Part of Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers March Slice a Day Challenge!
I’m slicing every day this month. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

H wants to do something fun, before the weekend is over.

“Ice cream. . . Or, we could do the dollar store challenge!”

I look up from my work. “The dollar store challenge?” I ask him with my eyebrows up, and a sigh in my voice.

“You give us each $3.00. We buy our things and bring them home to see who can create the best art project.”

“Okay.” I agreed. “That’s what we’ll do. 3 things though. No more than 3.”

At the dollar store, I remember that I don’t really love the dollar store. Also, I’m not quite as creative as my 12 year old.

But, I find 3 things, and I have the start of an idea. A sticker flip book!

I remind Mr. Thought that he has to pick 3 things too, and soon we are checking out. I briefly wonder if the dollar store clerk thinks our purchases are odd. Sure, we have my stickers, notebook and plastic container. But there is also a plastic pot, some sort of tulle, fake flowers, a bag of soldiers, a lego flat, a pack of Pokémon cards, a mini kitchen set, a small football and some cartoon clips. Is this what people usually spend $12.00 on at the dollar store?

At home we get right to work. We need to finish in 5 minutes. I am struck by creative genius: My flip book will represent my weekend. I get right to work.

It really ends up quite the dramatic flip book. It shows how I start my weekends with such hope. I hope for chores to get done, children to listen, my work to move forward, maybe a book read and a movie watched… And then as Saturday morning turns into Saturday afternoon, I lose hope. My kids don’t want to do chores, I am running everyone every where instead of reading or working. By Sunday, I have gotten over my frustrations, given into the mess, and chilled out a bit.

I title my story: A Mommy’s Weekend, and slip it into the plastic container. I am finished with the first ever production from #InsideTheBox Films. I just know I’ll be the winner of this first ever Dollar Store Challenge. It’s genius! Everyone laughs as they flip the pages.

The boys and Mr. Thought are finished with their creations too, and it is time to vote.

We aren’t allowed to vote for our own, so I vote for Mr. Thought’s Gooseball.

Unfortunately for me, everyone besides Mr. Thought votes for Gooseball too.

I should have known the artist of the family would win. I believe in “failing up” though, so I’m going to take what I’ve learned from this competition and bring it to the next Dollar Store Challenge!

Part of Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers March Slice a Day Challenge!
I’m slicing every day this month. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

There’s a moment of quiet right now. The boys are playing upstairs. It hasn’t turned to fighting. Yet. Mr. Thought is picking up L, and the dog is taking a late afternoon nap. I’ve already cleaned my office, vacuumed most of the house, and mostly kept up with the dishes.

There’s a moment of quiet right now. I am not so good at moments of quiet. If I don’t know how long the moment will last, how can I choose what to do in that time? Should I read? Write? Nap? Start dinner? Start cleaning the porch? If I get up and open the door to go to the porch, the dog will certainly get up from his nap. Same if I start dinner, or go upstairs to nap. That leaves reading and writing… but my book is upstairs.

There’s a moment of quiet right now. I should write. I have a slice, and a scholarship application, and work things to write. I can totally write because it’s quiet, and my desk is cleaned off, and my shelf is organized, and did I mention that the dog is napping and the boys are playing quietly?

There’s a moment of quiet right now. I should write. This is my time, my chance before the craziness of the evening, the night, bedtime. This is my opportunity before the boys start fighting and my daughter comes home, and everyone is hungry for dinner.

There’s a moment of quiet right now. I should totally write.

I’m not so good at moments of quiet.

Part of Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers March Slice a Day Challenge!
I’m slicing every day this month. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

Around 4:00, I got a text from H. He was at drama, and was asking if I could stop and grab him a “veggie burger and a smoothie in about one or two hours?”

I happened to be at a meeting just around the corner from the restaurant he was talking about, so I agreed. Sometimes I’m nice. 

As I pulled into his school parking lot, I realized that I should have made sure he wasn’t going to get in trouble getting a dinner delivered. Sometimes I’m not so quick.

He met me at the sidewalk, and I asked him if he was sure this was okay.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Everybody is getting food delivered, Chick-fil-A mostly.” Sometimes I’m extra proud of my vegetarian kiddos.

I gave him a hug and told him to have a great rest of practice.

“Wait!” he said. “I want to give you a real hug. Thank you so much for doing this. This is the best dinner delivery ever.” He put his food down on the sidewalk and gave me a big 6th grader hug. Sometimes gratitude can melt your heart a little. 

At home, I gave the other veggie burger to my 10th grade daughter.

“Thanks!” she said and sat down to dig in. Sometimes gratitude comes in different levels. 

Then a text came from H:

Sometimes it’s nice that your kids have a device they can use to text you.