May is like childbirth!

You forget how painful it is!
I am just now recovering from the endless barrage of craziness that is "happily" known as the last few weeks of school.  Granted, we all like to make things hard on ourselves by trying to do everything .....but it's hard not to!! I DO want to thank my child's teacher with a thoughtful gift (find the email about who to give $10 to that will buy gift card for whole class), I DO want to thank the room parent (see above about email about who to send money to...at which of my kids 4 different schools), I DO want to help just one last time in the classroom/field trip/party, (omg, i have to put kids in this smelly car?),I DO want to arrive on time in clean clothes and preferably with some make-up on, to the end of the year open house/ art show/musical/party, I DO want to thank the kids coaches at the end of the year pizza party, I DO want to remember who has to wear what during the crazy hair day/beach day theme/red,white&blue FUN days at school(?), I DO want to try to show up for early- season-swim practice, in between end-of-season other stuff practices,I DO want to remember to pick my kids up early on all half days, and I DO want to spend time with my kids on mother's Day!....despite my initial plans to kick everyone out of the house and clorganize (my trademark name for cleaning and organizing)....but, my motherly love got the best of me and we just hung out which was quite nice..

This would be fine- if- come the first days of summer, we could actually sleep in, remain in our jammies and eat cereal all day, but JUNE is here... 3 OF MY KIDS BIRTHDAY'S WITHIN DAYS OF EACH OTHER, family reunions and the beginning of swim season!  Which means.........that I would have had to organize most of these events in............................ MAY!

What's' that saying for March....in like a lion, out like a lamb?    Someone needs to come up with one for May, like:   "in like a water balloon exploding in your face while you're holding a tray of fresh baked canapes (i have no idea what those are but they sound complicated) and out like a water balloon exploding in your face while you're trying to zip up your fancy dress on your way out to a wedding that you're late to...." or something better that rhymes..


OK, enough of my complaining!!! It is nearing the end of June and all the birthday's have passed successfully, we've made it to swim events with MOST of the necessary gear.....and i think I see days ahead with NOTHING ON THE CALENDAR!

So, you'll forgive me for not writing anything since April!:)please!

Ok, so here are a few 15is tips for YOU to survive the end of the year madness.


- gift cards.  (BOUGHT EARLY! THINK FEBRUARY!)  i know they are not the most personal gift, but they are better than nothing.   One of my kids' schools offers gift card sales through their escrip program.  The school gets a percentage of the money spent on the gift card. Done!

-Add some fresh flowers picked from your garden (having your child do this the morning of the last day of school is not stressful at all<!>) but, they really will appreciate it.

-Have a photographic memory.   This will help you remember who sent you the emails about room parent gifts...because you forgot to put them in a special email file as they came in.


-keep your sense of humor...... remember that none of this is LIFE OR DEATH and that it really is pretty funny when you stop and think about it.....you can be the one to shed a little light on the subject from time to time.
One way I like to do this is to have periodic dance parties in my kitchen, but, often my kids are not in the mood to watch me dance...so
spending time with each one separately helps....just 15minutes here and there, catching up, hugging or tickling, really grounds them.
and just giving everyone a break.....the laundry room is a mess as are most of the closets and rooms in the house.
it will all get done.......eventually and i just try to keep in mind what's most important right now.

-plan, plan, plan....spending 15 minutes planning your calendar and mapping out your days will help you in the long run.

-get your kids to take EVERYTHING out of the car whenever they leave it....now once it's in the house is another story..(more on getting kids to do their chores and giving allowance in my next post).

-Say No to a few events..maybe you don't get to the end of the season pizza party, or whatever feels too much.  Will they really remember it anyway?

-Remember, these are all good problems to have....Good luck! and MAY the force be with you....


leslie