April Moms@Work & Women@Work catch-up

My byline snap

Notice I said catch-up instead of catsup or ketchup.  We all (or those of us who hang on every word of dialogue in Mad Men at least) know there’s only 1 ketchup.

I digress – anyway, here are some blog posts from my other spot out here on the internet, Moms@Work.

• Would you do it all again?  (“Probably not” was the impression I apparently conveyed in this one.)
• Travels in parenthood (Includes a nifty picture of me doing a ringer of  Molly Ringwald impersonation.)
• Tests of spring  (Where I talk about the NYS math assessments, but don’t acknowledge that I can’t do 8th grade math.  I saved that for FB and Twitter.)
• What do you think about a “good enough life?” (Even if you don’t read my post, read the one which inspired it.  Please.)

Also, excitedly enough for me, the print edition of the May/June issue of Women@Work is now available in all sorts of lobbies and waiting rooms around town.  Grab one, why don’t you and read my piece on page 59.  Don’t forget to linger over my name on the page listing of contributing writers!

I’ve got a badge – and a glass of wine.

Another perfect little find from Elissa Halloran’s little shop on Lark Street.

Well, guess who gets to be the bad cop?  Yes, yes, I know, if the shoe fits, blah blah blah.  Whatever.  Give me a second, please, while I take another swig swallow sip of wine, ok?  Exhale.  Sigh.

You know how kids like to play their parents, especially in divorce situations?  Yes, you do, you must have seen it before. Child, typically a teen, decides that the demise of their parents’ marriage provides them with the perfect opportunity to slack off?  Well, it is a crap situation that requires parental attention and communication…something which isn’t always easily managed as a former couple transitions to a new normal of shared parenting done in an isolated, yet equally invested fashion.   Maybe it’s a natural impulse for a child who wants to ensure that his recently apart parents maintain an open dialogue.  Perhaps it is a symptom of adolescence.  I don’t know for certain, but I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is exhausting and demoralizing.  Ugh.

Most of us are familiar with that cliched police interrogation technique – the whole good cop/bad cop thing, right?  Well, guess which officer I get to be?  I’ve always been the calendar keeper, the planner, the appointment maker, the initiator, shall we say.  I have a knack for making, and keeping, a schedule and taking care of things.  Naturally, it has fallen to me to be the one who checks in on the boys’ grades and initiates contact, when necessary, with their teachers.  And the reward for my attentions from my child who is treading seriously close to the line between living up to his potential and being a rebel without a cause?  Well, let’s just say it  is sort of the opposite of gratitude.

It would be so much easier to be hands off.  I would prefer to devote my attention to celebrating the wonderful talents and capabilities of my children, but it seems that a different type of focus is being demanded at this time.  Well, if I have to be the one who enforces the law in these parts, I’ll do it, with or without the assistance of a deputy.  Don’t you doubt it.

Did you know I went to Cornell?

ceiling detail

For a conference, that is.  I should begin by saying, I didn’t know that much about Cornell.  I was aware of its status as an Ivy.  I realized it is known for its veterinarian program.  And that there are highly regarded hospitality and agricultural educational opportunities available.  Oh – and that there is a rumored underground railroad of sorts between the district where I work and Cornell’s admissions office. I also remembered from my Finger Lakes honeymoon that it is way up the hill.  Yes, this was, in pedagogical terms, my prior knowledge, shall we say?

After I arrived there for a librarians’ conference, I learned a few more things about the Big Red.  For instance, I now know that I am not smart enough for Cornell.  I mean, heck, I’m not intelligent enough to find the correct building or the proper parking lot!  Who are we kidding?  I’ve also read a bit about its history and am very impressed with its mission, founders and endowment. And it is obviously a very pretty place.

The day I spent at Cornell was stunningly beautiful – comfortably warm with a sky scantily dotted with fluffy clouds.  The campus seems to be proportionately sized for the variety of disciplines taught and the architecture is striking.  During the limited free time available to me during the course of the day, I wandered around, frequently returning to the thought that it would be very difficult to pack on the proverbial  ”Freshman 15″ there with the hilly terrain of the campus.  Gaining a couple of pounds during the conference, however, was a distinct possibility with the amount of food available to attendees.  Yikes – please put those fudge fancies away!

I gained some useful information from the presentations and hope to implement some of this new professional knowledge soon enough.  It seems that every couple of years educators are required to reinvent themselves and a day at an esteemed university is definitely inspiring.  I discovered some personal knowledge as well, when I realized that bunking in with a total stranger in a dorm room, with a shared bathroom in the hallway, was no longer an option for me. There’s being an adult learner and being an undergraduate, and I clearly know which definition is more accurate, and comfortable, in my case.  And, if you’re looking for parking lot WD go through that stop sign, head down the hill and make a left after the frat house.  It’s right there.