Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Do you want to know what's awesome about putting liquid eyeliner on a wiggly, giggly ten year old?



Nothing.  There is nothing awesome about that.

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook may have seen me share this sentiment before, but honestly, it's worth a second mention so that you may delight in my total Toddlers & Tiaras moment.

First and foremost, I am a procrastinator.  It's not like I don't know how stressful performance days are, we've been doing this going on 8 years now.  For whatever reason, it always seems to come down to the last 20 minutes and I'm screaming and running around like a lunatic and said 10 year old is thoroughly enjoying the show.  Hence the wiggling and giggling.  Also, the very minute I need to get to work on her face is also the very minute she needs  to pee and needs  to find her earbuds, and scratch her nose and whatever else she can think of.

Just so you know, the best stage eyeliner is like a combination of a felt tip pen and a sharpie.  God help you if you screw that up, because you will be starting from scratch.  Don't ask how I know this.  Just don't.

Honestly, the getting ready is my least favorite part of the performance, and hers as well.  Thank goodness after 8 years we've gotten the bun almost down to an art form and maybe one day we will master that eyeliner!

Of course it was all worth it, as it always is, the minute she stepped on the stage and lit it up.  Now that is something I will never grow weary of.  

Monday, March 11, 2013

I love waiting. Waiting's my favorite.

Um, no.  Not really.  I think I am the person least equipped for waiting on the planet.  Like ever.  But here I sit.  Waiting.  What am I waiting for?  Only the first in what will be a long line of acceptance (I don't even want to think about the alternative) letters Lauren will receive in her life.

Last month was February to the rest of the world.  For thousands of anxious parents across Miami-Dade county it was Magnet Audition month.  For us, that involved searching for the right song, a collaborative effort in choreographing a 1 minute audition piece, momma chewing her nails off with anxiety and a very cool, calm and collected 10 year old smiling with pride that she "nailed it!"  I probably should have blogged about it at the time, but honestly, couldn't bring myself to do it.  The odds alone are frightening.  I'm estimating at least 300 girls auditioning for at most 35 spots.

Now comes the fun part.  The Wait.  Letters get mailed March 15-20.  Fingers are crossed.  Prayers are said.



Sunday, March 10, 2013

The New Mean Girls

I don't even know where to start with this post.  It's been weighing heavily on my heart for days and I know I need to "get it out."  Sigh.  Last week in the cafeteria of my daughter's school some girls began to pick on another girl.  Apparently it's a frequent occurrence, but that day she began to cry.  Two girls, one of whom is a close friend of my daughter, took action and notified the security personnel.  However, this made them the new targets and by the end of the day they were receiving threats and nasty text messages.  My daughter's good friend was called a "hoe," and was threatened several times that she was going to get her ass beat.  The harassing continued for days, even though the school administration had been notified.  To their credit however, the bullies did receive a three-day suspension, each, later in the week.

Since a portion of the threats took place on Facebook, I was forced to take a long hard look at Lauren's page, going through friend by friend of those I had (at least thought) I had carefully added.  I saw a status that read "Blank and Blank are bitches, I don't like them!"  Another of her friends, a classmate, recently changed her middle name on FB to read "Clitoris."  My jaw hit the ground.

Oh, did I mention these were 10 and 11 year olds.  Yeah, 5th graders still in elementary school.  I can barely wrap my mind around it.