Days Off to Tough Love to Viruses

I've had blogs rolling around in my head for the past several days but sitting down to write them all out is another story. The only reason I'm doing it now is that I have a few minutes to kill while waiting for our oldest to get ready to help me with a day's worth of yardwork.
I guess that segues into my first blog......days off. I love when people say "You're a teacher? I bet you love all the days off that you have." I just smile and nod. What I don't tell them is that I don't have days off. To me, a day off means a day at the spa without any other obligations. It means lying in bed (when you're not sick) all day, reading. It means spending the day window shopping alone or with friends. I can't remember the last time I've done that. I'll sneak away for a pedicure but that lasts an hour at best. The last true vacation I've taken away from life was a couple years ago when my good friend came to town for a visit. We snuck away to the beach for the weekend and it was absolutely glorious! No responsibilities whatsoever. But time like that is rare. I don't have days off because I'm a parent and a homeowner. My weekends are spent doing laundry, mopping, cleaning stinky boys' bathrooms, yardwork and yes, schoolwork. I usually spend an hour or two at school every weekend because I enjoy working in the quiet of my classroom. At home, I usually spend another hour doing lesson plans. In between all that I try to be a fun mom and a devoted wife. I do things the boys or Rob want to do- a Pelican basketball game, a family work picnic, taking our youngest to a dirtbike track because that's his latest interest, going to the trampoline park with the boys. No matter what I'm doing, I can tell you that I'm not sitting around. I'm not relaxing, getting ready for the next week. I am trying to better our house or create family memories or just catch up from last week when I couldn't squeeze in that last bit of laundry that had to get done.
This weekend I have help with the yardwork. Our oldest hasn't been making the best choices lately. One of his more dumb choices earned him a detention at school. Rob and I are both firm believers of tough love. So when the boys get in trouble at school, they also get in trouble at home. Our oldest is not a huge fan of manual labor so as part of his punishment, he's going to help me do yardwork on this beautiful Saturday. I know we're strict parents but I am ok with that. I am ok, knowing we are helping raise productive members of society. I am ok knowing that our boys know who is in charge in this house. Recently, a person posted a few articles on FB about how you don't need to discipline your child. You need to be their friend. I believe that our kids will have a lot of friends in their life. What they need is structure, discipline, rules, guidelines, and tough love. Through that a friendship will form, one that can grow as your child ages. I teach kids every day, some who I can tell are disciplined at home and some who don't know what discipline is. Those are the kids I worry about, the ones who aren't disciplined. Because they don't know their choices have consequences at an early age, they tend to make more stupid choices as they get older. But, honestly, I could stay on this soapbox for a long time. So I'll just end this section by saying that, in our house, we show our boys tough love in hopes they will become hard workers who make good choices and contribute to society when they become adults. All because of how they were raised and the discipline they were shown growing up.
Last but least the Coronavirus. I try to write this without inserting an eye roll because I know that it is responsible for many deaths in China. That being said, I really don't understand the paranoia in the U.S about it. Comparing life in Communist China, where decent healthcare is not easily accessible and sanitation is pretty non-existent, to the U.S., where everyone has access to healthcare (Thanks Obama!) and sanitation is everyday life, is like comparing apples and oranges. I have been to other countries so I speak from experience when I say, consuming meat that has been sitting out all day in filthy conditions is not uncommon (How are you supposed to get proper nutrition to stay healthy and build your immune system eating like that?). People and animals will use the bathroom wherever it's convenient. I remember when I was on a mission trip in Peru. A dog walked into the church where we were conducting VBS, pooped at the front of the church and no one did anything about it. (I had to walk out of the church building because I was gagging so much.) In Israel, people would squat down over holes to use the bathroom. They'd eat with their hands (Which they did not wash beforehand) because silverware was not a way of life. Life in other countries is not like life here. I am not saying that the Coronavirus is not serious. Sadly, if there is an outbreak in the U.S., I am sure some people will die because of it. But we have access to state of the art hospitals. We have access to antibiotics. We have access to clean water. At the very least, we have access to soap, running water and hand sanitizers. So, in my opinion, is the Coronavirus worth losing sleep over? No. Is it worth confining yourself to your house in fear of catching the virus? No. Live life. Enjoy life. And know, that life outside the U.S. is very different than what we're accostumed to.

I Don't Do Sick

Never Have I Ever..... Up until yesterday I could say "Been diagnosed with the flu". What I thought was a simple sinus infection was really Flu B. If I was on stage accepting this as an award, I'd say that I like to thank my cute students who cough in my face, forget to sanitize their hand before reaching to hold mine and sneeze without covering their mouth. You know what? I wouldn't trade their affections so I'm ok with it. What I'm not ok with is being sick. I don't do sick.
In the past 25 years, I had mono for about 3 weeks in my early 20s and was so sick one day when E was about a year old that I asked Rob to stay home from work to take care of the boys (The only day in our 12 years of marriage that I asked him to take off because of me being sick.). Other than a sinus infection a couple times a year, I don't get sick. And it's probably a good thing because I'm not good at lying around. I feel like I've slept more than I've been awake since Saturday afternoon. At one point, I even Googled to see if it's possible to get mono more than once because that's how I feel.  (Just in case you're wondering, it's rare for this to happen.) I feel like I have bad allergies and mono combined. It's not a fun combo, but I don't feel horrible. My symptoms are bearable. I did talk the doctor into letting me go back to work for Valentine's Day and she reluctantly agreed...if I'm not running a fever tomorrow. So I have one more day of lying around, sleeping the day away, and then I'll be free. Thank God Almighty, I'll be free at last!

#MeToo

Three days after the Superbowl and I am still thinking about it, but not in a good way. I can't stop thinking about the halftime show and how disgusting it was- or at least the part I watched. I was actually excited that JLo was going to perform because I think she is such a talented woman. Not only do I think she's talented, but I think she's business savvy, intelligent and strong. But, if I didn't know anything about her or Shakira I would think, based on what I watched, that the only thing they had going for them is shaking their booties and degrading womankind in general. Women, especially recently, have fought so hard for women's rights, to be treated as equal instead of sex objects. But then the Superbowl allows these women to be seen as sex symbols. It disgusted me that these two women are role models but yet they dressed in basically nothing and just shook their "assets" on stage for millions to watch. What happened to the "MeToo movement where millions of women begged not to be treated as more than a nice body??
Our 7 year old was watching it with me and when he asked, "Why is that man smacking her butt if that's not her husband?" I knew it was time to turn it off. That's not the way I want our boys to treat women. I don't want them to grow up thinking it's okay to treat a woman like a piece of meat. I want them to respect women. I want them to think their wife is beautiful, as much for her brain and personality as for her looks. Watching things like the Superbowl halftime show goes against what I am trying to teach them. It's like society takes two steps forward and three steps back.
I posted something about it on FB and, to my surprise, many of my liberal friends were appalled by the show as well. Which, in my opinion, means that not just conservative women were offended by this "sex on a stick" show (Both literally and figuratively if you had the pleasure of watching JLo's pole dance). Why is the halftime show based on skin and controversy? Why can't it be family oriented, one that you enjoy talking about around the water cooler (Do businesses still have those??) the next day when you go to work? Let's take a step forward, America, and treat women the way God intended them to be treated and not just as a piece of meat.

Blessed

I know I am long overdue for a blog but 2020 has taken off with a bang. I feel like this is the first down time I have had since the new year began. And that's a good thing. Our life has been full of so many blessings recently and it makes me want to step back and say, "Is this really our life?"
A few days after the new year my principal called and asked if I'd like to be the teacher of a new kindergarten class that was opening up at our school. I didn't have to hesitate before happily accepting this promotion. Along with this new job came a lot of LONG hours, prepping my classroom and jumping back into a world of 5 and 6 year olds. I'm not gonna lie....it's been challenging. Mainly because it's all new curriculum and most days I have the mentality of "Fake it til you make it." I am LOVING my new job, despite the craziness and long hours. The boys are pretty happy with my new position as well because they love inviting their friends to my classroom and playing on the class computers after school when I have duty.
Shortly after the new year my mom had thyroid surgery and two days after her surgery my dad broke his foot. (Their 2020 isn't starting out so great!) Thankfully we had the financial means and I have an understanding boss that let me take my first Friday off with my new class to go help my parents. I spent the weekend with them, relaxing. We watched Hallmark movies, took naps and laid low. I tried to help as much as I could on top of just spending quality time with them. However, I didn't want my dad to feel completely helpless so I clogged up their garbage disposal and spilled ice cream and chocolate syrup on their carpet so he'd have something to do as well. Ha! It was a perfect weekend and I am so thankful that I got to be selfish and enjoy time with them by myself.
Our social lives have been hopping on the weekends. I was teasing P this morning after I picked him up from a birthday party sleepover. I asked him, "How does it feel to be one of the popular kids? You have been to 3 birthday parties this month and it's all with the same group of kids." I wasn't that popular kid at school so I am so incredibly thankful that he has been blessed with a great group of boys. They are sweet, well mannered young men and most of them are Christians. In between his social life and work responsibilities, Rob and I have been amping our social lives up as well. Today I got to meet friends for lunch to celebrate the pregnancy of one of them. Tonight we are meeting up with friends for dinner. Last weekend we went on a date- just the two of us. I don't remember the last time we've gone out just the two of us but we decided that we need to do it more often.
To top it all off, I was able to buy a brand new SUV this week. This is the first time I've owned a brand new car and it's the first time I have bought a car in 6 years. I am over the moon happy about it and can't believe it's mine!
I don't say all this to brag. I say it to brag on the Lord for blessing us in so many wonderful ways since the new year began. I don't take it for granted and I thank HIM every day for all that He's blessed us with. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds in store for us!