The Emergence of Summer Mom

I'm not a big sleepover fan. Generally it frustrates me that I lose my living room to the movie/video game/tv marathon for most of the evening, drag out and make the trundle bed which never ends up getting slept in and then have to play "bad cop" all night long when they won't sleep because my husband conked out while they were still bogarting the living room. I think it's annoying that they don't even TRY to fall asleep until I finally give up and go to sleep myself, then I am invariably awoken because there is a "strange" noise/light/shadow that scares them - the same noise/light/shadow which was completely harmless just two hours before...

But for some reason, today I have hope. Like a mother who's forgotten the pain of childbirth deciding on one more child, I am convinced it's a good idea and this time will be different!! Perhaps it's because there is an "appointment" TV show on - THE PRINCESS PROTECTION PROGRAM premieres on the Disney channel tonight starring two of the hottest stars to light up the pre-tween sky, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. Now I am not a fan of these stars, in spite of the fact that I actually sat right next to Selena Gomez at the KIT, AN AMERICAN GIRL movie premiere. But my daughter is, so that's enough for me. "Let's have a sleepover!!" I think maniacally. The next thing you know there is an extra Nintendo DS, AG doll and 9 year old here and the girls want to swim! Luckily that's a dad thing so I can play Wordscraper on my computer and pretend it's an ordinary afternoon and that I will not be up until 3 AM screaming at the children. For dinner, it's chicken and french fries followed by popcorn mixed with yogos during the movie.

Now, at last, the movie is done, the girls have retired to the sleeping chamber and I have my living room back. It is mostly quiet. I am hopeful - this time they will sleep... this time there will be no weird shadows... no strange lights... This time they will not try to watch THRILLER on You Tube and stay up all night afraid they will have nightmares... This time will be different.

I don't know what made me decide that a sleepover would be a good idea tonight but frankly, I'm glad I did... I think it must be the emergence of "Summer Mom". Still hovering, but not quite so low, with no homework to check and no lunches to pack, she can now be spontaneous and fun-loving with little fear of reprisal. Okay, so maybe I need to get her to the rink on time and make sure her hair is not in her face, see to it that she has all her swim team equipment and running shoes on for "dry land" and liberally apply sunscreen all day long. Well, as long as she's going to be outside. But "Summer Mom" knows she will be outside because that's what summer is for - outdoor activities! Sitting in front of the TV all summer long wouldn't work for "Summer Mom" or "Helicopter Mom". Except for the occasional sleepover... And maybe they will be more than occasional this summer. IF they can fall asleep tonight!!!

A sad day...

It never crossed my mind that when my daughter and I headed in from the pool to try out "Mommy's" new Wii fitness game that we would see "Michael Jackson 1958-2009" flashed across the screen. Immediately I blurted out, "Michael Jackson died?!" to which my daughter replied, "He did?!" I was thrown. How could she know who Michael Jackson was? Ah yes... one of her friends had recently introduced her to Thriller on You Tube. Frankly, I had been annoyed... it scared her enough to make us both afraid she would have nightmares (which luckily did not happen - dancing zombies are never as terrifying as they seem!) and secondly I never really cared much for "Thriller". I was a BIG Jackson 5 fan - Mama's Pearl, ABC, I Want You Back... Not so much the solo career. Although I'm sure I danced to almost all his hits during the disco era! But those Jackson 5 songs... LOVE them. Anyway, right after she saw Thriller on You Tube (maybe 2 weeks ago?) she asked me if Michael Jackson was still alive. I laughed - "Of course, honey! He's my age!" Not exactly laughing now, am I? So as I sat transfixed by the breaking news, my daughter says "First I think he's dead, then he's alive, now he's dead again."

When I was a kid, I spent Saturdays with my mom at the "beauty salon". That was where I learned about Judy Garland's death. From a magazine in a stack left there for the ladies to pass the time under the dryer. My mother had to explain to me that she was a grown woman, not still the little girl from "The Wizard of Oz". I was devastated. I grew up to become a big Judy Garland fan - read all the bios, saw all the movies, enjoy the drag queens... seriously! I love a good Judy! I wonder if my daughter will become a big Michael Jackson fan? Hmmm.... I am deliberately leaving out any possible drag queen joke out of respect for the recently departed. We'll see if I have the same self-control in a week or so...

So like John Lennon, Princess Diana and John Kennedy Jr., I will always remember where I was when I heard Michael Jackson died. With my daughter. And she will always remember she was with me. Although... with the whole helicopter thing... most things she'll remember will be with me! Unless she's at school or the ice skating rink (that's a recent development - my leaving her there on her own for a bit) or watching You Tube seeing Thriller for the first time with one of her friends... RIP Michael.

Summertime, and the living is... early.

Obviously I'm too busy hovering to properly post a blog with any regularity at all!  Well, in a nutshell, we (and yes, I say WE because God knows she did not get through that "planet report" by herself) got through 3rd grade.  As I remind her far too frequently, I did, in fact, complete 3rd grade already and don't actually NEED to spend as much time on her times tables as she does BUT I've noticed (okay the teacher pointed out) that the parents who are more "actively involved" in their child's homework see better grades in their child's schoolwork.  As if I needed another reason to hover.  The good news is the iPhone has an app called "Flash Tables" which gives the child the illusion of independence (plus an excuse to play with my iPhone) so she managed to do quite well on those times tables after all.

But now it's summer...  and not only is she supposed to retain that information, they say she's also supposed to read a ton of books over the summer, just for fun.  It's a good thing I don't actually know who "they" are because I'd hate to have to break it to "them" that she thinks watching TV is a lot more fun than reading books.  I'm hoping that changes some day but for now, books are fun when she can read during the sermon at church and that's about it.  Unless I'm reading the book, preferably a Harry Potter and acting it out with accents.  See that?  Fun for the whole family.  But wait, isn't she supposed to relax over the summer?  Downtime?  Catching fireflies?  Watching grass grow?  Hmmm...  that doesn't exactly fit in with the 5 days a week swim team practice though...  OR the 5 mornings a week ice skating summer program...  Uh oh.  I think we're failing summer!!!

Okay.  Deep breaths.  Mantra - I am a good mother, I am a good mother, I am a ...  AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!  

And you wonder why 9 months has passed since my last blog post.  I guess we'll know how low I'm hovering by how long it takes for the next one!