Murphy's Laws for Moms

Do any other parents ever wonder the purpose of assigning homework for Kindergarten? I constantly wonder this as I battle the balance of school, play, meal times, and bed times. My Kindergarten child gets home from school close to 4pm. If we have evening activities, we have to cram in starting (not always finishing) homework, dinner, whatever activity is planned, and the *hopefully* a decent bedtime.  It doesn't always all fit. What do I do as a parent? I put off the homework. It's not that I don't value her learning and schoolwork. I want to be a parent who knows what my children are learning and help my child achieve her educational goals.  But, I also want my child to be a child.  So, sometimes this means saying that she's done enough work during the day and it's time for play.  I also want my child to be able to function well during the next school day, so it may also mean that my child needs to go to sleep at a decent time (in my house, this is around 7pm)....

Do you ever fantasize about what your life could be?  I do.  In my fantasy, I wake up after a decent night's sleep of 8-9 hours.  Upon awakening, I am filled with energy to start my day, so I have no trouble immediately getting out of bed and starting my day with a nice, warm - uninterrupted - shower where I can leisurely take my time shampooing, conditioning, scrubbing, and shaving.  I then have plenty of time to not only dry my hair, but also style it and put on my makeup.  Then, the perfect outfit automatically pops out of my closet, and I don't have to squeeze, stop breathing, or wear shapewear or push-up anything to make myself look good in this outfit. As I finish dressing for the day, I come out of my room to find that my two children are also well-rested and excited to start the day - as evident by the fact that they dressed themselves in both weather-appropriate and occasion-appropriate clothing (they remember not to wear flip flops on PE day and that...

I love back to school time.  Whether it's for summer, winter or spring break - or even just a Monday after a very exhausting weekend - I love it.  It means that, as a parent, I am finally getting a necessary rest from my children.  Don't get me wrong, I love my children and I love spending time with them.  But, sometimes absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.  Especially considering the amount of work that I can accomplish (both in the house and for work) during the school day.  I am finally able to find time to both start and finish the laundry, clean the house, and even think about what to make for dinner.  I can also find time to enjoy a hot cup of coffee (emphasis on the *hot*) and a lunch where I am not constantly telling others what they need to eat or proper mealtime etiquette. But, back to school also means that my children's time is filled with learning things other than new methods of sibling revenge or causing parental insanity....

Driving through South Dakota Road tripping across the country with just one parent and two kids, age 3 and 5, isn't always exciting.  With all of the obstacles I attempted to plan for, the one thing I forgot was summer road construction.  As we drove across many of the northern states, there were a lot of construction projects that brought our speed down to 45mph...thus increasing the time it took to get from one planned location to the next.  Then, when you add in limited attractions throughout the Plains states, kids will get bored...no matter how many movies you have for them to watch. New cowboy boots! Thus, the appeal of Wall Drug, South Dakota .  It's in the middle of nowhere - and I mean NOWHERE.  It literally popped up on the highway right when I thought I was going to go insane from listening to Thomas: Tale of the Brave for the 75th time.  New cowboy boots! Driving into Wall Drug is like driving into the Wild West.  My kids i...