A recent study from Oklahoma State University Health Sciences Center has found that a plethora of bacteria, germs and even mold are happily hanging out and growing in school band instruments. The results have led to a call to not only clean and polish the outside, but to sanitize and sterilize the insides.

Now here’s where I get a bit thrown. The lead researcher, Dr. R. Tom Glass, was apparently shocked with the findings that came after two years of research:

“(I was) terribly floored. I had no earthly idea,” he told FOX23 in Tulsa.

Seriously, how are you floored over these findings? I can still picture the trumpet players dumping out their spit valves. Grossed me out then, grosses me out now. Maybe I didn’t think about a family of bacteria camped out inside, but I don’t think it would take a rocket scientist to tell us that when kids put their mouths to any sort of instrument, there will be germs involved. And perhaps they should be cleaned from time to time.

But did we really need a two-year study to figure this out?? I’m just sayin.

-liz

“Is Colton still up? Why isn’t he in bed, yet?”

First, I’d like to point out that even on school nights, Colton is never in bed by 8:15. But I played along.

“He’s on spring break this week – burning the midnight oil.”

“Uh… you may want to  double check that.”

What did he meeeaaaan “double check that”?!?!?

It seemed my brother’s wife had been talking to a teacher at one of the district’s other schools, and the subject of spring break had come up.

“Spring break is next week,” he said.

How can that be? I’d planned for spring break to be this week for …. well… weeks, now. I had it in my smart phone calendar and everything. I’d wondered what we’d do all week, because Colton is a.) on crutches and b.) the weather forecast is calling for unseasonably cold temperatures. I’d planned to take him to see Rango today, and the first showing of Hop on Friday.

I’d looked forward to sleeping in. I’d looked forward to no homework, except for reading. I’d looked forward to a well-deserved break from what has been a really tough school year, quite frankly. And a change in spring break plans wasn’t going over well for me. I imagined how well it would go over for Colton.

Phase 2 found me calling Summer. Not that I don’t trust my brother or anything ( ). But this had all the makings of an April Fool’s Day joke coming a few days early. Except that Summer confirmed everything my brother had said: Spring break was still another week away.

This whole fiasco has me wondering what else I’ve mis-scheduled. And whether or not we could actually pull off an extra week of spring break…

-Liz

But there will likely be a few new resolutions made and a few high hopes launched. We’ll swear bedtime will be a smoother process and everyone will hop out of bed with a smile on their face as soon as the alarm goes off.

Promises of a set schedule for homework, complete with a great snack, every supply that the kids could possibly need will dance in parents’ heads. The kids will respond with glee: “Mom! This is fantastic! I love doing homework, this year. Heck, I love school! And did you make these chocolate chip cookies from scratch?!”

Then there are the permission slips. We’ll pledge to sign them as soon as we see them, so we can be the first parent to return them. We’ll even be sure to include the trip fee, too, which won’t be a problem either, because we’ll keep a supply of one dollar bills in a special envelope marked “school trip money.”

I’m even going to tell myself that the annual fall festival will be different this year – that somehow, wading through school halls while elbow to elbow with 600 other parents, children and teachers will be f-u-n. (OK, clearly I’m stretching things, here…)

And perhaps most importantly, the family planning calendar on the refrigerator will actually be put to use – as in written on – filled with each and every daily activity for each and every family member.

But I’ll worry about that later. We’ve still got two days of summer vacation to go.

-Liz

First came the question of why my kids had 67 days of summer break, while Phineas and Ferb have 104. And they asked the question as if I knew the answer, when my head is jello after a two-month break from school. I say, what’s wrong with the year-round system. (Of course I say that primarily to get their reaction: “Mohhummmm!”)

Let’s start with Hannah. Oh, the excitement of her freshman year in college. A new backpack, a syllabus for every class, typically requiring the purchase of textbooks and a notebook or two, and countless hours of campus bookstore browsing and buying. Which will no doubt include stickie notes, pens, pencils, cups, a sweatshirt or two and some file folders, all with that cute little college mascot and the school’s logo. She’s on her own.

Contrast that with the young boy entering third grade – although I’m willing to bet my young boy isn’t as thrilled with his school supply list as his sister. (Just a hunch.)

Here’s the list:

• Backpack
• School Box, regular size – no large boxes with handles
• Pointed scissors (Fiskars work well)
• Clipboard (with a flat hinge)
• Box of Crayons (24 minimum)
• Box of Colored Pencils
• Box of Magic Markers (washable)
• 1 Composition Writing notebook
• 2 pkgs Wide-rule loose leaf notebook paper
• 2 plain pocket folders with prongs (1 blue, 1 yellow)
• 2 large pink erasers
• 6 glue sticks
• 1 bottle Elmer’s glue
• 40 #2 pencils (Ticonderoga work best: cheap pencils do not sharpen successfully and we throw many away because students can’t use them. Mechanical pencils are not allowed.)
• 2 red ball point  pens (note from Liz: this is a TOTAL shocker, considering the views of some educators)
• 3 highlighters (different colors)
• 2 large boxes of tissues (those with lotion or aloe are best)
• 1 large bottle hand sanitizer
• 1 large container of disinfectant wipes (store brand is okay)
• 1 box ziplock baggies (girls – gallon, boys – quart
• 1 paint pen, any color
• 1 2-inch, 3-ring binder

Then there’s the note about buying extras to keep at home. Several things come to mind as I peruse the list. First, if they’re that picky about what the students should bring, maybe we should all just send money, so they get the “right” pencils, the “right size” sanitizer and the “proper” clipboard (what in the world is a flat-hinged clipboard?!?).

And to think I whined about last year’s list. What was I thinking?? It’s not that my child won’t hit the first day of school without these things. In fact, I always try to buy extras of this and that when possible. Why? Because as the new school year approaches, so do the commercials that remind us that an astronomical percentage of the county’s students can’t even afford a pad of paper. Which makes this mile-long school supply list even more perplexing.  Does our list reflect some big study that shows every single student at the school is capable of affording all of these specifics? I think not. And I speak from experience, because my mother takes backpacks full of food to the school, which go home with the most destitute children in the school to provide them with food for the weekend. Somehow I doubt these children’s parents will be able to fulfill this school supply list if they can’t even put food on the table.

So I ask you: Is it really a big deal if the first seven stores are out of lotion-laden or aloe-based tissues? Can we just go with a regular old box of tissues? And if we do, will we receive a nasty note, stating that, because of us, little Johnnie’s nose got irritated? If the glue isn’t Elmer’s glue, does that mandate a failing grade in grade-three Art Class? Are unwashable markers a demerit? Does the blue folder need to be light blue, navy blue or medium blue?

Is there something about Ticonderoga pencils that promotes better learning than Papermate pencils?

Silly me. I’ve always believed that what they learn trumps anything in their backpacks. Even if they don’t own a Ticonderoga pencil.
-Liz

It sounded simple enough, until I read the phrases:

Works well without instruction. Needs supervision to finish assignments. Flourishes in structured class. Works independently. Adapts to Change. Doesn’t like change. Prefers a more flexible environment.

You get the point. I, however, didn’t. Enter my problems with this “questionnaire.”

First, I do not observe my child in the classroom. I am not a teacher for a multitude of very good reasons. I know how he is at home – one on one. Based on that, I would have checked every box – because each box could apply on any given day.

It’s just like the weather in Kentucky. If you don’t like it, wait a day. It will change.

Which brings us to my other issue with this survey of sorts. They are essentially asking me to label my child. To stick him in a specific mold within which he can be squished and manipulated as need be.

By checking desires flexibility and needs structure, for example, he could be labeled unruly or hyper. Next step? ADHD.

By checking works well independently, he could be labeled a shy, backward introvert. Next step? Psychological evaluation.

Think back to your school days. There was always a bully, there were kids who struggled with reading and excelled in math, others who claimed the title of class clown or nerd. Kids label themselves without any help from their educators. And unfortunately, those labels tend to stick, whether or not they are accurate.

Each child learns and acts/reacts differently than the next. Because no two children are alike. That’s the beauty of the individual. Sure, teachers have various ways of teaching, according to the learning patterns of students, just as parents interact differently with each of their children. There is no “set way” that can be applied to every child, all the time.

Unless of course you slap a label on them. Stick them in the ol’ mold and decide for them what they are to become. Which makes me wonder who all this labeling really benefits. How easy I suppose it would be to label and mold kids into a certain group. Because kids are quite adaptable.

They wouldn’t notice the loss of individuality – at least not right away. Maybe they wouldn’t notice until they reached adulthood. But one day, they’d notice.

Labeling, classifying our kids seems very dangerous. When they find themselves within a certain group, they begin to believe they truly are members of the group – and that their abilities or opportunities are limited to those of the group.

I guess it should come as no surprise that I checked every box. Because each one applies at one time or another. And I am not about to label him as being one way or another. I’m more than content with letting him just be Colton.

Liz

*As always, just leave a comment on this post, or any other post for that matter, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

I find it’s usually something as simple as that, that can set an entire day’s tone if I’m not careful.

This morning held true to form. What began with a forgotten word search (crumbled up in the bottom of the backpack, mind you) continued with the realization that I’d forgotten to put the load of jeans in the dryer the night before.

After a mad dash through the house to locate a “spare pair,” I hit ‘em with some fabric freshener and tossed ‘em in the dryer for good measure, made breakfast and got dressed.

While Colton got dressed, continued his word search and ate his cream of wheat, I headed out to start the car.

With one minute to go, we crammed the word search back into the backpack, headed out the door and loaded into the car.

“Wow, Mother. Can you even see?”

I’d turned on the car’s heater, but forgotten to push the defrost button. Luckily, the windshield was peppered with frost flakes (not to be confused with Tony the Tiger and his Frosted Flakes), so I was able to navigate well enough to see the road. (Don’t try this at home, readers…)

Thankfully, the school is less than half a mile away. Unfortunately, the line was backed up a block or so and none of the cars were moving. I suspected that everyone else was having “one of those days” as well. Almost 10 minutes later, we made it to the drop off lane (although we never quite figured out why the line was moving so slowly).

“Bye, Mother – love you, see you this afternoon!”

“Bye – love you, see you this afternoon – have a great day!”

As I drove off the school property, I noticed that my windshield had finally thawed out. The sun was coming up without a cloud in the sky.

It was just one of those days. And I didn’t mind it a bit.

-Liz

So until then, here’s a favorite post from Liz’s Rants from way back in the old days before our website was actually a website to keep you entertained. – Kate

Liz’s Rants…I hate homework

Remember when you were in first grade? Those were good times – at least for me. Hard work meant choosing between the lilac or hot pink crayon.

My, how things change. Flash forward to 2009 and my son Colton’s first grade class.

The assignment was straightforward, stapled to a massive 11-by-17 sheet of paper, folded in half. In honor of Dr. Seuss, each child was asked to pick their favorite author, draw a picture of him or her and write a brief biography on the inside pages. The front “cover” was to be a drawing of one of the author’s books. The back “cover” was for a summary of the book. I’d be willing to bet Colton doesn’t even know what a book summary is – let alone how to write one. On the due date, each child would present their report for the class.

The easiest part was picking the author. Dr. Seuss was a shoe-in. The book of choice was a classic – Go, Dog, Go.

Now in the minds of seven-year-old boys, I’d venture a guess that having to write not one, but two pages of words is the equivalent of having to sit with the girls in the lunchroom. It’s a prison sentence. Hands down.

We began the battle that was this assignment with the book summary. Colton wrote while I searched for a picture of Dr. Seuss that he could use for reference. Thirty minutes later, he had filled the back page with highlights from the book, such as “The yellow dog pulled the blue dog and the red dog was walking in and out and they didn’t like her hat.” Not bad, but not a book summary – which is when it hit me: was there really a point to this classic children’s book?

I mean, seriously. What did it mean? A bunch of dogs going and running and sleeping and playing, some are up, some are down, and no one likes the girl’s hat – until the very end, when they all drive to the tree and have a big party. Did they have alcoholic beverages up in that tree? Is that why the girl dog’s hat suddenly becomes vogue?

By now, Colton was in tears with the realization that many of his words, so painstakingly written over all that time were about to vanish into the head of an eraser.

I assured him as best I could that we’d find some way to fix the summary, and encouraged him to turn his attention to the biography. He’d written three sentences on Dr. Seuss, when, for some unexplained reason, I realized something I wished I hadn’t: Dr. Seuss didn’t write Go, Dog, Go. P.D. Eastman did.

This is where I admit that it would have been really easy to pass off Dr. Seuss as the author – moreover, the thought not only crossed my mind, I actually debated it over the course of three or four seconds, if for no other reason than to put an end to Colton’s meltdown that was at full throttle.

I stood in the kitchen coming up with plan B, listening to Colton cry about having to erase everything on the author page and wondered if his tears were falling on the pages. “Here’s your tear-stained report,” I wanted to say to his teacher. “Yes, I know the pages are blank, but if you’ll look closely, you’ll see all those words that were erased. I hope you’re happy.”

Instead, I went to my office to see what I could learn about Mr. Eastman, hoping I’d be able to find a picture of him, too. Turns out, Mr. Eastman was often confused as being Dr. Seuss (see? I probably coulda pulled it off…). His biography was going to be dramatically shorter. Besides being one of the Dr. Seuss book writers, he also worked for Walt Disney. That was about the size of it.

Anywho, but by the grace of God, the report was finished by 6:30. He’d trudged through even after having to re-write the biography and re-work the book summary. He’d done a great job.After dinner, Colton practiced giving his report. “…P.D. Eastman also worked for Mickey Mouse,” Colton said.

Stranger things have been said, I thought. So I just smiled.

~Liz

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

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