Time passes quickly

As the title suggests, time has passed me by very quickly lately.  While I've been away from my blog...I wish I could say I was doing this:

But unfortunately it has looked more like this:

When school starts, mom's chauffeuring service starts as well.  Every time I had an idea and sat down to blog this happened:

Unfortunately I have not figured out a way to blog while driving.

Another event going on in my life is my starting up a career.  I have spent lots of hours on the computer making things like forms and editing my new webpage, but none of that involved stick figures and pseudo-funny commentary.  (Although my daughter did put some cool stick figures on my webpage, but I didn't get to draw them so it doesn't count.)


Lastly, I would like to say I blog for myself, that it is okay if no one likes my blog because I do and I'm okay with that.  But....I'm not okay with that.  In my head I'm super funny and tons of people love to read my blog and comment how much they love it.

 My reality is I write a sometimes mildly amusing blog that about five people like to read (most of which are in my immediate family making sure I'm not embarrassing them) and no one has missed it while it's been on hiatus.  So every time I go to blog I think about how no one really likes it and so why bother.

Then something changed.  Yesterday someone I have never met, liked my Facebook page.  That was huge for my self-esteem...that someone who isn't just supposed to support me pushed that little like button on Facebook.  So I'm going to give it another shot.  I'll work on staying focused (and I know you are saying "good luck with that Jen") and post twice a week.  I figure that is a reasonable goal with how busy my life is right now. 


But you have a job too.  If you find me at all amusing, please comment every once in a while.  Give me that extra boost I need to keep focused and keep going.  If you find me boring and not worth your time, I understand completely....but why are you reading this then?

Okay...so off I go...I will start working right away on a post that is supposed to be funny (unlike the boring commentary that this post is) and see how it goes....right after I take a shower and feed the cats.

Paper

Monday of this week was the day that every kid in the nation started back to school.  I guess not exactly every kid, but from the pictures on my Facebook it appeared to be every last kid.  Of course my kids were in that group and started school on Monday as well.  (I was lazy and did not post their picture on Facebook so I will include a picture of what they looked like on Monday right here.)

With school comes paperwork.  Mounds and mounds of paperwork.  An ADD mom, with 2 ADD kids in school and a mountain of paperwork equals a mess, frustration, and an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy.

Luckily for me the usual paperwork sent home on the first day which includes health information and the need for you to write your name address and phone number 16 times is done online at our school district.  I still have to type my name at least 16 times per child, but it's so much better than the actual papers coming home.


My daughter is starting 4th grade and has a wonderful teacher who seems to believe in only sending home one piece of paper at a time for me to sign.  We can do that.  She is organized enough to bring home one piece of paper that the teacher asked her to put in her binder, I can sign it and it makes it back to school.  (He did send us home with a packet of papers to sign at meet the teacher night which I promptly lost and finally found in time for her to bring them in the second day of school.)

My son is starting high school.  They are not so understanding.  He has 8 different teachers who all want something signed.  No one is asking him to put the piece of paper neatly in a binder.  So this is how last night went.

Finally he dumped out his backpack (which still had stuff from a class he took over the summer in it) and found the piece of paper I had to sign.  But it was actually around 10 pieces of paper and he had them all nicely shoved into the front pocket of his backpack.  And in the process found a paper that outlined a project due tomorrow.

And then the papers start coming home from school.  All the drawings, test grades, handwriting samples and on and on.  And my children want everything kept.  I have to sneak while they are asleep to throw any schoolwork away, so it sits and get marinated on my counter for weeks.

Paper stresses me out.  Completely.  I constantly have a bunch of receipts in my purse.  Can't they just start emailing me that info.  Do I really need that piece of paper that says I bought something.  Can't someone make an app for all my receipts so I never have to actually touch the paper one?

Mail is another problem.  I get about 3 pieces of mail per week that I actually care about.  The rest goes straight to the trash.  But first it too must sit on my counter and marinate for a few days.  Then it is worthy of the trash can.

I'm drowning in paper and information overload.   And I know my kids are too.  I think I'll go find some chocolate.  I'm sure it will make everything all better.

The Jacket

I'm not exactly sure if this post has anything to do with ADHD, but I'm thinking it has to tie in somehow.

I have a teenage son who wears a jacket every day to school.  And when I say every day, I mean every.single.day.  From the 100+ degree days to the below freezing days.  And it's the same jacket every single day.  It's kind of a mid-weight jacket much too hot for the 100 degree days and not near warm enough for the freezing days.  And he doesn't carry it to and from school on the hot days.  He wears it. 

I did see him take it off for tennis practice, but it went back on after practice for the walk from the courts to the car.  One advantage of him wearing the jacket was I could find him easily in the yearbook because he was wearing The Jacket in every picture.

Notice that his head wasn't even in some of the shots and I could tell it was him by The Jacket.

A few weeks ago he went to scout camp and The Jacket went with him.  I was unpacking his camp trunk last night (that part is probably due to ADHD...I let the trunk sit in my living room for over a week).  I found The Jacket...it was my golden opportunity to get it in the washer because he was at his dad's house.

Before The Jacket went anywhere near my washer I wanted to empty the pockets.  Little did I realize that process would take much longer than anticipated.  Here are the contents of The Jacket.  Two very squished protein bars, a variety I haven't purchased since last fall, several bags of crushed goldfish crackers, lots and lots of folded up paper, about 20 assorted pens and pencils, 2 erasers, some money, a sand like substance I had to dump out that I'm guessing was animal cracker crumbs, and something I absolutely could not identify.  One pocket was filled with short sticks of an unknown substance.  They were about an inch long and about as thick as a crayon.  No one in the house could identify them.  I'm surprised The Jacket was not infested with bugs for all the food that was in the pockets.

I have to say I was very close to throwing away The Jacket and not subjecting my washer to it's leftover contents, but I could not bring myself to do that without my son at home.  Being as attached to The Jacket as he is, it could be very detrimental to our relationship if he came home to a missing jacket.

So I washed The Jacket and also went out and bought him a new jacket.  Of course with it being 100+ degrees out all I could find was a very lightweight workout jacket, but hopefully that will do until the temperature drops a bit and I can find him a replacement jacket.