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Piedmont Parent Blogs

• Give a Donation, See a Free Concert!
  

  For many Triad families, it's already a holiday tradition. The Sealy/Fox8 Holiday Concerts are this weekend, and this year they've expanded to include Elon on Sunday (Greensboro Friday, Winston Saturday). While a lot of highly-publicized food and toy drives are over, due in large part to the time it takes to deliver everything where it should be by Christmas, the need for giving is still with us. Tough times have meant demand for non-profits is up, even while funding is down. And it's not just in the Triad, charitable giving has dropped statewide.

  No matter how tight your Santa budget is this year, there's always room for an extra can or two of green beans in the shopping cart. And if you're really strapped, remember the gift of time is always free. Giving is  not only nice to do, it turns you into a great role model for your kids. The holiday season can be a great opportunity to teach our kids the value of giving.

  So go out and buy some canned good to get your into a free concert this weekend. Or if you can't make it to the show, there are plenty of other ways to help those less fortunate.

  Greensboro Urban Ministries

  Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina

• Fast-Paced Holiday ... and Mommy... Mode
  

  I've been in fast-paced holiday mode since about 4 a.m. Morgan and Carson both have Christmas parties today. I was supposed to be the party parent for Carson's class, but unfortunately, Morgan is sick. She has had a nasty cough for a few weeks and then developed a fever. The doctor suspects she caught another virus on top of the cold, so she's staying home with me and Jackson today. Fortunately, there are other parents who can fill in for me, but that still didn't solve the problem of getting party supplies to the respective classrooms with an infant in tow. I had one grocery bag with potato chips for Morgan's class, and five bags full of apples, oranges and pears for fruit bags for Carson's class. My solution ... the Snugli, worth every penny.

  From 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., I did the following:

  • Fed Jackson
  • Pumped breast milk
  • Changed diaper
  • Dozed off for quick cat nap
  • Woke hubby so he could get ready for work
  • Woke Carson and Morgan
  • Fed Carson and Morgan cereal
  • Helped Morgan get dressed: tied shoes, brushed teeth and hair, etc. while hubby dressed Jackson
  • Bribed Morgan with cookie if she would take Tylenol ... didn't work. She spit it out, and it ended up in her hair. A nice sticky, tangly wet mess.
  • Tried to dry and brush Morgan's hair while she cried.
  • Wiped dried tooth paste off of Carson's mouth and shirt.
  • Fed Jackson
  • Pumped breast milk
  • Changed diaper
  • Dressed self ... brushed hair, but skipped makeup
  • Spent 15 minutes looking for my shoes (under bed) and Morgan's glasses
  • Cleaned Carson's and Morgan's glasses. How do they get so dirty?
  • Checked Carson's book bag to ensure he had homework ready and signed his weekly planner
  • Loaded car with chips, fruit, diaper bag (pacifier, burp cloth, blanket)
  • Strapped Snugli on self sans baby
  • Loaded kids in car and drove to school
  • Spent 10 minutes trying to get Jackson fastened in Snugli ... a bit like wrestling a crying octopus.
  • Carried party (with kids' help) into the school
  • Went to Carson's class, apologized profusely to teacher for missing party today. Felt guilty and explained how sick Morgan is and watched as Morgan cheerfully hopped around classroom as if nothing was wrong.
  • Went to Morgan's classroom to deliver chips. Explained to teacher that Morgan is sick. Watched as Morgan cheerfully hopped around classroom as if nothing was wrong.
  • Realized on way to car that I forgot to ask about Morgan's make-up work
  • Took Jackson out of Snugli and put him in car seat
  • Struggled getting Jackson in car seat, so I got in the back seat to get closer
  • Closed rear car door accidentally when another car in adjacent spot needed to leave
  • Realized I was stuck in back seat of car, thanks to child-safety locks
  • Climbed over back seat to front seat and had to tell Morgan to duck as I brought one leg around.
  • Hoped no one was looking
  • Drove home, unloaded kids
  • Time to begin work on the magazine!
• Guilford & Forsyth Schools Cut Budgets
  

  A few weeks ago, local school systems received some bad news. Due to lower revenues than expected statewide, the amount of money they were promised from the state was cut dramatically. This meant the school systems had to find some places to cut their budgets, and quickly.

  Yesterday, the final reports from Guilford and Forsyth County School Boards were approved and released. Guilford County Schools found ways to cut $3.8 million from their budget without cutting any jobs, by finding places to cut in areas like staff training and fuel and travel costs. Of course, it can't hurt that gas is back down to under $2 a gallon! And in the WS/Forsyth County schools, they're cutting $2.03 million, mostly from reserved savings that schools have.

  Both systems were luckily able to find ways to cut large amounts of money from their budgets in ways that won't directly affect the learning that occurs on a day-to-day basis with our children. But you can't tell me that slashing budgets like this doesn't affect our kids at all. Maybe it keeps the schools running at about the same level as last year, but in order for our schools and the quality of our kids' education to improve, it only makes sense that we would need to put more money into our schools. The important thing is to spend that money wisely!

   

• Generally Good Guys
  

  Well, we all survived the trip to Richmond last weekend with flying colors! Travelling with the boys went very smoothly, mostly because we planned to be in the car during nap time. Another good thing was that we weren't on a tight schedule so we could stop and run around if needed.

  Andrew loved swimming with me in the hotel pool. Once he realized that I wasn't going to let go of him, I think he really started to relax and have fun in the water. (It also tired him out so napping in a strange bed didn't seem to be a problem.) Benjamin slept well, too. I think they may be good travellers when they get to be a tad older.

  Both of them were so good at the wedding. I told Andrew several times how proud I was of him for being good. No spills, no crying, no yelling. When we returned to our hotel room, he patted me on the head and said, "Mommy, I'm proud of you for being good."

  But when we got home and Andrew returned to his comfort zone, we had a completely differen