Conversations with the Smiths- Part 12

Me: "So, tonight Benjamin has to be at the church at 6:15 to go over the music for the choir on Sunday, then Caleb has scouts there at 7, and the older boys have to go over to Rosie's house for the campfire, also at 7. AND Nathaniel's hippie commie high school parent meeting is also at 7. So, I'll take the kids at 6:15, leave Caleb there at 6:50, take the other boys over to the campfire, then go to the parent meeting. Can you just go and catch the first 10 minutes until I get there, and then you can pick up all the boys and take Benjamin to dance?

Todd: Or.....I could just go to the parent meeting.

Me: WHAT???? After what happened the last time I sent you to a parent meeting at the beginning of the school year??

[It was before preschool for the same child that is now starting high school. But still, he told me nothing and I spent the whole year in utter confusion. The teachers and parents would look at me perplexed and say, "But we covered this at the parent meeting at the beginning of the year. Don't you remember?" Grrrrrr.]

Todd: That was a LONG time ago!!

Me: He skipped two grades in the meantime. It wasn't THAT long ago!

Todd: I promise I'll take notes.

Me: Hm. You promise?

Todd: Yes

Me: Really good notes?

Todd: sigh YES

Me: Fine. I guess you can go instead. But they'd better be excellent notes!

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Epilogue: Not only did he take good notes, he took them in Google Drive, so he could share the file with me. He brought me the dates and agenda AND he even asked a clarifying question or two that he knew I'd want the answer to.  He has redeemed himself nicely. Although, when I asked if he wanted to go to the regular high school parent meeting tonight since I went last year for the other son, he totally balked. Ah, well.

Life Lessons Learned

This was a weekend of learning for Benjabooboo.

Earlier this week he discovered that it was his responsibility to plan the menus, do the shopping, and cook the food for a scout campout his troop was going on this weekend.

Due to his play rehearsal/dance class/school schedule, and my work schedule, the only time he could do it was immediately after school on Friday. And even at that, it would involve me picking him up at school and dropping him off at the grocery store with his backpacking pack and wallet so he could do the shopping and walk home with the purchases. We would then quickly load up and I would drop them off with their scout leaders to leave on the campout. He knew how much money he had in his checking account, and he had a few dollars in his wallet, so he knew what his budget absolutely had to be.

Friday came and I dropped him off at the store, then quickly drove home to teach piano lessons, hoping that the experience would be positive for him. He arrived home about 45 minutes later all the wiser.

Lesson #1 learned: "Good" hot dogs are expensive. He only had enough money to buy 21 hot dogs, and 24 buns.There was a slim chance that there were going to be 13 people, but more likely 8, so he was crossing his fingers that only the lower number would show up.

Lesson #2 learned: Chocolate bars for s'mores are also not cheap when not on sale. So he didn't buy any, and decided they could all just roast marshmallows and snack on graham crackers.

Lesson #3 learned: When you buy pancake mix, it's important to read what other ingredients might be required and purchase them as well. That didn't happen.

Lesson #4 learned: Two bottles of catsup and two bottles of mustard are overkill for only 21 hot dogs.

Lesson #5 learned: When you spend ALL of your money on groceries, you are much more motivated to turn in your receipts for reimbursement. And quickly return all unused items to the store!

I am so glad that he was forced to have this opportunity. I realize it doesn't seem like a big deal, but really, how many 14 year olds are going shopping for their families or an event these days? Probably not enough. I remember being of a similar age when my Mom dropped me off at the Pathmark in Somerville, NJ with a grocery list and money, and met me there later after her other errands or appointments.Shopping with a list and a budget is an important skill, and frankly one that I probably wouldn't have thought to give him yet.

It made me also remember being dropped off at the laundromat around that same time to wash the giant blankets and sleeping bags. That's probably another experience I should give my kids one of these days so there's one less obstacle to grown up life.

In the past, I've given my kids a few dollars to run up to the grocery store for bread and milk, but that was different. It was my money and with only one or two items on the list, it was a bit of a lark for them. Not that that experience didn't help prepare for this experience, but if the issue hadn't been forced, I probably would have kept on in that way for a few more years.

I'm grateful for the not so painful opportunities my children get to learn some basic life skills.

Cub Scout Cross Over/Blue and Gold Banquet/Arrow of Light Thingy

Do you see this boy?  As of three weeks ago is no longer a cub scout.  Oh no.  He is a big bad Boy Scout.  (Do you see the patches on his shirt?  Most of them I sewed on 2 weeks before this dinner even though he's owned the shirt for almost two years.  And then I had to buy a NEW shirt to sew on NEW patches for his Boy Scout meeting the very next week.  Arg!!)

This is what was left of the group who started in Cub Scouts together so many years ago.  They are a nice bunch of boys when they're not trying to light things on fire.  ;)

This is Lilyanna with her outfit inspired by my Glamazon sister, Elysa.  Hello??  Animal print and accessories??  Clearly a must.  Also, she has a lollipop.  That was pretty much how we could get her to sit through the event.  She didn't start screaming and running away until Todd and I had to stand up in front of the room with Benjamin.  Naturally.

So, after the boys cross over the bridge thingy, the new Scout Master puts little green thingies on  the scout's shirt.  I have no idea what they symbolize, except they used to be blue and now they are green.

And there they are.  Two minutes before the picture was taken they were itty bitty Scrub Scouts as Todd likes to call them, but now they are aforementioned big bad Boy Scouts.

And this is what happens when you give boys real arrows when they earn their Arrow of Light award.

And here are the Dads who didn't kill them even after working with them for so many years.  Bless their hearts.

And here we are.  Looking terrible.  It had been kind of a long day.  I promise we enjoyed it all much more than it looks like here.

One down, two to go.