 911 Operator, You Heard Correctly. I'm Trapped in a Corn Maze.

I had no idea. None. Really. Who knew a corn maze could be so exhausting? I have no clue how long we were in there, but it was well over an hour. I had serious doubts as to whether we would find our way out before nightfall.

Tonight was Elise's Brownie troop outing to a corn maze. Siblings were invited, but a parent had to accompany any younger siblings. Since Nina wanted to go, that meant I was going too. Really though, it sounded like fun. I was looking forward to the event. I never imagined it involved walking for miles and miles with sweat rolling off every last body part! The girls started out RUNNING through the maze as I scuffled along behind trying to keep up. After a good half hour of that though, they got tired, slowed down, and we walked along together... and walked... and walked... and walked. Apparently the maze is about a mile and a half long, but in looking for the 10 hidden stations where we were supposed to stamp our card, we must have walked every inch of the maze a minimum of 2-3 times. We never did find stations 3 and 5, and that's not from lack of trying! The girls had fun, I think... at least when they weren't complaining about being tired, hot, thirsty, and wanting to find the exit. Fun, yes... we'll just call it fun. As for me, I now have a better understanding of "like a needle in a haystack"... it is kinda like "a Brownie in a corn maze".

 

 

Do those chairs at the edge of the cornfield seem odd to anyone else? 

Field of Dreams

This year, I offered to chaperone Elise's Girl Scout troop on their overnight at the ballpark. It sounded like fun, but as it rained every night in the week leading up to the event, my anticipation turned to anxiety. We had been told by other troops that sleeping under the stars without a tent was the way to go with this event, and that was how our troop did it last year. That's all well and good on a nice night, but throw a little rain in the mix, and we have a problem. After much debate, we decided to just go with our original plan and cross our fingers. It was a risky move, but we got lucky. The rain gods over the stadium were looking out for us that night!

Here are the girls before the game started.

 

And marching in the Girl Scout parade as the players were warming up

 

After the game and fireworks, we set up camp down on the field... first row sleeping bags right in front of the big screen playing Hotel for Dogs.

The Domino's pizza concession stand operator was nice enough to bring down all the pizzas that hadn't sold, so we ended up with a late night pizza party!

It was lights-out at midnight, and this was the scene the next morning just before they blasted the bugle wake up call over the loud speakers followed by a medley of Hannah Montana and High School Musical to get everybody moving. They clearly knew their audience!

 

After a healthy and hearty breakfast of pop-tarts and Froot Loops, we headed home for a nice long nap. It was a fun night in the field of dreams!