Statesville.com - Statesville Record and Landmark

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Crazy days of May have mom running in circles

By Kelli Robinson | Statesville R&L

Published: May 14, 2009

Field trips, parent/teacher conferences, teacher appreciation weeks. End-of-year gifts for principals, teachers, teacher assistants, administrative assistants and assistant principals. Is anyone else humming "Flight of the Bumblebee" at this point?
A beautiful calendar graces our kitchen wall, each month showcasing wonderful wildlife photography. But a nasty graffiti artist recorded events, times and dollar amount reminders all over the month of May, to the point that the adorable lion cub pictured seems to sob into his dad's mane —"Why couldn't I have been featured in March when nothing but St. Patrick's Day and birthdays happen?"
And the graffiti reminders aren't doing much good. My money due to the preschool room mom was four days late. I messed up Teacher Appreciation Week for the kindergarten teachers, completely forgetting about "Bring A Muffin" Monday, and mixing up "Send a Flower" Tuesday with "Have Some Fruit" Thursday. Oh well. The flowers added a nice touch to the fruit basket, and the orange at the bottom of the flower vase will be a neat surprise when the flowers go bad.
Fortunately, my daughter isn't old enough yet to have field trips, so I'll only be following one school bus on one kid-friendly adventure this month, armed with bagged lunches … and wipes. There's a requirement that every field trip destination be as filthy as possible.
Next year I'm taking a different approach to this end-of-school-year madness. I'll open a separate checking account and turn over the debit card to the room moms on May 1. I'll set up camps on the school roofs, so I'll only have to drive back and forth between the two places that are my primary residencies at this point anyway. Teacher Appreciation Week will be easy. Bringing a bullhorn, I'll serenade the teachers each morning as they come to work. I'll even put a box in the office so they can request specific songs.
Prior to the trip, I'll stock the fridge and leave a note on the door: "Dear Hubby: Went camping. Dinner's in the freezer. Don't forget to feed the pets. See you the second week in June."