Sickety, sick, sick sick!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...for those of you who may not be in the know or not aware of what is good and what is not so good, here's a news flash; Don't make pancakes with 10-month old batter. It will render you helpless and leave you shivering in the fetal position for days. Good thing I was the only one who ate that poison because I would have surely sent my kids to the emergency room if what was coming out of me all of sudden began to come out of them. So, why did I make pancakes from 10-month old batter? Because I don't like to waste food. Besides, I mixed it with the new Betty Crocker batter I bought at the store only two days earlier. Surely, that would justify good usage. Lesson learned.

I'm back in the office, up-right but not 100% yet. I haven't had an "episode" since Sunday but my guts are still churning something fierce. The pain isn't nearly what it was yesterday, but there are still pangs of unhappiness. I hope I can get through this with all my organs still intact. Jeez!

On other fronts, my babe has too much homework. I'm talking hours and hours of homework. We read, read, read...we have grammar, math and spelling homework. I'm spending more time on homework than I am spending time with her. It's ridiculous! The teacher sends home AR reports (Accelerated Reading). I'm not too clear on whether AR books and tests are mandatory, but I believe they must be. She puts so much stress on them. Anyway, my babe has .8 out of 5 total points. Dammit! She reads all the time! We check out AR books from the list the school district supplies on their website and read those till we're blue! At the bottom of her progress card she wrote, "Read more!" How the hell are we supposed to do that? I broke down and wrote her a one and a half page note about how much she's been doing, how stressful it is and any suggestions she has on how to best help her improve with AR (assuming it is mandatory).

I hope she doesn't see me as the psycho, cry-baby mommy. I just want to make sure I'm doing what's best. Perhaps my strategies are not creating the best possible results. We've even started doubling up on homework each day so that she's not overwhelmed. I also mentioned that both parents work full time in Salt Lake and that there isn't a stay-at-home parent to ease the stress. I believe that many of the teachers here just assume mommy is at home. Sorry to tell them, we don't live in that kind of world anymore.

Hubby and I had a blow out last night over money. It wasn't a typical argument, it was more me being really irritated with the tone he took with me; as if I were one of our girls. Please! I am not a child. If I forget something or don't remember it completely, that does not give him the right to talk to me like I'm five. He didn't see it that way and ended up going to the gym to work out his stress (I guess). Not before leaving big, broken glass in the sink. Was that supposed to be some sort of message? You broke a glass and left it for me to clean up? Is that aggression or did he just forget. Leave it to me to read more into it than there probably is.

On a happier note, I'm looking forward to the fall festivities. It's pretty chilly here now (it's 49 at present and probably won't get any warmer than the low 60s). The leaves are changing and that lovely fall scent is in the air. My oldest is excited about Halloween and keeps asking me if I have her costume (I do, but I never show it to her until the day of Halloween...otherwise, she would worry me to death about it!). She may see it earlier this year because hubby wants to do some costume-esque festivities. It would be nice to have her wear it more than once after the money I spent.