Sloane’s school is closed this week. Kyle and I found out last Tuesday. Some of the surprise is our fault, some of it is the school’s fault. Let me explain.
We adore the school and the teachers but the administrative side leaves a lot to be desired. I printed the school schedule back in September and taped it to the fridge. They updated it sometime this spring, uploaded the new one to the documents folder in the app. Since they don’t send e-mails or texts, they didn’t tell parents about the update directly, but it did pop up as a one-time app notification. But given how many notifications we get from that app in a week, this one was not memorable for us, or it seems, several other parents.
As you might imagine the Parent Group Chat was white hot about this topic, especially with the public schools starting on Wednesday of this week. Legacy families knew the drill from past years, newer families didn’t. Some parents were prepared, others (like us) are scrambling. Most families just wish they had done this last week so families with kids in both public and preschool could have coordinated a vacation or other solution without having to balance two totally different schedules.
Regardless, we’re all coping. Several friends took the week off of work. Others imported family. One sent her children on vacation with her husband because it was cheaper to pay for a trip than a single week of respite care at home. Some are swapping kids, with each family taking a day to watch multiple children at their home, then rotating. Our solution? A combination of time off, nanny overtime, church daycare, and family visits. It will be utter chaos.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again — childcare struggles are the second worst part of being a parent. The first is being sick, taking care of a sick child. Wish us luck.
Wrinkle Release. My forehead wrinkles have really escalated their violence this year. What were just three fine lines easily hidden by bangs are now the Three Gorges. But, and I’m going to be really honest here, the idea of Botox still freaks me out. Some women look natural and fresh, others aren’t so lucky. And the horror stories abound. I am petrified to wind up in the second category even though almost every woman I know has had an unremarkable experience. So how am I helping myself?
Serious Skincare sent me a tube of Insta-Tox earlier this year as part of a promotion and I shoved it in a drawer. Then, last week, I needed to have photos taken and didn’t to look every day of my 44 years, so I dabbed some on my forehead and watched as it camouflaged those chasms beautifully. Just smooth enough. Just hidden enough. Wiped off with a makeup remover. No needles, nothing permanent. In case you, like me, aren’t ready for that but have a reason why you need to look fresher.
Surveillance State. This pin snapped me in half.
Swung Out. Praise be. It’s almost jacket season again. I love a third layer for pulling an outfit together. And since traditional denim jackets are getting a reboot this fall, I’ve been searching for something new, more on trend. So when I spotted a lady in her 50s at the nail salon in a denim jacket with a swing cut, I was hooked.
Her jacket (sourced through 35-minutes of Google Image searching) is this Free People Opal Swing Denim Jacket. It is sold out in small and medium sizes most places (the jacket runs large, a size 20 friend bought the XL and says it fits). I did find it at Belk in every size, and in other colors besides blue on the Free People website. I also went looking for a <$100 dupe, and found this one from American Eagle.
Celebration. I had big (BIG) dreams of making Sloane’s birthday cake this year. I planned a cake with a confetti sprinkles and a cotton candy cloud on top. Just one wrinkle. . .Sloane still won’t eat cake. Like I said, tiny wrinkle. Okay, a dealbreaker. So we’re going to get donuts. She’ll love it.
Everybody Hears the Wind Blow. When I was young, my father’s car trip playlist was the six discs he could fit into the his sedan’s trunk multi-CD player: Tracy Chapman, the Beatles Greatest Hits, The Big Chill soundtrack, Margaritaville, Queen’s Greatest Hits, and Graceland, by Paul Simon. So when I saw this article from The Washington Post about the legacy of Graceland, an album that heavily featured South African musicians in the midst of the apartheid, I was drawn back to Spotify to give the album another listen.
Fall Forward. Can someone please explain why it’s not even September and half the houses in my neighborhood are already festooned with autumn decor? I understand excitement for the season, but can we at least wait until September? Or until Starbucks launches that chalky orange PSL nonsense onto us like a precision guided missile?
As a fan of summer (though I prefer spring), can we agree to a cessation of hostilities in hastening the end of the year? Time already passes so quickly, maybe we slow down just a bit and give August a little room to breathe. If you feel otherwise, please explain yourself in the comments.
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Just in case this is helpful to anyone considering botox: The first time you go, ask them *not* to put any directly above your eyebrows. Ask them to do crow’s feet and “middle and upper forehead,” but not close to your eyebrows. That’s what I’ve had done for years, and I get a smooth forehead but full range of motion/expression in my eyebrows. But I also fully support folks who don’t want to do it!
This summer has been one of the hardest, emotionally and physically, on me so I am not sad to see this season go. We’ve been TTC #2 for the past year and it has been incredibly frustrating dealing with our clinic that was fine when we had our first kid. I decorated the inside of our house for fall this past weekend and it brought me so much joy. I feel like things kind of reset for me in the fall. I needed unserious joy, and that came in the form of pumpkins and fall florals.
Totally understandable. I hope your fall is better.
My daughter just turned 13, so the daycare/preschool years are long behind me, but man, do I remember how one thing caused so many dominoes to fall. And even at this age, I am often frustrated by lack of/confusing/conflicting/incorrect info provided by teachers/schools.
Agree, my 2 kids are around the same age and the last minute information (schedule or otherwise) are hard – and then add to that sport schedules that literally change an hour before scheduled practices, and game schedules that don’t get posted until just days before the game. Between the two I am in a constant state of frustration and unorganization, and for someone who’s love language is based upon calendar invites, I have to do lots and lots of deep breathing to manage.
My kids are now adults, but they too didn’t like cake (still don’t). So every year I let them decide what they wanted. Homemade ice cream with a candle in it, a giant stack of krispie treats, many years of donuts (we found a place that does custom donuts- in fancy finishes and/ or letters/ numbers), pie… and what I did every year my older son was away at college was to get the richest fudgiest boxed brownie mix and soup it up with cinnamon and cayenne and pop it in the mail to him. He looked forward to that delivery every year! I’m a firm believer in letting the celebrating person choose how they should be celebrated.
I feel the same way, but your comment reminded me that when my daughter was in elementary school, I would make Rice Krispie treats and dump the mix right on the counter in a blob and let them grab it with their hands, instead of pouring it into a pan to cool and cutting it into squares. It was SUCH a huge hit and seemed so outrageous to them that I would do that. It was a consistent easy way to have a fun special thing without planning or spending a zillion dollars.
The Graceland album was also a soundtrack of my childhood and has been on repeat for me all summer. Thanks for sharing that article!
Sad to report that the horrid (imo) PSL is already in our local Starbucks 😩