Amy's got a Case of the Mondays

EI Editor Posted On Oct 15, 2012

I’ve got a case of the Mondays. It’s almost guaranteed that I’ll have a case of the Mondays on Monday. No matter how great a weekend we had, no, wait, in fact because of the great weekends we have, it always makes me sad to go our separate ways on Mondays. I think it’s the pace of the weekend. Cartoons in bed, lazy days at the beach, evening play dates at the park, movie nights with popcorn, dragging out our telescope to check out the moon (although it may seem counter-intuitive, it’s not so easy to see stars in L.A.), even errands are fun on the weekends. Spending time together is easy on the weekends. It happens naturally on the weekends. I never feel like a B.M. (Bad Mom, to be clear) on the weekends.Then Monday comes with the relentless beeping of the alarm clock, sending me scrambling to work out (thanks for cutting that down to 20 minutes, Jillian!), shower, dress, and make three lunches before I wake up Emma (nothing sadder than waking a sleeping child). Then the facade of a relaxed, slow pace. Emma has breakfast; I round up the darks and toss a load in the washer. Emma puts her dishes in the sink; I unload the dishwasher (I’ve got it down to 90 seconds). She brushes her teeth; I realize I only put eye makeup on one eye. She recites her spelling words; I search high and low for the car keys. Happy conversation on the two-minute drive, scramble for a parking space (is there anything worse?), get in line, kisses, hugs, and off she goes. And off I go. Trading in two days of together-time fun on the weekend for 57 minutes on a Monday morning… anyone else have a case of the Mondays?

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EI Editor | Posted on Nov 19, 2012

Mommy Mondays: 15 Minutes Why is it that no matter how early I wake up, how calm and peaceful I try to make the getting-ready process, the last 15 minutes before dropping my daughter off at school are always crazy?This morning, for example, I woke up at 5:45 to work out, check emails, make lunches, and get myself ready before waking Emma up at 6:45 (clearly I don’t spend a lot of time on makeup). She woke up bright and cheery. We read a book in bed and then headed into the living room for a bit of coloring and a TV show before getting her dressed, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, and fish fed. Sometimes we can even sneak in arts & crafts or a walk around the block before we head out!And then all heck breaks loose. Somehow the 15 minutes I leave to get us to school, which is 3 minutes away door-to-door, is never enough. Grabbing purses, backpacks, homework (which needs to go into the backpack, which is already on the back), and lunches… getting out the door and into the car (why is this so hard? It’s like it happens in slow motion)… driving to school and parking… it’s a marathon exercise, always a scramble, and the ramifications of cutting it short a minute or two—not having any playground time before the bell rings—can turn my happy, cheery girl into a storm of pout and cling. And so my memory of our calm, peaceful, together-time morning is replaced by the last, pitiful look I get as she walks into class, and this is what I take with me all day.Yes, my head knows that she’s fine the minute she turns the corner into her classroom, but my heart can’t quite believe it. Has anyone cracked the morning code? Left the drop-off happy and satisfied? Tips are much appreciated.
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EI Editor | Posted on Oct 1, 2012

Mommy Mondays: Benefit of the Doubt I recently read a poll in a parenting magazine asking if parents pay attention to other parents’ “reviews” of teachers. It asked if parents would go so far as to try to have their children moved to other classes if they had heard negative things about the teachers their kids were assigned.The readers’ responses varied. Some thought it negligent to ignore the negative feedback—why put their kids through a potentially bad experience if they could help it? Others gave the teacher the benefit of the doubt—some teaching styles work better for some kids, so why not give it a try first? If you’d asked me this question last year, when my daughter was heading into kindergarten, there’s no question what I would have said.

[My daughter, Emma. Her daddy is 6’3, with 6’ sisters and a 6’7 brother!]Flash back…there we were…waiting to see the class list and meet Emma’s teacher. We’d heard such great things about both kindergarten teachers. We’d played for years on the kindergarten playground and peeked through the kindergarten windows at the adorable little chairs and tables. Even the in-class bathroom door was tiny!What a surprise to learn that one of those two teachers had taken on the school’s new preppy-K class and my daughter was assigned to a new team-teaching pair. At first we were thrilled—two teachers in the classroom! Too good to be true! And it was. What it really meant was that two teachers would split the week. Really? Neither one could commit to a 22-hour work week? Then the other shoe dropped— neither teacher had ever taught kindergarten before. Oh, and that cute little classroom on the cute little playground? Nah, we were down the hall with the big kids. And the tiny bathroom door was replaced with the big girl’s bathroom—across a corridor open to the street.I did what any good parent would do—I panicked. I tried the principal, to no avail. There would be no relocations; the classes were full. I wasn’t alone: we were all worried—two teachers, two sets of rules, two styles— and in this crucial year, no less! After a few sleepless nights and more conversations than my friends care to remember (oh, and a deposit at the private school down the road, which we really couldn’t afford and whose religious tenets we do not believe), I caved. I mean, what choice did I have?Well, a year later, I am both thrilled and embarrassed to report that the year could not have gone any better. One teacher was nurturing and sweet. The other was stern, but conducted kitchen science lessons every Friday with edible treat results. I never heard any student or parent complain of trouble adjusting to different styles or routines. In fact, they may have come out more flexible for it. The highlight of my daughter’s year was winning the silent auction at the spring carnival. The prize? Lunch. At Burger King. With her teacher. The stern one.I am not a go-with-the-flow person, but man, lesson learned. So when the flurry of phone calls, texts, and emails started rolling in when this year’s class assignments were mailed, I’m happy to report that I closed my ears and went with the flow.And I’m glad I did. Emma’s new teacher opened this year’s Open House by telling the parents how grateful she was to have a job that she loves so much. Teaching is probably the hardest job in the world (okay, tied with being a mom). Teachers wouldn’t do it if they didn’t love it. So let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I know I will!
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EI Editor | Posted on Sep 28, 2012

Introducing our newest blog series: Mommy Mondays

Amy is the director of marketing at Educational Insights and is the mom of 5.98-year-old Emma, an enthusiastic first grader, dare-devil bike rider (no training wheels here!), expert colorer, and Lego lover. Amy will be penning our newest blog series called Mommy Mondays where you'll get to hear her take on the likes and gripes of motherhood.Here's a word from Amy herself:"Are you scrambling to keep up? Do you feel like life is a big juggling act and… um… you once knew how to juggle and in fact might have some notes on juggling in your purse, stuck to a red fruit gummy, but, wait… What was I looking for? Join me on Mondays and you won’t feel so alone…"
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