My 2 cents on Scholastic, electronic book systems for kids, Skippyjon Jones and other reading phenomena

I have read some blog and Facebook posts/comments recently by parents who dislike Scholastic, specifically Scholastic book fairs in schools and the quality of the books (or the lack of quality of the books).  These comments got me thinking about why I like Scholastic and do not mind the book fairs, catalogs, and book quality.

Mind you, if there is one thing I will always purchase for my kids, it is books.  Toys are not necessary and clothing is optional, but one can never have too many books.

Sure, there are some books out there that I don't like.  I was never big into the Strawberry Shortcake books because 1. they are loooooong and 2. Strawberry Shortcake and her fruity friends always say things like, "This is berry cool!"  When N was big into these books I did buy them and I did check them out from our local library, but I always read them as "This is very cool."  The point was that she liked them, and I wanted (and want) her to like books and enjoy the pleasure of reading.

I recognize that the Scooby-Doo books and the Marvel Superhero books and the Barbie books are not great literature, but I think kids should be allowed to have their choice in reading.  They will be far more willing to read things I suggest to them (better quality literature) if they know they are able to pick some of their favorites.

When I was a preteen/teen one of the books I read over and over and over was Jimmy Reardon by William Reichert.  Not high quality literature, to be sure, but it got me reading, and I read it every time I sat at the kitchen table to have a snack.

Unless my kids want to read pornography before they are legally of age to purchase it, I do not ever see myself censoring their reading.  I might postpone their reading, say if N wanted to read Forever by Judy Blume when she is 10.  She can read it when she is the same age as the protagonist.  (But I reserve the right to change my mind about this at any time.)

I don't mind the kids visiting the Scholastic book fair while at school and making a wish list.  I have a much bigger problem with the kids being allowed to purchase chips and cookies in the lunch line.  A book, even a crappy book, is far better for a kid than junk food.

Now, I never just give N money to purchase her own stuff from the book fair because she might be tempted to buy erasers or other little trinkets that are also sold.  She makes her wish list of books, I go the book fair, I decide which of her choices I want to buy her that costs $5 or less, and she gets one book.

What does stick in my craw a bit are the Tag systems and other electronic "readers" that are advertised as being a great way to get kids to read.  My kids like to read mostly because we have books all over our house, we have read to our kids at least once a day since they were six months old, I have taken them to the library on a regular basis their entire lives, and they see me and D reading almost constantly---magazines, newspaper, books.  It is my belief that most kids will enjoy reading and read well if similar things are done in their homes from the time they are wee babies.  Unless one of the kids has specific reading problems and I am encouraged by a reading professional to get them one of these systems, I will not purchase one.  (But I also refuse to allows televisions in bedrooms, including mine and D's, so I am kinda in a small circle of Luddites.)

I'm going out on a limb here but do some parents buy these things for their kids just so they don't have to read to 'em?

If there is one book series that I have heard people rave about but that I don't get the hype, it is the Skippyjon Jones books.  They are cute--yes--but I find them very confusing.  And if I get confused, it makes me wonder if my kids aren't a little confused.  Plus, I'm not big on the use of just adding "o" to the end of an English word to make it sound Spanish.  I'd be curious to know how these books are received among Latinos.

Two titles I found in the Scholastic brochures that the kids and I have read and enjoyed are Pete the Cat:  I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat:  Rockin in My School Shoes, both by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean.  Perhaps the best thing about the books is that if one visits this site, one can download audio recordings.  If you were driving around my city sometimes, you might see us rockin' out to these in the minivan.  Pete is one funky cat.  

Being the mom, especially the SAHM, sometimes totally sucks

I put it to my husband this way Wednesday night when, upon returning home from work, he began asking me what was for supper and I snapped at him.  But first, let's establish the facts of that day:

1. We stayed in the house all day other than to pick N up from school.

2. G was sick.

3. I was PMSing.

4. It is Christmas time so my usual to-do/things on my mind list is longer than normal.

I asked D if he has ever had 4 people standing at his office door at work, all demanding something from him at the exact same moment?  

I then asked, "Do you like that?"

The difference is that adults generally have more patience than young children.  Adults generally, at least in the workplace, don't scream and flail themselves on the floor.  Adults generally don't argue over the dumbest of dumb things....like bandaids or straws or things like who can say, "HaHaHaHaHa" the best. Not that adults aren't annoying in the workplace, but it is on a totally different level than children.  And in the workplace, D has his own office, where he can shut the door and ignore his email or phone calls if he really felt like his head was going to implode from all the interruptions.  

Staying at home full-time means that I do the housework and usually have multiple housework things going on at once (laundry and beds needing to be made and dishes needing to be taken out of the dishwasher, etc).  Then there are the unexpected household tasks, like cleaning up the 15 cat-vomit piles in the basement or dealing with a doctor's office phone call.  And then there is the endless not-necessary tasks that if I made them into a huge pile would be bigger than my house, like sharpening the broken pencils or organizing school papers.

On top of all this are the childcare responsibilities---helping kids pee, changing diapers, wiping noses, breaking up fights, getting snacks, cleaning up snacks, moving toys back to the family room from wherever in the home they are taken.  The kids do not coordinate any of their needs.  G will come ask for a snack, eat it and then be on his way.  As soon as I get back to whatever it was I was doing when G asked for a snack, inevitably N comes in and asks for a snack for herself.  The interruptions never, ever, ever end.  

Then there is the cooking and/or the running of the errands, which also never end.

On weekends, when D isn't on call, he doesn't have to think about his job.  From the instant I wake up every single day of the week, including weekends, I am at my job, with my employers and colleagues in my space, under my feet.  D is on call for his job periodically--every 6 weeks or so.  I am on call constantly, every single hour of the day for the past almost 8 years.  

Even when D is around, the kids ask me for whatever it is they need.  Even when I say to them, "Do you see that man there?????  Ask him!"  Even when D is here, he doesn't hear the kids make a request.  I still have to say D, "G asked for some milk.  Get it for him."  When I ask D to fix something for the kids, he asks me, "What do they want?"  This question infuriates me since 2 of the 3 children are completely fluent in the English language and could answer the question if he asked them.  

Being a mom is hard, but being a stay-at-home mom sometimes feels impossible because what is both my home and my job is just D's home.  He doesn't know the routines of the day, and even if he did, the routine and flow of the day changes simply because he is here.  My expectation is that he SHOULD know what to do because it is his home, because he is the dad. 

But here is the rub:  If I was a teacher at a school or a nurse at a hospital, I wouldn't expect him to be able to walk in and take over, nor would he or I expect that I could come into his place of employment and do his job without asking a bazillion questions, without being completely out of my element and bugging him with what he would consider my stupid questions.  

So I know my expectations are off the mark, but that doesn't make me any less grouchy and irritated by the whole situation.  

Add to this the fact that there is no monetary validation of what I do, and I just sometimes want to throw up my hands, polish off my resume, and get back into the economically quantifiable work force.   Yet this would only make my life harder and more frustrating, and I know it.  

Cute Christmas kid photos---past and present

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

How I love these photos.

Days of December: Made with love

Part of the reason I blog, besides my mental health, is to have a means of sharing with my children what life was really like when they were children---both good and bad.

My hope is that between the journals I keep for them, the scrapbooks I make, and this blog, they will have a sense of how much I adored them, even when they were driving me up a wall.  I hope what they remember are the little things I did to show I love them, not my "raving bitch momma" moments.

This past Saturday, after having purchased a gingerbread man cookie cutter, I made banana pancakes cut into gingerbread man shape with chocolate chip eyes and blue icing pants.

When he saw them G asked, "Do they have love in 'em?"

And the answer was, "Of course they do."

Days of December: A special Christmas event with my boys

The boys and I visited a downtown hotel this past week to see decorations featuring thousands and thousands of lights.  It is very overpriced, but since kids 4 and under are free I felt like my cost ($15.99) divided by 3 made it reasonable.  I will be going later this month with N when the Girl Scouts are able to attend at a discounted rate.  (Have I mentioned that I am frugal to a fault?)

Days of December: My new Christmas mantel

My friend and I went to Sips and Strokes this past week, and I created a painting that I think is just delightful. 

 It has a new home as part of my Christmas mantel decor (which was improved in 2009).  

Christmas presents to me

Normally I loathe spending money on myself, but today I decided that I needed a reward for being the magic behind all this Christmas stuff we do.  The gift-buying, the gift-wrapping, 90% of the holiday decorating (although my husband deserves kudos for putting up the big tree and doing the lights on it today), all of the holiday baking/cooking/card-sending---yep, that's my job.

So today when shopping for groceries and baby wipes and Papaw's Christmas gift at Meijer, I saw two things that I decided I was gonna buy for myself and not feel one iota of guilt about either purchase.

1. I used to have a step basket on the steps for holding all the miscellaneous items that the kids drag downstairs that eventually need to go back upstairs, but D griped about it constantly.  He says the kids kept tripping over it, but our kids trip over their own two feet most everyday, so I doubt the basket was to blame.  I put a big wicker-type basket in the entryway, but I didn't like how it looked or functioned.

When I spotted this open bookshelf at Meijer for $39.99, I decided it would hold lots of items and look half-way decent too.  It was already put together, so that was a bonus.

2. My neighbor and I are now splitting a share in a CSA, as we did last year, and I have decided I am sick to death of the drudgery that is cleaning salad greens.  It is darn near impossible to rinse those things and dry them out without resorting to the low cycle.  I have long wanted one of these but never got one because heaven forbid I buy anything for myself that seems at all extravagant.  (How sad is my life that this item is extravagant.)

In truth, these items are REALLY for the family, for the running of the house and shouldn't be counted as fun, personal items for me.  D buys and plays Modern Warfare 4,000, and I buy a shelf and a salad spinner to clean up after the kids and fix supper.  I think this means I am the grown-up.