I waved byebye to my sanity about an hour ago. I started writing a brief update at 8am on the fact that it’s Joe’s turn to be sick and that Dan decided that he needed in on some o THAT action. It turned into a snarling bitchy rant about 2 hours ago, so I obliterated it.
Joe is well enough to be obnoxious. Well enough that were Mom in charge he would’ve been sent to school. She doesn’t quite comprehend the “fever-free for 24 hours” rule. It absolutely floored her to find out that his temperature was actually *higher* when he was playing happily than it was when he was curled up in the recliner
Dan….oh my sweet Dan. Dan has postnasal drip and it’s making him (and therefore me) miserable. Every exhale is a whining moan, every inhale is a sniff. His throat is sore, so he’s spitting in the trashcan. He has a loose tooth, so there’s a plethora of spit.
My overstimulation meter pegged about 30 minutes ago. I haven’t been able to read, write, or do any homework.
And now I’m being paged again, so I’ll have to catch up with y’all later.
I have been seriously re-evaluating whether or not Salem College is where I need to be. I love the campus - it’s beautiful and peaceful. I love the small class size. I love that I feel like “the cool mom” on campus - since I’m a day student, I’m more in contact with the traditional students than most Continuing Studies students.
Up until now I have done my best to leave The Drama out of my Salem Experience. My mantra was “I have a goal, and The Drama will not get in the way of that.” But The Drama keeps getting harder to ignore. These things I listed here are just the tip of the iceberg - there is most certainly more.
Esbee recently reported that the 2007 College Tour (marketing) video is a bit misleading. Oprah Winfrey spoke at the graduation ceremony in 2000, and there are clips from that speech in the video. The men of Salem College are completely ignored as well. Yes, I said men. They are allowed to attend through the Continuing Studies program as long as they are over 23 years of age.
Using a pseudo-association with Oprah doesn’t surprise me. The main goal of that video is to draw people to the school, and Oprah is nothing if not a people-magnet.
The Re-inspection of the Refectory produced a passing grade a week later. The original score was an 84. The Refectory (nicknamed “The Rat” by students) is not the only place to eat on campus, but it IS the only place that traditional students can spend their tuition-included meal plan dollars at this time.
The rating of The Rat disgusts me, but as a Person With Issues I have only eaten there twice. I don’t care if the nickname is affectionate - acquiring food from anyplace named The Rat is a guaranteed appetite killer for me. It also disturbs me on a parental level since my daughter wants to attend Salem as well. I believe the students should have the option of getting food at The Grille as well as The Rat with their meal plan dollars. I also believe there should be more than only two options for a meal on campus.
Apparently, Salem is discontinuing Dr. Julianne Still Thrift’s post-retirement medical benefits - benefits that this post lead me to believe were included in her employment contract.
Oh no. No no no no. This is wrong.
Update: Apparently the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.
Update to the update: And the blog has been deleted.
Mom is in her room with the TV on.
Dad is in here with me, with the TV on.
Both TVs are tuned to The Playoffs.
This morning I made the Sneaky Chef’s Extra Sneaky Chocolate Breakfast Ice Cream. The texture was perfect, the recipe as written was downright awful. With only 1/2 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to color an entire 1/4 avocado and a frozen banana, the result looked as if it belonged in a diaper, not an ice cream bowl.
Obviously, this would need a bit of work before he saw it, much less tasted it.
I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder, another pinch of sugar and FINALLY got it “brown” enough to be chocolate ice cream. Then I asked Daniel to taste it and tell me if it was “chocolate enough”. For 20 minutes we went back and forth, adding another teaspoon here and a tablespoon there. The good news is he kept helping me taste it and try to “fix” it so he could have ice cream for breakfast. The bad news is he never said “it tastes good, can I have it in a bowl/cone/whatever”.
Side note: those “soft bite” baby spoons make GREAT “tasting” spoons. He already knows it’s a “baby bite” of something, not a “big boy bite” and is more likely to be cooperative.)
Finally, frustratedly, I gave up and made him a jelly biscuit. The “ice cream” is in the freezer; I’m not sure what to do with it at this point. Maybe add in some vanilla?
Sneaking Around Daniel
- Sneaking Around Daniel: Introduction
- Round 1 goes to Daniel.
Doesn’t he look so sweet with all his hair flying up in static electricity objection? He’s turned me into something I swore up and down I’d never consider becoming. Not even for a moment. Every time someone brought it up, I swore That Would Not Happen to Me Because I Would Put My Foot Down. Not me, not my kids - no way, no how.
He turned me into a short-order cook.
Mommy, I’m hungry. What can I have to eat?
Chicken noodle soup?
NO!
Chicken nuggets?
NO!
Hot dog?
NO!
Okay, what do you want to eat then?
I don’t know, what can I have?
Skettios without meatballs?
NO!
Pineapple chunks?
YES!!!!!
Okay, what do you want to eat WITH your pineapple chunks?
NOTHING!
Dan, you have to have something else. Chicken dinosaurs?
Chicken dinosaurs WITH KETCHUP! aaaaaaand koolaid!If you make something that's usually on the "acceptable" list but that he hasn't asked for, it WILL sit there uneaten until you wrap it up for the next day. He'll whiiiiiiiiiiiiiine about how hungry he is - with a plate full of food sitting in front of him. (It’s not what I want, Mommy!) There are times when you make what he asked for, and then he’ll say “I changed my mind” and not eat it. And then? I want him to eat, so I make something else. There are times when I’ve “tricked” him into eating. (Yeah, YOU try resisting when someone is standing in front of you eating “your” chicken noodle soup!!!)
I love that kid!
The downside of this whole affair, of course, is the input I get from my folks. Well, more specifically, my Mom. You can see that she’s fighting the urge to “jerk a knot in that boy” when she decides that
I’m not being attentive enoughhe needs to be fed but can’t quite seem to get there. There are times when he throws himself in the floor, crying real tears because she’s offended his sensibilities. (He does this regularly - he gets so frustrated that having a mini-tantrum/meltdown is the shortest way from point A to point B.)I know what you’re thinking - that he is One Spoiled Kid. That I should Instill Some Discipline, fix a plate, sit it down in front of him, and leave it there until he eats it.
Have you seen Mommie Dearest? More specifically - the scene where La Crawford serves a bloody-rare steak and Christina refuses to eat it? and it keeps getting served to her until it’s green with mold and naaaaaastay?
Yeah, I’m not the one to SERVE that to my kids, but My Boy is the kid that’d let it go moldy before he ate it.
I’m just sayin’…
