People- we've got a MAN DOWN CODE 10 situation! All hands on deck PRONTO!
N is fucking up at school, y'all. Believe it or not a child of mine is missing assignments and not performing at her best, and this situation has to be nipped in the bud ASAP.
This morning she and I (and her dad...1 hour LATE, but that's another topic for another day) met with her dean to discuss what N's teachers have reported to date: She's not focusing or listening in class, the homework is missing or incomplete and in general she's half-assing it. When asked, N either gives the dead stare or says she forgot or didn't hear the teacher [insert Jaded side-eye here] or is distracted by her classmates [way to pass the buck *smh*].
While I understand there may be an emotional or hormonal component to this problem, what I'm looking for right now are tips on how to get her to stay on task. Maybe you have a kid who's unfocused, too, or you've known or taught someone like N who is incredibly smart but rather scatterbrained, or maybe I'm describing YOU as a 6th grader- whatever the case, any temporary solutions we can enact while we get to the root of the problem and fix it, would be so appreciated!
Please feel free to email me or leave it in the comments :)
*smooches...fresh out of ideas with this child*
----------
because every time I get a "N is missing an assignment" letter all I want to do is beat her ass. I haven't yet, but my belt is oh-so-close to connecting with her ass... Won't you help save an 11-year-old's life today?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
BLAH.
Today is one of those days where I fucked it up for myself by going to bed too late watching some ol' bullshit on Netflix, didn't do my morning meditation, skimped on my morning pages, woke up too late to make K a good breakfast before her PSATs, had to cancel my evening workout to take N to the doctor, found out the Dominican place on Flatbush doesn't serve sancocho on Wednesdays, REALIZED IT WAS WEDNESDAY and was zonked out at my desk from pure exhaustion.
I am exploding in slow motion; can you see it?
But on the bright side, I finally found some affordable lettuce and cauliflower. In fact, my entire early-morning shopping spree at 3 Guys From Brooklyn (on Fort Hamilton Parkway) came to a measly $10.18. And that includes nearly 3lbs of bananas (what? we like bananas!). So all is not lost.
Hopefully this crazy headache that appeared on Saturday and is still here will go away soon. SOON. HOPEFULLY.
*smooches...missing the summer season*
----------
it all seemed so simple then...
I am exploding in slow motion; can you see it?
But on the bright side, I finally found some affordable lettuce and cauliflower. In fact, my entire early-morning shopping spree at 3 Guys From Brooklyn (on Fort Hamilton Parkway) came to a measly $10.18. And that includes nearly 3lbs of bananas (what? we like bananas!). So all is not lost.
Hopefully this crazy headache that appeared on Saturday and is still here will go away soon. SOON. HOPEFULLY.
*smooches...missing the summer season*
----------
it all seemed so simple then...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Face To Face With My Bottom Line
Yesterday I sat down with my Jaded Empire financial planner to go over my money and how I can have more of it to myself while getting these creditors off my back. After crunching the numbers and talking it out, the outlook is not horrible but it's not awesome, either.
Taking into account all my bills (but not what I spend in food) I'm left with an amount that is supposed to cover my groceries and paying back student loans. "Supposed to" being the operative phrase here.
I mean listen, the amount is not super low but it will mean a tightening of the belt and learning to shop like those people on that super coupon show (I don't watch it but according to Twitter there is such a thing). It will mean less trips to DC and Boston for now and no Pilates classes at the studio I love in Park Slope OR Socacize classes, either. I just don't have the money for it right now and it isn't a necessity, given all the fitness vouchers I've bought and still not used.
It will mean less dinners out (and I really wanted to go to Le Cirque with the babies this winter) and becoming familiar with the likes of Costco and BJs Wholesale. It will also mean that N might have to forgo after school this semester, too.
This is not a dire situation. We can live without dinners out and soca classes and after school. My First World Lifestyle is no longer working out for me so cuts have to be made. Esteban has already been dismissed. Netflix was reduced to online streaming only (no DVD rentals for us anymore) and I've seriously looked into some freelance work to bring in more money (if you know anyone who's PAYING REAL MONEY for a writer or editor, let me know).
I do not want to be working until I fall over dead. It's about that time that I make my money work for me, and that requires that I do what I must right this minute and get out of debt.
Of course, now all I can think about is all the fur coats and red-bottom shoes I can't buy...
*smooches...counting down towards a debt-free life*
----------
if the motherfucking Duggars can live debt-free with a trillion kids, then so can I!
Taking into account all my bills (but not what I spend in food) I'm left with an amount that is supposed to cover my groceries and paying back student loans. "Supposed to" being the operative phrase here.
I mean listen, the amount is not super low but it will mean a tightening of the belt and learning to shop like those people on that super coupon show (I don't watch it but according to Twitter there is such a thing). It will mean less trips to DC and Boston for now and no Pilates classes at the studio I love in Park Slope OR Socacize classes, either. I just don't have the money for it right now and it isn't a necessity, given all the fitness vouchers I've bought and still not used.
It will mean less dinners out (and I really wanted to go to Le Cirque with the babies this winter) and becoming familiar with the likes of Costco and BJs Wholesale. It will also mean that N might have to forgo after school this semester, too.
This is not a dire situation. We can live without dinners out and soca classes and after school. My First World Lifestyle is no longer working out for me so cuts have to be made. Esteban has already been dismissed. Netflix was reduced to online streaming only (no DVD rentals for us anymore) and I've seriously looked into some freelance work to bring in more money (if you know anyone who's PAYING REAL MONEY for a writer or editor, let me know).
I do not want to be working until I fall over dead. It's about that time that I make my money work for me, and that requires that I do what I must right this minute and get out of debt.
Of course, now all I can think about is all the fur coats and red-bottom shoes I can't buy...
*smooches...counting down towards a debt-free life*
----------
if the motherfucking Duggars can live debt-free with a trillion kids, then so can I!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Where I Won't Find My Future Husband
1- At "industry" events. Not that I'm a big time, hobnobbing, networking superstar of NYC, but I usually find myself at events hosted or frequented by people who think they fit this category. And let me tell you- a lot of the men that run in this circle are either gay, already boo'd up or so full of themselves that I get turned off. And the available ones? Yeah, they're ugly.
2- At work. First of all, never shit where you eat. That's the golden rule, son, and after last year's hard knock life I'm not trying to jeopardize my paycheck at all. Secondly, the people who frequent my job... well, to put it kindly, if they're there in the middle of the day chances are they are unemployed or poor college students. Ummm, I already know how to be broke so, yeah...
3- Working out. Every class I take is estrogen heavy and I have no intentions of switching sides anytime soon. Besides, if you saw what I looked like in an exercise class you'd back away slowly from the Latina hot mess.
4- In my neighborhood. This demographic is about 65% Muslim/Bengali/Indian, 25% varieties of Caucasian (old and new) and 10% Mexican. [insert side eye here] Need I say more?
5- In my apartment on the couch. Which is where I spend 75% of my time. And if I did find a man in my apartment chances are he'd be dead before he could propose because HOW THEEE FUCK did he get in and wasn't he aware of the knives I keep around?!
So I suppose if I just place myself anyplace other than these five places I might have a chance at finding a mate before gravity completely takes over my, *ahem* body.
*smooches...not really looking anyway*
----------
since I decided to give up on the baby dream I'm in no rush whatsoever to meet anyone. no rush at all.
2- At work. First of all, never shit where you eat. That's the golden rule, son, and after last year's hard knock life I'm not trying to jeopardize my paycheck at all. Secondly, the people who frequent my job... well, to put it kindly, if they're there in the middle of the day chances are they are unemployed or poor college students. Ummm, I already know how to be broke so, yeah...
3- Working out. Every class I take is estrogen heavy and I have no intentions of switching sides anytime soon. Besides, if you saw what I looked like in an exercise class you'd back away slowly from the Latina hot mess.
4- In my neighborhood. This demographic is about 65% Muslim/Bengali/Indian, 25% varieties of Caucasian (old and new) and 10% Mexican. [insert side eye here] Need I say more?
5- In my apartment on the couch. Which is where I spend 75% of my time. And if I did find a man in my apartment chances are he'd be dead before he could propose because HOW THEEE FUCK did he get in and wasn't he aware of the knives I keep around?!
So I suppose if I just place myself anyplace other than these five places I might have a chance at finding a mate before gravity completely takes over my, *ahem* body.
*smooches...not really looking anyway*
----------
since I decided to give up on the baby dream I'm in no rush whatsoever to meet anyone. no rush at all.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Making Concessions To Avoid The Excuses: A Healthy Jaded Update
When I started working out in the spring I had the ideal conditions in which to do so. I could go to an early morning class and be back in time to see my girls off and then get ready for work knowing my workout for the day was done! The summer proved to be even more accommodating, especially with Mari here to keep me on track food-wise. It's been a very productive six months for Healthy Jaded.
Now I've hit some snags that threaten to undo everything I've worked for so far:
1- N goes to a school that's rather far away (for a pedestrian) and in the opposite direction of my job and Ks school, and she has to be there by 7:30am if she wants breakfast or 8am to not be considered late.
2- K got a crazy 1-9 schedule this year (Tech alums will recall that schedule being the longest and most undesirable school day known to teens everywhere) and cannot afford to screw up; this year counts heavily for college admissions.
3- The sun is not up until almost 7am (as opposed to this summer when it was shining by 5:30am), which means in order to work out at the times I have been, I need to travel to these gyms in pitch-black Brooklyn. With a rapist loose in Park Slope. Ummmm...
4- I need to meditate for 20 minutes every morning upon waking.
5- I need to write my morning pages everyday upon waking, too.
Add all this to the fact that N is being sloppy with her school work so far this year (to the point that her dad and I have a meeting with the vice principal on Thursday), meaning I have to supervise Homework Time like a warden, and what you've got is a definite recipe for falling off the wagon and succumbing to the stress by eating my weight in potato chips and Reese's Pieces.
So far in September my fitness priorities have been put on the back burner. It felt as if everything came at me all at once and I've been running on empty without a set plan. It came to a head after getting yet ANOTHER notification that N hadn't done her homework. Shit needed to change (or I was going to snap and kill that little heffa).
I decided that, as unpleasant as it is, I will have to do most of my exercising after work while N begins her homework at the library. I am not willing to give up my meditation practice nor quit my morning pages before I even begin; these are essential to my peace of mind, health and happiness. I also have to put my entire laid back, hippie family on a strict schedule- getting up at 5am, going to bed at 10pm, cooking meals on Sunday for the entire week- until a better solution comes along.
It's important to me to stay on this healthy path I began in April, but it's equally important that my children do well in school and get to live some sort of happy life (all work and no play turns people into republicans). If these changes mean the fun times have to be scheduled down to the minute from Monday through Friday and I run my home like a military school, then so be it. If it means I'm stuck with most of the chores while the girls focus on school work, well, that's just my burden to deal with. I know that a little inconvenience now will yield us some awesome benefits later.
And who knows- in the spring, everything might prove easier to bear.
*smooches...hoping these five months fly by*
----------
the good news is I can capitalize off this forced discipline by finishing a writing project or two and reading all the books I've had on my coffee table all summer!
Now I've hit some snags that threaten to undo everything I've worked for so far:
1- N goes to a school that's rather far away (for a pedestrian) and in the opposite direction of my job and Ks school, and she has to be there by 7:30am if she wants breakfast or 8am to not be considered late.
2- K got a crazy 1-9 schedule this year (Tech alums will recall that schedule being the longest and most undesirable school day known to teens everywhere) and cannot afford to screw up; this year counts heavily for college admissions.
3- The sun is not up until almost 7am (as opposed to this summer when it was shining by 5:30am), which means in order to work out at the times I have been, I need to travel to these gyms in pitch-black Brooklyn. With a rapist loose in Park Slope. Ummmm...
4- I need to meditate for 20 minutes every morning upon waking.
5- I need to write my morning pages everyday upon waking, too.
Add all this to the fact that N is being sloppy with her school work so far this year (to the point that her dad and I have a meeting with the vice principal on Thursday), meaning I have to supervise Homework Time like a warden, and what you've got is a definite recipe for falling off the wagon and succumbing to the stress by eating my weight in potato chips and Reese's Pieces.
So far in September my fitness priorities have been put on the back burner. It felt as if everything came at me all at once and I've been running on empty without a set plan. It came to a head after getting yet ANOTHER notification that N hadn't done her homework. Shit needed to change (or I was going to snap and kill that little heffa).
I decided that, as unpleasant as it is, I will have to do most of my exercising after work while N begins her homework at the library. I am not willing to give up my meditation practice nor quit my morning pages before I even begin; these are essential to my peace of mind, health and happiness. I also have to put my entire laid back, hippie family on a strict schedule- getting up at 5am, going to bed at 10pm, cooking meals on Sunday for the entire week- until a better solution comes along.
It's important to me to stay on this healthy path I began in April, but it's equally important that my children do well in school and get to live some sort of happy life (all work and no play turns people into republicans). If these changes mean the fun times have to be scheduled down to the minute from Monday through Friday and I run my home like a military school, then so be it. If it means I'm stuck with most of the chores while the girls focus on school work, well, that's just my burden to deal with. I know that a little inconvenience now will yield us some awesome benefits later.
And who knows- in the spring, everything might prove easier to bear.
*smooches...hoping these five months fly by*
----------
the good news is I can capitalize off this forced discipline by finishing a writing project or two and reading all the books I've had on my coffee table all summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
