Being a mom is hard. Being a boy mom is HARD. I will say there were days when my girls gave me a run for my money, but as a fellow female, it wasn’t the same kind of struggle as raising boys is. You relate to your daughters, you remember what it was like to go through the things your daughters go through. Sons though….mothering sons is a whole different world. Boy moms know that our sons are future husbands and fathers and we know what we expect from them as men. We work hard to instill those values and…
Room clear…
Remember before you were a parent and you would see kids acting like brats in restaurants or the movies? Remember when you said, “My kids are never going to act like that, they will know better!” And then you became a parent and your child threw a fit in the middle of the grocery store. We have all been there, because let’s face it, the normally developing child goes through a tantruming stage as part of their emotional development. Dealing with the loss of not getting what they want…even if it is the stupid cardboard cylinder from the toilet paper…
The stages of Momming…
Being a mom is undoubtedly one of the hardest jobs….ever. We constantly second guess ourselves, compare our momming techniques and offspring to others, and many of us struggle to balance our mom job with careers, marriages, divorces, and just life. And it is hard. We find ourselves defending our parenting, especially when it comes to controversial topics like co-sleeping, vaccinations, terrible two’s or the teen age day years…And just as we have survived one stage of development with our children, we are on to the next. As I watch my two youngest boys grow into young men, I am finding…
The Unsupported Educator…how I ended up in the principal’s office
This one is from the heart. You see, I didn’t start out in this life with the childhood dream of being a principal. I wanted to be a fashion designer. I wanted to live in New York City and make fabulous dresses, wear fabulous dresses, and coordinate them with fabulous shoes. Lots and lots of fabulous shoes. But alas, despite my rebellious nature, I listened to my mom’s advice and went to college and got a ‘saleable job skill’….or a couple, since I started out in journalism, dabbled in psychology, and then went back for a degree in education. I…
Summer’s End….Unlocking the Office Doors
Don’t be deceived…..my office doors were never locked. Despite being off contract for the last five weeks, I have in fact been working. Emails never stop, phone calls must be returned, and yes, there’s are still meetings to attend. Plus, I have teachers who need to get in to work in their classrooms, because despite those pesky rumors that teachers have summers off… that is just a myth. They work (we work) our tails off during the summer. It’s is all the behind the scenes work that takes place in the summer that makes the magic happen when the kids…
Walking Canvas…the Tattooed Principal
As I have mentioned, when people first meet me, I often get the “YOU are the principal?!” with the eyebrows up to the hairline. Yep. I continue with the formal introduction, and proceed to take care of business like the professional that I am. It is the tattoos all over my arms and legs; Sometimes, they throw people off. And I am OK with that because once they get to see past the tattoos they realize that I know my business, I love what I do, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure my school is…
Glamping Life!
Over the summer, my family and I adventured out into the wilderness. By wilderness, I mean a State Park campground equipped with electricity, running water and bike paths. I know…this might not be everyone’s definition of adventuring. I grew up adventuring in a VW Van, peeing in bushes, and showering under a bucket…if I was lucky. I do not want to rough it. Ever. Van Buren State Park on Lake Michigan’s Western shore is one of my favorite campgrounds. It is clean, family friendly, it has great trails and paths to the beach, there is a designated dog beach, and…
And it’s official….summer is over ….out of the mouths of babes.
So, we survived kindergarten boot camp thanks to one super patient teacher and her amazing assistants. This week is always the slap in the face, ‘end of summer is official’ week for me. Kindergarten boot camp starts on my first official day back in the building….which in essence means I have been in the building the week prior to make sure furniture has been put back in classrooms after waxing. But this is official business. It isn’t just a pop into the building to check the status of the floors during my run. It is actually get up and look…
International Cultural Exchange…
I live a blessed life. Truly. One of the blessings in my life is the fact that each day when I get up and go to work, I get to LIVE my life’s mission. Yes, super cheesy, but I do in fact have a vision statement for my life- Do good work with good people for good people. So simple, yet, so complex. The bottom line here though is that being an elementary school principal is awesome, exhausting, challenging, rewarding, sometimes tedious (I HATE reports), exciting. There are moments that are bittersweet, and days when I walk away feeling like…
Be a blogger!
Why blog? I had a dear old English teacher who once told me writing was therapy for my soul. For me, I am always thinking. I think instead of sleep, for me, I think; blogging is an outlet. People blog for many reasons. They may be knowledgeable on a certain subject and seek to provide information. People may blog to provide insights into politics, religion, music, movies…yet other people provide life advice and coaching. Some blogs are all about recipes or cooking. Whatever your niche is, don’t be afraid to share it with the world! Starting a blog is actually…