Family ramblings

Thought I'd do a little update on me and mine. Since I know you don't ALWAYS want to read my rantings! hehe.

Let's see. It's been a busy couple of weeks or so. Hailey is doing well in Cross Country aside from a horrid respiratory infection knocking her on her butt this week. Thankfully her meet on Thursday got rained out anyway.

The 20th was Jack's 5th birthday. FIVE!! Can you believe it? Seems like yesterday he was an infant! They DO grow up so fast don't they?

Here are a couple photos from his birthday

Didn't do TOO bad on the cake if I do say so myself!

Jack and his buddies Carter and Daniel. It's kind of interesting. The first week of school Jack came home and said he made a new "best buddy" and his name was Daniel. Turns out, it's the son of one of Craig's best friends from 'back in the day'! He invited Daniel and Carter to his party and it turns out Carter's mom is someone Craig and Dan and I went to high school with too! So it was like a high school reunion in my living room this morning.

The 27th was our 10th Anniversary. Feels nice to prove the nay sayers wrong who swore we wouldn't last....

My brother and sister in law are due to be having thier baby like any minute now. So We've been all kind of on the edge of our seats for that.

And the newest picture of Nate...... isn't he just freaking delicious?

I will be adding to my hectic schedule by teaching a natural childbirth class through the hospital. I can't WAIT for that it'll be a ton of fun. Let's see... what else has been going on..... A lot of the same old stuff. Kids' activities and what-not around every turn. We are already starting field trips and all that fun stuff! I can't believe it's gonna be Halloween in a few weeks!

Are YOU poisoning your children?

Approximately half of the United States' drinking water supply is fluoridated in an attempt to reduce dental cavities in children. Thankfully the town I live in does not (as of now anyway, hopefully they keep thier senses) artificially fluoridate our drinking water. My children do not take fluoride rinses at school or receive fluoride treatments at the dentist office. In the past 4 years, since I have begun actively limiting the fluoride my children receive thier teeth have actually IMPROVED and none of them have had a cavity, without any other change in their dental routine.


Most Americans are unaware of the dangers of ingesting fluoride. Most dentists, physicians and scientists are even unaware of the dangers of fluoride. How many of us have actually taken the time to read up on it, just once?




Facts About Fluoride

~ Fluoride is NOT FDA APPROVED


~ According to Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, fluoride rated #2 on the toxicity scale, right under arsenic and above lead.


~ In the March 22, 1990 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Mayo Clinic reported that fluoride increased hip fracture rate and bone fragility.


~A study by Procter and Gamble showed that as little as half the amount of fluoride used to fluoridate public water supplies resulted in a sizable and significant increase in genetic damage.



~Epidemiology research in the mid-1970's by the late Dr. Dean Burk, head of the cytochemistry division of the National Cancer Institute, indicated that 10,000 or more fluoridation-linked cancer deaths occur yearly in the United States.



~In 1989, the ability of fluoride to transform normal cells into cancer cells was confirmed by Argonne National Laboratories.



~ Since 1991, the New Jersey Department of Health found that the incidence of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, was far higher in young men exposed to fluoridated water than in those who were not.


~In addition to the well documented toxic effects of fluoride, fluoride even at dosages of 1 part per million, found in artificially fluoridated water, can inhibit enzyme systems, damage the immune system, contribute to calcification of soft tissues, worsen arthritis and, cause dental fluorosis in children.

"The American Medical Association is NOT prepared to state that no harm will be done to any person by water fluoridation. The AMA has not carried out any research work, either long-term or short-term, regarding the possibility of any side effects." - Dr. Flanagan, Assistant Director of Environmental Health, American Medical Association.

"I am appalled at the prospect of using water as a vehicle for drugs. Fluoride is a corrosive poison that will produce serious effects on a long range basis. Any attempt to use water this way is deplorable." - Dr. Charles Gordon Heyd, Past President of the American Medical Association.

The fluoride used for water fluoridation does not have FDA approval and is considered by the FDA as an "unapproved drug".

And it's not just in the water or supplements. Did you know that if you have wheaties with milk, and a can of coke for breakfast you have injested 233% MORE fluoride than the standard 1ppm daily recommended dose? There's no getting away from it I'm afraid, it's in everything you eat and drink. The water sprayed on the crops contains fluoride, so does the fertilizer. The LEAST we can do is NOT put it in our bodies above and beyond what we are forced to take in already.

But it saves our kids' teeth you say? WRONG



~In the largest U.S. study of fluoridation and tooth decay, United States Public Health Service dental records of over 39,000 school children, ages 5-17, from 84 areas around the United States showed that the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth per child was virtually the same in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas.



Dr. John Colquhoun, former Chief Dental Officer of the Department of Health for Auckland, New Zealand, investigated tooth decay statistics from about 60,000 12 to 13 year old children and showed that fluoridation had no significant effect on tooth decay rate.



But it's NATURALLY in the water you say? So if it's a "natural" substance it can't be bad for you!

WRONG. Fluoride is an environmental pollutant. It is a waste product of aluminum and fertilizer production.


Prior to 1945, fluoride was responsible for many lawsuits against these industries. This fluoride destroyed crops and animals, leading to the lawsuits. The limited public view was that fluoride was an environmental pollutant that needed to be eliminated from the environment.


As a result of clever public relations campaigns, fluoride was magically transformed from an environmental pollutant to an "essential nutrient necessary for producing healthy teeth." The science was poor, but the P.R. campaign was great. It became an American staple and Industries not only made millions from selling this environmental pollutant to water companies and toothpaste companies, but more importantly, it saved billions of dollars that would be required to clean up this environmental pollutant.


So, what can you do to protect yourself from fluoride?

First, avoid fluoridated water. Boiling water removes chlorine, but concentrates fluoride. Water filters do not remove fluoride, unless there is a reverse osmosis component. Children should avoid fluoridated vitamins and fluoride treatments at the dentist. Everyone should avoid fluoridated toothpaste. Work on your legislators to get fluoride out of the water supplies. Buy a reverse osmosis system for filtering your drinking water. Do not allow your children to take fluoride supplements at home or at school.

The next time you go to the dentist, copy and paste the below form and ask your dentist to sign it before you accept the prescription for fluoride or have it put on your teeth in the little tray.

Please link others to this post and spread the word about the dangers of fluoride use!!!!

_____________________________________________________________

Affidavit

In my professional opinion as a currently licensed and practicing dentist in the state of ______________ the ingestion of supplements of hydrofluosilicic acid is safe, approved by the Food and Drug administration for ingestion and the American Medical Association for internal ingestion and I have disclosed all side effects to my patient.


As a licensed dentist, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of ___________ I hereby certify that the above statement is true and correct.


__________________ print name and title clearly

__________________ Signature of licensed dentist

__________________ Date

__________________ State of licensure

Toby Keith- Love me if you can

I must start off by saying that I don't like Toby Keith. I think he's good for banking on whatever the cash cow of the moment. His album "shock'n y'all" proved that. Making a buck off commercial patriotism. Didn't hear a damn thing 'bout the red white and blue until it was worth a buck.

He's been called "the voice of our generation".......... PUKE! If THAT'S the voice of our generation....... where do I take my name off the list? His music use to be decent, now it's pure bravado, sexism, and machoism, he's also a childish hypocrit .......aside from that, his new single totally has me hooked. I *gulp* actually feel it describes ME in a sense. Here's the chorus to that song.


"Love Me If You Can"

I'm a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I'm goin'
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can

Aside from the fact that I am not a man, I think it's pretty spot on. I'm not sure sometimes what I have more of, enemies or allies. But that's ok because as Eugene Debs said:

"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right."

A couple more quotes for today

It is time to get back to basics, time to go back to nature and ourselves. ~ Darina Stoyanova ~

And one the funniest comedians ever (whom I don't agree with on everything either)...... George Carlin

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity"

"People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think"

"The next time they give you all that civic bullshit about voting, keep in mind that Hitler was elected in a full, free democratic election"

"The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept"

And just for shits and giggles...... some lovely quotes from our Commander in Chief



"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

“See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.”

I want each and every American to know for certain that I'm responsible for the decisions I make, and each of you are as well.

I've been talking to Vicente Fox, the new president of Mexico... I know him... to have gas and oil sent to U.S.... so we'll not depend on foreign oil.

They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

There ought to be limits to freedom.

Once again, America doesn't get it.

As promised, my views on the welfare system.

As a general rule, we are taught to look down on welfare recipeints. Why can't they get a job? Why can't these people just figure it out?

You might be surprised at how many people you know secretly get food stamps, childcare help, travel vouchers, Medical assistance of some type, even WIC could be considered welfare assistance. But why are SO many Americans in need of this type of assistance? And why do some people buck the system and take "more than their fair share"?

Once again, we are failing our own. It seems to generally go like this.....

We grow up dreaming of the job we will have. We spend thousands of dollars in college only to find that our "dream job" doesn't pay us enough to survive.

Did you know the average price of a home in this country is somewhere around $230,000? Ok, at roughly a 7% intrest rate you are paying a mortgage of roughly $640 per month. Let's figure your monthly living expenses from there, assuming you have 2 children, (slightly less than the national average)

Mortgage $640.00
Insurance $35.00
Taxes $125.00
Car payment $600.00 (2 vehicle family, you drive economy cars, used)
Car insurance $70.00 (assuming you have a good driving record)
Food $900 a month (your baby drinks formula btw)
Toiletries, cleaning, diapers etc $150.00
Heating/cooling/electricity $250.00 (again, low)
Gas $100.00 (we are saying you have a short commute)
Daycare $800.00 (national average is $7000/year/child in the US. I assumed you found a nice old granny instead)
Clothing $100.00
Healthcare insurance premiums/copays $600 (based on national averages)
Other household utilities $150
Student loan repayment $500
Credit card payment $200 (national average)


Now, notice I did not include luxury items like cable, internet, or even telephone. No dance lessons, trips to the movies, No Christmas, birthday presents. nothing. You are scraping by here, your kids have nothing to play with but sticks and rocks. You do not have a penny going into savings and do not give charitable donations. You do not drive anywhere but work. This simply covers the VERY BASIC necessities in this day and age in this country. I am also assuming here that you have health, dental, vision, prescription coverage, 1 in 6 americans do not.

Ok, so total up just those necessities and you get $62,440 per year in basic living expenses. Figuring that you both work 40 hours per week and deduct the average 17% of your income in taxes, social security, etc you EACH must earn over $19/hr just to afford LIVE. You need to bring in approximately $73,000 a year just to pay your bills.

Now, why are so many people on welfare? The "average" hourly pay last year for US workers was $15.04 per hour. On an average American income you can barely afford basic necessities when BOTH parents work!

So, given those numbers....... and I really did try to base everything on statistical reports. When I couldn't find one I guessed low..... Given those numbers, even a lot of above average paid workers in this country need some form of assistance just to get by.

The US census bureau for 2006 released these figures, defining the "classes" of income.

$97,032 & above - Upper income
$60,000 - $97,032 - Upper middle income
$37,774 - $60,000 - Middle income
$20,035 - $37,774 - Lower middle income
below $20,035 - Lower income

Given those figures. Even the upper middle class will struggle financially without some form of assistance. Where does YOUR income fit in?

Now. Consider that the average income limit for assistance (not includeing WIC) is net $1667 per month, which means in order to qualify for food stamps you would need to each make less than minimum wage for a family of 4. $5.21/her each, or $10.42 together. If the "average" family needs to make over $19/hr to pay the bills, and you need to make $5.21/hr to qualify for assistance that leaves a LOT of people out, getting no help at all. Even people making minimum wage won't qualify!!!!

So, before you dog on someone getting assistance......... think about just how bad off that person has to be just to qualify for that assistance.

Given this information it's no wonder at all that American women are being forced to run back to work before their babies cord stump is even dry. The United states does not have a provision for paid maternity leave so we get 6 weeks unpaid on average. Let's take a look at other countries for a moment and how they help keep mothers and babies together for that critical bonding time. Percentages are of the mothers working income. This is paid BY THE GOVERNMENT and does not include provisions in place by the mothers own employer.

Austria
16 weeks
100%

Belgium
15 weeks
82% for 30 days, then 75%

France
16-26 weeks
100%

Germany
14 weeks
100%

Italy
5 months
80%

Switzerland
8 weeks
100%


Japan
14 weeks
60%

Russia
140 days
100%

Singapore
8 weeks
100%

Israel
12 weeks
75%

Ireland
14 weeks
70% or fixed rate

Sweden
15 mnths (either parent)
75% for 12 mnths, then flat rate

Canada
17-18 weeks
55% for 15 weeks

Also note that many countries give new parents a one time cash benefit of $3,000-$8,000 upon the birth of a child. This is NOT considered a welfare hand out, but a basic right to citizens.

A point that must be made is the United States' blind stab at something similar in the per child tax credit and Earned Income tax credits (currently being phased out) which give lower income families deductions on income taxes for children. This is NOT always a refund, and only applies to people in the low to low-middle tax brackets, which we've already learned is well below what should be considered poverish.

Is it a wonder the population of the United States is on the decline? Is it a wonder we have so many homeless, starving people in this country. Is it a wonder that our welfare rolls are busting at the seams? And is it any wonder that babies are spending more time in daycare than with thier parents?

Again, WE, as a country are FAILING OUR CHILDREN!

living without Alex 9-16-07

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2007 02:15 PM, CDT

this post moved from Alex's original blog


Why do some kids get thier miracles and some don't? I don't know that I will ever understand that. I find myself envious of people who get it. It's very strange to read the story of a kid who made it back from deaths door and have this strangely sad feeling. Most people read stories like that and feel better about life, I do not.

I've been trying to get myself back in my "happy place". I tried to find a counselor to talk to and none are taking new patients that my insurance covers...... it figures.

Many people don't really know this about me but I've had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since childhood. (I know, if you've seen my disaster of a house you are really surprised huh?) And it's really flared up again. I almost don't even notice it until I'll be instinctively making all the vents in the car perfectly straight or something and Craig will just mess them all up and tell me it's OK if they don't all face perfectly forward...... no it's not! hehe We joke about it a lot because it's really just stupid things like that, but it's just the overwhelming need to have certain things perfect. Hard to explain.

It's not just silly things either, the obsessive thoughts are what is debilitating. The "death monster" that I spoke of before. It's like if I don't do the "rituals" then something bad is going to happen. You'd think people with OCD would live in immaculately clean surroundings. That's not really true. The silly rituals get in the way of things and some days you can spend hours just making sure every sock in the drawer is folded the right way, that the other stuff doesn't get done. So while my house may be a rat trap, there is something that is perfect....... dumb eh?

Anyway. I'm working on it. I go back and forth with it getting bad and then it becoming nearly nonexistant. Now that i've realized that's what this is I just have to recognize it and deal with it and get it to regress again.

But for now, don't mess with my vents! hehe

Well, that was fun

Just a quick note on the previous post. I have to clarify again that when I say that WE are failing our children I do NOT mean that if you coudln't breastfeed, or even if you could and didn't succeed that you are a failure. YOU didn't fail.......... your fellow women, your "village" did.

We need to educate our fellow women, support them, help them succeed. We need to find better ways of getting breastmilk to babies when they cannot get it from their own mothers. We need to stop always looking for the easy way to fix a problem and start fixing it the right way.

Check back in a few days for my sure to be a problem post about welfare! And don't assume you know what my opinion will be on it, I'll bet you'll be wrong!

Anyway, moving on.

I have so many things to do today so here I am sitting at the computer. We found a free garage sale yesterday and I got the kids a lot of new clothes. So my laundry room has once again vomited into my kitchen. We haven't gotten the plug put in for the 220 downstairs so we can run the second dryer, really need to do that!

My house is a sty lately. A 14 room house is NOT easy to keep clean while caring for 6 little mess makers. Nate is a totally cling-on lately and must be held by me at all times. If I so much as walk to the other side of the room he's crying. Poor daddy is feeling a bit like chopped liver. Now he knows how I feel when Shay, as a baby chose him as her favorite! On one hand it's really neat to know that he trusts and loves me that much, on the other I really wish I could use the bathroom in peace at least once a day!

We have to get rid of our cats. Craig's allergies aside, they are driving me crazy. They now have decided that they love Nate's pacifiers. And steal them out of the bed in the middle of the night to take off and chew on them! It's getting a bit expensive! At first they'd steal em out of his bed, well then he decided he'd rather sleep with us anyway and now they come up in OUR bed and steal it. I've had enough! So, if anyone wants a kitty........ I will hook you right up!

For those of you who've been posting in the guestbook at our 9 year olds website, he loves it! Keep it going. If you would like to keep up with him and what's going on right now with his health please email me at kat_76_99@yahoo.com and I'll give you the url. I'm not going to post it here after what happened with our other son's site. As long as that person still has access to this blog, I can't be in full confidence here unfortunately.

Oh, try something fun (ie: scary) once. Google your name, your kids' names. See what you come up with, it's scary. www.google.com

If you are easily offended....

Please keep reading.



I just finished that book I mentioned a few posts ago. Milk, Money, Madness by Naomi Baumslag. I haven't been able to get the following photo out of my head in days....



Photo courtesy of Unicef, Children's Hospital... Pakistan

















"This picture tells two stories: most obviously, about the often fatal consequences of bottle-feeding; more profoundly, about the age-old bias in favour of the male. The child with the bottle is a girl - she died the next day. Her twin brother was breastfed. This woman was told by her mother-in-law that she didn't have enough milk for both her children, and so should breastfeed the boy. But almost certainly she could have fed both children herself, because the process of suckling induces the production of milk. However, even if she found that she could not produce sufficient milk - unlikely as that would be - a much better alternative to bottle-feeding would have been to find a wet-nurse. Ironically, this role has sometimes been taken by the grandmother. In most cultures, before the advent of bottle-feeding, wet-nursing was a common practice.
"Use my picture if it will help", said the mother. "I don't want other people to make the same mistake."- Source: Unicef


Think about that for a moment. Just THINK about it. I know, you are thinking "Ok, in 3rd world countries yes..... not breastfeeding probably is this dangerous" Right? Well chew on this.... for every 1,000 births in DEVELOPED countries, there are 77 hospital admissions for formula fed babies in the first 4 months of life, while only five breastfed infants will be admitted to the hospital in that same timeframe. In the united states, 75 million dollars per year is spent for pediatric visits alone for diarreah, 70% of which is caused from Rotavirus, a bacteria in which breastfeeding has a known preventative effect.


Did you know that "low supply" essentially did NOT EXIST before formula was invented? It took very little work unfortunately to convince worried new mothers that thier bodies would fail.


I know, I know......... pediatricians say............ ask your pediatrician just once how much money he/she gets from formula companies in kick backs. I'm sure they will tell you none..... that will likely be a lie. Even your hospital, the one than hands out the diaper bags? Formula companies agreed to be in compliance with the WHO code, in an effort to stop being sued all the time. The WHO code states that they cannot give formula samples. Do they blatenly ignore this? Yes. More frightening is that they've found wonderful loopholes. They pay hospitals a set amount each year, the hospital in turn uses that money to purchase formula sample diaper bags from the formula companies.....end result? The hospital is distributing the samples, not the formula company.


I won't go on and on, lets just say that even I was blown away reading this book. And contrary to what you would think it isn't written in a dogmatic way, the facts themselves speak volumes.

And something we rarely stop to think about. Do you know how many formula recalls have occured in the last 10 years? Not to say the factories that produce it are unclean, but anything produced by human hands or machines risks being contaminated...... even infant formula. Not to mention that powdered formula is the most widely sild form of formula to the poor....... in many countries those people don't even have access to clean water to mix with it!


Why is cow's milk used as a base for infant formulas even though many other animals milks are a much better match to human milk? Money. Cow's milk is cheap. And with the BGH hormone now being given to cows (which has a known carcinogenic effect) it's even cheaper.

The chief executive of Enfamil takes home over 12 million dollars per year.....


I learned a lot from this book. I learned that my son will never, if I can help it, have formula.... ever. I am proud that he has been given the best start in life, every baby deserves to be breastfed........I've said it once and i'll say it again... WE, as a society ARE FAILING OUR CHILDREN. We need to step it up people. Do right by your own kids and help others to do the same. It takes a village to raise a child.

Bring on the hatemail! Again!

I've decided that I'm finally ready to write the book I have been planning for a while. It will tenatively be called "Broken dreams" and will focus on having and losing an ill child and grieving. There is no grief like that of a bereaved parent and people don't understand and don't know how to respond to us. I am collaborating with other bereaved parents and will be sharing the stories of their children in the book. So far it's coming pretty easily, I'm surprised.

C1 has an interview for a new job on Tuesday. We'll see how that goes.

We are having some health issues with one of our boys. It's been stressfull.

living without Alex 9-4-07

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 04, 2007 08:24 AM, CDT

This post was moved from Alex's original blog


In a wierd way, i've spent the past almost 18 months in a sort of denial. To ask me I would have vehemently swore that I was not in denial, I was coping the best way I could. But I was/am.

I don't think i've ever taken the time to totally process. When Alex was born and got sick, those weeks were such a constant roller coaster. There was never any downtime to think. I never had the chance to really say "Ok, my child was born gravely ill, this is our reality"

After he died, we threw ourselves into things, we got pregnant with Nathan, again, never taking the time to process. To really accept that our child died.

Now that things are leveling out. I find myself realizing that my child was born, he was critically ill, and he died. HE DIED! I read stories of other kids who have died and I feel such a deep sympathy for thier families, it's like I don't realize sometimes that I am one of them.

I remember the Monday before Alex died, the day when the inate "knowing" took over and without being told, I knew he was going to die. I remember making the kids lunch and crying that whole day. Hailey asked what was wrong and I just blurted out "I think Alex is going to die"..... I felt SO bad about saying that, watching the tears well up in her eyes. Yes he had taken a turn for the worse but there had never been a time when anyone said to me "you know, Alex probably isn't going to pull through". I started to question myself. Why would I say that to her?! A child!

That afternoon at the hospital I talked to the child-family life specialist and I didn't tell him that I had told Hailey that, but he said something to me that made a ton of sense. He told me that the worst thing I could do is hide from my kids. They KNOW when something is going on without being told and if you don't say anything, they get scared and upset. If you say it, then at least they know what's going on. You see, kids have a great way of making other people's problems about them. Not that they are selfish, they just always think that if an adult is upset it's somehow thier fault. So by saying what I said, Hailey knew that I was upset about Alex, and it wasn't her fault.

This grieving process. It's hard to get a handle on. There is no right or wrong way to do it and that makes it extremely difficult to know if the things I do, my coping mechanisms, are they normal or abnormal? Am I grieving in a "healthy" way, or not?

I suppose I'm greiving in my way. And that makes it the right way. I just wish someone would come along and tell me how I can put this behind me....how I can understand.

He's been on my mind a lot more than usual lately. It struck me odd the other day when I saw a kid who had a feeding tube and the mom was tending to his needs. I got sad and thought how I wish I had the opportunity. Who WISHES for a sick child? It's so strange, like I was robbed of being mom to an Alex who would have been normal and healthy, but then I was robbed of an Alex who was sick and needed such indepth care. I had prepared myself for spending the rest of my life tending to his needs with medications, doctor visits, surgeries, procedures. And I'm grieving THAT too. I guess anything you prepare for and dont' get is a loss.....

School is back in session baby!

Ok, almost. Tomorrow my 2 oldest start school, and Wednesday thier 3 younger siblings. Stupid you say? Why have kids in the same district start school on different days? That's asinine? Yes.

For the past 2 years the hateful evil wench we call a principal and her sidekick nasty demon spawn administrator have made it so that the elementary school starts a day behind the middle and high schools. Instead of going to school the first day, these children AND thier parents (who's jobs apparently mean nothing) must be at the school at a time designated by the principal to meet teachers, listen to the same lecture over and over, fill out paperwork that must have stripped a good sized forest, pay fees, pad lunch accounts, donate to the PTO..... THEN you walk down a hall where the area dentist, doctor, construction company, whatever hands your child advertisement pencils and bookmarks and whatever else. This all takes no less than 2 hours.......... if you have one child. I, this year again, will have THREE in that school. It will be a full day.

So. All the crap is bought. initials marked on every pencil, eraser, ruler, and backpack (yes, every pencil......... it's required). All the school clothes hung neatly for the first day. Everything in order......

Until......... the night-before-the-first-day-ever-of-middle-school-and-if-i-don't-have-everything-perfect-i'll-just-DIE drama queen comes home from her day at the MN state fair with Grandma. A 30 minute tirade/try to get mom to convince someone to open the mall tonight so that I can get THE perfect outfit ends with everything she owns on her bedroom floor.

Guess who refused to try on any of her clothes in the store? Guess who was too busy with her social obligations to try any of her school clothes on EVER? Guess who is wearing a boys belt tomorrow to keep her pants up? HAHAHAHAHA sorry chicka.... you will live through it.

Boys are so easy in comparison. Austin doesn't really care if he wears holey sweatpants to school let alone THE perfect pair of jeans from Abercrombie. (yes, this is the same child that last week talked of wanting to donate all her money to charity.... funny)

That's ok............ wait til her dad sees the shirt she thinks she's getting out of the house in tomorrow.............. i'll update with round 2 of the "school clothes war" tomorrow