The Top and Bottom 3 worries of this parent

Today's blog prompt is sponsored by JuiceboxJungle and Kodak.  They asked what the top and bottom three things are that I worry about as a mom.  I had to think about all the things that I worry about (and there were a great many) and then I had to organize them by sheer amount of worry.  It was not an easy job and it took some time, but I think I have it figured out.

Top Three Things
1 - Health

We are one of the families that exist without insurance. The cost for insurance through Big Guy's business was just too much. Because we are forced to operate without insurance, I am always paranoid that he's going to get sick or injured and I watch carefully for those situations.  Luckily, I also try to feed him a steady diet of fruit, vegetables, and vitamins.  I also tend to hover to make sure that he doesn't put himself in a situation that could lead to bodily injury. 

2 - Money
Big Guy and I work very hard at our respective jobs, but money is always tight and there is usually very little left over at the end of the month. When we buy gifts, they are planned out well in advance and Big Guy and I have become expert bargain hunters.  I frequent Freecycle for clothes and we tend to shop for household goods and apparel.  If we're in the market for games, books or movies, I keep an eye on half.com and will keep watch on particular items for weeks at a time to ensure I get the best price. In fact, my birthday gift this year is particularly notable because I am getting it brand new on release. 

3 - Education
I exist in an almost perpetual state of terror that my child will be the one left behind.  Because of that, I push him beyond his normal age range in subjects such as reading and math.  Admittedly, he is much smarter than I give him credit for and this should probably fall in the bottom three things, but he is both my and Big Guy's son and that means I need to worry to ensure I push him enough to succeed or else he's likely to try and get away from studying. 

The Bottom Three Things

This was probably harder than the top three items.  What do I worry about least with this child of mine?  These items aren't really worries because I have evidence of my success everyday. 

1 - Happiness

I don't worry about Little Guy's level of happiness.  His laughter rings throughout the house regularly every day and he still laughs himself to breathlessness at least once every 12 hours.  I have seen him collapse with the giggles over something his dad or I have said that is just silly...  It's wonderful. 

2 - Self-esteem
If there is one thing that my son does not lack, it's self-esteem. If you were to ask him if he has self-esteem issues, he will tell you no, he doesn't.  He doesn't seem to comprehend that there may be people out there who don't want to spend time with him or who may not like him.  He is a friendly, cheerful, gregarious child who is firmly convinced that everyone loves him and he is in charge. 

3 - His View of Relationships

I am nearly certain that my son will have successful relationships as he grows because of how hard Big Guy and I work to ensure that our own relationship is a success.  We've attended marital therapy and will readily say that it was one of the best things we could have done for our marriage.  We had a strong relationship before we went, but the therapy improved our communication skills and provided a safe haven to learn to deal with issues that would come up and serve to temper our strongly-forged relationship.  If we can continue to provide an example of a well-honed relationship, our son will b able to emulate the better aspects of our relationship and hopefully avoid the mistakes that his father and I made in previous relationships.

Attempting to narrow down worries into only six was a difficult task, but was actually helpful to me as a parent.  I can see where my focus is and measure how I am doing over all.  It also helped reassure me that I am a good mother to this amazing child.  He is happy, mostly healthy, somewhat sane, and has been sheltered from the worst of the events that we've dealt with.  He's confident, brave, headstrong, willful, smart and imaginative.  He expresses love freely and accepts affection as a matter of course.  How lucky I am to have him. 

Chicken Soup for the Writer's Belly

The first day of class went well.  The group seems, if not interested, at least energized for now.  This is a good thing because we'll end up feeding off eachother's energy.  I find that if the class is more energetic, I am more enthusiastic.  And that leads to a higher energy in the classroom!  It becomes a cyclical thing and keeps class interesting and fun. 

We went through the writing process last night which. I told them, is the reason that most writers are alcoholics, drug addicts or both.  I also explained that no one, not even writers, like the writing process and that writers have a love/hate relationship with their chosen profession.  I love writing, it's in my blood, and I adore it but oh how I hate the process. 

I've been working on my novel for 6 years.  Yes, you read that correctly, SIX.  I found out that there's actually a term for this process.  Unpublished Guy calls it "Slow Writing your story into oblivion". 

On the one hand, it's nice to know, as a writer, you aren't alone.  On the other hand, I really wish that I could find the wherewithal to finish the book.  Finding the time, the energy and the desire to write is difficult.  Of course, that's why I've gotten back into blogging.  I am forcing myself to write on a daily basis and perhaps, eventually, work on the book again.  Good luck to me! 

Yesterday was somewhat chilly despite the sunlight.  I woke up early and was unable to go back to sleep, so I got up and decided to make chicken soup.  We had ended up with 3 large chicken breasts thanks to Big Guy and his ideas.

The plan, initially, was a chicken marinara with melted cheese.  And it certainly sounded delicious...  Right up to the point that I realized Big Guy had bought the cheap chicken breasts, with the skin on them and bones still in them.  When I explained the work it was going to take to debone the chicken, he decided that, perhaps, the chicken marinara wasn't the right meal after all.  I assuaged his sadness with a promise to make my chicken soup though. 

Big Guy loves my chicken soup, and I try to make it most often in the fall or winter. It's a long simmering soup that takes about a day to cook and is truly worth it.  This one started out with a pot of water and some seasoning.  I added celery seed, black pepper, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt and garlic. I always kind of eyeball the addition of seasonings and taste often throughout the cooking process.  After I got the pot to a rolling boil, I added the defrosted chicken breasts and let that cook for an hour.

The house smelled so good during that hour, my belly was rumbling.  I was relieved when the timer went off and I was able to lower the pot to a simmer and pull out the breasts.  While the broth simmered and bubbled, I skinned and deboned the breasts and tore apart the largest one to add back to the pot.  The other two will probably be shredded into a cheese and chicken omelette for Little Guy and I for breakfast. 

I added the shredded chicken and chopped up a carrot and an onion to throw in the pot and let it cook for another hour, getting the carrots soft and the onion practically invisible.  I then threw in some frozen green beans and let it finish cooking.  I managed to nab a small bowl before I left for class and it was really, truly worth it.  While I was gone, Big Guy and Little Guy finished off most of the soup and then I had a couple more bowls when I got back. And not alone either, Big Guy had another bowl and Little Guy had two more. 

Kitten's Chicken Soup

Chicken Breasts (bone in & skin on)
Salt
Pepper
Water
Seasonings - recomm. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Bay Leaves
Veggies - Recomm. Carrot, celery, onion, green beans

This simple and tasty treat involves hours of simmering goodness

1 - bring water and seasonings to a rolling boil. 
2 - add chicken breasts and simmer for an hour, adding water as needed.  The skin will add all the fat you need to the broth
3 - Pull the breasts out of the water and let the broth simmer while you debone and skin the breasts.  Then, shred the meat and add to the broth.
4 - Chop and add the veggies and simmer
5 - Add water and seasonings to taste during the cooking time

Delicious!

An English Teacher's Lament

I began re-working on one of my projects last night while Big Guy played his Valentine's day gift.  It was a good gift, apparently.  I told him I was glad that my gift giving streak was still in effect.  He's been playing the game pretty much non-stop since Friday.  In the meantime, I was able to work on my blog, work on class prep, and prepare for the week ahead.  My class this month is about to have a change from classes in previous months, namely a vocab section. 

I work hard on class prep and doing what I think will best help the students.  I must admit, though, finding things that will improve their ability to write is difficult since the most vocal complain that they don't understand why they must know how to write nor do they wish to learn.  For someone like me, who adores English and the twists and turns it takes, it is horribly depressing and demoralizing. 

It is unfortunate that I have not yet had a student come to my class and say: "I can't wait!  I love English/Writing/Literature."  It is also not surprising.  Schools don't stress the importance of the ability to write properly and do not encourage students to do so.  When the kids were visiting, I was perpetually amazed and dismayed at how little the schools stressed proper style and grammar.  It was more that the teachers were relieved if the students spelled approximately half of the words correctly.  One of the most horrifying things I discovered about the school in our area, and a driving force behind my desire NOT to send Little Guy into this system, was the painful discovery that the high school students were allowed to write papers in text speech.  Of course, then they end up in my classroom, in a college level basics class.

And I am left with disenchanted students who are in school because they have no place left to go and want to get college over with quickly so they can get a better job.  I do what I can to make the subject matter interesting for them, but a great deal of the work has to be done by them.  One thing I am going to start mentioning on the first day of class is that their success depends almost entirely on them.  If they choose to come and not work, not be engaged with the material, not communicate with the class, then they will not pass.  If they come to class, ready to talk, work, ask questions, and learn, they will likely pass not only this class, but also the other English classes with flying colors.  Once they gain a comprehension of English, it will make their major classes easier as well as give them access to better jobs. 

Of course, then the question becomes, how do you engage and encourage students who hate the subject matter? In this particular class, I put together powerpoint presentations to make the discussion slightly less snooze-worthy.  I also have them watch Schoolhouse Rock.  The catchy music and the songs that get stuck in their heads seems to actually make a difference.  I was unable to use both those tricks last month and I noticed a big difference in the attitude of the students towards the subject.  Amusingly, after talking with a couple of other teachers about the Schoolhouse Rock trick, it's become a "done thing" now.  I'm glad that others are seeing it works too, I just wish I could get some recognition for the idea.  LOL

In the end, though, I love my subject matter and I am passionate about it.  I think that has affected more students then their dislike of the subject.  I still have students coming up to me months later asking if I will be teaching a particular level of class next month.  They seem to have left my class with an enjoyment and, hopefully, an appreciation of their language.

Top Entrecard Droppers for January

Well, it's the first day of February and time for me to unveil the top 5 droppers for January!  The top dropper will receive a gift of EC credits for being my top dropper!  The blogs (in their own words) are:

5 - SmartShopIt - a blog where you can access coupons, nutrition facts, product comparisons, shopping lists and more

4 - The Divine Miss Mommy - a blog that gives the latest in parenting & kid product reviews, fabulous giveaways and a little insight into her family.

3 - The Sweet Life - a personal blog that tackles everything

2 - Republic of A - a working mom's blog of people, events and places

And the number 1 dropper for January! 

Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife - a blog about a gothic Martha Stewart, SAHM, addicted to shopping and saving money while living in a Murphy's Law zone where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong

Thank you all so much!  And I hope to see you next month!