The HOMEWORK MONSTER

As a teacher,  I have had multiple opportunities to teach children who resist the art of learning.  Maybe school is hard, maybe they aren't the most motivated people, maybe life is just larger than it needs to be and their little brains just can't function under stress.  I have met this challenge with love in my heart and pile of point cards and motivators and charts and prize boxes....Just ask me! I can come up with a plan for your child in 15 minutes.  Tried and true!  I ROCK!

....And then there are these children that call my home their home.  My offspring.  My beautiful wonderful boys.  My beautiful wonderful children that given homework and a long day turn into the most horrid of beings.  A being that strikes pure dread into my heart.  THE HOMEWORK MONSTER.  No chart, prize or encouraging word can thwart this monster.   It is unimaginable to anyone but a parent.  Teachers who do not have children cannot even imagine the hideous thing that children can turn into when they have even the slightest amount of homework.  It can happen to even the very nicest of children...I have heard the stories....

Now I am not blaming the teachers...my children can turn at the mere prospect of having to do homework...the monster can lie dormant for months and the monster can come out of nowhere....one minute a happy go lucky boy sits in my living room and the next....I can't stand it.

There is no reasoning with a homework monster.  The work cannot be done....it's too hard, too long, and most definitely unfair.  There is no way a homework monster can concentrate and they definitely do not want help...except when they do...which is almost always right after they say they don't.  It is confusing.  The room spins....monsters need breaks, they need snacks, they want you to just set the alarm so they can get up early and do it....(this is a trap by the way).   And then...the dust settles....resignation takes hold...and the work gets done....And it leaves you shaking and clenching teeth.....and they skip off like nothing happened....

This is why I think there is chocolate in the world....and also possibly alcohol........and why, when parents speak of a rough night at the dinner table doing homework...I pat them on the arm and say "I Understand.."

43

I will eventually get to something about the second grade part of my life....but I think you are probably supposed blog about that which speaks loudest in your mind...as long as it is appropriate for your audience.... which leads me to my 43rd Birthday.....  Or my 43rd year or....THE YEAR I GOT OLD....actually I have gotten old in a matter of months - or days - possibly minutes....43 is getting off to a bumpy start is what it is....

Already in the last month I have had multiple conversations with doctors about parts of my body that I well...don't like to talk about in the first place.   I finally get that all cleared up... Then today, they called AGAIN!  I love my doctor and I would be more than glad to buy both she and her nurse lunch if they like me so much as to want to spend this much time talking to me on the phone.  Pick the place but stop calling me for medical reasons....Well the good news was that my cholesterol levels were AMAZING (in a good way) but apparently my thyroid has gone on vacation...?  So I get to try some magic pills.  Now I say they are magic because I already feel pretty darn good.  I do Tabata 3 times a week.  I've been swimming regularly.  But these pills are supposed to make me feel BETTER!!   I am actually really curious...After I perused the list of symptoms of low-thyroid....and determined that I probably have 2 of the 20 or so ambiguous symptoms....(at least on a consistent basis....)  I can't wait!  I am going to be a whole new me!!

So maybe 43 is the year I get young again!!  There are always blessings in disguise....NOW...if I can get a pill for the Homework Monster - I will be BLISSFUL!!!

The name

As a brand new to blogging blogger - I really have little idea of where to start or what to do....I imagine it is one of those processes that takes time to become familiar.   At any rate I thought I would start by explaining the pretty self explanatory name of my blog.....

My life really does seem to consist of second grade and in between.  There is a lot of in between though....mostly spent in my car driving people places so that they ultimately will have interesting things to write on their college applications.   There are, of course, the staples of having a family - the laundry, the cooking,  the cleaning...I am not particularly good at any of those but we get by.  We have clean clothes...wrinkly but clean, we eat, and I am fairly certain that I kill most of the germs.   Those things all happen in between.  We work out.  Three times a week we do something both awesome and terrific called Tabata.   And I try to throw in something in between that too - swimming, biking, walking...or at least thinking that I should do these things...it's a start.  The trials and tribulations of life happen in between too.  Things like sickness and the Homework Monster usually appear in the in-between.  The in-between can be awesome - vacations and Christmas and birthdays and happy surprises happen there too.  You never know what might happen in-between.

In fact, second grade is probably the most normal part of my day.  And  applying the word normal to second grade is an oxymoron I think.  Lots of adventures happen there too.  But school is fairly predictable..unless the moon is full...and even that is predictable.   I think most people have their job and the in-between.  I do my job so that the in-between can be fun - just like I imagine you do.  I am really  fortunate to like my job.  We do good things at school.

So that's my second blog post.  And how the name came into being.  I am not sure how often one should blog and I don't want to run out of good ideas... So I think I am going to try to make it a couple of times a week...or when inspiration strikes and see how that goes.  Thanks for reading.

Hi and Hello and Welcome....

It has been suggested that I write a blog.  I enjoy reflecting upon life's events and trying to find the good or the funny or the bright spot within.   Sometimes this takes some serious creativity....and perspective.  It is not easy raising two teenage boys, a husband, and a dog and a cat (who just might need exorcism), in a two bedroom house in suburban America.  

By day I am Mrs. T. - Second grade teacher.  By night. Mom or MOM! or Mooooooom!  To my friends - Karen.  I am no super hero.  Just an average mom, doing an average job, sometimes getting it right - often getting it wrong.   I yell at the wrong kid, I need to clean my oven, and I drink WAY too much coffee from Starbucks.  Sound familiar?  Then you just may be in the right place.

Let me introduce my family or cast of characters as it may be.  My husband and I have been married for almost 20 years.  He is my best friend.  He works in the mobile gaming industry.  He loves motorcycles and RC cars beyond most anything.  And also the Sci-Fi network.  And he is quite possibly the coolest dad in the world.  

Son number 1 is nearing 14 years old.  He loves all things we love, the motorcycles, the RC cars, the SciFi network, and Musical Theatre!  I am the luckiest mom! This is my gift for living in a house of boys to have one that likes to sing and act.  He makes me happy.  He also knows how to push EVERY SINGLE BUTTON in my being....more on that later....

Son number 2 is 12.  An aspiring athlete, he works out with us 3 days a week - and has added weight lifting to his repertoire along with the RC Cars, the Motorcycles and the Sci Fi Network.  Super smart and super funny he is.  He is my cuddler.  The one that still says he loves me.  MY BABY!!

The dog.  Sam is 6. A black lab mix - without a single brave bone in his body.  The sweetest dog in the world.

The Cat.  Is possessed.  Likes only me.  AND NEVER SHUTS UP!

So welcome to my blog.  I hope it entertains you. Or makes you feel better about your lot in life!