I'M GRUMPY

Yesterday it occurred to me that I get grumpy at the end of every school year. You may think that it is because I dread the thought of having my children home with me all summer. That's not the case at all. Its a time of year when all the concerts, field days, awards ceremonies and end of year parties happen. YUCK!

I love to hear my kids play their instruments or sing. I don't like to hear the other parents be rude and talk continuously throughout the entire performance. Hey, they might not be very good but they deserve the respect of having people listen.

I think that my children deserve awards for being good people but I'm leery of the way we've turned everything into a competition. It's not a question of sour grapes because my kids have always gotten plenty of awards. It just seems wrong to me every time I sit through one of the award ceremonies.

I always help for field days and they are always desperate to get parents to come in but the person who plans it has a problem with me. One year I told her that I was more than happy to be a helper for the field day but was too busy to help with the initial organization. She got mad and said we are all busy and that maybe I wouldn't be allowed to help at all. She said that they didn't really need that many parents to be there on the actual day and she usually asked her friends that were willing to help her organize it right from the beginning. Of course a couple weeks before the field day we got an email notification that they were desperate for parents to come in to help and I had to call again. I am the only person who feels like they have to beg to be allowed to come to help. Weird. I hate these petty parent battles.

I no longer need to help with my kids class parties because they are older now but I recently went back to help Thomas and Sarah's kindergarten teacher with Grand Parent's Day. The lone mother that was there from the actual class had the martyr syndrome. "I can't BELIEVE I'm the ONLY parent that helped!" She didn't seem to catch on to the idea that I didn't even have a kid in the class but was just trying to help out an old friend/teacher. I don't feel like a martyr. I think everyone should do things for other people.

So, I spend my days in a constant state of underlying annoyance. What keeps me sane is the thought that its almost over. I am thrilled at the idea of day after day spent hanging out at home with my kids. The weekends right now are the best. With spring here I can freely spend my time outside as well as inside. Getting my hands dirty in the garden then catching up on sewing projects. This makes the end of the year bearable!