Hairy school performance

Almost all of the two hundred chairs were filled. Last night was Family Night for my 3&4 year old classes, and they did so well at their Spring Sing. I checked myself in the mirror before going on. No food in my teeth, my hair was reasonably styled even if that one monkey-ear kept poking out like a prairie dog from its hole. No slip showing, necklace laying straight. Ready! Set! Action! The palm recorders were rolling.

Oh yes, a few kids fidgeted, one little girl played with the blue velvet curtain on stage, a boy bounced like Tigger, two had to leave to go potty, and one girl cried and held her ear, so I dismissed her. Ear ache or panic, in either case, she wasn't going to perform.
Each child spoke into the microphone and introduced him/herself. My little boy with a developmental condition held the mic a bit too long and belted out an impromptu song instead of his name, which brought the house down.

The kids did very well. They sang, recited poems and fingerplays, came up with creative responses about how to get a dinosaur through a door that was too small, and they walked across the balance beam.

As my coworker readied the stage with props for The Three Brown Bears, I saw it. I was mortified. It was nothing like the holiday performance when a little boy lost his pants when he was jumping up and down. It was far worse.

I need reading glasses. They are magnifiers to the 'umpth degree'. I don't know why I didn't remove them when I was finished reading. But if you've been following my blog lately, you know that I'm slipping a bit. If only my glasses had slipped off my nose. I gazed down at my feet, at my open-toed shoes. I looked out into the audience to see if anyone else had seen what I had just seen. Nobody was watching me, no camera lenses or fingers pointed at me, as I imagined. There on my big toes were four wild black hairs sproinging every which way! I had nipped the ones on my lip and clipped that stray thing that grows out of my nose like a weed after a rainy day. But on my TOES! I'd never seen that before, and I shave my legs everyday.

I stood like an embarrassed child shuffling her feet, trying to retract those turtle head toes back into my patent leathers.

Every young girl gets the 'talk' before puberty about womanhood, but nobody explains the crop of wild hairs that take residence once you pass GO. Have I had these fuzzy toes all this while? Were you all too polite to point it out? My razor has been put to the test. Ladies don't just look in the mirror, look down.

Dad's Night at St. Stephen Preschool

As long as I'm on a roll and beginning to look like a jelly roll, I guess I'll have peach crepes for breakfast with a steaming cup of weak coffee. Then it's off to school for a few parent-teacher conferences.

Last night was Dad's Night at school. The kids were so excited at being the "boss" for the evening. I had to separate a couple of dad buddies who thought they were there to swap stats instead of stir the pot with their daughters in the housekeeping area. The children and fathers interacted for about 45 minutes doing "math their way", phonics and letter matching, playing tic-tac-turtle and participating in many other fun activities.

The storm hovered on top of us and dumped it's load, so we were restricted to indoor activities. Normally we go outdoors and the dads stand around the circumference of a large parachute and raise each child, seated on a pillow, high into the air. You can't imagine the kid giggles and daddy laughter. But last night I had to wing it. So I pulled out two large stuffed caterpillar toys, shoved the furniture back and announced that the kids would still get the ride of their lives, only this year it would be like going to the races, caterpillar, not horse races. The kids competed, scooted across the floor as the dad's cheered and rooted them on. Then the kids sang songs, recited rhymes and fingerplays and read simple words that they had learned. Overall it was a nice evening, despite the storm. The moment our program concluded, the clouds cleared out and a giant rainbow filled the sky. I rewarded myself with a strawberry shortcake ice cream from Ted Drewes, a favorite and famous ice cream stand.

The highlight of my day though, was in the morning when we went out to recess and a "good-bye" butterfly landed on one of mystudents whose last day was yesterday instead of June 22nd. The butterfly actually climbed on my finger and the kids got to see it stretch its long tongue out and seek moisture from my skin. It was an awesome day: rainbows, butterflies, kids, ice cream. Hope you have a wonderful day too. Tonight is family night and my three/four year olds will be performing the Three Brown Bears and singing etc. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Remember... if you can

So, I'm wondering if it was the heat, over 90 degrees, the humidity, or just being a writer? I hope it's not the beginning of the big A. At the family reunion, it was so hot you could bake cupcakes in the sun. I grabbed a name tag for myself and wrote BILL. Luckily, I caught it before I plastered my husband's name four inches high across my chest. But not before my cousin, Donna, told me I was losing it.

The humidity was so bad, we were ringing wet, and perhaps I was a bit dehydrated. Yeah, that's it. I had forgotten to take my morning vitamins, so that evening when we got home, I pulled the fish oil bottle out of the cupboard and started singing a song from the
'6os, "Three, six, nine, the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line. The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven in a little row boat."

Where did that come from! I noted this morning that the numbers 3,6, 9 are printed prominently on the bottle right after the word Omega, thank goodness.

Then I went to the basement, and the flourescent light bulb hanging over the washer blew, and I swear, for a split second, I thought I was being flashed by one of those red light cameras. Writer's mind, right? I need some reassurance here.

This morning I am starting my day off with 16 ounces of water, hydrating this brain. Might even eat a banana. If I could remember what else it is that helps you remember, I'd take that too.

Family Reunion

This is a view of the park lake where our family reunion was held today in St. Peters, MO. I am so inspired by water. The turtles and minnows came to the surface when people walked by. They are used to being fed by visitors. Although the temperature climbed to ninety degrees, there was a constant breeze, yummy food, and generations of family on my mother's side. I was proud to introduce my husband, brother, children their spouses, partners and my grandchildren. It was fun to see aunts, uncles, cousins and their children.

Yes, I overate, had a blast with the grandkids, enjoyed talking to my cousins and felt nostalgic and sad missing my mom and looking at my aunts who are getting up in years. It makes me realize, that one day in the not too distant future, my immediate cousins and I will be the oldest generation, but as long as I am in good health and young at heart, I'll accept that position with honor - a changing of the guard, so to speak.

Our common physical traits ranged from that one crooked tooth on the left, to poker straight thick hair (in every shade). We all have a good sense of humor, a positive attitude and faith. My first Sunday School teacher was even present. I reminded her of the potted pansy flowers she gave me every Easter when I was a little girl.

Watching my overheated red-cheeked, two year old grandbaby frolic with her cousins twice removed took me back to the days when I was her age playing with my cousins at our grandmother's.

Time does march on. I am so nostalgic and joyful and thankful this evening. I am blessed!

Link to my essay, Sanity Saver

View my essay, Sanity Saver, here. Please leave a comment at More.com and thank you all for reading my work.

MORE.com

Woo-hoo! I am dancing on my chair! I received an acceptance from MORE.com, (MORE Magazine Online) for my essay, Sanity Saver. My hubby and I have both been driving ourselves crazy trying to figure out how to add a link on this site. Several kind folks have given me specific directions, and I have read the bolgspot tutorial, but we apparently aren't doing something right. We'll keep trying, though. I need people to comment on my essay, so as soon as I figure this out, I would appreciate it if you would write a note. Thank you.

Joanna Campbell Slann

This evening I attended a St. Louis Writer's Guild event; the guest speaker's series was held at Barnes and Noble, Ladue. The featured author, Joanna Campbell Slann, a dynamic motivational speaker, shared her success story as well as the struggles of becoming a published author. She was a wealth of information. The thing she said that resonated with me was, to paraphrase, "If you talk about writing or whine about writing, then move out of my way, because I will step right in and do the writing." That's really the key. You can't get published if you don't write. Being a writer requires discipline and commitment; it is hard work and it requires an ivestment of time and effort. You have to find a balance, know when to take a rest, a respite, but you can't be a slacker and call yourself a writer if all you do is talk about writing or let a rejection stop you in your tracks.

Joanna has written numerous books and coincidentally, she and I have been published in some of the same Chicken Soup for the Soul Books. One of these days I will have my name plastered across the front cover of a book, and not just to promote an anthology. If you have talent and determination and faith in yourself, just think, our books could possibly be spooning in bookstores nationwide someday. Write on.