pizza

So, it's summer. No school for three months. Life is starting to settle into vacation mode or it will once this gray sky moves on out. No lie the past year has been stressful and right when you think all is well, well, there's another stress. Yeah, because it's called life. Whoever said life would be easy was a big fat liar. Anyway, I can't complain. I have a pretty nice life. If I didn't stress over money on an hourly basis, I may be able to enjoy mine. When stress comes a knockin' I don't run for the fridge and it's contents, no I run to the gym or the lake or an estate sale. Well, maybe that's a teensy lie. When I'm feeling like the world has it out for me, I call the pizza delivery guy or get out my flour and yeast and concoct my own greasy luxury. I am downright weak in the knees, twist my arm, I have no control when it comes to pizza. Some people like to dab theirs with a napkin to reduce the grease pool settled on a pound of cheese, I say leave it alone. The shinier the better. I'll eat almost anything on a pizza as long as it's not tiny hairy fish or green peppers or black olives, yuck. You can top mine with lobster, chicken, bbq sauce, all kinds of shrooms, what have you, but my favorite, absolute favorite is plain old New York style pepperoni. Suh woon. Honestly, I think I only exercise so I can eat more pizza. Fifteen years working in a pizza/Italian place did not help my addiction. So many choices and God bless crappy servers who can't ring in the right order because then there would be pizzas lined up in the kitchen with no customer to claim them. Oh, is this a mistake? YES!! Pesto sauce, feta cheese, hot banana peppers, caramelized onions, and of course PEPPERONI! Tables, who has tables, there's free pizza! I swear I lost ten pounds when I left that job. The origin of pizza is not clear. Some say it was some Italian guy Raffaele Esposito in 1889 who invented the margherita pizza to impress a king and queen. Pizza was also known as peasant's food because it was inexpensive to make. Huh, another reason I love it. Some say pizza really took off when Italian immigrants settled in America and migrated from city to city. Either way, whomever invented this simple delicacy deserves a big fat greasy kiss. Pizza, a mere concoction of whatever you want becomes a delicacy the instant you shove it in your mouth and sigh with contentment. No need to dive the deepest depths of our oceans or scour the bowels of the jungle searching for an edible delight. Nope, just call up your favorite local pizza joint and the minute that aroma hits your nose, you'll get my drift. Pizza has turned many a crappy day around with it's silent splendor. Paired with wine, pop or beer takes it to a different level. Add pajamas, movie, and a couch and you have the perfect night in. Extra cheese? Yes please! So there you have it, my absolute weakness, addiction if you will. I have never been able to resist the lure of pizza in all it's gooey, greasy, cheesy, oreganoey goodness. They say money will buy you happiness, I say go buy a pizza, it's easier and it certainly makes me happy. Oh, and don't even get me started on donuts. Good afternoon world.

just beginning

Well, we made it. Kindergarten is officially over. Tomorrow my little man will stand on a stage and graduate from his first year of "real" school. Frankly, I am relieved. This has been a hard year for our child. Kindergarten is not like when we were kids. Kindergarten used to be fun, joyous. Now, it's a mixture of pre-k and first grade.Confusing. Oh, there's still play, but now there are lessons and homework mixed in with the Legos and recess. Reading and writing and arithmetic all before first grade. Expectations have been set so high kids can't just be kids anymore. Even childhood has to be faster, better, more efficient. We raise our boys like girls. We expect them to sit still, be quiet, behave. My child doesn't sit still unless he's tired or sick. Oh, and don't even think of packing anything for lunch with nuts because someone else's kid who's allergic might eat something they're not supposed to. I swear we spend so much time looking out for everyone else's child we forget our own charges. I must admit, I had an "old school" view of kindergarten. I was not prepared for all the homework, sight words, math, book reports. It took my husband and I some serious readjusting of our own life to become used to this new regime. Not having a child until almost 40, we didn't realize how much school had changed. I'm already shaking in my shoes at this supposed "new" math. What does that even mean? What was wrong with the old way of learning math? Why do we think we have to "fix" everything when it all worked just fine for us. I know how to add, subtract, etc. All these people changing a system that isn't broke. They all know how to read. They all know how to multiply and divide yet it's not good enough anymore for their overly entitled kids. I'm so confused. I want school to be a positive experience for my child. Behavior charts and phone calls from the teacher. Puhleez! So much pressure for someone so young. Kids fuck up, that's what they do. That's why we as the parents are there to show them right from wrong. Take responsibility for your actions. Own it. When Sully was acting up, we had the conference, we talked to the teacher, we changed our ways and it worked. Together we had him coming out from under his desk and finishing assignments. He stopped disrupting group. He started listening better(well to everyone else but us). All these new expectations placed upon teachers and children to supposedly fix a system that was just fine in order to make more money. Cut more corners. Test kids to death to show how inefficient teachers are. Place blame everywhere, but at the core of the problem. All of this makes my blood boil. Because of this new way our kids are becoming spoiled, narcissistic, and require instant gratification at all times. We blame teachers for our shortcomings. If there is anyone to blame, it is us, the parents. We are the center of our child's universe so it only stands to reason if they're screwing up, start with the home. My husband and I take full responsibility for our child's actions. We give him a long leash yet work with him everyday to be a better person. Do unto others...I like to think we are doing a good job. We try to be the best parents we can and still we are learning. Parenting is not easy and I don't think it gets easier, unfortunately. Every age has different problems. It's how we the parents address these problems that can make the difference. We had a long road this year and all too often it was easy to blame the teacher, but the teacher was merely doing her job. Working together we helped Sully acclimate better to his new routine. Passing the buck doesn't help anyone least of all our children. I don't have warm and fuzzy feelings about this past year and as I stated I am extremely relieved it's over yet I do have a new respect for this woman who was in charge of my independent and immature wild child while he was in her care. So tomorrow  is graduation and we bid adieu to this learning curve of a year. Tomorrow I will cry like a baby over my baby moving onward because this has been a long year for a little man and we are only just beginning. Good afternoon world.