mommyloon

Lessons from a cupcake

mommyloon — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:52:01 +0000

Several children in the six-year-old birthday girl’s kindergarten class are getting overbaked cupcakes. Sorry, kiddos; I tried to make it up to you by putting extra frosting on yours. However, if you had conveniently chosen today to be absent from school you would have avoided this unpleasantness altogether.

Lessons I have learned from baking cupcakes for classroom birthday treats:

One can of store-bought frosting easily frosts two dozen cupcakes.
24 students in one class is too many. If you want to send a cupcake for the teacher, too, you need to bake a second batch.
No one can carry frosted cupcakes in a backpack, on a school bus, and expect them to arrive in the classroom intact.
Two boxes of Little Debbie cakes transport easily in a backpack, on a school bus; unfortunately, frosted cupcakes are more fashionable than Little Debbies.
If your children are apt to request frosted cupcakes to share with their classmates on their birthdays, it behooves you to save a few disposable containers in which to pack them (the cupcakes, not the children).
Too bad I’m too cheap to buy an official cupcake carrier. (7 children X 6 years in elementary school) + (1 child X 5 years in elementary school) + (1 child X 1 year in elementary school) = 48 opportunities thus far in my life to have used one.
Cupcakes are really over-rated.

Blasé

mommyloon — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:02:19 +0000

I don’t think anything is happening in my life that is exciting enough to talk about, except maybe

I got some new coupons to cut out today.
There is some cooked broccoli waiting for me to eat it.
The popples have popped, the birches are budding, and the maples are budding too. My crocuses are past their prime.
I got some expensive new walking shoes last week and I haven’t gone for a walk in them yet.
My wonderful sixteen-year-old son dug all the weeds out of my garden, so I can plant something in it this year. My wonderful brother already planted two rhubarb plants for me.
The baby is saying, “Doe-doe-doe.”
I am behind on laundry. That is not exciting, and that is definitely not news.
Hey, at my age, no news is good news.

Sliding into summer

mommyloon — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:07:56 +0000

Just so you know, if I don’t post here, it’s not because I don’t like you. I just have lots of summer things to do that don’t involve turning on the computer.

Dear Oh Dear

mommyloon — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:41:45 +0000

Dear Oh Dear,

My house is a mess. It needs to be cleaned deep into the each corner. Yet I sit here and hear the sunshine calling my name. The spring weather is singing a song and I want to go outside and read a book. Does is really matter if my corners are cleaned for our new baby in June?

Sincerely,
Cluttered and Lazy in MN

Dear Cluttered,

How dirty can your corners be with no babies in the house? You may as well get used to it, because babies are really good at making messes. Enjoy reading your book while you can; it may be your last for a while.

Oh Dear

Something new

mommyloon — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:18:28 +0000

I have to tell you this: we are having an honest-to-goodness home cooked meal tonight. Really and truly. No frozen pizza, no PB&J, no buttered toast or crackers and cheese. It’s meatloaf, potatoes, and some steamed cruciferous vegetables. With butter on the vegetables, because we love our butter. Ahhh. You may share if you want, but get over here before we eat it all up. Dinner is at five.

Nothing new

mommyloon — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:33:27 +0000

There is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Sick bay

mommyloon — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:42:17 +0000

Kids were home all week with stomach flu. I have a nasty cough. I am ingesting cough suppressant and expectorant, homeopathic allergy drops, over-the-counter allergy relief medicine, and garlic oil capsules, in addition to vitamin and mineral supplements; I’m inhaling bronchodilators; and I’m using my steam tent on myself (wow, what a facial treatment that is). My dear hubby is telling me, “YOU should go see a doctor about that cough.” I am being a stubborn Finlander and believing that I do not yet need a doctor (I’m still ambulatory–why would I need a doctor?)

Several benefits of being sick: I have a ready reason for not allowing the kids’ friends over, I don’t feel guilty about not getting any housework done, and I get as much sleep as I want. Actually, I’m getting bored with sleeping. But I don’t feel well enough to do anything fun. So this sick bug can fly away home now…bye-bye! Even laundry will be fun after a few days of this.

High-power deodorant

mommyloon — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:18:41 +0000

The three-year-old stunk strongly for men’s deodorant this morning. I got a headache and a queasy stomach from the aroma. She would not wash it off; “It’s the girls’ blue stuff,” she said, “it smells good.” Well, I have a few problems with preschoolers’ using this on their armpits:

And I object to the inference that toilet cleaner is only for girls.

Just so you know, I didn’t actually buy this stuff. But I am concluding that some freebies are more trouble than they’re worth.

Laundry

mommyloon — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:09:42 +0000

Wubba wubba wubba wubba
Wubba wubba wubba wubba
Thirty-five minutes to wash your clothes

Swish swash Whir swish
Whir Swish Whir Swoosh
Down the drain the water goes

Whap whap flap clap
whip whap whop BANG!
Clothes in the dryer, slam the door

Hum hum hum thum
Wum hum thum hum
Tumble in the dryer drum, thirty minutes more

                Dryer buzzes—buzz-a-buzzy
                Pajamas warm and soft and fuzzy
                Snuggle close all comfy-cozy
                Hugs and kisses
                                                sleepy-dozey

Laundry marathon

mommyloon — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:58:07 +0000

Last week I cleaned the living room, and this week I washed laundry. I have heard about laundry marathons; well, this wasn’t a marathon–it was a Tour de France, an Iditarod, a Grand Prix tour. Whatever your sport, there’s an analogy. The point is: I’ve been doing lots of laundry, because the kids were home on spring break and were able to watch the baby while I hid out in the laundry room. Next week it’ll again be up to me (or I, if you want to be grammatically fastidious) to scoop the baby off the dining room table whenever she goes after the butter, so the laundry program will probably come to a rapid halt.

Perhaps tomorrow I will post a poem about washing clothes. ’Til then…ta ta.