School's OUT!!!

Okay, stop emailing me and harrassing me, dammit!

I'm fine. I'm just busy and I really don't have anything important to say. An interesting and entertaining thing happened to me recently, but since my children read this blog, I can't actually write about it, at least not for public consumption. Email me and I'll share if I know you well enough to do so. ;) It made one of my friends laugh quite a lot yesterday. Either she has a skewed sense of humor (quite possible) or what happened was sort of funny in an ironic way. (also quite possible.)

So, nothing exciting to tell you. I can almost guarantee that you'll be bored while reading this post.

It's been a very hectic week or two. Between Girl Scout meetings, laundry, housework, laundry, and work (and laundry) choir rehearsals, (concert this Monday night!!)and my job dealing every day with some WIRED kids, I don't really have time to think. The little suckers bounce off the wall all afternoon. It's been really hard to keep them entertained indoors. When the weather is decent, we head outside, but this is Oregon in the springtime. We've been out quite a bit, but not anywhere near enough.

We have five 4th and 5th grade boys I refer to as the Fabulous Bumper Boys. They just can't keep from bumping into each other. Can't even walk across the room without physical contact. Of course they need extra time in the gym and on the playground. It seems like no matter how much of that they get, they still have to crash into each other everywhere they go. It *is* funny, but it's sort of a pain in the ass, too. I'm supposed to be keeping them alive until their parents come to get them every day.

I remember my own school days. Do you remember yours? Did you accomplish ANYTHING in the way of rote learning or memorization in the last few weeks of school? Neither did I.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know that? Any parents who think their kid is doing what passes for learning in a public school? I think it just sucks that kids have to sit and mark time because some educrat somewhere thought it would be a good idea to make them do so.

There is no school tomorrow. The company I work for will be running a non-school day program at one school while those of us who will be working over the summer are setting up the program at the summer site.

The non-school day program option was good news for one mom yesterday, who commented to me, "I HATE summers. I really resent having to pay for day care all summer. They need to have school YEAR ROUND!!!" I refrained from asking her why she even bothered to have children. Her two boys are in our program, and they're neat kids. I know she likes them. She was just disgruntled. But she really would like school to be year round. I cannot fathom that.

We will be running a summer program. I'll be working about 15 hours a week or so. Not too bad. That's about 2 hours less per week than usual, so not a hardship, and I still get quite a bit of time off. I have lots of craft projects planned, and lots of yarn and other stuff that I've picked up here and there, both for my Girl Scout troop and for my work.

As of today, I am the proud owner of more than three thousand craft sticks. I bet the kids can make something out of those! I've been saving soup cans for months. I have a huge box of empty food packages for the kids who like to play store. Eric made me some frames to weave trivets with yarn, and it's a project that even the smallest kids can do with a little help around the edges. I found a really cool website Art Attack with great bunch of crafty ideas. One of the things I really like about the summer program is the ability to make projects that can't be completed in one sitting. Projects that take a few hours of work and drying time.

I really hate the free lunch program that happens in the middle of OUR program. (I know I've mentioned that.) Don't like children who are totally out of control because their 'parents' aren't watching them or worse ARE watching them and just don't even realize that their actions are not okay.

Phooey. Off to get something to eat, and (AAAACKKKKK!!) go to Sprawlmart, since they're the only place I know of to buy the specific type of aquarium filter I need. I found a practically new aquarium at Goodwill a couple months ago, and I'm planning to set it up for the summer kids. I think we ought to have goldfish they can name and feed potato chips to. (Kidding about the chips... I'll bring the fish home if there's a problem.) See you later.

See? I told you you'd be bored.