Goober Parent Update: Texting Edition

Well.  I survived my week of subbing in the sixth grade.

Barely.

Wow!  Throwing 27 rowdy 6th graders in one class room and spending all day with them can certainly keep things spicy!  Doesn’t even try your patience at all . . .

I kid!  I jest!

But, seriously.  Wow.

For the most part, the week went ok, although challenging.  BUT Thursday.  THURSDAY!  THURSDAY.  Thursday was really not so good.  I went home on Thursday feeling quite discouraged and worried.  To add to the joy, I woke up at 2:30am just so I could dwell on the events of the prior day even more.  I could not go back to sleep after that.  So, Friday, I went in to face the aforementioned rowdy 6th graders on just a couple hours of sleep.

Thankfully, they were so much better and the day went very well.  I would not have been able to survive that week without the support, advice, and kindness from the principal and other teachers.  They totes get an A+.

So, I survived Friday, but I was crazy tired.  Normally, we drive an hour into church on Friday nights and don’t get home until after 10pm.  I knew there was no way I could do that, so we stayed home.  David had a class on Friday, and was not home until 9:30 that night.

I went to bed around 5:30pm.  I remember feeding my kids something for dinner and letting them know that -YAY!- tonight was surprise movie night!  So, I was basically out of it and trying to stay coherent since I was the caretaker of the four cherubs.

Around 8pm, I received this text from my dad:

FWD: We’re hoping to be in your area tomorrow between 2 and 4.  Does that work for you if we arrive at your house somewhere in that time frame?

Now, remember, dear readers.  Taylor is tired.  Taylor is not thinking clearly.  So many different thoughts are running through Taylor’s head.  Thoughts including, but not limited to:

I see this is a forward.  Who is the message originally from?

Is someone wanting to come to my house tomorrow?

Why do 6th graders throw pencils across the room at each other?

Is my dad confused and sending me a message that does not involve me?

I wonder if David will bring me home a Dairy Queen Blizzard?

I text my dad back with this deep thought:

?

Because that was about all the energy I could put in to that question.

About ten minutes later, I get this text from my brother, Danny.

From Dad (not sure why he couldn’t just send this to you): Danny and crew are coming for a couple of hours tomorrow.  If you can make it, great.

Well, I am in no state of mind to be making plans for the next day.  I need to talk to David, and David is still in his stupid class and not bringing me a Blizzard.  So I just put my phone down and go back to trying to watch TV and not sleeping.  And here are the new thoughts running through my head:

Why is texting so hard for my parental units?

Why do 6th graders snap rubber bands across the room at each other?

What are my own kids up to right now?

I wonder if they will do the dishes for me.

Will a Blizzard be able to stay all Blizzard-y and frozen for an hour car ride?

Why do 6th graders take Crystal Light powder packets, dump them on the inside of their desks, lick their fingers, and then eat the powder?

A few minutes later, I get this text from my dad:

Danny and crew are coming for a couple of hours tomorrow.  If you can make it, great.

I respond to him and tell him I am really tired and I will call him tomorrow.  I go back to my hard work of “staying awake until David gets home.”

Why do 6th graders steal stuff of the teacher’s desk?

I really want to see Danny’s new baby.

Don’t we already have plans tomorrow?

Is it easier to homeschool, or teach 6th graders?

About 10 minutes later, I get this text from my mom:

Danny said that they plan to stop by our house between 2 and 4.  Said you’d be welcome to come and meet the baby.

Ok!  I get it already!

These people are confusing to deal with.  I found out later from my mother what the sitch was.

My mom and dad were at a restaurant eating dinner.  Brother Danny texted them and informed them that he would be in their area between 2 and 4 and to let me know.  My family has not gotten to meet their new little baby.

My dad decided to text me to invite me.  He send the text to Danny.  Then he tried to forward it to me, but he forwarded the wrong one.  Instead of trying again, he texted Danny to ask him to forward me the one he sent Danny, that was originally meant for me.

Meanwhile, my mother is trying to explain to him how he could have made this process much faster, but he would hear none of it.  Worried that I am not aware of my invite, she decides to text me as well.

So, there you have it.

***

Subbing all week zapped all my energy.  May I introduce you to Mount Laundry?

That’s right.  Be jealous.

***

We have had a hard time keeping our house warm this winter with our wood stove.  I believe there are two main reasons contributing to this:

1)  We had so many truck problems during prime wood-gettin’ season, that we don’t have enough quality wood.  We have been getting wood off of our property, which does not burn as hot.  I used to think David was crazy when he would give me ye olde “Tamarack is the best wood because it burns hot and slow” speech.  I would like the records to show that he is SO RIGHT.

2)  I am not home during the day to keep the fire going.  When I was homeschooling, I would keep the fire going all day.  Now, I am not, so when we get home it takes longer for our house to warm up after being cool all day.

David wanted to buy a BIGGER wood stove.  Wood stoves cost many dollars.  I told him “No Way, Jose.”  So this was his solution:

It was actually quite brilliant.  He cut a hole in the floor of the main floor so that the heat from the basement would travel up more quickly.

He put nice grate things over it and it looks all professional.  And much cheaper than a new wood stove!

Happy Sunday!  Are you watching the Super Bowl?  I am not.  I am going to a play and shopping with my mom.  Isn’t life grand?