Friday, April 14, 2017

7 Quick Takes about Fun Correspondence with the School Nurse, Learning about Maple Syrup, and Shopping for Taxes

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

1


It's been a crazy week around here. I've been driving around with a flyer for a weight loss place stuck under my windshield wiper for 3 days, and it wasn't because I didn't see it. I just haven't had time to take it off.

The baby is either teething or possessed, our living room features a dead rose displayed in a vase with water that evaporated a week ago, and just as we were walking out the door so I could drop the kids off and get caught up on things yesterday, my 3-year-old gashed his head on the corner of a piece of furniture and needed to get it glued shut at the pediatrician's.

I have never been so ready for spring break in all my life. (And it starts today!)

2


One reason I'm looking forward to spring break is no calls from the school nurse. Our nurse is a nice lady, but I never have good thoughts when I see her number pop up on my phone.

It means someone started puking in the middle of math class, or fell in the cafeteria and chipped a tooth, or has an unidentifiable rash covering their entire body (all calls I've received in the 2016-2017 school year.) She never calls just to say, "Hey it's me, everything is fine and your kid is perfectly healthy, have a great day."

At dismissal last Friday she called to give me a heads-up that my daughter was coming home with her coat and backpack in a giant black garbage bag because the kid next to her in class threw up on all her stuff.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
This is how all the cool kids carry their things these days.

So I guess technically, she does call sometimes to say everything is fine and my kids are healthy. And that I have a weekend of laundering foreign vomit to look forward to.

3


The 5-year-old is losing her first tooth and simply can't stop talking about it. Any topic of conversation, no matter what it is, comes back to her loose tooth.

As I shepherded her and her little brother into the tub the other night, she practically squealed, "This is my first bath with a wiggly tooth!"

"Cool!" I said. "But uh... is it any different?"

She smiled and chirped, "No."

4


Last weekend we were using the snowblower, and suddenly this weekend it was 70 degrees and sunny. Just like that, spring is here.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


On Sunday afternoon we took a blanket into the yard and just laid outside in the sunshine, periodically making refreshed-sounding "aaaah" sounds like we were in a Coca-Cola commercial from 1992.

For about 5 minutes.

The next few hours were mostly Phillip trying to talk me down from the ledge while I panicked over all the work that needs to be done on our sad, neglected yard, deck, and home exterior. Then I went inside, drew the curtains, and solemnly vowed never to go out there again.

5


Aside from nightly tick checks for all the kids, spring in New England means sap. Lots and lots of tree sap.

I took the younger kids to tour a sugar house, where they turn sap into maple syrup. Not sure how much the kids absorbed from the visit, but when asked about it afterward the 3-year-old said, "Talkin' bout cancakes!"

So we had to make pancakes for lunch when we got home.

Also, if anyone in your family gets sap stuck in their hair (don't ask) a little olive oil takes it right out. It will smell interesting, like a tree salad, and your hands will be super-soft afterward.

6


Our playgroup held an Easter egg hunt, and we were all supposed to bring 12 filled plastic eggs. (Well, 24 for me since I had two kids participating.)

We showed up late because we couldn't find the one million plastic eggs we had stashed somewhere, and then we had to stop by the grocery store to grab a bag of candy and throw a $5 bill at the cashier as we Tokyo drifted past in our shopping cart.

I was hoping we'd still have time to fill the eggs once we got there, and when we arrived it made me smile to see an assembly line of moms at the front of the room tearing candy out of grocery bags and doing exactly that.

Moms: defying laws of time and space to make things work at the last minute since forever.

7


Speaking of doing things at the last minute, Phillip finished our taxes, which reminded me that I said I'd pay the excise taxes on our cars weeks ago and completely forgot about it.

I went online to pay them and had a good laugh at the way their software was set up.

First I added the taxes to our "shopping cart," and then I could either pay them or "continue shopping." Because I really like browsing around for other taxes I might want to pay when I have extra money just burning a hole in my pocket.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

I wonder what their return policy is like if I change my mind later on.

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13 comments:

Michelle said...

If someone ever brought home a bag full of vomit-covered possessions, I would burn them. Good for you for actually washing them.

jeremy@thirstydaddy said...

I agree. When its somebody else's kids puke, its a different story.

Jenny Evans said...

Yes! Any bodily fluid is 2-3 times grosser when it's not your own kids'. It's just science.

Jenny Evans said...

This was one of the many, many times the part of me that is a cheapskate has won out over the part of me that is dry heaving in disgust.

Marilyn said...

Hahahaha. That's great about the tax "shopping cart." Also, this year I was making a conscious effort to like winter (hard) and "don't have to worry about how bad the yard and back porch look" was high on my list of stuff to appreciate.

Rachel said...

I feel like getting excited about taking a bath with a wiggly tooth is just the sort of thing our two five-year-olds would do. Also, they ask everyone around the lunch table if we want to stick our fingers in their mouth and feel how wiggly their tooth is.
Angel volunteers as a substitute school nurse at the American International school--he was there quite a bit this year, actually, as the regular nurse had to go back to the USA for a family emergency--a big part of the job is definitely just calling parents. I doubt parents are happy to hear him, either. But, after working in a Burn ICU for four years, Angel now thinks that school nurse is the best nursing gig of all time.

Jenny Evans said...

I feel like I never appreciate that enough every year...

Jenny Evans said...

An acquaintance of mine is a school nurse and she said it's the best nursing job ever. No late night shifts, very few life-threatening emergencies, no cranky old people...

Crystal Green from Sharing Life's Moments said...

That was cute about your description of paying for one's taxes. I wish they did have a return policy. I still have mixed feelings over paying taxes in the first place.

PurpleSlob said...

#2, Aw man!! As if you didn't have enough familiar vomit to deal with! Love your "matching" socks by the way!!
#4, Hey, your garden is blooming!! All by itself! Breathe!
#7, That is hilarious!! That's what I give all my friends for Christmas! "Paid in your name" tax receipts!!
I love reading all the other comments!

The Lady Okie said...

I thought you were going to say the giant trash bag was because of lice. I kind of think that might be worse than vomit!

Jenny Evans said...

DEFINITELY WORSE.

Syncopated Mama said...

OhMyGoodness, this was hilarious. Except for the vomit bag - because vomit itself is gross, but vomit outside your DNA is even grosser. Thanks for joining us at #FridayFrivolity this week - you're my feature!