In Defense of our Color Coded Calendar

For years I have endured ribbing, rolled eyes, raised eyebrows about how hectic the Clexton family schedule is. And that is all just from my husband!


If you have spent any time in my kitchen, you have seen the evidence via the calendar on our fridge - complete with color coding for each family member (and I found an online color codable one I can access anywhere - BLISS - at cozicentral.cozi.com) It is the only way to make sure everyone gets to where they need to be and then returns home, without incident, in my book. I need the visual layout to help me navigate conflicts - and trust me, there are definitely conflicts! Four out of five of us have multiple involvements outside of school and work.


As much as possible I try to handle both figuring out the schedule and doing as much of the transporting as possible (see my earlier BLOG about logistics). If I have to call in help or car pool, I am usually the one to do this. I operate on the theory - the less hassle it is to others, the less hassle I will get! This is why they call it a theory - reality is, of course, completely the opposite.


So I submit to my critics the following Washington Post article - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/27/AR2008092702644.html

Salve for those of us who are so "done" with the snide Super Mommy remarks and the covert guilt that we are piling on too much for our kids!

Mad Mommy? Or Mean Mommy? You Decide....

School has officially been out for my kids for a little over 5 hours and already I am "Mean Mom". Phew! That must be some kind of record.

Why - you ask? Because I am making them go to swim practice today.

Even though it is pouring rain (you swim in water, right?)..................

Even though they already went twice this week (um, practice is actually all 5 days)...........

And yes, GOD FORBID, even though it is the first day of summer vacation..........

Does "I hate you" and "You are mean" signal that I am officially doing my job?

Honorary Degree in Logistics....

....I'm waiting for mine.

It has been my premise for some time that any parent with two or more children who participate in extracurricular activities (or one child in 3 or more activities), should automatically be awarded an honorary degree in logistics.

For instance, at any given time my oldest might be playing softball (travel, naturally!), volleyball and/or swimming. At one point this past Winter into Spring - she had all three going on. My son is my "easy" one - with only Drama and swimming. The youngest was in gymnastics, jazz, ballet and Daisies this past year. She has a new "life plan" and will "only" be in swimming, Irish Dance and Brownies this upcoming year.

And those of you who know me well are hopefully mentally noting that I am not facing this schedule in a vaccum - OF COURSE I have my own things going on - PTO, Book Club, etc. Not to mention, my "real job".

Now, this is all afterschool and on weekends. Often either simultaneously or, worse, at precariously staggered times in opposite ends of the city. Dinner time? Surely you jest. Does it count as "seated for family dinner" every night if we are all sitting in the same car for 10 minutes noshing?

I've never felt I am particularly talented. I'm not at all artistic, don't have a flair for decorating, not very adept at housecleaning, pretty average cook, smart - but not brilliant or even all that witty.

Family logistics is my one superpower, I think. Keeping all the proverbial balls in the air (read - getting everyone where they need to be) is something I am pretty good at. I can't say I do it alone - I certainly have my "village"! But I count figuring out where I need help as part of my skill. I found a great tool to replace my endless bulky catalogs - cozicentral.cozi.com - through the Parents magazine website. An online color-codable calendar - NIRVANA!!!!

I figure at this point, not only do I deserve the Logistics degree, but it should be summa cum laude and coming from a fairly prestigiuos University.

So, I'll be waiting.... Probably in a minivan similar to the above.... Possibly checking my Blackberry for the next stop.... Perhaps munching on a granola bar to tide me over.....

But waiting nonetheless!

My Little Shopper

Last night I hosted a Butterfly Boutique (jewelry, purses, scarves, etc) at my mom's house for a handful of family and girlfriends. My daughters ended up at the house, along with our friend, Em.

Not surprisingly, we adult "girls" gushed over the products, modeling and taking turns in front of the mirror.

Somewhat surprisingly, my 13 year old glanced about a bit and then headed outside to play. She later came in and looked more carefully at a few things, but wasn't "over the top" enthusiastic.

Very surprisingly (ok, this is a little laughable for those of you who know Natalie.), my 7 year old was DEFINITELY enthusiastic! First she was my shadow - insinuating herself right into the circle of women at my side. Then she abandoned me to shadow the Butterfly rep, chattering relentlessly about all of the things she wanted from the product line. This savvy and kind lady redirected some of her energies with small tasks, but it did not slow down her commentary. She completely rejected the notion of playing outside with the older girls - way too much fun inside!

Her benevolent (sucker?) Nana purchased a trinket for her and for her sister, saving me the agony. But her dedication and persistence have me wondering if she should just start direct sales for them now. She'll need the consultant discount to pay for all the things she wants.

Lord, are we in trouble!

Six more mornings....

....until school is out! And the sixth one doesn't really count because there are no backpacks and no lunches involved. Hallelujah!

I am NOT a morning person. I am pleasant enough. I just resist waking up and getting up with every fiber of my being. Once upright I'm fine. But that resistance thing slows me down so I am always running late, always pushing the clock, always behind.

Of course, that means my children are also. Poor things. Because, while I can be very effective, even in my tardiness....they are less so. They don't deserve the drama that is inevitible.

I should resolve to wake earlier and fix this situation. It hardly seems worth it for six mornings.

Maybe in September?

Finally found my way back....

Even the nagging of my wonderful and encouraging sister somehow did not inspire me to make this BLOG a priority. Yet here I am again - like a bad penny!

I owe this latest motivation to a good friend's husband who writes a great BLOG - definitely worth checking out - Old Wahoo. He is a journalist/dad who shares great personal stories, musings, links, resources, etc. Often regarding parenting but sometimes just random. Always well written and entertaining.

Also generally very simple. Hence the inspiration.

I think I started out trying to hard at this. The point was to exercise regular writing. I quickly pressured myself to strive to be either constantly witty or, failing that, visually entertaining. As hilarious as I find my life at times, it is simply not possible to post consistently and always be dazzling. Therefore, I psyched myself out.

Old Wahoo showed me that posts can be short and simple sometime and still be interesting. So, I'm back to posting, hopefully more often. I will try not to be completely boring but I won't promise "jazz hands" with every post. Hope some of my friends find their way back here!

So much for resolutions...

And to think I was dismayed before about a month passing without a blog! I'm embarrassed to calculate the time from my last entry until now. Oh well, my new resolution is to do what I can and just not worry about it. Come to think of it, that is my new resolution in general!

We are having a nice weekend here in GP. The chill is off and the sun is out just enough to hint at spring. Sending the kids outside does not require half and hour of finding and putting on gear. Also, we had a pretty open weekend for a change. Not completely open - I don't think that's even possible for us. But open enough to enjoy wide expanses of unplanned time. Heavenly really, even if the time is not used as efficiently as I dream it could be.

Saturday morning we were at a Middle School swim meet. Our middle schools have never had their own swim teams. The high schools do and there are year-round swim clubs that utilize the system's pools, but never an opportunity to swim for the middle school itself. A motivated and energetic member of the high school boys' swim team changed all of that this year and inspired a new swim league. My daughter is really enjoying swimming for her school. And every new experience teaches her new things about strokes, conditioning, stretching.

We are now calling her Jaws, thanks to a friend's father. I'm sure the pictures above give you a clue to why.