By The Numbers: Clothes

28 tops

23 bottoms

8 sweaters & hoodies

3 dresses 

Too much? Too little?

This is the shake down of our fall wardrobe and the sum of this afternoon. There was an impromptu fashion show of trying on what remained of last season's wardrobe and gleefully parading around in the new picks for this year, sometimes half naked. Lots of conpliments were exchanged and a few nods of disapproval from this momma when it came to judging proper fit. Just how skinny are skinny jeans suppose to be for the elementary school crowd?! 

*appalled* 

Thankfully it was only one item that was  discarded before ever being worn. 

While I didn't mind this event taking three times as long with my models around, I still don't enjoy the tag and sticker removal process. I am glad to have gotten a head start this year and now everything is washed and ready to wear. I just need to keep the ladies out of it until fall decides to arrive! 

Do you slowly switch over your clothes or do it all in one fell swoop? If I didn't change out my clothes I would be in capris all year! 

My goal this year is to go all konmari on my clothes when I switch them over. There is entirely too much in my wardrobe that is not sparking joy into my life, as much as jeans and t-shirts are capable of doing so. So bring on the cooler weather! 

The Belated Gift

What warrants a thank you note?

Generally I would say that any birthday gift warrants a thank you. That thank you can be in the form of a note, text, video, cloud writing, or simple "Thanks" so long as it's delivered to the gifter. I'm lax on Christmas because that's a big family exchange and we generally don't have any other gifting occasions that I can think of. 

But lets say that someone gifts your children a belated birthday gift. Say it's 7 weeks past their birthday and this gifter would be considered immediate family. They also live very closer by but obviously didn't make time nor feel it important enough to deliver prior to the big group outing. 

What I am really asking here is what do you do with shitty grandparents?

Who sends a birthday text to a small child? Who can't make time to see their grandchildren or even inquire about them on a semi-regular basis? We live around the corner!

 

I had every intention of not accepting said gifts, of telling them their birthday had passed and I'm not raising children to expect gifts at every random outing with family. I'm also not bringing them up to expect gifts period so I certainly wasn't going to bring them over unannounced on their birthday. However these gifts were thrust into my childrens' hands quite literally behind my back. *grumble* 

More importantly, what do I say when these same sweet children ask why their grandparents don't see them anymore? I stumbled and told them they would have to ask, maybe write a letter. 

I'm choosing to revel in the fact that they have another set of wonderful grandparents who love and cherish them. Grandparents who know them and spend time with them. That is enough to sustain both them and me. I just need to find a way to distance myself from the bad ones. 

Does anyone else have bad grandparents? 

Maybe I'm focusing on this too much but I don't feel it's my job to cultivate this relationship. I'm trying not to steer it in any direction in particular, but I also want my ladies to know that it's ok to walk away from people who don't value you. Perhaps they're just kids and I should worry more about something more benign.

Back To School

I can't believe these ladies are starting their THIRD week of school! Where has the time gone? First grade?! Geeeze!

I will openly admit that I have now started each school year with reservations. I know all parents worry, but I seem to get jipped in the teacher department. Last year we had a chronically absent teacher. This year I was very nervous after my initial meeting with our teacher. I have come to accept that our school isn't very welcoming to parental involvement in the classroom. That is to say they call for volunteers, but limit them to the PTA. They want help with events, fundraising, and making school fun but the classroom is hands off. This bothers me but I am a one-woman army set to disrupt the school to make myself happy. Most parents I've spoken with are not in the least upset or even phased. This all feels very foreign. 

After meeting with their teacher on back-to-school night I was more settled. She is open to communications, is experienced, and seems to be on top of her game. She seems overwhelmed by the start of school and at having a classroom full of little people but I think she'll get them exactly where she wants them. I'm leery of them only have 20 minutes of recess, they're 6, and of that 20 minute recess being cut short. I'm again concerned that the girls will be bored and unchallenged; something their kindergarten teacher almost assured us of. I'm also not sure of how to address this. The last thing I want to do is to walk into a meeting with a laundry list of complaints and not have any solutions to offer. I'm struggling to find things I like about school, other than the socialization and my freedom to spends hours in target! I'm giving her a month before I start assaulting her inbox. My current complain, homework. It's just not necessary.  

Oh look, schools are closing early today for heat. Better go work on catching up on PL, I've given myself a week to catch up on the last 4 months! 

And a quick comparison before I go!