Just Say "Snow" to Missing School and Work

I've been a little bit depressed since the New Year, and when I sat down and reviewed the calendar for 2010 I figured out why. We flew from Seattle to Pittsburgh on January 6th, and thus the kids went back to school on January 7th. There have been 37 work days since January 7th, and on 12 of those days one or both of the children have been home from school. The reasons have varied, from sick days to MLK day to in-service days to snow cancellations. Today is the 8th snow day of 2010!

Miraculously, only one of these missed school days fell on one of my teaching days, and Josh covered for me. And some of these days have been fun. The kids and I have done a lot of cooking, and some fun crafts (see blog below). Some days have allowed me to lounge in my bathrobe a bit longer that I usually do. I have made up a lot of the meetings and much of the work I have missed on the other days, but, still, what makes me feel so despondent is that I have lost control over my schedule, and, in a way, over my sense of self.

When Jacob started at the Pittsburgh Public Schools this year I had this idea I would start a co-op of like-minded working parents who would band together to take turns on the snow days and in-service days. But then it seemed like too much trouble. And now I'm kicking myself.

What's a working mom to do?

Happy Potty Day!

About a year ago, when Casey was staying home with us 4 days a week, I thought it was probably time to push potty training. I borrowed Brenda's Scotty Potty book and learned a lot about how to speed up the process, by giving the child a doll that can also go "pee pee." Because Casey was so doll oriented, I thought the method might really work for her.

After a few days of intense trying I realized I just wasn't the kind of mom who had the patience to make potty training happen before Casey showed a lot of interest on her own. Fortunately, however, my sister is the potty training magician in our family. And, almost like magic, over Christmas, while spending a lot of time at Brenda's house, Casey started to show a lot of interest in using the potty.

Another major motivating incident occurred one morning in December when Jacob and Casey and I went to Ikea. Jacob was tall enough to go in Ikea's famed "Smalland" while I went shopping, but Casey was both too short and not potty trained. It was a slow morning at Ikea, and the women behind the desk told us that if Casey had been potty trained she would have let us in. So we kept promising Casey that if she just learned to use the potty she would get to go to the play room at Ikea.

After Christmas Casey started to use the potty on her own, and we switched to pull-ups. Then she started showing interest in underwear, which we had a few pairs of, thanks to Brenda. Suddenly, Casey was wearing underwear and using the potty almost every time. She had a few messy accidents, but the whole thing has seemed to come from some deep well spring of desire for independence in Casey's own little brain.


When Jacob was finally potty trained at the age of 3.5 we made a cake for him in the shape of a pottty. I covered a few mini marshmallows in cocoa and used yellow frosting to make some fake "pee." It was pretty gross, really, though also very funny. On that day the tradition of "potty day" was born.


So Josh insisted we get a potty cake from our favorite french bakery, and I decorated it with a potty and some candles. We put two candles on it to signify that Casey is still 2 years old. We had talked to our friends D and E that morning, and they said come on over to our house to celebrate Casey's big milestone! Maybe, they thought, it will inspire their son, who is just a few months younger than Casey.

This cake is almost bigger than Casey!

Happy Potty Day to you! Happy Potty Day to you! Happy Potty Day dear Casey. Happy Potty Day to you!

More February Finery!

For some years now my mom has had a Linnea calendar on display at her house. It's a beautiful seasonal print that changes with each month, by a Chicago area artist named Linnea Asplind Riley (http://www.linneadesign.com/about.php). This year her daughter took over the franchise and I decided to get in on the family tradition. Just by chance, my Valentines' Day flowers from Josh were a good match with the Linnea calendar print for February. Check it out!

A Little Sweet Love for Your Midwinter Blues!

Sunny Monday

On Monday it was sunny. We ventured outside and built an igloo. Or, at least, we started one. We used tinfoil bread pans to make our bricks.

Here's the igloo, as seen from Jacob's bedroom. I got the idea from a "fun mom" book that Santa brought Brenda. Perhaps Santa should have gotten one for herself!

This brilliant idea is from Chris Volz, one of Jacob's preschool teachers last year at Cyert. They are called "ice flowers." Jacob and Casey helped me to make colored water with food coloring, and then we poured the colored water into ramekins with a wooden chopstick for the stem. We put them in our freezer. After they froze we "planted" them in this beautiful flower pot that Jacob and Maddy made last year.

Here are some dripping wet snow boots!

Cabin Fever

Santa brought Josh a game called "Don't Wake Daddy." Can you think of a better game for Josh? Or, really, for the rest of us? We played it this weekend while, you guessed it, Josh was sleeping.

If you step on the cat's tail, or make a racket with the roller skates, or break a vase, etc., then you have to press the alarm button next to Daddy's bed a certain number of times, depending what square you land on. You never know if you are going to have the alarm turn that wakes up Daddy, making him sit straight up in bed, and sending his night cap flying!

Here's Jacob trying to *not* to wake Daddy.

Oh, they woke up Daddy!

And here they are waking Daddy up in real life!

Pittsburgh Blizzard 2010

Jacob and Casey in Deep Snow!

Making a Pinecone Birdfeeder at Phipps Conservatory

Casey picks out her own clothes every day. It's a nice new feature of her expanding independence, except for one thing: her taste in outfits trends towards the super summery. So here's Casey at Phipps this last Sunday when it was all of 17 degrees outside. Casey looks like she's dressed for the middle of June!

A wonderfully patient teenage volunteer helped each of our children make a pine cone bird feeder. They smeared shortening onto the pine cone, and then rolled it in the bird seed.

"I'm six years old," Jacob told the young lady. "I'm 16 years old!" she replied.

Jacob was home from school yesterday (Monday) for an in-service day. So he and I rigged a broom handle with a hook and hung the pine cone bird feeders in the branches outside Jacob's bedroom. Hopefully the birds will catch on and we'll be able to watch them!