Happy Veteran's Day, among other things

Happy Veteran's Day to all the veterans out there! Ok, ok, I know I'm a day late, but still. Abby and Nolan came home from school talking about Veteran's day. Abby informed me a veteran is someone who fought in a war. I asked if she knew who was a veteran, but she didn't. When I told her Grumpy and Grandpa were veterans she said, "Really? Did they fight in wars?" And then I told her Vietnam and Korean wars. She then asked if they won. Ummm, well, they won our respect. Does that count? Does for me! Thanks, vets!

I have officially become one of those parents. I let the kids watch a movie for 10 minutes in the car. Well, really not the kids. Just Max. Hey, where else would I find 10 minutes of quiet? (Yes, I count Elmo in the background as quiet. I don't have to answer Elmo, although I do find that he talks to me every now and then. Is that strange?) Bottom line, cut me some slack!

And now I need to go back to this post. You know, the one where I said I want the kids to WIN, to be GREAT, PERFECT, whatever I said. It turns out maybe it's not quite like that. Last weekend at Abby's swim meet, there was a mom of a 16 year old girl next to me. I knew her daughter was swimming when under her breath she muttered, "Hit the plastic? What the hell?" (She was referring to the lane divider.) Then she just proceeded to shake her head. When her daughter came over, she was partly crying, saying her shoulder hurt and that she couldn't hardly move her arm. Her mom rolled her eyes, said it was always something, and then rubbed her shoulder. The girl then started to cry more, saying she was so slow, she couldn't believe she got beat by so-and-so, and it was horrible. Her mom told her she wasn't just slow, her times were absolutely terrible. Wow! Geez lady, lighten up. Then, the girl did the Butterfly, and afterwards came over happy that she took off a couple of seconds of her time. The mom's response? And I quote... "How the hell can you get a better time on your fly but do so shitty on you freestyle?" It's a good thing the lady didn't look at me. I think my eyes were huge and my jaw was on the floor. I couldn't imagine.

So, rest assured, I'm not like that. I realized it's not even winning or being the best. I am always paranoid about being seen as one of "those". I don't want to be one of "those" moms (you know, the ones who forget to show up for swim meets or pick up fundraisers) and I don't want my kids to be one of "those" kids... they could be the ones who don't get it, the ones who are loudmouths, the ones who dress funny. Well, maybe that's us. But I also don't want them to be one of "those" who are so smart and good and perfect, with the egos to prove it. I like high middle ground. Make enough mistakes to know they and I are human, but not so many that we're one of "those."

We also had conferences tonight, and I get so nervous! But, the teachers like the kids, and the kids seem to be doing great. Abby even got an N on her report card, and she didn't cry about it like last year, and I am even ok enough with it to share it with all of you.

But, just for the record, 80% was all Es (Excellent) and 19% was Ss (Satisfactory). :)

Finally, I realized tonight why I like not working. I don't worry about it at night. I READ! Things not related to work. And I take baths. And surf for fun things on the net. It's a good thing. Oh, and I get to spend time with the kids. That too. :)