busy | Kaira Rouda

Of jellyfish, hurt knees, DC, sweet sixteen and the joys of end-of-school

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T01:46:44+00:00May 20, 2009|busy, end of school year, Graduation, kids, multi-tasking|Comments Off on Of jellyfish, hurt knees, DC, sweet sixteen and the joys of end-of-school

This post will fall into the category of: Oh, my goodness. Is school almost over or what? These last few weeks of the school year feel like a perpetual full-moon, day and night. The kids are: #1 excited for summer, spending more time outside and getting hurt (trampoline + my oldest = bruised knee and two weeks physical therapy at least) Oh, and also planning high school graduation, college, yikes;#2 Anticipating the weekend spent at the lake with good friends, and next week's driver's license test (car + my 16-year-old daughter = lifetime of worry)#3 Enjoying an 8th grade trip to DC (packing + middle son with no dress clothes that fit = late-night sojourn to Target, much consternation, but eventual on-time departure) and will return just in time for his 8th grade Graduation;#4 Hibernating. With sinus infection, missing choir concert tonight and opportunity to [...]

Taking the time to plant a tree

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T01:47:21+00:00May 13, 2009|busy, diverse, moms, smile, stay at home, work|Comments Off

As I helped out with my son's 6th grade class Tree Planting Day, I looked around at all the other "parent leaders" and noticed the diversity represented in the volunteers. Of course, there were a couple dads, but I was focusing on the moms. We represented the reality of moms today. Some of us work full time, some are full-time stay-at-home moms (SAHMs). Many work part-time. Most all have more than one child. We were a wide range of ages - from early 30s to mid-50s. We were, with our shovels, today's moms. One took a call from work while we dug; another a call from a nurse about a sick child at elementary school. There are more than 82 million moms in the U.S., (82.8 as of 2004 - and I'm sure there are more current figures but these stats were on the cover [...]