School Uniforms Suck

Growing up I always wished we had school uniforms at my school. I did not have the money for the latest fashions, and I thought wearing uniforms meant it wouldn't matter if I had less money than everybody else. But I was totally wrong. My kids have uniforms at their school, and the uniforms are tagged and branded. Kids still want uniforms from certain stores...those stores with the highest price tags are, of course, the ones they want the most.

Schools down in Tampa argue that uniforms are a good policy because they are cost effective, help kids focus on school work, and give unity/school spirit to the students. I disagree on all of these arguments.

Uniforms are costly! I am a bargain hunter, and I know I can get a very nice shirt at TJ Maxx or Old Navy for my kids for less than I can any polo. The schools sell the polo's from $12-15, and most stores have them for $9-25. I, however, can get new kid's shirts for $4-7. When you have 3 kids needing at least 4 shirts each, that extra $2 or more adds up.

Khaki pants are always more expensive than jeans or non-khaki shorts. Plus, jeans and casual shorts can be worn on weekends and evenings more easily than uniform khakis. So I would save money by not needing 2 wardrobes for the kids.

School uniforms do not help take attention away from wardrobes and put it on school work. The students still compare shoes, hair, jewelry, manicures, and even socks. My kids complain they don't have nice enough pencils! Not to mention, the students pay attention to the labels, style, and cut of uniforms. Who looks best in their uniforms. Dress codes are all that is needed, not uniforms. Go ahead and put length requirements on shorts, don't allow sleeveless or midsection baring tops.

Maybe there is some unity given by every kid wearing the same color everyday. My daughter thinks it's boring, and I don't blame her. Plus, the unity does not necessarily give the kids school spirit. I think having sports teams, clubs, and community groups help to build spirit and school pride. I don't think the kids care about wearing school colors to go learn. They would probably enjoy cheering on their teams, and working together. Pride works better than uniforms for uniting students.

I think I hate school uniforms more than my kids hate them! Faith would rather wear glittery pink clothes. She's got a style of her own, and I think it's fun to see her express it. Christian and Cross like t-shirts that show their favorite teams or express their personalities. Imagine if you had to wear the same color and styles of clothes everyday! Some people are great at it, like military personnel, but not all of us are military material!

World's Best Mom

I am not the type of mom you will see volunteering as "Homeroom Mom" or "Team Mom." I will not stalk my children at school as the PTA president, nor will I follow them at every single field trip. I'm just not that type of mom. Honestly, I need my space and I think my kids need their's as well.



I always felt like a bad mom because I'm not that "involved in every aspect of my kid's life" kind of mom. You will, however, find me in the bleachers cheering them on. I am their biggest fan whether it is at sports, school, or just hanging out being silly. I am not overly protective, but if somebody makes my kids cry, the claws will come out. I'm not a physically affectionate person, but I love a good cuddle with my kids (as long as they are sitting still, which is rare).




So this past week has been really rough on me. Being in the hospital and out of commission has caused me to miss a lot of the things that I AM there for. I missed my kids' first wresting match, I didn't get to meet their teachers at the open house, and I didn't get to take them to school on their first day. These are the things I am usually there for. It has made me realize that the best mom's are not necessarily the one's that are there for everything, sometimes they are the ones that are there for what is important.

If my kids cry, I tell them to suck it up and get up. But when they are having a bad day, overly tired, or really hurt I am there to kiss boo boos. I am there to tell them it's okay. I may be too tough on them sometimes, but I think that's what they expect from me. Heck, my kids would eat me alive if I gave into every single tear.

One of the worse parents are those that tell their kids they are the best, even if they are not. Like those parents that tell their kids to try out for American Idol, even thought their kid can not sing at all. I'm not going to puff up my kids' egos, I am going to cheer for them and help them to be the best they can be. I don't care if they are the best, but I am going to teach them to try.

All moms are different. This week I learned which ones are the best. I learned I am the world's best mom...at least for my kids.

Chiropractors

Since I injured my back more than 4 years ago, I have seen so many types of doctors. None of them seem to know how to fix the problem. Surgery worked for about 4 months, and now I am right back to where I was before the surgery.

One of the types of treatment I have tried was chiropractic. The biggest problem I have with chiropractors is that they don't seem to want to fix the problem. They are like salesman! I don't trust that they really want me to feel better. They want me on long term plans where I am in the office several times a week. That is freaking expensive! Even if I have insurance to cover it, $15-$20 co-pay several times a week adds up. Plus, finding time to go is a pain in the butt when you have 3 kids and a ton of errands.

Besides the fact that they want you for life, I am scared for my health when I go to chiropractors. I know it's silly, but when they are adjusting my neck and my knees, it scares me to death. And it's gross, ick! Can't you kill somebody by snapping their neck? I just don't like it.

Still, even if I wasn't a weak stomached wimp, I have issues! The first chiropractor I saw for my back problem gave me a bone spur in the middle of my spine, and did not help my lower back at all. After I had been seeing the chiropractor for about 2 months twice a week, during one adjustment it hurt really bad. He told me that sometimes it does hurt, but I had never felt it hurt that bad before. I could barely move for days after that adjustment. I never returned to that chiropractor. A couple years later I found out I had a bone spur from that adjustment.

After a year of searching for other types of relief for the pain I saw different chiropractor. Yes I got the same sales pitch as all the other chiropractors, but I thought maybe he could help. He never hurt me during an adjustment, but I got migraines after every time I went. I told him about it, but he said that it must be something else causing the headaches, not his treatment. The headaches continued and so did my low back pain. When I stopped going for adjustments the headaches stopped.

Two years later I am considering trying a third chiropractor. I don't know if I should or not. I don't trust them, but I really want to be out of pain. Has anybody ever had successful results?

Book and Cardio

Today I got to workout a little bit longer than I have in the past couple of days. I did 25 minutes on the Stairmill and 25 minutes on the Eliptical.

The only way I am able to do this much cardio is to bring a book. I get so bored doing cardio, especially on cardio machines. I'm not into tv shows, so watching tv on the machines never worked for me.  I usually have a book or my nook when I head to the gym for cardio.

I also did some light arms on the cables. Just enough to wake up the muscles, but not enough to hurt my back. I ended with about 5 minutes of crunches.

Getting in a Quicky

Between getting ready for school, surgery, and Christian's birthday, the last couple of days have been crazy as I expect the next couple of days to be as well. These days I do the best I can to get in a quick workout. A workout that will de-stress me, wake up my body, and keep me in some sort of shape.

Yesterday I squeezed in a 25 minute stairmill workout and about 5 minutes of abs in between dentist and orthodontist appointments.

Today I got to do a 30 minute swim and about 10 minutes of legs in between pre-op appointments and shopping for school uniforms for Faith. I can no longer to much with weights, and the weights I use for legs are light weight machine exercises. I also throw in lunges and squats without weights as well.

These are not ideal workouts for me, but I am proud that I did the best I could to at least workout some.

End of an Era

I've been done having children for about 7 years now. I've got three kids, love them, but they are more than enough for me. The past 11 years for me has been being a mom. The moment I held Faith there was nothing else I wanted to do. But now there is going to be a change that officially ends this having baby chapter of my life.

This Friday I am going to have a hysterectomy. I'm officially going to be done having babies, there is no changing my mind on this. It's not like I wanted babies, but knowing I can't changes my mindset.
I can't describe it, but I feel like I being forced to finish having babies. However, I know that there is only two ways to go. I can be sad knowing that I am no longer fertile, that I am missing a piece of me. Or I can except it and focus on the next chapter of my life.

I don't know what that chapter has in store. I am sad, but I have to keep my mind off of that. I am determined to move forward. This is a new era for me. Yes, I am still a mother to those three great kids of mine, but I can't think I am less because I am less a body part. I gotta think I am more because I have checked that box, crossed it off the bucket list, and, best of all, I survived three babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

I will focus more on developing me as me. The problem I face now is figuring who the heck I want to be. I have great support from the four most amazing people I know (Jim and the kids), I have great friends who don't care if I have a uterus or not, and I got time...heck I'm going to be sore and recovering, right.

So, am I nervous about starting a new era? Nah, not anymore. I'm anxious to find out what the new era has in store.

But I am extremely nervous about the needles, surgery, and pain...I'm a wimp, I won't lie. Doctors tell me I have a high pain tolerance, but it doesn't mean I like it...especially there.

Positive Campaigning

I am so completely tired of negative campaigning. It reminds me so much of an elementary school playground: "oh don't be friends with Timmy, he has cooties," "did you here what Jenny said? She was making fun of you,"... Sounds just like the current political race.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I do not trust politicians. So why would I trust what they are saying about their political opponent. I get nothing out of all the campaign commericials. It's all he said she said bull crap.

Instead,  I would rather the politicians have commercials that says what their platforms are. I would rather know what Romney believes he is going to do as President. What are his particular thoughts on the nation. I don't care what Romney doesn't like about Obama. Why can't Obama spend his campaign money explaining is next steps as President? I don't care what he thinks he inherited from Bush, I want to know what he is going to do about it.

How does Romney feel about the war? How does he plan to fix the budget? What is his platform? We've seen Obama in action as president and we know his platform, but I would like to know his plans for the future beyond Obamacare. I don't care if Obama is black, white, pink, purple, or green, I am not voting for class president, y'all, so lets grow up.

I think the negative campaigning goes back to the stupid two party system! If there were more than two nominees, negative compaigning would be more difficult. Also with the 2 party system it is hard to find a candidate that suits all I am looking for in a president. Having more than 2 parties allows there to be a bigger variety of platforms and beliefs. The spectrum of Conservative and Liberal would be much broader with more choices in the middle.

Honestly I can't tell where the candidates this year are in the spectrum. They are too busy finger pointing and not telling us who they are. My kids keep asking who I am voting for, at this point I can't answer them. Nobody looks good to me. I guess I'll vote for the one who has less cooties on the playground...