Recently I wrote about homework hell... Did you miss that one? Read it here. 

Homework has been a challenge. And that's putting it nicely. But I think we may have figured out a solution. And it is shockingly simple and cheap.

SmallStu has been absent from school for a few days. The funk is making its way through town. She wasn't the only one absent. There were two other girls from her class who also missed the beginning of the week. 

So after school I was curious about the day. That's pretty standard. I try to get the kids tell me as much about their day as possible. Although I am interested in the academics, I am very interested in the social aspects. This is such a critical time (aren't they all?) in a young girl's social development and self-worth. Self esteem is a tricky thing. And I sometimes feel that the scale is unfairly tilted against girls. It seems way easier to be a guy. 

And I know in a post from the past I spoke about the "mean girls" at the new school. This isn't about that. We have worked through the bullying junk - I hope - at least for the current moment. SmallStu seems to have found a place where she fits in and is comfortable. I am so grateful for that.

So today after school we went through the usual line of questioning. Both monsters are pretty open about their days - most of the time. Today about an hour after we got home, SmallStu said "I have to tell you about something that happened at school." Essentially, this is how that conversation went:

Me- Ok, shoot. 

SS- There were these boys who were saying inappropriate things. (her exact word)

Me- Oh. Yeah??

SS- Yeah. Really not good. 

Me- What'd they say?

SS-  Well, they kept walking by me, XX & YY. And they were bugging us. Saying inappropriate stuff. You wouldn't have been happy. 

Me- Was it on the playground? Lunch room? 2nd grade boys?

SS- No. XX, YY were absent like I was. So we were in the hallway working on our stuff. These 4th grade boys walked back and forth a few times. I don't know where they were going. 

Me- Oh. What'd they say that was inappropriate? 

SS- I don't know if they knew YY or not, but they were talking about her family. They said something about her brother. And one said 'Yeah, I had sex with your mom this weekend.'

I was floored. Um, thanks loser forth grader.

I think I said "Loser." In response to her. I told her (once again) that boys are complete idiots. Then I thanked her for telling me. 

Anyone else have a similar experience? It'd be nice to know I am not alone. 

When my daughter came home from the beach with her uncle, she told me she would be asking Santa for a boogie board. I'm not sure that's what she will actually end up with, but it got me thinking. 

Not about Christmas exactly. I am still not through Halloween. And I am not the kind of person who begins prepping for Christmas in July. I try not to think about it until the dishes are clean from Thanksgiving. If I buy gifts too early, I forget that I have them. Then I end up buying for that person again in December anyway. This is not me being funny either... it has actually happened. I bought my sister a snow globe (inside joke) in the summer. And then I found it two years later when I moved out of that house. 

But it got me thinking about my wish list. There's not a long list of things I'd really like. My Christmas wish list is usually a gift card to Barnes and Noble or Target. I'm a huge fan of both stores. And I can do an insane amount of monetary damage in either. It's always nice to have a supply of gift cards to soften the blow. 

Sundays are always lovely. We start each one off at church. This morning, Stu was the song leader. I love it when he leads the singing.

Rea has been having some bummer moments lately. One of the consequences of this behavior is that she has to sit with us instead of her BFF. And she has no technology, even on the weekend. It was nice to have her sitting in our row. And she was a trooper. She took her consequence like a pro. =) 

There was a time in my life where Saturdays were relaxing. They were wide open. The only thing on the agenda was sleeping in, watching football and (let's be honest) telling myself I'm never drinking again.

I used to look forward to Saturday. With a sense of peaceful longing. Like if I can make it through this crappy day of teenagers being buttholes, I'll be rewarded with Saturday.

Well, that ship has long sailed away. It left my port nearly eight years ago.