How To Deal With "Bad" Teachers

I guess this all depends on what you consider to be a bad teacher.

I know we have had our fair share of them. When one of my kids come home and complain about hating school, I try to get to the bottom of it before I call the school. Maybe it's not the teacher. Maybe it's because said child doesn't want to do the work the teacher is giving them or he's not interested in a topic that the child is being taught, or maybe one of my kiddos is having a hard time understanding the material and needs a little extra help. If you have kids like mine (other than Gitty, she's an exception), my boys' will not ask the teacher's for help. Therefore, the teachers' are doing a bad job and hence, they are bad teachers.

If the above issues are true, I first try to encourage the child to 1) do the best he can. 2) ask for help, from teachers, from friends, from us. If we can't help him, we may be able to find a friend who can help him. 3) if all of the above fails, I call the teacher myself and I work out a plan with them on how best to help my child succeed.

But if that teacher then places all the blame on my child, not understanding the position my child feels he is in, doesn't want ridicule or teasing from the kids......then I move on. Next, I speak with the guidance counselor and we discuss what options are available. No child should HATE school and if they do, it's the school's responsibility to fix that problem.

I have yet to need to have one of my children switched out of a certain teacher's class, but I know that day is coming and I'll deal with it like I deal with everything else. I will be what my Gitty calls, Mommy Bear! And I will do all that I can to make sure my children are able to succeed.

We have one child who doesn't like school at all. It's always the teachers or the kids or whatever, it is never his fault and no matter what steps we take to insure he does better, he never follows through. I'm thrown for a loop with this one as I fear he may be the one to drop out of school. I tell him all the time, "You need to stop letting those kids determine your future for you! It's up to you to decide who you are, not them!" But he doesn't get it and he probably won't until he's my age and realizes the mistake of quitting school. Had I stuck with it, our lives would have been so much different and better for that matter! I just wish I would have discovered my skill and passion for writting when I was younger, not now in my 30's.

Laundry

No one wants to talk about this, I know.........but, it's a part of life and if we don't want to walk around smelling, then it's a must. I think this is one of the biggest problems for most large families, the piles just grow and there never seems to be an end to the laundry pile. I swear, we have a laundry monster and he comes in at night and makes the piles bigger. I just wish there was a laundry fairy to come in and clean up the mess. Oh yeah, that's right, we do! It's me!

The one thing I learned with a family of 9 is you HAVE to do laundry every day. Even if you skip just one day, you are in trouble. Especially if your closet is a bit limited and it seems to be, the less clothes you have, the more laundry there is.....Why is that you ask? Well, because no sooner does someone wear something and it's right in the pile, there's not much reserve so you have to get what you DO have clean and as soon as possible.

I do between two and four loads of laundry a day, I strive for 4 by 4pm if I'm lucky. Then there's one big laundry day on Monday which sets everyone ready for the week. Sunday's I make sure that the school uniforms are done as we only have a few uniforms per child. I used to think I'd be a fan of uni's, but I'm not. You have to buy play clothes AND uniforms....personally, if the school requires them then they should have to buy them. Some voucher to spend at a store of your choice, kinda like how WIC works. In this economy we're lucky if we have the money to buy underwear for our kids let alone uniforms.

Okay, I'm off my soap box about that.

Socks......we have one big sock basket. Everyone gets colored socks. I hate how dingy white socks get, even when you use bleach and everyone's underwear are colored, so it only makes sense to be able to wash all the socks with the other laundry. Besides, I don't have time to be adding a sock load to my ever growing pile of laundry.

Wednesday's and Friday's are towel days and I do the kids bedsheets and mine every other Friday.

I was asked by Gitty today how we get all the stains out of the clothes. I told her it was magic! But really, it's all in the detergent. I know buying cheap is the thing right now and for most of us a necessity, but unfortunately, there's some places this girl can't scrimp and laundry detergent is one of them. I only use Tide, Whisk or All. It depends which one is on sale and for how much in comparison to the others and if it's beneficial if I have a coupon (which I rarely do). With those detergents and the right water cycle, I've only ever had to pre-treat formula stains and only very lightly.

The laundry is done, washed, dried and folded, socks thrown into the sock basket for everyone to dig through for a match.....I guess this is why everyone usually has mismatched socks on, but eh, it's the fad anyway. But who puts it all away. NOT ME! That's up to who ever the clothes belong to. I put my own and Hubs away, but not the kids. The little kids get help from the older kids and I put the babies clothes away. As soon as they can follow directions, they'll learn how to put their own clothes away too!

Oh and don't forget, every Friday the bathroom carpets get done too! Did I mention, I really, really hate laundry! And dishes too!

Until next time.....
Becca

7 kids 1 bathroom

*Gasp!* I can hear it now as many of you are reading this! Part of it is because you know what I'm talking about, the other part of you, couldn't even imagine.

The last home we lived in was small, three bedrooms (okay, one wasn't even a bedroom), living room, kitchen and ONE very tiny bathroom. So how did we manage.....there's actually a lot to say about this then one would think.

What do you do when it's 6am, everyone is trying to rush to the bathroom at once because everyone needs to go!!!! And not later, but NOW!!!!!

Smaller kids go first.....they're most likely being potty trained and haven't learned how to hold it yet. Anyone who is under the age of 5 gets to go first! Next......whoever gets in there first, gets to go. But only to go to the bathroom, grooming must wait.

While waiting, the waiting children could be eating their breakfast, getting dressed, making their beds, or patiently watching TV and waiting until everyone else is done.

Once everyone has had their chance to do their business......The person who has to be out of the house the earliest gets to go back in first.....brush teeth, comb hair and get out! If this particular person needs to "do" their hair or their makeup or something else.....put a mirror up on the back of the bedroom door. There's no reason for them to be hogging the bathroom so they can primp themselves up. Bathrooms are used for well, the obvious reason of course, brushing teeth and showering.....ONLY! Everything else can be done in their bedrooms or in the car or on the bus if need be. I can remember waking up late for school and having to do my makeup on the bus, it didn't kill me anymore than it'll kill your 16 year old daughter!

We've been lucky in the fact that everyone wakes up at different types, so it hasn't or hadn't been too bad.

Showers are only done at night and we alternate boys and girls. For example, M-W-F are girl's nights and T-Th-S is boy's night. We skip Sunday unless the kids have had a hard day at playing, then we just wing it! I shower during the day, always have. If I want a relaxing bubble bath, I wait until night time when the kids are in bed. But to be honest, bubble baths bore me......

How about the dreaded brushing of the teeth. This can be difficult, especially if you have kids that need to be in there at the same time. Well, one can brush in the sink, the other can brush in the bathtub and the other can go to the kitchen. Worse comes to worse, tell one of them to go use the gardening hose if they absolutely can not wait.

We have had times when one person or another just can't wait, so they've been told, 3rd tree to the left. There has only been one child on one particular day that used that advice as he really could not wait. Thank God our home was shaded by lots of trees where no one could see what he actually was doing.

Back to showers.....each child gets 10 minutes before it's time for the next one to get in. Right now the only one girl who needs to hold to that rule is Gitty as she's old enough to shower herself. But we bathe the younger girls ourselves as they are only 4 (almost), 17 months and 7 months. The boys', other than JP, is a little tougher as they'd stay in there all night if we'd let them!

I hope this helps some of you figure out your bathroom situation, if you are like how we used to be.

We now have two bathrooms and I wouldn't go back to having one unless I absolutely HAD to!

Monday Manderings ~ Birthday Parties!!

A lot of parents' groan when it comes to planning a birthday party for their child. A lot of thinking and planning has to go into it. Who to invite, what's the theme, will there be decorations and if so what kinds, what about food, how much, ughhh!!!! Most of the time before the big day is finally here, parents' are frustrated and gritting their teeth hoping the day is just right for their child. Speaking from experience, your child could care less about all those logistics, they are just happy to be having a party and it's their birthday! What more could they really care about?

Considering the fact that we have a birthday coming up next month, I thought this would be a good topic for my Monday Manderings. Okay, it's really not mandering.....I do actually have a topic, but that's okay, we can just go with the flow for now.

Our Macie will be turning 4 this year and I really want to do something special for her. I want to have an actual party. With balloons, a decorations and cake and some kiddie foods and goodie bags, and an extensive guest list that would include everyone that's part of her family to the famous Just Bieber....well not really, but he's popular and my 9-year-old adores him, so I threw him in there. But the truth is, I can't afford such a big party for her and besides, she doesn't have any friends as she doesn't go to preschool. But that's okay, she has 6 other siblings to join in on her party, a few of their friends, my son's girlfriend, Hubs and I have a few friends....ugh the guest list has to get cut down, but who do we cut out?

To begin with, if we are to invite siblings friends, then it can only be one friend a piece and that would only count for the older ones. Our guest list just went from 9 to 12 in a matter of seconds. Inviting our friends is a bit more tricky as most of them have at least 2 or more children, but hey, all we have to do is count the kids right? So, if we invite our friends we can add about 8 kids there, we're now up to 20.....see how fast that list can grow? So let's think in terms of what's the most expensive.

Probably food......but kids don't eat a lot at parties. All they care about is the cake! That's the honest truth and every parent knows it. If you really want to make the parent's happy, make up your own platters of lunch meats, cheeses and some crackers. If the parent's complain, tell them next year you'll do a bring your own dish party, that should shut them up for a while. Juice would be about the only thing I would offer. Soda and cake......forget it! Way too much sugar for a bunch of kids at YOUR home!

Decorations do not have to be elaborate. You can actually make a lot of them at home with some cardstock, construction paper, computer, markers, ect.....balloons are pretty cheap and if you want to add in some helium, you can always rent a tank, much cheaper than having the party stores do it for you. Next you'll need some ribbon for the balloon, that's pretty inexpensive too and some plates, napkins, utensils and you are all set. You really don't HAVE to go with the fancy plates, but if you wanted to and your budget allowed for it you can. And those bouncy houses? Why?? So a child can get hurt and you can be held liable? Unless you have every parent sign a waiver, you can really pass on this!

How about games, well....you can always have your party at a park. This might cost a little bit of money, but then the kids can play while you hang out with your family and friends. Or you can do the traditional games of pin the tail on the "whatever character you use" and musical chairs, or you can ditch the games all together.

I found some great ideas here:Birthday Party Ideas. These are for little girls, but I'm sure you could search around their site and find some info on boys' as well.

Invitations can be bought cheaply or you can make them at home if you wish. A computer program and some cardstock is all you'll need. facebook.com has an Invite to Event section now, so you could use this feature instead of sending out mass invitations to people. However you plan your child's birthday party, remember it's about your child first, your budget second and everyone else last. It's not about being the coolest kid on the block, or the most entertaining birthday party ever! One rule I've always heard, if you have a 4-year-old then no more than 4 kids should be at their party. I have never abided by this rule but I don't think it's a terrible one, especially if your budget is tight.

Oh and set a budget and don't go over it, no matter who says what to you! You know what you can afford, they don't!

One more place you might want to check out is partycity.com. They can be a bit pricey the larger your party is, but remember, you only need to buy themed products for kids. The adults can eat off of regular plates with regular forks, or worse comes to worse, they can use their fingers!