Future Therapy Fodder and Random Tuesday Thoughts

Having been out of the blogging loop, I return to discover Random Tuesday new and improved. I almost feel that I have to up my random- thought-game in order to compete with the fancy redesigned button. It’s comforting to know there’s still a ham on it. At least there’s solace in pork products.

  • I forgot to pick my son up from school last week. It was kind of a low point. I’d been struggling to pinpoint what day of the week it actually was since school began and on Wednesday (when the elementary lets out an hour early) I was convinced it was Tuesday and that I had time to spare as my mother-in-law blabbed at me long distance. It wasn’t until my neighbor called 20 minutes after dismissal that I actually left. “You know it’s Wednesday, right?” Her daughter is in the same class as my son and I pick them both up in the afternoon. By the time I got to the school, the pick-up area had been sealed off and I had to park the van to collect my charges from the main office. Walking in through the double doors, my son’s face was the first one I saw. He was…barely holding it together. One look from me was all it took and he dissolved in to a messy heap of tears and boogers. I felt awful. He’s the last kid I’d ever want to forget just because he is the most sensitive and most likely to carry the emotional scar around with him in to forever. He sobbed for a good half hour. I made brownies. I might be the worst mother ever. Later when I tried to talk to him about it and ask what he’d been thinking while he waited with the other 30 kids whose mothers were also a little tardy, he said he’d been afraid I would never come. Never. No litany of terrible possibilities, just the prospect of sitting there in the office, hungry and tired and having to pee for all of eternity. I suppose that is scary enough, isn’t it?

  • On the flip side, I have been compassionate enough to drive my daughter to high school in the morning so she can avoid some painful moments during the a.m. bus ride. It seems the disastrous crush of her life once again has a girlfriend that isn’t my daughter, thus pulverizing her dreams and spirits in one fell swoop. I don’t actually mind because it gives me a chance to sleep in an extra half hour and I get a peaceful 10 minutes during the drive back. Me and morning radio and a feeling of great satisfaction that I don’t have a job to commute to. Seriously. There are a lot of angry people on the road in the morning.

  • I have a thing for garden gnomes. I haven’t always. My husband bought me one on a whim and now I have this blind urge to populate my gardens (read mulchy weeds) with pointy red-capped gnomes. (Perhaps it’s part of their ploy to take over the world one yard at a time.) My newest addition was on clearance at the former K-mart which became a Sears Essentials which is now reverting back to its Big K status. Most items were exorbitantly marked up. Cheap towels for $30 so they could advertise them at 70% off and sell them for what they were actually worth. The lawn ornament was an actual bargain and nearly forgotten on a shelf among barbecuing utensils. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed my gnome looking a little spooked. He’s got a book open in his lap and a benevolent bunny at his shoulder, presumably listening in as he reads a happy forest fairy tale. Upon later examination, their relationship appears a bit more sinister. The gnome looks terrified, jaw agape as he stares fixedly out in the distance. A Big Bad Forest Something is coming for him and he knows he can’t outrun it. The rabbit is clearly an evil minion with his narrowed beady eyes. What do you think?


  • I think grocery store personnel should undergo some type of sensitivity training when it comes to reusable bags. The baggers at the market I frequent always seem irked when I gently push over my fabric bag full of fabric bags. They pause, exchange meaningful glances with the cashier, barely containing their eye-rolls, then proceed to fill my bags beyond capacity in an effort to possibly dissuade me from ever inconveniencing them again with my superficial green efforts. Or maybe they just haven’t been properly informed as to how to fill the bags in order to maximize balance and achieve adequate weight distribution. Or maybe they’re just bagging groceries for crappy wages and hate their jobs and resent me for buying stupid reusable bags just to screw with their routines when clearly I don’t care enough about the environment if I’m buying my kids Fruit Roll Ups and store brand OJ.

  • I just might have some issues.

—–

OMG Fancy new digs!

31 Responses to Future Therapy Fodder and Random Tuesday Thoughts

  1. You made my buddy, my son, the sweetest kid ever…..cry. He is not like the others. You make me sick. Oh wait….I was sick when you married me.

    I think the rabbit is whispering a hypnotic spell into the gnomes ear. Who knows what that rabbit is capable of doing with full control of a forest gnome.

    Love you much.

  2. Garden gnomes scare me. Ours is buried in the garage. It’s all I’m saying.

    So, you left your kid at school? I am sooo waiting for that to happen to me. Pretty sure it will. Yep. Pretty sure.

    That’s awesome that you are helping to spare your poor daughter! That jerk of a kid. I’ll come down there and I’ll..well, you know what I’ll do (kick him in the shin and run like a dug on steroids!)

  3. Oh, I not only once forgot to pick up a five-year-old Young One at daycare, I forgot that the other two were home, alone, with no food. All in the same afternoon.

    I think you’re spot on with that garden gnome. Tres creepy…

  4. When I brought my basket (not a bag…an actual Reisenthal I always used it in Germany basket) the cashier at Walmart almost couldn’t finish ringing up my purchases. It confused her that much. And let’s face it! Walmart doesn’t have crap space for people who bring their own bags to actually bag stuff! Agggh!

    And yes there are a lot of angry people on the road in the morning (sorry I ticked you off… hehe)

  5. I’m going to have nightmares about that goddamn bunny.

    And don’t be too hard on yourself about being late to pick up your son. If nothing else you’ve guaranteed that he’ll never be late picking up his own kids, right?

  6. Once I had to pick up Stretch from the summer camp bus. He was five, maybe. There were two buses and they arrived half an hour late and I was there 15 minutes early.

    Went to first bus–no, we don’t have a Stretch. Try the other bus.

    Other bus, no, no Stretch.

    I was panicking and calling the camp. Finally, all the buses let out, and there was my little Stretch, sobbing his head off, in the first bus, because mommy didn’t show up.

    AFTER I took the teenage personnel apart, I loaded my terrified one in the car and bought him ice cream on the way home.

    This entire long story has been brought to you by the word “GUILT.” But there is a moral:

    Stretch has absolutely no memory of this experience. Yours won’t, either. Promise.

  7. Yeah the bunny is creepy. And the gnome looks totally freaked.
    My father-in-law forgot Turbo last year. Turbo thought he had been abandoned. Papa felt aweful, I think he took Turbo the the dollar store to make up for it. The dollar store fixes everything, right?

  8. I once took a nap and didn’t wake up on time to pick up my daughter at the bus stop. She was having a great time though as the elderly Russian couple next door had apparently presumed her an orphan and taken her in and set out a smorgasbord of goodies for her to eat. I don’t think she wanted to come home.

    Don’t beat yourself up too bad over it, it happens to the best of us.

    The rabbit? Evil minion. Clearly.

  9. That twerp has ANOTHER new girlfriend! Methinks she is better than him. He sounds fickle and promiscuous (not necessarily in the sexual sense)(don’t panic). Maybe he is the cutest boy that ever lived???

    Ok, I can relate to your gnome thing with these guys.

    http://www.annalee.com/index.php

    I randomly picked one up at Marshall’s and now I can’t stop myself! And really, I have never been one for chotchkys or collections or figurines or other old lady stuff. But they stole my heart …. dammit!

  10. I just noticed your “the lawn is getting mowed” tweet and laughed outloud!! I love that you specified that it was not a euphamism!!!

    My kids actually want me to be late picking them up so they can stand around the front of the school with their friends whose parents are running late. I’m like “You want me to be late on purpose?” WTF? These are the same kids who, in a few years, will probably make me park down the street when dropping them off in the morning.

    The gnome does look scared. The rabbit looks like pure evil, as if he’s plotting the takeover of millions of gardens around the world.

  11. Yep, definitely looks like that squirrel just put a paw on the gnome’s shoulder and scared the crap out of him. Ninja squirrels. Gotta look out for those.

  12. I have the SAME problem with my reusable bags. And I know I am not paranoid; they are clearly targeting me and doing their best to insure that I spill all my groceries on the way home. They pack those bags tighter than me in my skinny jeans.

  13. That bunny does look sinister – and the gnome scared witless.

    Maybe your son could take the gnome with him when he goes to therapy – the gnome might need it, too. ;)

    I have the same issue with the cashiers rolling their eyes when I use my recyclable bags – I think you are right, though, I think they get us back by not packing them properly.

  14. Reusable grocery bags will never catch on in the Bronx. Every time I bring one to the supermarket, they always look at me, “Duh, you want it in here?”

    No, I just carried it with me the 7 blocks to get here because I wanted to look cool…

  15. i KNOW !! on the fabric bags! First they want us to use eco bags then they are mean to us! lol. Bastards.

    Don’t feel bad about forgetting your kids at school. Shit, I’ve done that many times. And they haven’t needed that much therapy ;o)

    You’re poor daughter and that jerk. Ughhhhh!

  16. Your gnome is cute, but the bunny definitely looks like he is plotting something. I use a scanner at the grocery store, so I bag my own groceries as I shop. It prevents a lot of judgy looks both for the bags and for the junk I purchase.

  17. You’re going to have to forget your son a lot more times to be the worst mother ever. My mother forgot many times, and still managed to be a completely awesome and wonderful mom, despite the fact that she never felt sorry for me for having been fogotten (and she totally should have, I still maintain!).

  18. oh man. I feel pretty bad for BOTH of you for forgetting the pick up. You’re probably both scarred for life.

    I had a cashier at WalMart bitch me out for my cloth bags. She complained the WHOLE time she was ringing me up. Now I try to go through her line EVERY time I’m in the store… just to make her miserable.

  19. This made me laugh! I know what you mean about being superficially green. Ha! Also, I feel your pain about not getting to your child’s school on time. I was actually writing a post called “Top 10 Ways to Pass the Time in the Carpool Lane” when I lost track of time and forgot to get the dude! I was so ashamed! Oh, well. Better now. On another note, I’m glad you joined the group “Funny Moms” on “Bloggy Moms”. I love finding blogs like yours and that group makes it easier. :)

  20. I think your son will survive without a need for therapy! Those sensitive ones are heartbreakers though! Your gnome cracked me up! He does look rather terrified! Maybe he foresaw the weed patch in which he would spend eternity! :) Have a happy week!

  21. That was funny!! I’ve got the same problem at my local store, especially if I present a bag that is not one of theirs, because you can purchase theirs and get .05 cents off your next purchase, but sometimes I forget to bring that bag in. I can just see your little one sitting there at the school in a heap full of buggers and tears…..I poor little sensitive one. I know that will be me one day with my kid. Thanks for stopping by my blog. :)

    Heather from Mommy Only Has Two Hands!

  22. Oh, I am SO glad I don’t have a commute. I did that quite far, and far too long.

    That bunny is definitely in on some cruel plot against the gnome. Or maybe he’s peeing down the gnome’s back, and the gnome has just realized it.

  23. At least you use reusable fabric bags. Don’t ask them for paper bags, that really ticks them off!

    I was late ONCE when my kids were in elementary (before we started homeschooling) and they have NEVER let me live it down. I got stuck behind a train through no fault of my own. They are now nearly adults. Good luck.

    ♥Spot

  24. Sorry about the whole scarring your son for life thing. Our oldest daughter still, to this day, talks about the time she got home from school in first grade and we weren’t home. She conveniently forgets that our wonderful neighbor was waiting for the bus and took her back to her house. She was never alone, ever. Trauma of her life and she’s 26!

    What is it about the morning bus? My husband drops my daughter off on his way to work. I’m totally with you on the extra 1/2 hour of sleep. Sorry it’s hard for your daughter though. I wouldn’t live through those early teen years for anything.

    Love that picture of the gnome. I don’t know what that bunny is whispering to him, but clearly it’s terrifying.

  25. My honest opinion is that I don’t think the gnome looks that sinister, and believe me, I’d be the first person to mock a gnome. Someone gave us a little gnome statue for a wedding present, and I was like, WTF?

  26. Ah, I can only imagine how awful you and your son must’ve felt. I can totally see myself doing that in the future. I always get my days mixed up. I don’t know how many times I had to keep reminding myself that today is Thursday, not Friday. I was wondering if anyone else got the stink eye from baggers when they saw the green bags. I go through the same thing at my grocery store. I honestly don’t know what the big deal is. It doesn’t seem like it’d be much harder to bag in a green bag. Eh, I say Oh Well to that! hehe
    Sorry I haven’t been around lately. Summer got in the way of my blogging. I hope to be back in the swing of things now! :)

  27. What’s up Lady????!! We miss you in the blogosphere. Hoping the sinister rabbit didn’t turn you and your family into a bunch of carrot eating zombies and you’ll be back soon. I hate carrots!

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