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Reality Mom - October 2008

Ending the Experiment

October 17th 2008 12:12

After giving this some serious thought, I think I’m going to move on from this blog. Using orble.com was a fun experiment, but it didn’t provide the results I was hoping for. I’m happy to have participated in so many wonderful conversations, but that was really the only benefit to maintaining this blog.

I’ll still be posting “reality mom” type blogs, but they’ll be posted on my main blog (Jenn Hollowell: Working Writer) rather than here. I’ll also be posting the little informational snippets I’ve been presenting here over there. So, I hope you’ll all consider adjusting your bookmarks, subscriptions, and feed readers accordingly.


Trust me when I say this wasn’t an easy decision to make. I really need to pull in the reigns, though, and focus more on income producing activities. We all reach forks along way down our career paths, and this is mine.
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EDUCATION: It’s a Full-Time Job

October 15th 2008 15:02

Like it or not, keeping track of and following up on your child’s education is a full time job (or, as some like to say, a full time responsibility). You don’t need a degree in education, but you do need to possess organizational skills and follow-through with what you say you’re going to do.

For example, if you say you’re going to look at your child’s assignment book daily – do it! If you say you’re going to email you child’s teachers daily to check up on assignments or appointments – do it! If you say you’re going to be available to work with your child daily on homework – do it!


This is obvious to some, but a constant challenge to others. Here’s something to ponder:

“The research overwhelmingly demonstrates that parent involvement in children's learning is positively related to achievement. Further, the research shows that the more intensively parents are involved in their children's learning, the more beneficial are the achievement effects. This holds true for all types of parent involvement in children's learning and for all types and ages of students.” – School Improvement Research Series

How can parents become better organized when helping with their child’s educational matters? Here are some tips:
· Set up a schedule for emailing similar to appointments on a calendar. If you keep a daily planner or a daily to-do list, this should be the first thing listed.
· Set aside specific times for homework daily. If you are not available right after school because of your work schedule, schedule it in as soon as possible when you return home or after dinner.
· Write your child’s assignments in a teacher’s planner (or a notebook set up in a similar fashion – the teacher’s planners are available through office supply stores, too). Check them off when they’re complete and, if they’re an on-going term paper or essay, make notes of the progress.
· Set a good example. If your child has a reading assignment, read with them. This can either be a publication of your choice, or materials they’re reading for school. Participate in active discussions about what they have just read.

There are a lot of books and websites geared specifically to parent’s involvement with their child’s education. If you expect them to do all of this on their own, they’ll flounder and feel like they’re not good enough. Or, they’ll develop bad habits that are very difficult to break. It’s up to you, reality mom, to mold them and help them shape their future.
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Never-ending To-Do Lists

October 15th 2008 14:18

This week has been one never-ending to-do list of chores, appointments, errands, housework, sporting events, parenting, and career responsibilities . . . and . . . it’s only Wednesday. I’m eager for this weekend, but I’m not really sure why because it is full of more lists of things that have to be finished (primarily: homework with my nephew and finishing my book).

Here is my to do list for today:
1. get the kids up and ready for school, get them on the bus
2. work from 7:45am until 2:45pm and do housework:
a. laundry
b. vacuum
c. pay bills
d. email nephews teachers
e. scrub bathrooms
3. kids off the bus, snack, nephew getting picked up by his mom for doctor’s appointment
4. homework with the kids, and than activities
5. start supper while fitting in some more work while the kids play
6. soccer practice at 5:00pm
7. bath-time with the kids when we get home, get them ready for bed
8. homework with nephew while getting in some more work time
9. go over progress reports with nephew and fiancé, set up homework schedule for make-up work over the weekend
10. clean up from dinner, start another load of laundry

I’m not including my list of things to do for work because, well, it’s too long. I have it written in my to-do list notebook, though. What are your plans for today? Do you feel like you’re working through a never-ending list of to-do’s? Do you find yourself feeling like you’re racing against the clock?
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Coupon Clipping, Cash, & Coins

October 14th 2008 12:33

When I first moved out on my own in 1992 (that seems SO long ago), I was an avid coupon clipper. The grocery stores I frequented had “double coupon day” once per week, so that was my day to shop. I loved raking in the savings.

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Posted By: Jenn Hollowell - Category: consumerism
   


Play Dates on Rainy Days

October 13th 2008 16:46

Rainy days are a constant issue in our happy little household. On perfectly sunny days, the kids rarely seem interested in going outside. When it is raining, however, that is all they want to do.

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Short School Week

October 12th 2008 18:12

Despite it being a short school week (the kids have Monday off from school because it’s a holiday), that doesn’t mean there’s less to do.
· Monday: my nephew and I will be working on his homework all day while I work on my job-related duties. Then, the rest of the kids will be home by 5pm


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Sharing on the Holidays

October 12th 2008 16:53

Because we’re a blended family in every way imaginable, we have to share the children on every other holiday. This is difficult because, of course, we want the house filled with the celebratory laughter and conversation from the entire family on the holidays . . . we don’t want to send them in so many different directions:

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Media Limitations: Why or Why Not?

October 11th 2008 15:56

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to media limitations ever since we welcomed our nephew into our household. There is a lot of debate surrounding this subject for obvious reasons. Many adults believe there is no need to limit how often a child uses their computer, the television, an iPod, text features on a cell phone, and so on.

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Bullying or Surviving?

October 11th 2008 15:36

This topic is becoming a frequent area of discussion in our household lately. We’ve been noticing an interesting and unexpected trend. The children we expected to be bullies at school because they’re outspoken at home are actually being bullied and are very sensitive to this fact. And, those who we expected to be bullied because they’re quiet at home are actually bullying other kids.

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Children and Journal Writing

October 8th 2008 16:35

I’ve been encouraging my children to express their feelings through art over the years and, now that they’re writing more and more in school, I’m encouraging expression through journal writing. Because we’re a VERY blended family, it’s confusing and frustrating at times for us all and sorting out these feelings in journals is a great outlet.

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Progress Reports: Good With the Bad

October 8th 2008 15:24

It’s that time of year again! Next week, we’ll be receiving four progress reports, one for each child in the household. The schools (the elementary for the younger children, and the high school for our nephew) will be holding parent and teacher conferences for each child to discuss their progress. We’ve always really enjoyed these meetings because our children typically do quite well.

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Posted By: Jenn Hollowell - Category: family
   


Liar, Liar Pants on Fire!

October 7th 2008 12:13

The entire dynamic of our household is changing daily. Our children are getting older and wising up to the fact that lying will:
· Help them avoid punishment


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It’s Date Night!

October 3rd 2008 11:34

My fiancé and I rarely have a moment to us these days, let alone time together. While we do spend the evenings catching up after the kids go to sleep, the time is either spent droned out from exhaustion in front of the TV or having family-related discussions. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you, but we still need some quality time that’s planned.

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Posted By: Jenn Hollowell - Category: parenting
   


Weather-Run Living

October 2nd 2008 12:00

As much as the kids would still love to play, it looks like there will be no soccer game tonight. Practice was cancelled last night, as well. The rain is pouring down in sheets, so it’s not exactly “playable” weather. The fields are soaked, so even if it weren’t raining it would be too wet to play.

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October Art With the Kids

October 1st 2008 13:09

It feels like a two pots of coffee kind of day. The rainy, gray weather always seems to do that for me. We woke to the sound of the pouring rain and, despite the fact that it has let up, the clouds remain . . . threatening more showers in minutes or hours.

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