With the economy still in crisis and thousands of Americans out of work, it’s no surprise that our schools are suffering from budget cuts. Our local school district tried to pass a referendum last year to increase their budget so that extra-curricular activities (sports, music, arts) would not be cut as well as to prevent layoffs of several teachers. The referendum failed and schools resorted to familiar methods of bringing in the money: fundraisers, bake sales, and recruiting parent volunteers to fill the voids the layoffs left behind.
Now that Dawson is in kindergarten he is always bringing home newsletters and special notes about all the efforts the school is making to raise money. We’ve sold magazine subscriptions to family and friends. We sold chocolates and gift items. Student fees increased from $20 a year to $35. Just last week my son brought home another fundraiser. Now we’re selling organic produce grown by local farmers. A percentage of money raised will go to the school, and a donation of food as well as money will go to a local church that hosts a Thanksgiving Meal for homeless in our area. Next week I have to make dozens of cupcakes for a bake sale. The fundraisers never end.
Most of the money needed is to keep the fun activities kids can participate in after school, as well as for field trips and other learning needs. It makes me sad that our kids suffer by going without these things. School is for learning, but learning should be fun.
On the flip side, I understand how our community voted against the referendum. There are so many residents who have lost their jobs and are doing their best to make ends meet. They just can’t afford the raise in taxes. As someone who was jobless for 9 months, I know exactly how they feel.
I was very excited to learn that Bing is holding a contest called Our School Needs where students can write an essay telling Bing what their school needs (a science lab? a new art department? classrooms equipped with computers and other technology?). They can work in groups, classes, or even school-wide to write an essay and take pictures finishing the sentence “Our School Needs: ___________.” To enter:
•Write an essay (500 to 800 words)
•Take pictures (3 to 5 photos)
•Film a video (not required, but fun! Maximum of 3 minutes in length)
Who Can EnterAny student or teacher from a K-12 school can enter. While students under 18 are encouraged to create the entry, a parent, legal guardian or a teacher must submit it.
Bing will award a quarter-million dollars, divided among four schools—$50,000 to three first-prize winners, and one $100,000 grand prize. Pretty darn cool, right?
Check out this video:
What are you waiting for? There’s still time to enter! Entries will be accepted until midnight on Sunday, October 24, with voting remaining open until Tuesday, October 26th.
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and received a DonorsChoose.org giving code and gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.
When it comes to bedtime, Dawson is known to put up a good fight. He’ll think of any excuse in the book. He’s thirsty, he doesn’t feel good (so Mom should hold him on the couch while watching Spongebob — that will cure his illness, he says) or there are monsters in the closet.
It wasn’t always so difficult to get him to sleep. When he was an infant he slept fairly well. Toddlerhood approached and things were good, that is until I suffered a back injury and couldn’t lift him into his crib (which was only a problem when my husband worked second shift).
That’s when we became a co-sleeping family. For the last three years, Dawson has slept in bed with me and my husband. I know what you’re thinking, but before you judge me, please know that once I was back to my old self I tried to get him back into the routine of sleeping in his own bed. He cried so hard he threw up, and I felt like a terrible mom because of it. Crying it out seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.
So, you would think that a child who sleeps in the same bed with his parents would have no trouble going to bed. Not my son. He’ll fight bedtime tooth and nail. I’ve actually had to bribe him with promises of donuts for breakfast. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, I feel like I’m trying to wrangle a chimpanzee.
Just last night Dawson told me he couldn’t go to bed because a “very scary grasshopper will sneak through the window and bite me on the ear!” I’m always amazed with his imagination. These excuses are getting more incredible each time.
I’m sure my child will eventually sleep in his own bed. Hopefully, it will happen by the time his little brother or sister is born. I do not want another little person sleeping in our bed — especially because our dog sleeps there with us, too. I know. We don’t set boundaries. We’re working on it. He can’t sleep with us forever. Right?
Then, this morning my internet connection died several times, making it difficult to get my work done. I believe the internet was protesting the snow we’ve been getting. Six to ten inches of fluffy white crap. Oh, how I loved it. Loved being the key word.
Because of the snow, my husband woke up early to head outside and shovel. I’m so lucky he does this mostly without complaint. He tackled what he could and then left for work.
Since we live in a bi-level house, and our main floor bathroom is still in disrepair (Side Note: My husband swears he’ll start the remodel “sometime” next year — after five years of living this way, all I can say is he better get on that task or I’ll lose it), we use the bathroom downstairs.
On my way down to the bathroom I slipped on something wet (freaking melted SNOW from my husband’s boots!) and fell down the stairs in the most pretzel-like position you can imagine — one leg in front of my body, the other underneath my rear end, arms flailing as I tried to grab the railing or the wall or the hand of God…
The pain was awful, and I seriously thought I had broken my leg. As I crab-crawled on the floor to the phone, I dialed my husband and screamed at him for not wiping up the floor before he left.
The “good news?” The doctor says my fall caused a minor tear in my lateral meniscus (outside ligament of the knee), and as long as I keep the knee iced and elevated I shouldn’t need surgery.
So I figure this little incident can work in my favor. My husband feels terribly guilty and I’ve decided to “let him” get the rest of our holiday preparations done. He can finish the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking and cleaning and then he can wait on me, hand and knee (ha ha), for the rest of this dreadful year.
————
This post is also part of a blog blast sponsored by the Parent Bloggers Network and Families for Depression Awareness. FFDA is a non-profit organization that offers support and assistance for folks who are feeling overwhelmed, both at the holidays and all year long. Their free support groups for moms, as well as a plethora of other helpful services, might just be the helping hand some folks need to get them through the holidays so that they can enjoy a completely healthy and happy new year.
For more information about this blog blast, visit PBN.
With the end of the year fast approaching, I’ve been thinking about 2008 and all the insanity, the utter chaos, that has rained upon me like a year-long thunderstorm.
There was the job loss in February, followed by me entering the last year of my twenties in March (and that freakin’ biological clock is still ticking – with no Baby #2 on the way any time soon, it seems), the summer flew by, fall was practically non-existent (but I believe the Election had me so distracted I missed the leaves changing) and now I’m muddling through the holiday season in a gloomy economy to boot.
So many changes have taken place in these past 11 months. I’m a nearly full time WAHM, I work for my friend part-time to earn some holiday cash (and catch up on those pesky bills), and I’m trying (unsuccessfully, I might add) to stay on top of my housework while raising a preschooler with more energy than a NFL runningback.
That’s almost enough to drive a normal person batty, but I forget to mention the fitness quest I embarked on this year. I’m still only down 21 pounds, but it’s a start and I’m proud of my accomplishment.
After all of this, I’m ready to welcome the New Year. Bring it on, I say! However, I don’t want a repeat of 2008, so maybe it’s time to make a plan for truly happy new year. And perhaps I need to learn to ask for help instead of becoming so overwhelmed all the time.
I’ve decided my life needs more organization. Too often I let things get out of control before I address the situation. Instead of maintaining the house, I wait to do it all in one day, leaving me exhausted and cranky. Or, I procrastinate and then make an extremely long to-do list that never gets completed. Next year will be different.
As crazy as this sounds, I’m making a chore chart, split up by category so that I can tackle only a few tasks each day instead of waiting until Saturday to do everything.
And I’ll keep my day planner handy to write down appointments and shopping lists to better coordinate my day.
I know there will be days when things do go according to plan, but at least the effort will have been made and life won’t be so hectic.
What are you doing to make your life less of a “circus” this next year?
This post is part of a blog blast sponsored by Parent Bloggers Network and Big Tent. BigTent is partnering with Compass Life and Business Designs CEO and founder, Kimberly Fulcher, to offer a special “Get your act together for 2009″ promo. For any group leaders who start a group on or move to BigTent by December 31, Compass will provide a free one month membership ($19 value) to Compass Coaching Network, and all new group leaders will be entered in a grand prize drawing for a “Life Makeover” private coaching series ($1500 value). Groups must be of at least ten members.
Dana began her Mom career in 2004 with the birth of her first son, Dawson, aka The Doodlebug, and little brother, Owen, was born in 2009. She spends her days putting out fires, climbing mountains and chasing monsters. More About Dana.
Contact: thedanafilesblog [at] gmail [dot] com RSS Feed
