Bfth's Boring Blog

It's officially been summer for a week.  Everything changes during the summer; traffic patterns, sleep habits...The pace of life can slow down or it can get even crazier! Summer gives us a different outlook on life.  Or at least it does for me; so this is my summer wish or prayer (take your pick) for us all. This summer may you: drink your coffee and watch the sunrise sip iced tea in the shade of a tree enjoy a glass of wine (or beverage of your choice) as the sun sets sit in an Adirondack chair or lie in a hammock don't think breath relax bite into a fresh tomato or ear of corn taste it; really taste it lick an ice cream cone or ice pop let it melt in your hand lick you hand clean smell the ocean breeze inhale the mountain air sail on a lake kayak on the river go to the state fair or theme park  ride the rides scream and laugh eat cotton candy squish the sand between your toes walk in the woods have your feet tickled by the grass

We all keep "stuff."  We keep it for sentimental reasons.  We keep it because we might need it some day.  We keep it just because.  It's the "stuff" that fills our junk drawers, our closets, our attics, etc.  Most of us intend to clean or declutter it some day.  Some of us do...and of course then it gets filled again.  This is the case with my basement which was cleaned out by my husband several years ago.  Now it's a mess again...although NOT as bad as it once was.  Can I say that it's mostly an organized mess?  That is a thing, right? My husband and I are formulating a plan to declutter our house.  We both have areas that we want to work on and we both want to come up with strategies to make the process as painless as possible.  We both realize that there will be lots of emotion when it comes to tossing, donating or keeping.  Cleaning/decluttering is an emotional process.  I think that's something we need to recognize and if not honor, at

My son recently "graduated" from middle school.  (Yeah, I know, when did THAT become a thing?)  I am THRILLED...not because he did so well there, but because it is OVER and I am praying that high school is a better experience.  (Cue the song, "What Kind of Fool Am I?")  Why do I say that?  What do I mean?  Here are a few observations and opinions from me, the mom of a newly "moved up" middle schooler. 5th grade is TOO soon to send kids to a middle school.  They are too young and it is too stressful.  It took my son a long time to get the hang of things and I know he was anxious for at least the first 3 months of school.  (His teacher said he kept leaving his books on/in his desk and not locking his locker...the kid was nervous and couldn't handle it all.) We may be in the 21st century, but the same stupid "cliques" exist.  Mean girls are a real thing.  They are cruel and exclusionary.  Boys are stil

My most recent posts have been pretty "serious" and I'll admit that I'm feeling pretty down.  I thought it was time to turn things around a bit and try and have some fun.  As I write this, it's Paul McCartney's birthday.  He and his music have had a big impact on my life and I thought maybe it might be fun to list my favorite songs by Paul A-Z.  Or almost A-Z; there is only one choice for Q - Queenie Eye and Z - Zoo Gang.  U only gives me two choices, which really isn't one. Feeling have the options that I wanted I'm forgoing those three.  Some letters had way too many choices; so I gave myself a little latitude there as well.  Finally, I'm ONLY listing McCartney songs from the solo/Wings years.  If I included Beatles, I'd have a nervous breakdown trying to make decisions!  It was hard enough just culling through the solo stuff!   So with all that in mind: A - Another Day: I've always wondered how Paul got into my head/l

How apropos that I wrote this last week:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/your-kid-is-jerk.html   and today I get an email from the school (the last FULL day of the year), regarding my son's behavior today.  Do I have to say that it’s NOT something I am proud of?  Do I have to tell you how my day took a nosedive and my stomach went up through my mouth? But this is not about me.  It's about my son.  And although overall, I feel that he is a good kid (or at least people tell me so), today he was a total jerk.  Was it all for show?  I'm pretty sure it was.  Because we all know how mature teen boys are.  And we all know how "cool" it is to clown around.  It’s just boys being boys. That may be the case, but it is NOT going unnoticed by me.  While acting out or being the clown may be acceptable with friends, it is NOT acceptable in the classroom or on school grounds.  My son SHOULD know that.  I'd like to say that my son DOES know that. 

Parents, it's time to wake up.  Your child is a jerk or something worse.  (You can insert whatever word you want.)  I'm not saying your child is bad or evil.  But your kid, boy or girl, has been a jerk at some point in his/her life.  You know what else?  At some point (or at many), YOU have been a jerk too.  Don't hide your head in the sand; it's true. This doesn't make us bad people.  It makes us human.  And ALL humans are asses at some point in their lives.  Yes, ALL humans are jerks. Even now in the 21st century where we think/hope we are enlightened our kids are jerks.  We have assemblies on bullying; we have zero tolerance rules around it.  It still exists.  It is still ignored.  It still hurts. I'm pretty sure that 99.99999% of the human race has been a bully at some point.  Maybe you don't think of it as bullying.  Maybe we should call it teasing.  Or you think of it has just poking fun.  We are almost to 2020 and we still have mean

We received the annual summer reading email.  This year my son only has to read ONE book from the list (an opposed to two of the previous years) and I have to admit that some of them I want to read!  He'd already read one previously for a summer read (and I'd read it too) and one I had read last year, The Hate You Give , and it made my best reads of the year. ( https://www.myveronanj.com/2018/12/29/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018/ ).   But all of this brings me back to MY summer days of reading.  Back when summer reading wasn't REQUIRED (at least it wasn't until I was entering my junior year of HS when I took a 2 year AP English course; one of the best courses I've EVER TAKEN).  But summer reading was what I did.  Because summer meant reading...  And I know I'm not the only one who feels that way (shout out to our Middle School Media Specialist and her great post:   https://yeslibrarian.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-magic-of-books-or-why-i-really.html ) The

When it's the middle of the night (or technically the morning) and you can't sleep (again).  You've done everything you can possibly think of and then some.  You've yelled.  You've begged.  You've cried.  And yet... All the things you've done; they don't work.  You want the best for your child and yet it seems as though your child does not or cannot or just plain won't.  It's not that he/she CAN'T, but that he/she won't and there is no reason why.  It's not for lack of brains.  Or lack of caring (or maybe it is).  You can't seem to get through and it hurts. You care too much.  You push for the best.  You explain. You get through...but it doesn't stick for more than a day (or maybe less).  The repeating cycle that you think you've finally broken...but it hasn't been and the only thing that is broken is your heart (again).  And it hurts. When there is no answer or solution.  You keep trying to find one; you won&#

Nothing says Happy Birthday like waking up at 3 in the morning and feeling sick to your stomach.  It should have been a warning to me of things to come, like exploding pens, but other than not feeling well, I was oblivious to what the long weekend held me for. My birthday fell on a Friday and I had taken the day off.  It was also the day of my son's school's music in the parks program.  A day long program that includes 4 instrumental band and 2 vocal competitions and ends at an amusement park.  My husband has chaperoned for the past 3 years and this year I decided as it fell on my birthday that I would take the day off and tag along.  My son had other ideas.  No chaperoning; no tagging along. Now maybe I could have overridden his declaration.  Maybe I should have.  But after much discussion; both my husband and I decided that if he didn't want us along; we wouldn't go.  As it happened, my parents are in the process of moving full time into their "summer&q