Friday, October 2, 2009

FF: The Three Chapter Edition

The chronicles of my Ordinary and Awesome life, family, and thoughts at www.ordinaryandawesome.com. Ordinary and Awesome is also the Mostly Wordless Wednesday headquarters as well as the home to several original awards and memes.


Friday Fragments?


The bragging chapter:

  • I have, in fact, fixed my broken links to Friday's Freewrite and Friday Fragments :) Don't believe me? Click the images above. ( please work, please work, please work....)
  • I may have complained about our too full schedules, but we've added one more with the addition of my daughter's selection for the chorus of her school's production of "Seussical the Musical."


The school complaint chapter:

  • WHY, school, have you chosen to do "Seussical the Musical" ?!?!? I attended a performance of the same musical a couple of years ago with my child's class and I arrived home and announced that was one musical we would never have to attend as a family because it completely failed to keep most every person there awake.
  • My daughter's school has a very strict dress code and it is surely enforced, but dress codes that are strict can be confusing unless each detail is discussed. We understand the no short shorts rule, but my daughter's friends had on blue jeans under their shorts. The girls were found in violation of the dress code. As a matter of fact, there were so many violations (a tank top OVER a sleeved shirt was one) on wacky clothing day that the office ran out of extra clothing. I think the school should go to uniforms or provide a more lenient dress code. Without those, there will forever be too many gray areas. And don't even get me talking about the 1st hour teacher who said the clothing was acceptable but the hall monitors who decided it wasn't.
  • When an after-school activity is scheduled to end at 5, but ends at 4:10, why does the school require the students to wait outside? My child is not old enough to drive and Checkered and I were both obligated to responsibilities 30 minutes away. My child was the only person outside that building for that half-hour. Think, school, before you change plans. Not every child has access to a quick ride home.


  • If, during the month of April, a child exhibits behavior which greatly concerns you, please don't wait until a conference in September to tell his parents.
  • My 6th grader is a good student, but he has had 2-3 hours of homework each night since the first week of school. I understand the theory that homework is a reinforcement of what was presented in school, but I also believe that a child deserves some breathing room during the evenings.


  • I miswrote something on the board this week (i.e. proname instead of pronoun) and an entire class of 28 college students did not murmur a single, "Huh?" I refuse to believe that they were ALL asleep.


The recipe chapter:

  • I love emealz. They send me a list of dinners for each week and a shopping list for those meals. Customers can specify the types of meals they want (in our case it's the points counting/WW type) and the grocery chain. The recipes are not only tailored to diet preferences, but are based on that chain's weekly sale items. Try this quick and delicious soup from emealz:
Santa Fe Ravioli Soup
28 ounces of FF low sodium chicken broth
9 oz pkg of frozen cheese ravioli
16 oz fresh salsa
15 oz can low sodium black beans, rinse and drain
9 oz pkg roasted Tyson chicken
1 t. minced garlic
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
Bring broth to a boil
add ravioli & cook 3 mins
stir in salsa, beans, chicken, & garlic
Cook 5 mins.
Stir in cilantro.
Serves 6 little, bitty portions :( BUT it is only 4 Weight Watchers point per serving.

18 comments:

4 Lettre Words said...

Crazy school stuff this week, huh!?!

A friend raves about Emealz, too. I gotta check it out!

Sara Elizabeth said...

WOW! Sounds like a lot of school related stress. Yuck!

I hope you have a happy Friday! :)

I Am Woody said...

That dress code sounds like it needs a LOT of work!! If they are going to be that nutso, then uniforms is definitely a more logical approach. But then nutso isn't logical, is it?!?

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

Amen on the 2-3 hours of homework Caution. My Little T is going through the same thing. When do kid have time to be kids these days?
<><

Rebecca Jo said...

Happy FF!

I'm totally going to check out the Emeals right now!

Unknown said...

You should totally run for the school board. They need a sane voice of reason among them, obviously.

That soup sounds amazing...I think HWM would even like it.

LadyFi said...

Shorts with leggings or jeans under should be OK... Sounds bad when not even the class monitors and teachers can decide what's OK and what isn't...'

And 2-3 hrs our homework every night?! Far too much - no wonder kids popping pills and showing stress symptoms like headaches and stomachaches...

Mental P Mama said...

Seussical is one boring play. Sorry. And I am all about uniforms...you should start a movement. So much less expensive for everybody, too. And just a bunch of gahs in general;)

betty said...

maybe your daughter's school will spruce Seussical up (or sell Starbucks coffee before the show)

makes no sense about the dress code; I think if you wear the shorts over jeans or leggings it should be acceptable; I'm sure that's why so many schools go to uniforms!

I would be livid about having my child wait outside for 1/2 hour alone; that school needs to be called on the carpet about that one for sure. What if it was in the middle of winter and it was very cold outside???

that recipe sounds delicous!

enjoy the weekend :)

betty

Evansmom said...

That dress code sounds nutty. Let's use some common sense.

2-3 hours of homework for a 6th grader? Crazy! The rule of thumb is 10 minutes per grade. Personally with all of the options for afterschool enrichment/activities, I think the school day should be extended slightly and homework eliminated.

mub said...

I think I'd prefer uniforms to that sort of dresscode too!

That is way too much homework for a 6th grader =(

claudia said...

I am so happy that my girls are no longer in school!
We never had a dress code here, maybe we should have, or at least an attempt at a dress code, cause some of the outfits I see when the kids get off the bus...oi!
That WW recips sounds good. You could save poents up so you have more at dinner and double up on your helpings! I'm going to go right over on that link and check it out, sounds like osmething I could use. Since my dinner tonight so far has been at the stoopid little 1 and 2 point bars that I bought at my last meeting...Can you say LAZY???

Karen MEG said...

That is a lot of school silliness isn't it? I could never figure out why they'd lock us out of the school when I was little too, in the freezing cold sometimes, and we'd wait to be picked up.

That Mealz site looks great!

Happy weekend!

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

You deserve a break, and I wish I could cyber-send one to you. The school stuff alone is exhausting, HOWEVER the college student stuff, i.e. they aren't paying attention, really puts thoughts in my head.

Imagine what you could write up there almost daring them to read. If you snuck in one ________ thing every class(fill in blank with the word "profound" or "assanine" and everything in between that would not get you fired), they might come to realize this was a regular thing and that might entice them to read.

No? I know. Nothing short of a strip tease will get and keep their attention, and I do not endorse that. I don't think.

Mrs4444 said...

Oh, man! I rolled my eyes at the Seussical choice for our middle school two years ago, but I was pleasantly surprised in the end; it was WONDERFUL! And I'm not even saying that because Kendall had the role of JoJo, either. That musical will go down as the school favorite for years to come, I'm sure. That said, we're doing Willy Wonka this year. It should be pretty great. Here's a link to one of the songs from our production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoWB34eUSS8 Sorry it's blurry, but you can at least hear it.

I hate it when teachers/staff are on different pages for dress codes, too. It drives me crazy. And I agree that your school's crazy in being so rigid and/or not clear on expectations. what in the world did they expect when they allowed dress-up days in the first place?! Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's quite a strict dress code.


My cousin did Seussical and I loved it!

Mamí♥Picture said...

Wow!!
My kids bring to much homework too, it feels like I am homeschooling them, LOL
Have a luving week! =)

Mel Fraase said...

E-mealz looks totally awesome! It's just what I need! I may sign up, if I do I'll note that you referred me!!!