DC Metro Moms

Mommy is a Fish Murderer

Yes, it is true.  I killed the family fish.  And it was an accident.

It all started quite innocently once afternoon when I went to clean the fish bowl. 

We don’t have an aquarium, filter, rocks, or even multiple fish.  Our setup included one goldfish, a plastic plant, and a 1 gallon bowl. 

It takes me 5 minutes to clean the fish habitat, if you can call it that.  I have no excuse for why I only clean the fish bowl when it has finally reached a putrid shade of green that makes it almost impossible to see our poor goldfish.  Nor do I have an alibi for sous-vide our goldfish by running water, too warm for a fish, into its nice clean bowl.  I do apologize for the fact that my son discovered the boiled little fish body floating belly up in its clean bowl.  We disposed of the body before his kindergarten aged sister got home with a nice flush.

Social Media Junkie Meets Social Media Newbies at Mom Congress

I live in a world where I spend time Tweeting friends in the blogosphere, seeking out relevant hashtags, sharing pictures from events on Flickr, uploading videos to YouTube, responding to comments that come on my Nings, and populating my Facebook profile with my most recent blog posts. It makes me forget that others are not as plugged in to social media as I am. 

Last week I attended the invitation-only MomCongress at Georgetown University where I had the distinct pleasure of meeting 51 amazing mom delegates.  Each woman was chosen by Parenting Magazine to represent their state and the District of Columbia for their outstanding work in child advocacy and educational reform.  Each mom I talked to was exceptionally passionate about issues in education but only a few knew to harness the power of social media to spread the word about their causes and mobilize their troops.

Borrow-a-Dog: Our Answer to Remaining Dog Free…For Now

We are a family who loves dogs but since we haven't been quite ready to take the leap and get one of our own, we've enjoyed the benefits of our neighbor's Bichon Frise through what we call our Borrow-a-Dog program.

It all started two years ago around Christmas.  Our neighbor’s youngest children were getting older and being involved in more high school activities, didn’t have as much time for their attention-loving dog.  It started simply with the daily walk that we wove into our schedule and looked forward to but now the dog has become part of our family. 

Over the years, our kids, now 6 and almost 4, have increased their dog duties to checking on her food and water, feeding her treats, and letting her out when we are in our yard.  She invites herself over for weekend barbecues now that the weather is warming up and our neighbors report that she barks at the door to be let out when she hears our kids playing in the yard.  She takes rides in our car to join park playdates after school and has even been over for the occasional doggie sleepover.  The kids shop for doggie gifts like MilkBones to give her for Christmas and sometimes brush her.

Local Cuts in Education Will Affect Teaching and Learning

Throughout the DC Metro area public school systems are bracing themselves for 2 things- spring statewide mandatory standardized testing and the effect of shrinking budgets on staffing projections for the coming school year.  As in years past, the economy continues to force school systems to make additional cuts but this year many counties are forced to reduce the number of teachers which will have a direct impact on teaching and learning.

Last week Prince George’s County Board of Education announced that their budget would eliminate 800 positions, 335 of which were classroom teaching positions.  In addition to having fewer teachers, class size in Prince George's will increase by two students at every grade level except for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Across the river in Fairfax County, the school system expects to make $16 million in cuts and looks towards increasing property tax to help fund public education programs. 

Late last week staff allocations to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) principals were released and the future looks grim.  In a message to staff from Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast, class size throughout MCPS will increase by one student that will eliminate a total of 252 positions- 142 in elementary schools and 55 each at middle and high schools.  Additional reductions in staffing can be made depending on enrollment and central services will take hits as they have over the past 10 years. 

Highs, Lows, and Rewards of Teaching

During a career that has spanned just over ten years of teaching, I’ve had some real lows and incredible highs both in and out of the classroom.  Part of the joy of teaching is the unpredictability of each student and what will be thrown at you during the day both for better and worse.

I clearly remember my first day of school my first year teaching and being greeted by 26 smiling, nervous, and sad faces as they left their parents to enter my classroom.  My nervousness was replaced by a bit of confidence as the day went on. Having almost made it through the entire day, I took my class outside for the last half hour to let off some steam.  The joy of being outside was quickly interrupted by a student’s screams.  Clutching his arm as he lay next to the highest part of the play structure, Tony told me it was broken. 

In my final few minutes of my first day of school, I was confronted with a seriously injured student.  My confidence was shattered and again, I was nervous about day 2 with my kids.  I mustered up enough courage to go back and face my class on the second day of school and every day after that, despite the ebb and flow of highs and lows.

Shoveling is My New Workout

Having failed at getting my New Year’s resolution off the ground, I was determined jumpstart my exercise program in February with the purchase of a new collection of hand weights and resolve to spend 30 minutes with Jillian each day.  I thought that being snowbound during the first Snowpocalypse would be the perfect excuse to get myself moving but little did I know that shoveling and snow play would become my new workout!

Thursday before the snow came the kids and I donned our exercise gear and quickly reacquainted ourselves with Jillian, Natalie, and Anita.  They left me breathless but feeling good.  Feeling the effects of an adrenaline rush, I was excited to see them the next day.

On Friday the snow started to fall and continued to fall until Saturday.  We tried to keep up with the 2-3 inches per hour that were falling but it was nearly impossible.  The time spent attempting to remove the snow eclipsed any desire to turn on Jillian once I retreated to the comfort of our warm home.

Jersey Shore Hater Turned Aficionado

I was a Jersey Shore hater but the show grew on me and now there’s a void in my TV viewing life now that it’s over.  Snooki, Sammi, Jenni (aka JWoww), Mike The Situation, Vinny, DJ Pauly D., Ronnie, and even the short lived Angelina brought 9 weeks of fist pumping, endless hookups, and bar brawls to my otherwise quiet January TV lineup.

I know why the show sucked me in even though I’m far from the typical MTV demographic.  Jersey Shore, like other MTV reality shows, was a complete departure from life as I know it or even as I knew it as 20-something back in the day who did the gym, tan, laundry thing her own way.

Teacher Wanted: Experience in Pastry Arts, Vermin, Parking Cars Necessary

I never became a teacher for the money.  I naively became a teacher to make a difference in children’s lives.  Little did I know that two Masters degrees in education would provide me with only some of the relevant experience needed for my job.  In any given day I am far more than just a teacher.  While I do spend a majority of my day imparting knowledge to young minds, I’m also a counselor, nurse, and even sometimes even a tissue as our students inadvertently sneeze on me or give me a hug only to leave nose reside behind on my clothes. 

Today I was also an exterminator, parking lot attendant, and pastry chef.  Yes, you read that right. On any given day my role of a teacher encompasses a myraid of other jobs that are done while attempting to provide meaningful instruction to my students.  Here's a glimpse of my day.

• Parking lot attendant- The freezing cold temperatures means that many parents drop their darlings off at school rather than have them shiver and wait for the bus stop.  While I can’t blame them, I stand out front twice a week ensuring that kids disembark the bus safely.  At the same time, I have to keep one eye on the car drop off zone to make sure parents don’t cut each other off.  As parking lot attendant pull to the front of the line before letting their kids exit the car and the kids don’t happen to run in front of exiting cars all while playing Frogger to make sure I am not hit by those trying to get to work on time.  

• Exterminator- A mouse family moved into school during the two weeks we were off from break.  I’m not talking a mom, dad, and a couple babies.  I mean an extended family with cousins, aunts, uncles, and multiple generations!  There are so many mice in our building I foolishly believed that trying to trap one today might be helpful.  It eluded me but along with my colleagues, we found the hole where they appear to be entering the building.  Rather waiting for the county’s exterminator to put down poison on Friday, we will be plugging up that hole tomorrow and arming ourselves with boxes to trap the critters who run over our feet while trying to provide meaningful instruction. 

• Pastry Chef- My dream was to be a professional pastry chef sometime when I had my midlife crisis.  I haven’t had that midlife crisis yet but after making 12 recipes of royal icing for the 4^th grade gingerbread houses, I’ve had second thoughts.  Next year remind me not to wear black when using mixer and 6 cups of powdered sugar per recipe.  Strangely enough, the mice were not at all interested in the gingerbread house ingredients.

• Tour Guide/Secretary- I walk through our office constantly and I should know that by doing so, I will get asked to do something. Perhaps I’ll answer the phone and get a parent calling in an absence or other times I’ll be asked to recite the school boundaries off the top of my head.  No, I don’t know if your new house is within our boundaries but sure, I’ll take the new child who just enrolled on a tour of the building to find their new classroom just so I don’t have to answer the phone again.

One thing that you can never say about teaching is that it is boring.  I love my job because every day is new, different, and mostly exciting but it becomes even more so when I am trying to dodge the cars in the parking lot while making sure the students don’t let the mice in the building to eat the gingerbread houses!

Original DC Metro Moms post

Leticia loves teaching but might love blogging more.  When she's not at school, you can find her writing about quality technology for families on her Tech Savvy Mama site, The LeapFrog Community, and The Washington Times.  Leticia is glad that the holidays are over and she will not have to make any more icing until next year but will probably see more mice tomorrow.

 

 

Unpacking Memories One Ornament at a Time

The yearly ritual of getting a tree, fetching the boxes of ornaments from the attic, and winding the lights around and around is fun but what I really enjoy is unearthing each ornament and the memories it holds. 

My red and green boxes are filled to the brim with ornaments that have been collecting through the years.  My childhood love of rabbits reappears as I unwrap the tissue paper clad ornaments.  Memories of trips we’ve taken materialize in the form of a handmade fish ornament from Thailand, a bicycle found at a local street market in Brazil, and trinkets that were never really meant to be ornaments from elsewhere around the world.  I watch my kids grow before my eyes as I pluck out the frames with their photos and hang them on the tree.  Strong cardboard boxes hold the fragile vintage ornaments passed down to me from my parents that I recall hanging on our family tree as a child.

Learning with Sesame Street

As a kid, one of my favorite days was Sunday.  On Sundays my brother and I would wake up at 6 am for a 3 hour Sesame Street marathon on KQED, our local PBS affiliate. We didn’t watch a lot of TV in our house but my parents never objected to Sesame Street.  Perhaps they realized what I now know as a parent- that Sesame Street was children’s television at its best.

As Sesame Street celebrates the start of its 40^th season this week, it reminds us that it is the show that changed children’s television forever.  From the crazy cookie eating antics of Cookie Monster, the loveable Mr. Hooper heart to hearts talks with characters that frequented his General Store, the sibling-like bickering between Bert and Ernie, to the letter and number of the day…Sesame Street’s goal has always been to teach in a fun way.

Sing along as you count with the ladybugs in Ladybug Picnic who not only educate about numbers and one to one correspondence, but also teach rhyming through their song.  Laugh with the always ravenous Cookie Monster as he tries to hold back from devouring a chocolate chip cookie but know that cookie is shaped like a letter.  And The Count…Well, he’s the master at teaching numbers even if he isn't the best elevator operator.  Those tiny little Twiddlebugs that inhabited Ernie’s flowerbox were master recyclers and environmentalists before eco-chic became part of our lexicon as they populated their dwelling with furnishings made from tiny found objects.