Bridgewater Soccer Mom's view of the world

Bridgewater Township has announced a tax refund. Not sure if it is the homeowners who made collective mistakes over a number of years, or the Township but here it is. The once in a lifetime tax refund. Click here to check if your address is on the list. Our house is not. I see several of our friends are listed, so I better let them know before BW Township changes their mind. I could have used a refund! C spent all day Monday trying on her friend's new clothes. It was HS's birthday, and she had already done her back-to-school shopping. C, who has a closet full of beautiful things, wants more, more , more . T's grandmother gave her a little money this spring so now she wants to spend it. It's her pocket money, so I guess it's OK. Even though C will be spending her own cash, there always seems to be extras that need Mom's wallet. The boys will spend the day more constructively - at the science center. With all the bad news about corruption in NJ, I have to admit I...

Today we had planned to go for a hike until we saw the weather report. Chance of showers. We went for plan B, an indoor activity for the kids. The kids are inside on a pretty sunny day. There are plenty of showers right here. N is having a bad day. Every little thing is making him cry. We are at a place with lots of other kids - and "free" internet to keep parents entertained (free is relative since parents have to pay too) - and some of the kids are very annoying. One set of boys were following C & her friend around relentlessly. Another boy followed T (N's BFF) around bugging him, too. Although the other kids have been over several times to complain, only N was in tears. What do I say to either C or N? C and the friends we brought with us came over to tell me that some boy pulled down N's pants while they were on the slide (a bouncy slide, the boy was fake "falling down" but that is part of the fun, I guess). C and the friends laughed. C admitted it wa...

I have been away at a summer house without stable internet. When I did have a turn online, I felt like every second was being counted... since the connection was low, it took 5 minutes just to read an e-mail and respond. That meant I didn't respond much and no blogging. I did respond to one e-mail. My friend forwarded this e-mail (in red italics) regarding a rise in prices on payment for school lunches using meal pay plan, BRRSD's chosen provider. I didn't know about it it, because although I am registered to pay online, the company never sent me this e-mail, NOR is it mentioned when I log on - although there is a note that fees may be applicable for payment. Dear Parents/Guardians: We want to thank all of you for your participation in the MealpayPlus program. We would like to inform you of an important change that will be effective on August 1, 2009. Due to steadily increasing credit card processing and development costs, the program fee associated with deposits made th...

This week has been slow in the world of my blog. A few weeks ago I applied to be a guest writer for another mothering blog, but was rejected as my writing isn't edgy enough. That was quite a disappointment, since it was unpaid blogs written by Moms. I thought a little about my blog. This blog started in protest to moves by the BRRSD. It has developed into an open diary of my experiences as a parent. This isn't a bad thing, but it was never the intent. After the rejection, I have been thinking about how and what I write. If I am writing a "how to" blog (and some of the entries could best be described how NOT to), then I should write what I know. I started a blog out earlier this week about traveling with kids. After only a few minutes with information flying from my fingers, it was simply too long. I decided to cut it into several shorter blogs, but this requires editing which takes time. I haven't felt like spending time at the laptop doing this work. It is summer...

I spent the weekend mostly without cellphone service and completely without internet. We took a long road trip - a return to days gone by when we dropped everything to drive 24 hours in the car to spend 12 hours enjoying a certain beach, a national forest or a natural hot spring. The was, of course, before kids and before we both had real jobs, when cheap was more important than clean. Long before we had dreamed of anything as revolutionary as personal GPS devises. Usually when I visit a city where I have lots of old friends, I spend my time with them, and I visit all the typical tourist institutions - museums, attractions, well known eateries. This trip was the opposite. Save a quick hour at a park to break-up the trip home, I didn't call anyone to let them know we were coming. The first night - in the city of my mother's birth - we found a country-western bar and listened to a live band, eating ribs with the kids until 11pm. The second day we went to only one "tourist ac...

Sometimes I feel as if I have no control in my life. No power, no say. Yesterday was one of those days - someone at the pool saw me and said "You look like I feel". I want to please everyone else because I like making people happy, and sometimes I make myself completely miserable in the process. Yesterday I said something rude to my BFF, I yelled at my kids when I was actually upset with my husband and by the end of the evening my stomach was in a twist. I couldn't sleep, so I read until after 4am. Today I started off the day with a quick shower and a stressful meeting. I just came home to a messy kitchen with several of my daughter's friends in it snacking, while my daughter tried to change her plans yet again. This is the third time she asked to have a separate friend over in 24 hours, forgetting we already had plans. How accommodating is a Mom supposed to be to her daughter's changing fancy? A better question: how can I find the gumption to prioritize my own wa...