Friday, September 24, 2021

7 Quick Takes about Carpooling Logic, Rethinking the Kitchen Counters, and Oral Surgery

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

1


A friend who lives nearby suggested that instead of both of us driving to pick up our middle-schoolers every day, we should alternate days and carpool instead. 

We settled on her driving on odd-numbered calendar dates, and me driving on days with even-numbered dates. But by the first day of carpool, I'd forgotten what we'd decided.

I texted her that morning and asked, "Do you want me to pick the kids up today?"

"I'll pick up today," she wrote back. "It's easier for me to remember that way because 'Evans' rhymes with 'even.' And our family is kind of odd."

I can respect that.

2


We've never liked our forest green laminate kitchen counters (between that and our honey oak cabinets, that entire room is a 1992 time capsule) but I've resisted getting new ones.

After all, they still worked and I have a thing about replacing stuff that's still functional. I derive a certain satisfaction from really "using it up and wearing it out" first, and if I'm happy to see it go then that's even better!

Anyway, after 10 years of living here, the forest green countertops are really showing signs of wear and tear, so this is what we ordered to replace them:

Don't say anything bad if you don't like it because we kind of just spent a lot of money on it, kay?

I have no idea when the counters are going to be here. If how long it took to order them is any indication, they'll probably arrive just shortly before I die of old age.

First, the website wouldn't let us order them online, saying we needed to do it in person. So we kept going in to the store, and just when I was almost convinced that the counter sales guy was hiding in the back room giggling every time he saw us coming, we finally caught him and ordered the counters.

Cue the celebration! But then our card flagged the purchase as fraudulent and declined the charge. 

By the time we got that sorted out and went back in to order the counters again in person (WHY??) the 20% off deal no longer applied because the sale period had ended. 

"But it's coming back in two weeks," the counter guy assured us, "so you can come back in and order them then."

I'm really starting to think that the forest green laminate isn't so bad, after all.

3


I'm working on painting our dryer. We keep a laundry basket on top as a temporary holding place for socks and other unclaimed clothing, but over the years it had scratched the surface into a rusty mess that I was determined to fix up now that the kids were all in school.

Last Saturday, I moved the dryer out to the garage, not realizing it would take so much longer than I thought to sand it, paint it, and let the paint cure. In the meantime, the laundry is piling up.

Luckily we can still use the washer and line dry everything. So it was going okay, until it started raining every day and one of the kids decided this was the perfect time to start wetting the bed.

4


The older my kids get, the more protective I am of "family time." Each kid only does one or two activities, but there are six of them so that means our family is collectively very busy and usually not all under the same roof at the same time.

So when I noticed we had a few hours free on a random Wednesday afternoon, I wanted the kids and I to go take a tour of this local historic site. Of course, in order to get to the tour on time, it meant taking the little ones out of school early.

The dismissal note I sent in with the kids vaguely referred to "an appointment," which my 7-year-old thought was not true but I totally made an appointment to take this tour, so I think it counts.

5


My 17-year-old had a consultation with an oral surgeon about removing her wisdom teeth. More on that in a minute, but based on what I saw in the waiting room I feel like I need to shout this from the rooftops for a minute: let your kids be capable!

Every parent-teen duo I saw in the waiting room consisted of the teenager playing on his phone or staring into space like he'd had a full frontal lobotomy while the parent checked in for him at the front desk and filled out his registration paperwork.

What a wasted opportunity teens to practice "adulting." 

In a few short years these kids will be grown and fully responsible for the thousand menial tasks that go along with living independently. If they've never even been in charge of dumb stuff like checking in at their own doctor's appointments, they're going to be completely overwhelmed.

Which is why, after my daughter checked in and handed me a clipboard with her registration paperwork, I handed it right back to her and said, "If you need help with any of the questions, I'll be over here reading this article about Britney Spears in Us Weekly. Tell me if I need to sign anything!"

6


The oral surgeon took one look at my daughter's X-rays and said that she barely has room in her mouth for the teeth she's got, letalone four additional wisdom teeth, and they've all got to be removed.

So I'm really looking forward to this in January:


7


Now that the weather is getting cooler, it's time to get everyone's seasonal clothes ready. Is it supposed to be awful? Because I think it's awful. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I've ordered five pairs of sneakers on Amazon for my 5-year-old over the last three weeks, trying to find him something (anything!) that isn't a pair of Crocs to wear to school, and none of them have fit right. 

Maybe it would be easier just move to a warmer climate.

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2 comments:

PurpleSlob said...

Odd family!! lol
Yeah, I was in HS when I had my wisdom teeth out. Mama told me later, that she grilled me intensely!! lol Dang truth serum!!
Hope you get him something suitable!

Kassie said...

My (almost fifteen year-old) son just got his wisdom teeth out last week. They were starting to grow in on the bottom, and he was not enjoying the teething experience. When I called to get the dentist consult/referral scheduled (I should have had him to it!) the receptionist was doubtful, given his age, his 3rd molars were really making an appearance. But my son cut his first teeth at three months and had lost his first eight teeth before kindergarten - he's a bit of an overachiever when it comes to his teeth - so I wasn't very surprised when he started complaining. Once I mentioned they were causing him discomfort, she allowed me to schedule right away. Coming off the anesthesia wasn't nearly that colorful; he was just really out of it and a bit emotional.