Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

This conversation actually happened. In the carpool line. Today.

Me: Landon, today you have tumbling class.

Landon: No, Mrs.Slusher said we have tumbling class tomorrow.

Me: Did she tell you that yesterday?

Landon: The last time we were at school she said, "Tomorrow you have tumbling class."

Me: That was yesterday. So that means you have tumbling class today.

Landon: So 'tomorrow' means 'today'?

Me: No, tomorrow means the next day after today. Yesterday she said you had tumbling class tomorrow. So now that we're in tomorrow, it's today.

Landon: (Complete silence and looking at me with eyes glazed over.)

Me: I have no idea what I just said. I love you, Landon.

Landon: I love you too, Mommy. (Then he got out of the car and walked into school.)

While I was taking my Sunday nap......

....Landon rotated my tires. Yep. He's pretty awesome.

I heart books.

I'm a little bit (a lot) obsessed with books. I love to read them. I love to smell them. I love to feel the covers. My favorite kind of cover is one that has sort of a matte finish with really big, shiny, smooth, letters for the title. Dan Brown books meet my cover test most of the time. So do both of the Freakonomics books.

I love to stack books really high on the end table next to my bed until they literally fall over.

I love to make lists of books I want to read and then put a check mark by the title after I read it. (I know. NERD.)

I have rules for how I read:

1. I have to find somebody that knows my book who I can talk with while/after I read it.

2. I never, ever read a book without someone recommending it. I am not a risk-taker when it comes to reading new books. I don't have time to read a book I'm not going to enjoy or get something out of.

3. If I'm at home, I have to read under a blanket or comforter. Have to. And I have to be in my bed or in the chair that sits in the corner of my den. The only exception to this rule is when I'm reading to my kids. That can happen anywhere.

4. This isn't a rule, just a bonus: If Nathan is reading at the same time as me, my reading enjoyment goes up by like a billion percent.

5. I always, ALWAYS read two books at the same time. Not simultaneously. Just together. Like I'll read an "easy" book on the same timeline I'm reading a more challenging one. Never just one book. Never 3 books. Always 2.

Until this week. I broke rule #5. I was doing my usual....reading my 2 books. And then I made a trip to Barnes and Noble, found 3 more books I just absolutely had to have, and started reading them. So, now I'm reading 5 books. Five. I've got them divided into categories. (Again. NERD.)

I've got my "I can read this one while I'm riding the bike at the gym" book.

I've got an "Ahhh, I'm in bed and this is what I can read until I drift off to sleep" book.

I've got 2 "Highlighters and post-its are everywhere b/c every other sentence is an amazingly thoughtful quote and I HAVE to meet this author" books.

And I've got a "My 4-year-old is tough and I need some advice NOW" book.

If you've read to this point, you either:

a. think I'm the biggest nerd on the planet.

b. heart books as much as I do.

c. have nothing else to do.

d. want to know what books I'm reading.

e. are my mom and have to read all my blog entries because that's what moms do.

If you answered "d", here you go:

The Teacher Makes the Difference

Two years ago, I took a step aerobics class for the very first time. I was a bit nervous so I told the instructor that I was new. She nodded her head at me and class began. Honestly, I have NEVER been so lost in my entire life. She used words like "rocking horse" and "repeater". It was a different language. The class lasted an hour, and for at least half that time I stood still with my mouth hanging open. It was the worst workout of my life. At one point, a rude lady walked over to me and asked, "Can you even see the instructor?" I felt helpless and like the biggest klutz on the planet. But the thing is, I'm not a klutz. I'm athletic. I'm coordinated. But because I was in new territory I needed a TEACHER to TEACH me.

Well, fast forward two years. My friend, Karen, asked me to come to step aerobics. I said, "Absolutely not! I tried it two years ago and the teacher didn't care about me at all! I'm perfectly content with my other classes!" I told her about my experience two years ago and she immediately said, "Well, you should try the class that meets on Mondays. Erin is the instructor and she's great." So, very reluctantly, I showed up to class on Monday. I told Erin I was new. She immediately walked over, introduced herself, and gave me some pointers before class began. As class started, she made eye contact with me as if to say, "I know you're new at this. I'm going to help you." She used language I understood and modeled the routine. One hour later, I had experienced one of the best workouts of my life!

So, what was the difference? Was it the gym? Nope. Same gym. Was it the time of day? Nope. I work out that time of day every day. Was it my fitness level? Nope! In fact, I'm in worse shape now than I was two years ago because I just had a baby a few months ago! The difference was the TEACHER.

This is what is happening every single day in schools. There are many kids hating every second of their school experience because there are no teachers TEACHING them. And there are kids loving every second of their school experience because day after day, teachers are meeting those kids where they are and taking them where they can not go alone.

All the research on education points to the fact that, more than any other factor, the teacher is the one that makes the difference. If you have a child in school and you feel that he is not being taught, advocate! Meet with the teacher or an administrator. Do your research. Because, like it or not, your child's teacher is making a HUGE difference in his life, for the good or for the bad.

Barbecue Chicken

This recipe belongs to my Aunt Sue. It's super easy and delicious.

This has never happened to me, but here's a tip: While you're getting it out of the oven, be careful to not to drop it because if you do, I promise the dish will break into a million pieces and you'll be cleaning BBQ chicken off of your oven, kitchen floor, walls, etc. for quite some time. I'm not speaking from experience. It's just a little piece of advice that popped into my brain this morning for no reason at all. I've never dropped the chicken. Ever.

Ingredients:

3 T ketchup

2 T vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)

1 T lemon juice

2 T worcestershire sauce

2 T melted margerine

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. red pepper

1/4 cup water

Combine all of that goodness and pour it over about 4-8 uncooked chicken breasts

in a large casserole dish.

Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half.

Congratulations, Jake and Zienna.

Let me tell you about Sally. She's the kind of friend that, when I call her to say I'm thinking about ordering a cookie cake for the Bachelor Finale, not only does she not laugh at my idea but she helps me think of the perfect thing for the cookie to say and she picks it up from the cookie cake store and she brings it to my house and she eats it with me.

She's the kind of person that, when asked by the 16-year-old boy standing nervously behind the cookie cake store counter if everything is spelled correctly, responds with "Yep. Looks perfect."

Basketball Season

Top 5 things I have learned about 4 and 5 year old basketball:

1. Kids love the snack at the end of the game more than the actual game.

2. It is not uncommon to see a child lose interest in playing basketball and, instead, begin to flap his arms like a bird or walk on the black line along the perimeter of the court or do a dance move in the center of the court. (To be fair, I only used examples from MY four-year-old.)

3. Nathan Trevett deserves a bajillion dollars for coaching 4 and 5 year olds.

4. Some kids that play in the 4 and 5 year old basketball league are actually 6 or 7 years old and have really big calf muscles and score all the points for their team which makes our team lose by about 20 points.

5. Since the refs don't really care if the kids ever really dribble, it's best to just pick up the ball and run as fast as possible to the goal.