Mommy Day by Day

Did you get your letter???

Posted on August 17, 2012 by mommydaybyday

Did you get your letter? Did the mail come yet?

The last weeks of summer can be filled with lots of emotional flip-flopping. One minute you are filled with joy enjoying the summer as you desperately try to cram as much summer joy as possible before the clock runs out. The next the anxiety begins with back to school breathing down your neck. As back to school time crawls closer the question on everyone’s mind is… “Whose class will my child be in this year?”

In my district the letters are sent out this week. It seemed that every conversations this week in town was dominated by this topic. When will the letters come? Who will the teacher be? It’s all anyone can think about. There are lots of theory, tons of conjecture and plenty of anxiety.

Will my teacher be nice?

Will I get the teacher I want?

Will I have in friends in my class?

Often the parents have more anxiety than the children!

Yesterday was the day. I was away for the day visiting friends but thanks to modern technology the texts started around 11. “We got our letters!” “Who did Grace get?”

First of all even if I was home my mail comes around 3 or later! Who knew mail came so early?!!

My daughter was home with my mother. She was gracious enough to go to my house and check the mail. Predictably her letter didn’t come. However, my youngest daughter who is just starting kindergarten and has very little interest in whose class she will be in, gets her letter. Of course she does! Grace who is desperate to find out is forced to wait one more day.

The texts keep coming in. My daughter calls in tears because her anxiety is mounting. It seems we are the only ones in town who didn’t get their letter. My friends advise me to call the school… but wait I am not that mother! I am not going to call the school to find out whose class she is in.

Apparently I am that mother. I called the school secretary, who thank goodness is wonderful, and she told me which class Grace is in. Crisis diverted.

I feel okay about calling since she was the only one who didn’t know. Until I get home and discover that no one from my side of town got their letters from Grace’s school. All of the people I had heard from who live by me must have called too! That poor secretary! She must have had a very busy day.

I gave in to peer pressure!

Looks like there are a few lessons to learn here. How am I teaching my kids to stand up to peer pressure when I cave so easily? And patience seemed to be in short supply today. If I expect the kids to be patient and strong I guess maybe I should be too.

Food for thought.

Posted in Back to School, Community, Family, Life, Motherhood | Tagged back to school, class list, Mail, school, school anxiety, summers almost over, Teacher, teacher letters | Leave a comment

That’s Some Pig!

Posted on August 14, 2012 by mommydaybyday

That’s Some Pig… No not Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web but rather the pink monstrosity that has been residing in my daughter’s room all summer.

Honestly I am not a huge fan of stuffed animals. As a child I never kept them on my bed and didn’t even sleep with one. As a mom my dislike for stuffed animals has grown tremendously. They are dust collectors that take up too much room and don’t really do anything! So of course I was blessed with a child who adores stuffed animals. We have reached the absolute stuffed animal limit at my house. Which is what prompted me to institute the stuffed animal rule. For every stuffed animal you get whether at a carnival, a birthday party, from grandma… wherever it doesn’t matter- you must give one away. It works pretty well most of the time. She never actually gives one away but it keeps her from asking for more.

A big source of stuffed animals…Church fairs. Don’t get me wrong fairs are fun and a huge summer must-do. There are so many fairs and feasts in my area we could literally have sausage and peppers and zeppoles all summer long!!

The kids love the rides and the games. Personally I am not a big game lover, kind of seems like a waste of money to me, and the prizes- stuffed animals not interested. However, the kids love to play them and win the silly toys and prizes. At this point they know better than to ask me to play games because the answer is no but they can usually con family members into playing a few games.

Which brings me to my pig. My sister and her husband took the kids to one of the church fairs while my husband and I were out. At the end of the night I got a call from my sister. Apparently my daughter was hysterical because her uncle had won her a stuffed animal and she was upset because she was just positive that I was going to be mad at her. My sister said she was despondent.

Really?? I am a that much of a monster??? Forget that- I don’t think I want the answer.

Naturally I didn’t want her to continue to be so upset. So he won her a pig we would find a spot for him. It was just one stuffed animal and it wouldn’t make that much of a difference on her already crammed bed. My sister tried to explain that it was a really big pig, but I completely disregarded her warnings because how big could it be?

How big?? Pretty big. I was knocked off my socks when I got home. I wasn’t mad because it was kind of funny. The pig is so big that I could barely get him up the stairs and into my daughter’s room. He barely fits!

And there Hamilton has sat all summer. The kids chose to name him Hamilton, I pushed for Pink in a nod to Pink Floyd’s flying pig but I was overruled. When school starts Hamilton may have to be relocated… Anyone interested in a big pink pig???

Posted in Community, Family, Family Fun, Life, Motherhood | Tagged carnival games, church fair, church fairs, church feast, game lover, hamilton, I hate stuffed animals, sausage and peppers, stuffed animals, stuffed pig, Stuffed toy, Toy, Toys and Games | 12 Comments

Monday Mealtime…Chicken Fajita

Posted on August 13, 2012 by mommydaybyday

Today’s Monday Meal is Chicken Fajitas. This is my go to favorite meal of all time!

Ingredients

Ortega Salsa (mild, medium or hot- totally up to you!)
2 lbs chicken (thin sliced)
3 peppers (green, red, and yellow- I like colors give your dish some pizzazz)
1 onion
Sour cream
Cheese (I am a fan of the already shredded Mexican Blends)
Fajita shells

Directions

Chop up the peppers and onions. Cut into slivers.
Sauté the peppers and onions in olive oil on low. Peppers and onions are done when they are soft and the onions appear translucent- about 20 minutes.
Cut the chicken into strips and cook in a frying pan over medium high heat with a little Olive Oil. Cook until the chicken turns white, about five minutes.
Put the entire jar of Ortega Salsa in the frying pan and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Wrap the fajita shells in a paper towel and put in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Roll the chicken, peppers, onions, cheese, and sour cream up in the fajita shell.

Enjoy.

This dish feeds my family of five with some leftovers to spare.

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Posted in Family, Life, Motherhood, Recipes | Tagged Chicken, chicken fajitas, Cook, dinner, Fajita, family dinner, Meal, Mexican cuisine, Olive oil, Onion, Ortega, Ortega Salsa, Sour cream | 5 Comments

Camp finale… sad goodbyes

Posted on August 11, 2012 by mommydaybyday

Ryan has been Caroline’s counselor for the last two years!

Although it seems like yesterday, eight years ago I dropped my baby girl off at camp when she was only four years old. With a ton of excitement and lots of anxiety I left her at the park with counselors I didn’t know and children I didn’t know. Like most everything else with motherhood I hoped I was making the right decision. Did she even need to go to camp? She was only four for goodness sakes! She and I had always spent our summer together. Would they take care of her and watch her like she was their own?

Turns out summer camp was a great experience for Caroline. The camp she has attended for 8 years is the Town of Oyster Bay Summer Recreation Program and it is by far the best deal of any other camp I have seen. All three of my children attended the camp for six weeks this year for $275. Now that is a great deal!

It’s not all roses and there are some drawbacks to camp, which my family has affectionately nicknamed “dirt camp,” due to the fact the entire camp is run outdoors and there is no indoor facility. Since it is run exclusively outdoors if it rains camp is cancelled. Which believe it or not only happened a handful of times over the years. It always managed to rain only part of the day, which allowed the kids to attend one session or the other.

The camp also runs two sessions 9:15-11:45 and 12:45-2:45. Children must be picked up for lunch from 11:45-12:45. Therefore not a great option for working moms but great for stay-at-homes and teachers.

However the pros completely out weigh the cons. The directors, who have changed over the years, have always worked hard to provide the campers with great activities, themed days, and fun field trips in order to make camp an exciting place to be. Honestly the number one reason my daughter has loved dirt camp all these years are the great counselors. They get to know every camper and work hard to make it fun for them everyday.

Everyday that first summer when I picked Caroline up at 11:45 I would walk quickly and with purpose scanning the crowds of children looking for Caroline. I was always worried that she wouldn’t be there when I picked up. Of course she always was and my nervousness was for naught. I never even took advantage of the afternoon session because I thought she was too little to go to camp all day!!

My have times have changed. This year all three of my girls attended both sessions everyday! Even the five year old. I now know the counselors and everyone who works there. And I no longer ever worry that my children won’t be there when I pick them up!

Caroline is now 12 and sadly yesterday was her last day at dirt camp. She is now too old to go next year. She aged out! Motherhood is such a roller coaster you can’t wait for your child to reach each new milestone like their first word, walking, potty training, or starting school. You are so excited with each new milestone but quite frankly the milestones just come too fast for me and I would like them to stop!

When I picked her up yesterday from camp I wasn’t filled with excitement and anxiety like that first day but rather that melancholy feeling I always get when I realize my kids are growing up. And truthfully I don’t feel any more prepared for motherhood as she getting ready to move through these tween/ teen years then I did that first day when I left her in the park when she was four. I guess will have to keep trusting my instincts and hoping for the best!

We asked around and couldn’t find any staffers who were working there when Caroline started camp eight years ago. We did figure out that several staffers were campers back then. A little ray of sunshine… maybe it’s not goodbye she can return in three years as a counselor?

Joe was a camper when Caroline was 4 and Ashley and Caroline were CIT’s. Now they are in charge!

How did my baby get too old to go to summer camp? Life moves too fast and everything happens in a blink of an eye. I really need to stop blinking.

Posted in Community, Life, Motherhood, Pre-teen, tween | Tagged camp, day camp, my baby is growing too fast, outdoors, Recreation, summer camp, summer recreation program, teen, too old for camp, Town of Oyster Bay Summer Recreation, tween | Leave a comment

Who wants to get organized?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by mommydaybyday

GRAND OPENING!

Who wants to get organized? A better question is who doesn’t want to get organized. Everyone I know is constantly trying to reorganize closets, cupboards, playrooms, basements, etc. We are all trying to find better ways to organize all our stuff because we simply have too much of it. Well look no further because I have been to the Promised Land of Organizing! There are aisles and aisles of pretty color-coded organizing tools and products. As you walk through the store you actually begin to feel hope. You might actually be able to organize your stuff.

This wonderful place is called the Container Store and it opens up this Saturday in Garden City, Long Island.

I was practically drooling at the preview event I attended this week. The Container Store is chock-full of amazing products all designed to make our lives easier. The staff is so well informed and so well trained they attend over 200 hours of training in order to work there. They pride themselves on their knowledgeable staff that is there to help you locate the exact product you need.

My personal nemesis continues to be my closets. They are a mess! A complete disaster! They are too small and I definitely do not use the space efficiently. Elfa closet systems might just be the answer to my prayers. Elfa offers so many closet solutions for every space. Closets I have only dreamed about before now.

A unique service The Container Store offers is similar to Applebee’s Carside to go. You can actually shop online and drive up to the store and they will bring your purchases out to your car! What a fabulous service!! Great for busy people everywhere!

I am definitely going to the opening this weekend. They are doing give aways every hour on both days. Lots of give aways and tons of prizes. Certainly well worth the trip to the store!!