In transition

The poor, neglected middle child. . .

Happy birthday, little man. Just know that it was only here on the blog that I was late with a birthday wish.  Your daddy was on nights which made this already difficult week very hard.

The pictures will be posted soon.

Ever since Aidan was a baby, I knew we would probably end up homeschooling. Private school is out of the question and my own public school experience left some things to be desired.

We are very lucky to have found the South Carolina Virtual Charter School. It’s a great cross between public and homeschooling. Aidan can move at his own pace through the curriculum that meets national standards. We are free to supplement and work under the guidance of a teacher. This program offers the accountability I need to maintain focus and drive and removed the the fear of choosing the wrong curriculum.

At this point, my only concern is trying to figure out how to fill the six hour a day attendance requirement until we catch up to his ability. Yesterday, with a huge chunk of time to fill and requirements completed I came up with an activity that blends several disciplines at any given time.

Yes, Aidan now has his own site. I resized and uploaded the pictures. We talked about what to say and I wrote down what he wanted to type. I underlined each letter that needed to be capitalized and he did all of the typing, including entering all of the captions.

Not too shabby for a first day of kindergarten, eh?

Happy birthday, baby!

Aidan has finally let us take off the training wheels.

I love that look of pure joy.

An open letter to the young mom at Bi Lo:

I apologize if I made a scene.

All I saw when I called to you and ran toward your daughter was a little girl on the brink of falling.

Maybe she wouldn’t have.

Maybe you would have turned before she did.

I couldn’t take that chance.

What I do know, is it won’t be the last time either of us breathes a sigh of relief while flushing with shame. I did see that you had to unsnap the belt to buckle her in. You see, I have three kids, too and I know how easy it is to turn your back for just a moment.  My kids are escape artists, too. I ‘ve been there and I know how embarrassing it is to feel caught in a moment of inadequacy. I promise I wasn’t implying you were careless.

In just a few short years, when you can draw a breath between diaper changes, you’ll be in my shoes.

We don’t watch to accuse, we watch because it’s what we do.

It’s a small town, I bet someday you’ll stop one of my children from doing something stupid while I stammer out a thank you and I will mean it, just like you.

This summer has flown by. My father usually vacations in Myrtle Beach the last week of July. It’s been a 25 year tradition. He couldn’t make it and we were able to find someone to watch the dog (thanks Mom!), so we’re here for a day or two.

The kids are so young that they aren’t aware of the things they could be begging for. We’re grateful and will spend today at the beach and by the pool.

It’s been ten years since a certain wild week, but my sister remembers it s the year I decorted her shoes. It’s funny, taking the kids to the pool, how things have changed. I’m not jumping in squealing with delight, I’m catching Ellie as she steps from the side.  I’m not walking as fast as I can skirting the edge of the, “Hey! No running on the pool deck!” I’m not trying to catch anyone’s eye.

I am however looking over those who are in my shoes, catching kids and keeping order. Toweling, sun blocking, gathering up piles of dive sticks and noodles Are these the boys I once wished would look my way? Are these the girls I envied? And for the love of God please don’t recognize me if you do remember that summer, it was a different life.

I’m walking around waiting for the other shoe to drop. Last week it was the washer and the minivan, so what’s next?

Interrupted to be told:

“Mom I wish I had some super sticky shoes so I could paint the ceiling. You’re going to have to take the fans down so I can’t paint around them.”

Imagination is not lacking in our house.

Somehow I missed the milestone, but Home Ec 101 passed a million pageviews a while back. With Ivy writing full time again our traffic has picked back up to where we are back in our growth pattern. I’m excited by this.

The campaigns that come are of higher quality. We’ll never be a site that focuses only on giveaways, but from time to time they add a little for our regulars that is appreciated.

Hopefully this will be the last of the random brain dump posts for a while, but focus hasn’t been one of my stellar qualities of late.

The summer is flying by, Mikala will be going home soon. I know she has a million activities she should get to sample, but selfishly, I want her here longer. She’s an amazing kid and genuinely enjoyable to be around.

I can’t get the mail, let the dog in, or head to the car without doing the spider web dance. Eew eew eew, get it off, get it off.

Sunscreen? Yeah, don’t forget the tops of your feet. All those magazine articles and it never sank in.

I had my second round of allergy testing. It’s official, if it’s alive, I’m allergic. Well, it’s not that bad, but yeah it’s enough to where every season there is something ticking me off. With luck and a lot of shots, next Spring shouldn’t be as bad.

I’ve shaved almost four minutes off my 5k time. It’s amazing what the ability to breathe can do for a person.

Is there anything more embarrassing than sitting while someone reads your bio out to an audience? Squirm, squirm, squirm. Half-hearted smile, small wave. Torture.

That said, I was very happy with the turnout for last night’s first breakout event. Social Media Club Charleston is very new and fairly informal. We have a goal of a speaker or panel once a quarter with social gatherings in between. In the near future I’ll create a calendar and blog at www.SMCCharleston.org to share events and commentary from events. This will be in addition to the Facebook Group.

It was so nice to see new faces. Granted, I love all of the usual suspects, but I don’t want to have a clique. The point of this group is to be inclusive and I hope those who came out felt welcome.

Sometimes I wish more of my time could be spent immersed in geektalk and company.

Last night’s four panelists: Dan Conover, Janet Edens, Andy Owens, and Ken Hawkins shared perspectives on the changing landscape of media. Each of the panelists had worked (or currently works) for the Post and Courier. Ken Hawkins left to create and launch The Digitel, which is doing well for the work of a naive dreamer [tic].  Andy Owens now works for the Charleston Regional Business Journal and covered his experience working for a smaller company with less overhead. Janet Edens still works for the P&C and has a unique perspective as the paper struggles to remain viable. Conover took a buyout last summer and covered a transition from traditional newspaper employee to a freelancer utilizing new media to secure income.

It’s exciting talk, as no one knows exactly where media will end up. While the outcome is still hazy, that doesn’t mean we can’t use current events like the Iran election to discern the course and discuss potential advantages and deficiencies. There’s an interesting mix of hope, trepidition, and enough big words to help me remember that my world isn’t only comprised of the kids.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting: Joey Benton, Christopher Donahue, Joel Green (and the two guys with Joel Green whose names have completely slipped my mind), Noah Everett, and of course Michael Carnell.

It was also nice to see people I haven’t seen in a while like Francis Shepherd and Simon Ashton.

Head over to Xark where you too can be a certified social media expert.

Many thanks to Jeff Webster, Nick Tompkins, Lynn Mettler, Chad Norman, and Jared Smith who helped pull this together.