Parental Plea

Many of you no longer have to think about the one thing that can make my blood pressure rise every morning around 8 am and 3:25 each afternoon in inclement weather. Yes, my kids are still in school, year around school does not dismiss for summer for tracks B, C, and D until July 1st.

I do know that all of you may experience my stressor at some point unless your kids are bused. Any parent with a child within walking distance to the school knows exactly what I am talking about--vehicle drop off at an elementary.

It's down right scary at the worst times, aka winter ice and snow. It's a game of nerves the rest of the time. There are vehicles pulling at the curb in illegal directions, pulling next to red curbs, going out entrances, turning left where a signs clearly designate no left turns. There are cars on both sides of the street in front of the school and crosswalk, making maneuvering tricky as they pull in and out. Plus, add the constant fear that some small child may fall or dart out.

I could continue to list the horrors but here's my main point. The next time you go to drop off your child, please consider a couple of points.

1. We are all doing the exact same thing. We all don't want to be there. We are making sure our children get back and forth to school safely. So, that extra 2 minutes you might save by squeezing next to the curb and a somewhat awkward angle, so you don't have to follow the school drop off zone, makes it harder for the rest of us to get by safely. Every time you pull up next to the red curb and make the crossing guard difficult to see, you are endangering all of our children. The red curb is there for a reason. The entrance sign and exit sign are meant to keep the flow going one way to keep our kids safe, not suggestions. Every time you make an exception to let your kid out, you slow down the rest of us and let everyone else know that "You are more important" than all the rest of us doing the exact same thing.

2. Schools make traffic plans for a reason. Very smart people review the plans to try to insure the maximum safety and flow. Does this mean it is as fast and convenient as each person needs? No, of course not. But taking extra time and actually reading the suggested drop off the schools provide each year can make all of our kids more safe. It does mean that you might be waiting extra time and it might take longer. I personally prefer to take the longer ways to follow the rules to show my kids how to be safe. If they are tardy, I don't blame it on traffic. I blame it on my own families inability to leave at the appropriate time.

3. Our kids are watching. My kids can point out more traffic violations in elementary school than I ever paid attention to as a kid. I make them follow the rules set by the school and use crosswalks, even if it means added extra time to walking home or doubling back. Kids are not dumb. As adults, if we constantly make exceptions, they will see that it can be done and you can't be there every second to guarantee the exception they make is a low risk or high one.

PLEASE, if you just stop to consider every other car holds a tiny person just like yours, I think that common courtesy and patience would guarantee us all a safer experience. It may not be fast, but it will be safe.

p.s. this soapbox I stood on for this post has been building since 2007. I'm sure it made me more preachy than needed. But please just sift through the diatribe and realize we all need courtesy and patience.

Into the Fire

The momentous occasion I had been dreaming about for months finally occurred. I QUIT! I am no longer employed for monetary gain. For the last 2 weeks, I dreamed about what I would be able to do with 40 more hours of the week at my discretion.

Ha ha hahahahahaha.

Yes, that's right. They evaporated into work I'd been longing to go back to--the full-time stay at home mom. There are meals and cleaning and school appointments and family projects and church service opportunities. All these had been sliding by silently as worked for someone other than myself.

I'm busier. Since quitting, I've been fingerprinted for the school, gone on 2 school field trips, helped paint my mother's house, helped my brother move to Salt Lake and done some deeper cleaning I'd been neglecting for too few hours in the day. I'm more exhausted at the end of each day (no more 8 hours sitting at desk answering calls when they come in).

I'm happy.

All's right with the world

Today is a very special day. No, I don't mean Cinco de Mayo. It's not just the day I dropped off all equipment at my former employers and went back to being a full-time mom (although my family will be celebrating it for months and months to come).

Today is the day my best friend came into the world.

Here is the man that called me beautiful so sincerely and for so long that I finally came to believe it. Here is the man who tells me he loves me each and every day and how great I look.

This is the man who is involved in his children's lives. This is the man who changed every diaper for their first 2 weeks of life because he was home and I needed to rest. This is the man who builds elaborate Geotrax train sets for his kids to play with.

This is the man who will build anything I can dream up. He can fix our vehicles, fix our roof and do just about anything he sets his mind to.

This is a man with a testimony and faith. Then, he puts it into action, helping people 7 days a week and whenever called upon. This is a man who leads the way for his children and helps them understand the important things in life.

Happy Birthday.

My world would be nothing without you.

Right Things

So, for close to 2 weeks, it's felt like my world was going WRONG.


Yes, my work decided I'd have to change my schedule (and not for the better). Tax season was winding down and they call it shift bids. You can ask for what you like but if they've filled that time than you have work what is left or lose the one reason for working--insurance. So now I work Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 am to 9 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 pm to 9:30 pm, and Saturdays 9:30 am to 6 pm. It's miserable. Something will have to change soon. My husband and I are looking at all our options.


My youngest gets the flu and from there it travels to me, my husband and my daughter. My middle son narrowly escaped. So, all of last week as I start my new work schedule there is vomit, fever, chills, body aches, etc. One gets better and another goes down for a constant week of sickness.


It snows--in April.


Yes, I was really feeling sorry for myself. Why didn't I crawl into hole and never come out?


My youngest was feeling better and wanted to play a game, Toy Story Memory. I was still sick, my husband was running a fever. My middle son graciously agreed. He's competitive. When he started piling up the matches on his side, I could see my youngest getting upset at his small pile.


Then I watched him turn over the card next to his match ON PURPOSE. I knew what he was doing because I've done the same thing numerous times when playing with my youngest to give him an opportunity to get some matches. My competitive older son saw his younger brother's frustration and "missed." My youngest gloated. He laughed with glee and said, "I knew where it was" and added the match to his pile.


2 days later, he gets up in front of a room full of people on Sunday and tells them what he knows about our church. He stuns me. He says that he knows Jesus is his Savior. I let tears flow as he comes back to sit me.


The world is all right. It's better than that. Compassion, love and understanding the really important things are all that matters. Even as I continue to struggle, everything is right.

How to Wake Refreshed (as cuddly sleepers)

Step 1: An ounce of prevention . . . Start with a good bed.

If you are like most newlyweds, you may find funds limited. If you were like my husband and I, we ended up with a donated full size bed. To give you an adequate idea, my husband went from sleeping on a Queen mattress at home with 60 inches of space to sharing a full size bed with me. We each only had 27 inches of personal space. But, we were in love and enjoyed being together. We became cuddly sleepers. I spent the first year of our marriage falling asleep ON him--on his chest, on his arm, etc. If this makes you cringe, do everything in your power to buy a bigger bed initially because habits quickly form. After a year of sleeping so close, my husband's back began to bother him with the poor quality of the mattress. He started sleeping on the floor. My habit of being curled up next him went into withdrawals and I was tossing more. Within a month, we had selected the right type of bed for him. We left the store thinking we would come back on payday and get a King. Looking at our finances, we ended up a with a Queen a few days later. Yes, the King would have given us SOME space but we were now cuddly sleepers and the Queen was luxurious in comparison.

Fast Forward 9 years, I'm waking up sore. I wake up perched on the edge of the bed, my husband cuddled up next to me with feet of bed behind him. My body is stiff from trying to keep itself on the bed while we sleep.

Step 2. Assert space for a couple of months. I started with going to sleep facing him with a body pillow between us. It was harder to fall asleep and after 10 years of cuddly sleeping, he kept snuggling up to me in the night anyway and I still ended up perched on the edge of the bed. I tossed more and still woke up sore.

Step 3. Start saving for a King. Then go on vacation and sleep in a King. I came to realize that no matter the size of the bed, your husband will end curled around you with a queen-sized space of bed behind him. I can't break him of his habit now, especially when he's doing it unconsciously.

Step 4. Embrace the habit, but on HIS side of the bed. I now cuddle up even more. I revel in falling sleep with his arm around my waist and our legs entwined--it's the safest place in my world and as close to heaven as I can get at this point. I put the body pillow between me and the edge of the bed and snuggle and SNUGGLE until I'm smack dab in the middle of the bed. He's not on the edge but he doesn't have room to spare. And me, I wake up next to my best friend completely ready for another day.

For quick review, 1. Get a big bed in the beginning or you'll become cuddly sleepers by necessity 2. Embrace the habit when formed (and if one of you is a mover-moving in their sleep-start on their side of the bed)

How to Lengthen a Dress

If you are like me, a mom with daughter in elementary school, you too may find that she outgrows dresses overnight. She loves the new styles but, in one month, that okay length skirt is making you cringe as you tell her she just can't wear it anymore. My new solution, buy dresses that I can modify.

Step One: Buy a dress on sale and, of course, with an additional percentage off coupon.

Note--I chose this dress for a number of reasons.

1. Made of spandex on top to give and fit better for shoulders and neckline.

2. Balloon style of skirt was attached to inner slip.

When looking under, I found another inch and a half of skirt material

that would come down when I unpicked the skirt from the slip.

3. All the other styles had netting added as trim to bottom

and I could do that (or my mom could help me do that).

Step Two: Let her wear it, until the creeping hemline on her legs must be addressed.

Step Three: Carefully unpick the dress from the slip with what I term "the unpicker." It has an official name. I got one because my mother is seamstress and over the years, I helped her unpick. So, when setting myself up, I bought one of my own. Carefully remove all threads after finishing, tape can be helpful to pick up little bits. Iron new edges smooth.

Step Three: Pick the right trim. Take the dress with you to notions stores or fabric stores for match. In my case, search my mom's (a talented seamstress my whole life) notion box. She had black stretch lace very wide.

Step Four: Serge or hem the slip.

Step Five: Sew the trim to the skirt. Fold a 1/4 inch seam over trim and straight stitch to give stability and finished look. (If you're lucky, you can have the most talented seamstress sew it for you in 10 minutes. THANKS MOM! Or spend about an hour sewing, depending on skill level)

Notice how much longer the dress is now. The hem used to end at the white slip.

Step Six: Enjoy your daughter's squeals and watch her wear it all afternoon because you (with Grandma's help) saved her favorite dress from being donated.

Tool Day

My kids' school had "Tool Day." What is Tool Day? It's career day with props. They ask parents to bring in the "tools" they use each day and explain what they do.

So, my kids come home begging. "Mom, can you please come?"

"Really, I answer phones."

"PLEASE?"

"I answer phones. Dad's job is much cooler and he has really BIG tools and works with wells."

"PLEASSSSSSSSEEEE?"

So, I went to the Elementary school with my headset, my timer, and my prepaid card they gave me when I started working to tell kids how I answer questions about prepaid cards. The 1st graders thought it was cool that I worked from home. The 3rd graders wanted to know about my crazy calls. The 5th graders wanted to know how to get cards (sorry have to be 18, or 13 if parent's get a secondary card) and how I use typing and texting or IM each day at work.

I'm no Fireman (which I spoke after in my daughter's 3rd grade class) or Life flight Paramedic or Soldier or Pump Rig Operator (like their Dad) but I hope I wasn't a total bore. And I might have even been practical because at one time or another most people in college have worked a call center to make ends meet. They are very flexible with school schedules since they are open long hours.

My kids were smiling and that's all that matters.