Writer's Workshop: Are Manners Old School?

Writer's Workshop!

Today I chose the prompt Name a pet peeve you have about how other parents raise their kids...Go on, stir the pot.

So here we go.

Last week, we took a family trip to the mall. The mall has an Old Navy, and I needed some new shirts. We also decided to stop and have some lunch at Panda Express because we just don't have meals out too often anymore.

After we did our shopping and had lunch, David wanted to check out the Suncoast movie store. There happens to be a play area just outside the door of the store, so I said I'd sit and let the kids play while he went in and did his browsing, because I'm pretty sure 20 minutes of staring at movies wouldn't be of much interest to a child, let alone 3 children.

I took the kids to the play area and got their shoes off. Ethan volunteered to stay close to Grayson as he toddled in and out of a door on a play house, and crawled in and out of a tunnel. Claire, never one to go to far from my line of vision, played on a ball or in a car just 6 feet in front of me. As they were playing, I saw Claire bump into a little girl and say, "Oh, I sorry" and I heard Ethan gently telling Grayson, "Hold on Grayson, we have to be nice and wait our turn" when another little boy about Grayson's age took a turn crawling through the tunnel. It warmed my heart a little to hear my small ones being polite.

Then, they came. A mom and her two children, a boy and a girl, probably no older than 7 and 9. The mom went and sat down. She scanned the area and decided she didn't want to be there. She shouted, "Come on (child's name) let's go to Toys R Us." The little girl immediately stomped her feet and loudly whined and yelled that she did not want to go to Toys R Us. She wanted to play. She and the mother argued back and forth loudly for a bit, then the mom gave up and sat down. The girl looked at her brother and victoriously yelled, "Come on, let's play!"

Now, if you've seen the play places in the mall, you'd know that they are mainly filled with toddlers who need a quick break from the stroller and mom's shopping. These are small children. The mom who brought her kids in, took out her cell phone. Her kids started running, playing Tag. The mom dialed her cell phone. The kids ran. The mom got on her cell phone and started loudly relaying to the person on the other end about the "f***ing idiot who got my f***ing order wrong at McDonald's." That's when her daughter, the oldest of the two, slammed right in to a little boy who could have been no older than two. The little boy was launched about two feet and landed on his stomach. The little girl looked at him and said, "Get out of my way stupid!" The mom kept yammering into her cell phone, expletive here, expletive there, laugh, laugh laugh....The boy's mother came and scooped her child up and went over to the mother and asked for an apology from the child. The cell phone mama waved her away and continued her yammering.

At this point, I'd pretty much had my fill, and it couldn't have been better timing because David came back and I got everyone their shoes and we got the hell outta there.

So, here's my pet peeve with some other parents. Manners are not old school. Is it really so hard to teach your kids some please, thank you, excuse me, may I, I'm sorry? Is it so hard to get off of your cell phone to deal with your child's rude behavior. Once, when Ethan was about 4, we were at a mall in Arizona. Ethan got upset with a little boy, who looked about 3, who got in front of him for a slide and pushed him down. David and I stopped all conversation and went over to Ethan. We helped the child up and looked at Ethan and made him apologize to the little boy, and then to the boy's father when he came over to see if his little one was OK. We then left the play area. The next time we went to the play area, Ethan was kind and polite.

Manners...Good for everyone.

Summer Fun

It's summer. Which means warm weather, no more snow and fun out in the yard...FINALLY!

A couple of weeks ago, we hit a high of almost 100. It was bright and sunny. My SIL called and said she was going to head over with the kids to hang out for a bit. I said I wished that we had a sprinkler, because then the kids could run around in the water in the yard. She said, "Problem solved. We have a Slip N Slide! I'll bring it." We had our own Slip N Slide just last year. It had an unfortunate run in with the blades of the lawnmower when we were cleaning out and rearranging the shed this spring.

She got here and set it up in the yard while I got got all the small ones in bathing suites and put some sunscreen on. We grabbed some towels and headed into the yard for our first day of summer fun!

Claire and Grayson LOVED the Slip N Slide. This picture does not make that clear, but they did. There was lots of standing in the water at the end of the slide, splashing and giggling.

Claire also enjoys using the Slip N Slide as a runway. She splashes her way up the slide. She stands at the end. She flips her hair. She says something. Usually "Hey mom" or "Oh look at this!" and turns in a circle. Then the moment is over and she's doing something else.

And then she usually gets tired of being an adored subject and demands I put my camera away, and I have to get creative in my photo taking process.

It was a super fun day. Lots of laughing, lots of wet little ones running everywhere and lots of great pictures.

School Lunch

The day before school lets out for the summer, the school invites family to come and have lunch with students. I've gone every year to have lunch with Ethan, uncomfortably pregnant or with a newborn in tow. Last year I had a toddler and an 8 month old in tow.

This year David was supposed to watch Claire and Grayson while my MIL and I headed up to the school to have lunch with Ethan, but something came up and David had to run out of the house. This year, I packed a lunch. Things get hectic. It's a tiny school (less than 350 students) but family lunch day gets CRAZY. The line is long and by the time I get through it with my lunch, Ethan is pretty much done with his meal.

This year, I got there early. I headed to Ethan's classroom and picked Ethan up. He went through the line and got his lunch while we waited at the table. Grayson enjoyed a juice box while we waited.

Actually, it was more like his shirt enjoyed a juice box while we waited. Babyganics and I had a date the next day so I could get the big purple stain out. Note to self: Grape juice and a 19 month old DO NOT MIX!!

Claire "fed" the pterodactyl that she insisted on bringing.

Claire has a slight obsession with dinosaurs. She also has a slight obsession with bringing EVERYTHING she owns with her EVERYWHERE we go. The pterodactyl made the cut this time I guess.

After Ethan got his lunch, he came over and joined us at the table. We usually eat outside, but it was actually a bit chilly this day, so lunch was had indoors. Ethan chatted about his day, and tempted fate by eating dessert first.

Then I realized that since I'm not at school monitoring meals, this probably happens more than I'd like it to. Awesome.

All in all, it was a super fun day, as it always is. I enjoy going to school and talking with teachers and other parents. It also makes me feel incredibly lucky that we live in a small town with such a small school because there would be absolutely no way that this could happen at a school in Phoenix. The school's in Phoenix are overcrowded and there would probably just be large amounts of chaos. I can't wait for next year's lunch.

Happy Father's Day Hubby!

Dear David,

Today was your 9th Father's Day.

Since you celebrated your first father's day in 2003, you've been one heck of a daddy.

You've celebrated with our babies.

(Ethan's kindergarten graduation!)

You've been one of their biggest fans, because let's face it, I'm here too man.

And you've given them all the perfect place to nap.

When you get home, tired as you are, you share snacks and listen to stories and jokes before you head to bed before another 3AM wake up call.

I'm sure if our babies were writing this post, they'd say, "Thank you daddy. We love you."

And I love you too,

Chantel

Writer's Workshop: Fire Drill!!

Writer's Workshop day!

Today I chose the prompt Share A Summer Camp Memory.

My friend Kelly and I met at Shadow Rim Ranch Girl Scout Camp in Payson, AZ in the summer of 1994. We both got sick and had to stay in the infirmary. She went home the next day and I went home two days later on the bus.

A short year later we were practically glued at the hip having spent numerous weekends at each other's homes, and countless hours on the phone. My grandmother and her mom packed us up in her family's van and drove up back up the mountain to spend another week at summer camp. We giggled excitedly about hikes and the sing along around the camp fire every night. Well, actually, we couldn't have a fire. It was fire season and the fire forecast was too high for fires. So, there was a battery powered lantern or two in the fire pit, and we sang around that every night after dinner.

We got to camp and were led to our cabin, had the usual chatter with our cabin mates, met the other girls in our unit and headed to the all camp meet.

Now, there are a few things you knew for certain every year when you went to camp. You would always go to flag raising and flag lowering every morning and every night before breakfast and before dinner. You would always recite the girl scout promise at flag raising every morning. You would always say some sort of grace, usually in the form of a silly song set to the tune of an old TV show...ie Addam's Family theme. And there was always, and I mean ALWAYS a surprise fire drill. You never knew when it was gonna happen. You would hear whispers, but they were always wrong.

One night after our unit had gotten back from a hike Kelly had decided she wanted to take a shower. This was the first time in our camp history that we were allowed to take showers at leisure and weren't led to the showers while our counselors timed us 4 minutes with a stopwatch. They had installed timed showers that turned off after 4 minutes on their own. It had been a good 4 mile hike. We were all hot and sweaty and dusty. The majority of our cabin, however, had opted for a shower after dinner as we were less then 15 minutes from the bell being rung for dinner. Kelly wanted a shower though. She was persistent. She had to have a shower. NOW.

The fastest way to get a shower done in our time limit for showers was to undress in the cabin, wrap yourself in a towel and take what you need for your shower and go. I got Kelly's shower bag for her while she wrapped herself up, and we walked to the showers together, laughing about something we had done while I was staying at her house before camp. And then, it happened. The fire bell started ringing. This, of course, cracked me up. Of course this would happen. Of course the fire bell would ring with only 15 minutes to spare before the dinner bell with Kelly in a towel. Why wouldn't it? We stopped and stared at each other. How were we going to get her out in the field, wearing nothing but a towel?

Our cabin mates came over, and we created a kind of human circle around Kelly while we walked out into the open field for the drill. She crouched in the middle of us, hiding from view. I'm sure other girls might have been wondering, "Why in the hell are the walking in a circle with their backs turned to each other like that?" It looked odd. Very odd.

Once the drill was over, there were only 5 minutes to spare until the dinner bell rang. Our counselor's told us to hurry back to the cabin to dress. Kelly and I sprinted out of the field and to our cabin. She dressed in a hurry and vowed to NEVER take a surprise shower so close to dinner again.

Thankfully, the next year, this incident did not repeat itself.

Track And Field

A couple of weeks ago, Ethan participated in Track & Field day at school. They send out invites for families to come out and watch the kids participate. This is the first year I've been able to attend. The first year, I was still working. The second year, I was home with Claire, who was just a few weeks old, and had colic like no other. The third year, I had an ultrasound appointment for my pregnancy with Grayson and no babysitter for Claire.

So this year, I called up my MIL and we headed over to watch Ethan compete in his events. He greeted us as soon as we go there.

He told us that this year he was going to compete in the high jump and the 30 meter dash.

After watching the long jump we headed over to the high jump, where he pumped his little legs to the bar.

Jumped..

And landed in odd ways.

We headed over to the 30 meter dash, which Ethan was very excited about. He had a strategy. He told me that strategy was to win. Good strategy. He lined up, and the shouted go, and he ran hard.

Then he wanted to see how he was doing, and he looked around and slowed down to take a look at his competition.

It was a lot of fun to be able to go and see him this year. He did an excellent job. He came home showing off a ribbon that said participant and he was extra proud of himself. I can't wait to go watch him next year!

Writer's Workshop: OMG...It's On FIRE!!!!

Writer's Workshop day! My MIL has returned home, so our days aren't as busy for awhile.

So, on to writer's workshop. I chose the prompt Share A Memorable Road Trip Story. So, here goes.

One fine Thanksgiving, my mother's (now ex) boyfriend was given the opportunity to use a vacation home of his boss that he had built for him on Roosevelt Lake in Roosevelt, AZ. This trip was with quite a large group of people. More people than we'd ever taken on a trip at once. It included myself, my two younger brothers, my mother's boyfriend's son, Andrew, and daughter, Nicole and one of the son's friends. A total of 8. My mother's boyfriend found, and purchased a motor home for 800 bucks. This would be the only trip it would make.

We got the lake and spent 4 wonderful days in a hot tub that seemed to like to produce only bubbles. We stayed up way too late watching scary movies. Nicole and I took several walks to the tiny gas station to buy egg nog and funyuns. Nicole, Andrew and I squeezed ourselves into one bed, as was usually a tradition for the three of us, to sleep and stay up laughing late into the night. Now that Andrew is gone, those are actually some of my favorite memories of him.

We had a really great Thanksgiving at a large table laughing, taking pictures and sharing memories. Nicole and I totally ruined the deviled eggs, but everyone ate them like they were the best things they'd ever put in their mouth. Later that night, Andrew, Nicole and I stood in the driveway looking at the moon through the telescope and talking in the motor home.

Two days later, we packed up and started the two hour journey back to Phoenix to return my brother and I to our homes, and so my mother and her boyfriend could make the the 4 hour journey back up the mountain. About little more than 45 minutes into our journey, Andrew looked up from the book he was reading and said, "Do you smell smoke?" We pulled over to the side of the highway. My mother's boyfriend pulled the casing from the engine off of the motor since it was between the passenger and driver's seats, and looked at it. We all sat huddled on the seat in the back of the motor home and watched while he peered at it. And then, it happened. It burst into flames. It wasn't like a tiny spark, it just POOF, lit up on fire. We all freaked out and ran towards the door. A cop had pulled over to see it happen and grabbed and extinguisher from his car and ran to spray the fire, but ended up spraying my mom in the face instead. After she got out of the way, he was able to put the fire out completely. After another hour on the side of the road, all it needed was a little gas, and we were able to get back home without incident. The motor home made it back to Show Low, were it promptly died, never to be started again.

So, lesson learned? Do not buy a motor for $800. It will most likely burst into flames and cause police to spray you in the face with extinguishers.

Writer's Workshop: They All Make It Differently

Hopefully, I'm back! The last week of school craziness is almost over. Blogger seems to want to be my friend now (or so I hope). Seriously, I've been having some crazy problems with blogger this week. I tried to sign in a couple of time, and it just wouldn't let me. Anywho....Ethan has had several events at school this week to celebrate his last day of school, so posts and pictures are in the works.

Now, for Writer's Workshop. YAY!! Today I chose the prompt Comfort food at it's finest. Share a favorite family recipe that you love!

There have been several meals that my people in my family have made that I just love. My great grandmother made just the most wonderful Chile Rellenos. She doesn't do much anymore, but every once in a great while, she'll fry a batch up, and my entire family would gather to eat them. They still do, but I'm just several states away now. My great uncle Jaime makes these wonderful, super hot burritos. They burn your mouth up, but they are so good. He made them for us the night after my grandfather died. He was trying to make my grandmother and I eat. Her because she hadn't eaten anything since he passed, and me because I was pregnant and also hadn't eaten anything since he passed. It worked. We ate and laughed for the first time in 24 hours. My grandfather (still alive) makes the best Swedish Meatballs.

But, there is one meal in my family that always takes top honors, no matter who makes it, and that is Chicken And Dumplings. I would eat that happily for the rest of my life if that was the only food left to survive on, if it was made by one of my family of course. Everyone makes it differently, but it is always wonderful. When my mom was visiting after Claire was born, she made a huge batch of it so I would have leftovers after she was gone. When I was a senior in high school and my grandmother got sick and had to stay in the hospital for a week, my grandfather came to my aunt's house where I had to stay and made a batch because I was missing my boyfriend and my friend's who were enjoying school without me. My aunt laughed hysterically when I ate it for breakfast the next morning, and then had some for lunch.

I've tried restaurant versions and canned versions, but there is just something about it made from my family that is just above the rest.

I have yet to try and make my own. Partly because I once e-mailed my grandpa for the recipe and he wrote back, "Boil a chicken."....What does that even mean? How do you boil a chicken? When do you know it's done? I was so confused. So, I just eat it when I see family, because I know it's always hot, always fresh (unless I'm eating if for breakfast) and always comes with good conversation and people who love me.