Happy 50th!

I'm pretty sure my husband had a good birthday. We had a family brunch at his brother's house, then he went to the Saints game, where I think the Saints won 45 to 14, but don't quote me. I got him a really nice Oster blender because he likes to make smoothies. That was the good news.

The bad news is that my perfectionistic sixteen year old is still moping about getting a 'C' on a quiz. I hate to see any kid put this kind of pressure on themselves. It's hard for kids this age to see the big picture because their worlds tend to be a very small sphere which encompasses their family, friends, and school. This morning I gave her a suggestion. Try thinking about someone else for a while, like one of the children at my literacy center. Her home burned down just before Christmas, now she and her pregnant mother are homeless. The child's reading library was also lost, so I suggested she and her little sister go through our children's books and see what we can give.

Maybe she could think about the people in Haiti? If getting a 'C' on a quiz was the biggest problem teenage girls had in that country, it might be the best day of their lives. So come on you teenagers who are so connected and into saving the world! Why not get together with your friends and figure out a way to help someone in real need? How about remembering that five years ago, your city was also devastated and that many people came to your aid to help rebuild your life and your city?

It's just a suggestion from your Mom.

Disaster Relief

As a Hurricane Katrina survivor, you can only watch the unfolding events in Haiti and put your head in your hands. The earthquake was devastating and the overwhelming majority of these victims have nowhere to turn. The displacement is gut wrenching with little hope of stability for some time to come. In New Orleans, we discuss everything as 'before Katrina' and 'after Katrina'. Five years later, there are still parts of this modern American city that look like the hurricane hit yesterday. If you're able to help at all, even in the smallest way, I encourage you to do so. Five or ten dollars from millions of people can go a long way to begin the recovery and healing of this island nation.

One more hurdle....

Today, I finished my last Mardi Gras costume for the Zulu parade. For those non-New Orleanians, it is the rare person in the Big Easy who does not participate in Mardi Gras in some fashion. When I was a stay at home mom, making Mardi Gras costumes was a major part of my sewing season. And as excited as you are for the season to begin, you're just that ecstatic to see it end. I made fourteen costumes this season while working full time for Americorps and going back to school. I almost died. Lesson learned: edit your schedule to prevent insanity!

School starts next Tuesday and of course, I'm nervous. My husband's fiftieth birthday is Saturday, I'm painting my bathroom on Sunday, and volunteering on Monday. Don't feel too sorry for me. If I didn't really enjoy this level of activity, I think I'd stop before the next project took shape.

Day of Service

As an Americorps member, monthly service projects are required, and usually enjoyed. To celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday on Monday, January 18, I will be volunteering at a local elementary school. We'll be painting, landscaping and organizing the library.

With the tight schedules we all enjoy, the idea of volunteering is sometimes met with a wince and a faint promise to pick up the baton on another occasion. It' s like trying anything new and unknown. If you give volunteering a chance, you'll find an enjoyable experience underneath all the work. I'd like to challenge everyone to do more on Rev. King's birthday than go to a sale or sit in front of the television all day. Give a little of yourself to your community and make it better for all.

When did high school get so hard?

My sixteen year old is starting to have more of those days when she wishes she had stayed in bed. As a junior at one of the toughest high schools in the country, in addition to half days at the performing arts high school, she's starting to get in the car at the end of the day looking like a fifty year old man who's been laid off. She's got teachers who give her biology finals with two hundred questions and science projects which need the signature of the President for completion. When did high school get so hard?

I get it. I know it's the preparation ground for college, but teenagers shouldn't be having this kind of stress over papers, tests and grades. There are times when the pressure gets so great and she has been so overworked that I want to call in sick for the kid. It doesn't help that she's a perfectionist when it comes to her grades. Where does she get that from, I wonder? Possibly from the woman who's trying to juggle family, work and school at one time.

Well, it's taken me years to figure out that perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be. In the end you make it look so easy that others continue to pile on the work. At the end of that self perpetuating hamster wheel, you're either forced to keep up the facade, chuck the whole thing, or look for the non hostile middle ground. I've told her to start looking for the middle ground now. Anything's better than trying to pull off the perfect Martha Stewart Christmas for people who are just as happy with styrofoam plates, paper napkins and pigs in a blanket. Oh wait, are we talking about me again?

The Heat Is On

On December 22nd, I walked out of work relieved. I was going to have almost three weeks off and I could get all kinds of things done. Well, here it is, January 10th, and I'm looking at my bathroom, my still unfinished bathroom. I've got an article to write, some sewing to do, and preparations for the beginning of my Spring semester at school. I get depressed just thinking about it.

I'm going to take a couple of deep breaths, then I'll remember my mantra for the year; small bites. I'll work for an hour in the bathroom and for an hour each day until it's ready for painting on Saturday, the last thing I need to do. I'm completing one last costume today. I'll do some reading for class. I'm breathing easier already.

Gotta go now. My six year old has asked for a stretching partner. She's a gymnast and this will help knock out the exercise for today.

Back to the grind!

Today was the first day back to work for me since December 22 and let me tell you, it was not easy. I had gotten used to sleeping past six and wearing my pajamas past lunch. It was a nice long vacation and I was sorry to see it end.

Only one thing made me feel good about going into work today. I'm an Americorps member and I work at a family literacy site. Just before Christmas, two of our moms took the GED test and they both passed. One of them came in today to have her childrens' language skills evaluated, and the look on her face is something that can't be described. I think people who get their GED, especially those who have dealt with the hardship of teenage pregnancy and poverty, appreciate it far more than the average high school graduate. I had to drag my college sophomore kicking and screaming to every Senior activity, convinced that she would have been sorry if she missed these events (and I was right, of course). These two ladies will have a graduation ceremony with GED graduates throughout the city in May and I can assure you, they'll be floating on air the entire time.