McDonalds Day

Friday is a great day because it's McDonalds Day! I started out the school year with happy meals being an incentive for good behavior. But then I realized that I don't care how good or bad the kids behave, we're having happy meals on Friday. I know that no "good mother" would say these words, but I HATE planning meals, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning up the mess of cooking and eating. If I could find some way to get rich, we'd eat out every single day. Actually, to make myself at least resemble a "good mother," I'd buy the food and put it all out on plates as if I'd made it. I guess the cleanup isn't what I really hate because this really sounds like a great plan to me. And nutrition? I give the kids liquid minerals every morning for breakfast and pray that that counts for all their nutrition for the day. The rest is just keeping them from being hungry.

Seth and I spent today with Gavin again -- and I remembered the camera this time :-) They were so cute and sweet and well-behaved. I was amazed at how smart and cooperative Gavin is. He's almost two and can talk well and follow directions very well. I've gotten used to the older kids who either ignore or disobey directions and Seth who doesn't understand how to follow directions much yet. Gavin was a nice change. After lunch, before naptime, I put on Elmocize and got out the camera. I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing long enough to snap each picture. After awhile, they got tired out apparently from all that elmocizing. Gavin got two chairs for them to sit on to watch the rest (SO sweet of him to know to get one for Seth, too!).

(Thanks, Rachelle, for filling me in on how to put pictures in different places instead of dumping them all at the top :-)

I was reminded today that I'm really lacking in the "good mother" department (more than just my dislike for and laziness in nutrition). Sunday is Joel's birthday, but I completely forgot about bringing anything to the school to celebrate today. I remembered to get his gifts, plan a little party for him and his friends on Saturday, plan his special meals for Sunday, and even do most of the shopping for all that. But I forgot about celebrating at school. How did that dawn on me? When I heard everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him in the cafeteria today and saw him coming over to me and saying "you missed it, Mom." A little boy in Luke's class had brought in cupcakes today for his birthday. There were extras that his mom didn't want to take home, so she'd left them with me to give to Joel's class. They used them as Joel's birthday celebration. I wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear! But that's all over and I need to move on to tomorrow's party, Sunday's meals and gifts, and Monday's school treat (I MUST take something more special than some other kid's leftover cupcakes!).