Nikki Katz

Well, I am in the process of launching another website - this time on Kids Math. At About.com I ran the Kids Math site for about 2 years before they pulled all of the kids sites. Luckily I was already doing the Women’s Issues site at the time. Since I retained rights to all of the content, I finally decided to place it all on the All Info About network. It’s up, but still needs a good portion of the content edited and placed on the site.

http://mathforkids.allinfoabout.com

I don’t particularly care for Monday mornings - mostly because it’s the beginning of another week and I always feel I have a ton of catch-up work to do. Today is just another typical Monday.

I’m up at the crack of dawn with Kendall because the sun bothers her and forces her eyelids open as soon as it seeps through the gap between the window-darkening-blinds and the window itself. And since she’s not at an age where she can get out of bed and occupy herself (when exactly DOES that happen anyway?) I have to get up and entertain her.

I come downstairs to find the kitchen and living room in the same state of disarray as when I left it the evening before. I guess the cleaning fairies skipped my house last night. So I proceed to empty the dishwasher, move some of Katelyn’s art supplies around (since I have nowhere to put them, I just figure it looks *cleaner* over here than over there), and throw some of the toys in the toybox. I don’t know why I bother, as Kendall toddles over to grab them right back out again. Her favorite new toy is Katelyn’s naked doll, and Kendall proceeds to chew on every body part.

I open the cupboard door to contemplate my breakfast choices. Tea or coffee? Protein bar or something frozen? I make Kendall her breakfast and wipe down the sticky countertops from our Chinese takeout dinner last night.

Then it’s time to work. I reboot my computer for the 800th time since Saturday. Damn viruses. And of course my graphics software STILL isn’t working. Strike 1. I then get some strange pop-ups on my screen that I have to research. Are they viruses, spam, or actual warnings? I tend to lean to the first and second of those options, but don’t want to ignore them just in case. Finally I get my email open, respond to those, and move on to finding any newsworthy articles related to my women’s issues site.

Kendall falls back asleep just as Katelyn wakes up. The first thing out of her mouth is her desire to play Candyland. I realize that as a good mom, I should put down my work and play it with her. I have been promising to play it for over two days now! So I get her some breakfast and we play a quick game before Kendall wakes up.

Kendall woke up, so I threw the girls’ bedding in the wash. We’re all still in our pajamas, but hey it’s only 9:00!

I sit here and think back to the days, pre-motherhood, when 9:00 was an average wake-up time on the weekends…

My baby started preschool today! Although it’s the beginning of a new chapter, it’s also the close of the horrible preschool determination process!

Step 1: We had to figure out if we even wanted her to attend preschool this year. I wasn’t sure if I was ready, although she was definitely ready. So we compromised and decided she’d go for two half days. Hey, she’s only 2.5 years old! She’ll be going to school for the next 20 years.

Step 2: Finding the right school. Who knews this would be so agonizing?? She’s been on the waiting list for a Montessori school nearby for over 1.5 years. But they can’t even guarantee she’ll get on the list NEXT year. There went that idea. So I started visiting schools in the area… and outside the area… and outside the state. It’s amazing how many schools here have no openings. So we visited some schools that were immediately crossed off the list, and were left with a couple that had potential. One school was a “gifted” preschool, and Katelyn had to be tested. Of course she made it in (I would doubt they tell anyone that their child can’t get in!) and told us they had one opening left. So I jumped on it, filled out the paperwork, and signed her up. Then I got nervous. I wasn’t happy that it wasn’t a Montessori school, the school was very strict with their policies, and I began hearing bad things about them. So the next day my husband and I went to visit a Montessori school that I had originally seen by myself and liked. After seeing the school, and having some long discussions, we decided to pull her out of the Gifted Preschool and put her in the school she is now attending. Only then did I find out that the $420 I had put down at the Gifted Preschool was nonrefundable. After 36 Hours. COME ON! So we’ve been battling them and they are refusing to give us back any money. At this point they are saying that we’re lucky they didn’t charge us for September’s tuition since we had agreed to place her in the school. Whatever people.

Step 3: Obtain backpack, closed toed shoes, and “school clothes”. The backpack is for her change of clothes and pull-ups (no she’s not potty trained yet). The closed toed shoes are because they require them… but Katelyn hates them! We’ve been in sandals all summer. The “school clothes” are those clothes that I purchase that I don’t care what happens to. No trendy clothes for this child to ruin!

Step 4: Prepare for the big day. I’ve been psyching her out all week about going to school and seeing her teachers. Then I had to pack the backpack last night. It definitely made me a little weepy. I woke her up this morning to make sure she got a good breakfast, and we were out the door.

Step 5: Leave your heart at the door. I got her to school and she was fine. No worries when I said good-bye and headed out the door. But I had to leave my heart behind. I am not ready. I am so not ready!! Thank goodness I only had to leave her for 90 minutes today. We’re gradually working our way up to the full 3.5 hours so that she doesn’t freak out.

Who are we kidding. It’s so I don’t freak out!

Does anyone have a gmail email account? I’m wondering what all the hype is about (besides the requirement of you being invited to join the service!) I’ve had a ton of email accounts, but I prefer to have them all dump into outlook so that I’m not browsing multiple internet sites and trying to figure out who sent what, where. My hotmail account only exists so that I can use the msn messenger and disrupt my husband all day!

Well I signed up for my gmail account and we’ll see how it goes. nvkatz at gmail dot com - for those who are interested in helping me test it out.