One of "THOSE" Days...Margarita, Anyone?

Minnesota. In April.

A couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend of mine (also a single parent), about the days when you know you love your child, but you'd rather be anywhere in the world than with your kid. You just need a break. But you definitely don't want your kid to know you need a break, because let's be honest, that would just make things exponentially worse. Today was one of those days. It wasn't even all Charley's fault that the day was just a bit off. I blame the weather. When I first woke up, I looked out the window and saw a little bit of snow on the ground (nothing significant), so I got myself ready for the gym, got Charley fed and changed, and then I opened the door to walk out to the car. In the hour it took for us to get up and moving, several inches of snow had fallen. I just stared and asked myself, "Go, or don't go?" I ultimately decided to go, because Charley was all excited to see kids and play in the little kitchen. However, it took 35 minutes to get there, due to the snow. Ugh. That meant I had about 30 minutes to work out before I had to come home for work. Kind of a waste of time, but I did my thing, and drove home.

Work went well today. Until the last hour, that is. I had an hour long meeting at 4:30 this afternoon. Now, Charley is usually pretty good, but there's a reason that I schedule my classes in the morning. She's not crabby at 11, but boy is she crabby by the end of the day! Anyway, for the first 30 minutes of the meeting, my only job was to listen. She was a perfect angel. Then, almost on cue, when my half of the meeting started, there was some toy that she just couldn't find, and needed to find immediately. "Mommy!!!" she wailed. "Iced tea! Iced tea!" Yeah, I know she's a weird kid, trying to make iced tea, but whatever. Let's just say it was a loud, screaming mess, as I tried to talk my way through the meeting, apologizing profusely. By the time the meeting was over, I was so frustrated, I wanted to scream. It just reminded me why children are born to two parents. Sometimes one needs a break! Instead of screaming, I went back to the gym, where I could have the childcare workers deal with her for an hour. Smart mom? I think so! Except for the fact that I will, again, be incredibly sore tomorrow. An hour of silence, though? Totally worth it! She was, of course, perfectly behaved for the childcare workers, and was much better once we came home.

I was talking to one of my single-mom girlfriends this afternoon, about having male influences in our kids' lives. We are both in a similar situation, in the sense that our exes live out of state, so we are COMPLETELY on our own in terms of parenting. She mentioned that her ex had come to visit her son last weekend, for the first time in months. He didn't understand why his son didn't want to be alone with him. Ummm...hello, he doesn't know you?! Apparently her ex, whom I'll call Jake, thinks his son should know him, because he was there when he was born, so they have a bond. Ha! Another funny quip from this conversation... While Jake was there, my friend said she had to go change her son's diaper. He asked how she knew he needed to be changed. Her response? "Well, Jake, when he pees, his face turns yellow, and when he poops..." Ha! Love it! It just cracks me up, because I know several single dads who have it all together! Some are even more in tune with their kids than the kids' moms are!  How can some people be so clueless?

So, now I'm at home, relaxing with a SkinnyGirl Margarita. An incredible creation, that's for sure. And of course, I found Friends on Nick at Nite, so my evening just got even better.

I've got a quick teacher story for you tonight. My second year of teaching, the school I worked at was still on a year round schedule. That meant that there were several weeks during the year that I was off, and needed to sub in other classrooms to keep making money, because technically I was a long-term sub, and not on a contract. Anyway, there were several times that I subbed for music class. Now, there were two different music teachers at my school. One was fantastic, and great with the kids. She was always doing fun things with the students, and classroom management was never an issue. The other teacher, however, was not exactly known for her classroom management skills. She was, of course, the one I subbed for. I was prepared for the worst, because every time I'd ever walked by her classroom, all I heard was yelling, and arguing. However, it became clear on day one that the kids really weren't the problem at all. I cranked up the music and danced around and sang songs with those kids for a full week, and they treated me like a celebrity. I thought it was awesome. No behavior problems whatsoever, because it was FUN and controlled. That tends to be my style... So, one day, one of my co-workers and friends, Dayvin, came knocking on the door of the classroom, with a brownie for me. I thanked him, and turned back to the class. They had been playing BINGO, and stared in awe as I received a little treat. I looked at the kids, and said, "Okay, what's next?" From the back of the room, I heard a thick Hispanic accent shout, "Eat the cupcake!!!!" When I glanced in the direction of the voice, I knew just who it was. It was the exact person who you would picture, obsessing about food. The student, who I'll call Jose, was about 50 lbs overweight, grinning from ear to ear, and practically salivating at the thought of something sweet. I laughed, and we got back to BINGO. But now, every time I eat a brownie, I can hear his little voice, ordering me to "Eat the cupcake!"