I just realized my oldest will be a freshman this year.

In HIGH SCHOOL people!

Okay I’ve known for 156 months (13 years) this was coming.
I am SO not stressed for her in the least. Oh no.

I mean, let’s talk about ME blog-o-peeps.

I just realized…
I will spend the next TEN years of my life with at least.one.kid in High School!

Ten Years of:

• I’m freaked out mom!
• The School is huge mom!
• How will I find my locker mom!?
• Drive me here mom.
• Not the MEAN English teacher mom!
• Will I get asked (who should I ask) to the dance mom?
• ZITS! Mom! Fix This! Now!
• Drive me there mom.
• Ew. No. I am not eating school lunch. Pleeease can you bring me Subway?
• College Applications, Standardized Tests, Essay Questions. (I need a Xanax.)
• Drive me everywhere mom.
• Freshman Book Reviews, Sophomore Shakespeare Series, Junior Band Competitions, and Senior Year Project. (Didn’t I already attend High School?)

And my worst fear of all… (Mormons will understand the pain and angst of what I’m about to type…)

• TEN YEARS of EARLY MORNING SEMINARY! (Que the bad B-movie horror music.)

In the past (Pre-economy-stinks, Pre-school-budget-in-the-toilet, Pre-our-school-still-has-options) our high school started at 8AM. The kids attended early morning off-site Mormon seminary at 6:45AM. (Shoot me now). Giving them time for 1 hour of groggy, teen, sleep-deprived, yet spiritual enlightenment. I was Terrified about that 6:45AM bit.

TEN YEARS of getting up WHEN?

Here’s the kicker: Oh yay, guess what? This year the high school has eliminated about 10 programs (including business courses—I am NOT even kidding). We are down to 6 classes per day. I think that includes lunch and ‘homeroom-pretend-to-do-homework-class’. So technically 4 classes, I mean who needs all that extra fluff like Geography?

(Sidenote: If any incoming freshman fails a single class he/she cannot get enough credits to graduate without summer school. Not one single slip up.)

And in addition they will now begin classes at 9AM.
Weird? Yes. Idiotic? Definitely.

Okay back to that early morning seminary mom stress.
(It’s all about me remember?)

If they still start at 6:45AM, for an hour, then they will have over an hour before school starts. (The seminary teacher has a job that starts at 8AM.) I ‘d have to go back to get her, or worry about what teens do with nothing to do before school. Neither makes me very happy.

We are waiting to hear the outcome.

A new teacher? A later seminary start time?
Earth shattering things here.
Can I really deal with all this for TEN MORE YEARS?

I refuse to think about the TEN straight years of college that will begin in 4 more years.

You can’t make me.
Dang! I just thought about it and now my left eye is twitching.

At least I won’t be driving them to college every day at 6AM will I?
Crap. Now my other eye is twitching.

***Update.
Just heard they will be adding a second, later-starting seminary class.
All is saved.
Please go back to your oatmeal.

Wait. They what?
What is a PASS card?

It’s a re-loadable CASH card perfect for kids ages 13 and up from American Express. Plus you can get $25 free when you register. Read below for details.

Here’s what it ISN’T!

• It’s NOT a credit card.
• It’s NOT a debit card.
• It’s NOT going to check your credit when you sign up.
• It’s NOT going to turn your kid into a Debt monster.

At first I was all, why would my kid need to use a card like this? She’s only 13.  And then I thought…

• Use it as a teaching tool.

She can’t screw up because once the money is gone from the card she can’t keep spending. She can however learn to budget, calculate what is left and weigh that against what she wants that second, compared to what she knows she’ll need later on. I love giving my kids little bites of independence in a way that helps them learn a lot and even if they fail, it will be just painful enough to learn from it.

• Mom never has cash around anymore.

We are big on allowance. Each kid gets a certain amount each week. Yes for chores but also so they can learn to save and spend and understand how money works! We expect our kids to pay for almost all of their own expenses. From school fees to friend’s birthday gifts and especially for entertainment time with friends. Movies, frozen yogurt parlor etc.  However, paying allowance is tricky when mom rarely has any cash on hand. I have to make a special trip to an ATM, but then the bills are too big and I have to get them changed to ones and fives… I end up skipping it altogether half the time!

We’re adding a full month’s allowance to her new PASS card and YAY(!), no extra trip to the dreaded ATM machine.

• What if her babysitting gigs could pay her via her new PASS card?

Would that totally rock? Most times she goes to babysit and they end up waiting to pay her for a week or so because they also forgot to hit the ATM on the way home. If they write a check, then I’M THE ONE who ends up headed to an extra bank stop. I asked the AMEX people and they said yeah, sorry you’d have to give them your account passwords for this to work.. but I can dream for the future right?? (And heck I’d give grandma the passcodes.. that way they could send her bits of cash for birthdays if they wanted??)

• Imagine sending a kid off to summer camp, or eventually college?

This card would solve a lot for a kid who isn’t around parents for an extended period. They can use the card as needed. And mom and dad can easily re-load the card if there is an emergency or a surprise expense shows up. I’ve heard nightmares about young adults totally screwing up their credit at a really young age! This would be a nice way to introduce the concept of ‘plastic’ without the painful debt mistakes.

As part of the SheSpeaks campaign; American Express WILL ADD $25 when you load $25 on your new PASS account.

YES you read that right. Register for a PASS card (you need a 13+yrold kid) and load $25 on it. It will magically turn into $50 when it shows up in the mail! You must use the code SS25, and you must order yours before April 15th!

Whatcha waiting for? Go!
Your kid’s allowance is being paid by AMEX this month!

(Disclosure: I am compensated as part of the SheSpeaks campaign. And please note there IS a fee to use the PASS card, but it’s being waived until October 1st, 2011.)

Project Take More Pictures| Take 3

This isn’t technically a self portrait because my daughter took the photo.. but whatever.

In my quest to be IN more photos this is day 3 post ‘laser’ treatment after my chin got the acne treatment. Other than the artsy fartsy editing, I did not alter my face at all, I am wearing a tinted moisturizer though because my chin is screaming red still!

And right after a giant Flour Fiasco! She was holding the flour bin upside down and it all came crashing out. All over the counter, the floor and HERSELF!

We laughed and she had already cleaned up most of the counter, but when we grabbed the vacuum my little boy shouts: “I Want to Vacuum My Sister!!”

Reminds me of a story my older sister told once about her daughter making a mess in the kitchen with flour. The kid was upset, so my sister says, “you think THIS is a big mess?” And proceeded to throw flour all over the kitchen… “Now THIS is a BIG mess!!”

I’ve been waiting for over a month to share this with everyone!

I was asked last month to host a ‘Period Party’ with my daughter and her friends and her friend’s moms. I was all… um… really?? Like, sit around and talk about tampons and cramps and… yeah I don’t think so.

Turns out. I asked my daughter what she thought about it.. and she totally surprised me.
Please go read about it, I posted it on the Seventh Generation website.

Watch my daughter talk about her first period. Dude. Have times changed or what?

The Financial Talk with your Kids.

During the me, me, me: I want, want, want… season, how do you ‘Have The Talk’ with your kids?

I’m excited to join a team of bloggers and iVillage/TheTalk who are all specifically having THAT talk . Teaching our tweens and teens about where money comes from, what it means to work and especially right now, the true meaning of giving BACK during the holidays.

Check out this video of a girl and her mom. Are you scared to have the talk?
You don’t want to wait until it’s too late, the earlier the better.

My daughters are now 13 and nearly 10 years old. And they are definitely old enough to have ‘The Talk’.

The funny thing is my oldest is a total spendthrift and will spend every cent of her allowance the second she gets it. Don’t get me wrong, often she spends it on her friends and shares any treats she buys with her siblings.

And my 10 year old in true middle child syndrome, saves every penny and even counts it often. One year she was saving for a Build-A-Bear. I had consented to purchasing half for her birthday. She saved for a few months and then asked me again what the total price was. I told her around $50 and that was just a basic bear. She looked me in the eye and said, nah, that’s way too much money.

Wow, huh?

Talk about about two very different kiddos.
Two very different parenting needs.
And yes, we’ll have ‘The Talk’ with each of them very differently!

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be exploring our version of The Talk with the holidays fast approaching. Join me! How do you plan to have The Talk with your kids?

The other bloggers on the #HaveTheTalk team:

• Vanessa @frenchfoodiemom talking dollars and sense with her kids.
• Mary @MaryBabysteps helping her kids control the “I Want it Now” syndrome.
• Lolli @1Momof5
• Jenny @JennyOnTheSpot

Each week add your thoughts to the Weekly Sweeps Question on the iVillage Forum, for a chance to win a $50 Amex Gift Card!
This week’s question: Financially, do teens have it better or worse than when you were a kid?

Stock photo from Shutterstock.com.
The bloggers involved in ‘The Talk’ campaign are compensated.

Tween
What is the deal when every costume you google turns out to look like a bar wench and has the title  ‘Sexy Minnie Mouse’?

What??

Read my GoodNCrazy DIY solution after my tween decided she wants to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween.

It’s never too early….

Alive At 25 program…

Read my whole article on Blissfully Domestic

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I was laughing at myself because the day before I needed to teach a Sunday Lesson to the young women of my congregation, I was online searching Wikipedia for quotes about learning and knowledge… is that irony?

I started out my talk/lesson with these fairly well known math/physics formulas:

E=mc²

A²+b²=c²

∏r²= ?

V=u + at

F=ma

The older girls recognized most of them, maybe didn’t understand them, but had the basic idea. I was surprised to see the younger girls totally recognized the physics formulas? We talked a little bit about each one and what the symbols stood for.

I handed out a sheet with the Wikipedia quotes. I divided it into 6 different categories with quotes for each one.

• Knowledge of Self
• Experiential Knowledge
• Secular Knowledge
• Spiritual Knowledge
• Worldly Knowledge Pop Culture | Current Events | Politics | Natural Disasters
• Familial and Fraternal Knowledge

I asked the girls to read the quotes and then share with me which ones they liked the best and why? A couple I liked:

Knowledge of Self

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.” – Lao Tzu

“We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.” – Blaise Pascal

What beauty in those statements… We talked about making any decision. Big or Small.

• Choosing a candy bar amongst a giant wall of multiple varieties?
• Going to college, what to study, where to attend?
• Dividing your time wisely between school work, after school activities and down-time ‘hanging out’ with friends?

Knowing yourself first will help you learn to make decisions that will help you find happiness in the short and long term.

I KNOW I prefer chocolate and peanut butter in the same candy bar. So Yay for me! Helps me narrow my choice to one third of the candy bar aisle. Saving me time and increasing my overall enjoyment! (not to mention my waist)

Choosing which college was right for me was simple. I knew I wanted to study biology and affordability was a high priority. I was NOT cut out for BYU (wow that’s a whole blog post) and the University of Utah had a much better science department complete with the research I craved. Oh.. and a scholarship came through from the state school. No brainer. I knew myself and I knew where I was headed.

Worldly Knowledge

From the Bible:

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” -  John 17: 14-17

And from an Elder in the LDS church

“There is a familiar phrase (Mormons often use): to be in the world, but not of the world. Our mortal existence is necessary to fulfill the plan of salvation. We must therefore live in this world, but we must also resist the worldly influences that are ever before us.”

This concept is generally shoved down the girl’s throats, so we skimmed over it.
But it’s true isn’t it? It’s hard living IN this world; and so much harder not being OF the world.

Used by it.

Trampled by it.

Addicted to it.

Influenced by it.

Resisting the worldly influences that are ever before us is exhausting work. It’s amazing to watch young kids who get this and shine. Who refuse to let the so called norms of the world dictate their values. (And my 12 year old daughter is one of the youngest of this group, learning and absorbing all the truly fabulous examples from the older girls!)

After discussing some of the quotes and what they meant I wrote this on the board:

K x S = T + W

They quickly guessed K= knowledge… but I had to help them with the rest.

Here’s my thinking. Knowledge is great and all, but clearly what you DO with your knowledge will shape and define you as a person, especially as a spiritual person. In my equation S = SERVICE. I figure if you don’t give away your time and of your self and your knowledge in the form or serving others… what’s the point?

Since we are talking in terms of chemical reactions. The ‘stuff’ on the left is what you put INTO the reaction. The items on the right are what you get out for your effort. Your reactive “products”.

So what do you get when you fold knowledge and service into a young girl and you heat up the ‘reaction’ by supplying opportunities for both? In the form of babysitting a neighbor’s kids. Raking their grandma’s yard. Baking cookies for a friend who’s had a hard time… Helping them with homework, and supplying a strong expectation for them to do well in school and continue on to college.

T= Testimony

They will learn great lessons about giving and sharing and learning. Gaining understanding by giving away what they KNOW, will yield a strong belief in themselves and of those things they have learned. By sharing their time and their skills a seed of faith will grow.  Maybe they will gain a testimony of the love their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ already have for them.  Helping others quickly turns back and benefits them.

I added the W as an additional product. Kind of like a by-product absorbing all that excess energy produced when a young energetic kid combines knowledge with service. Any guesses what it stands for?

Wisdom

Talk about chocolate BLISS.

My 12yrold came home from her church youth activity with Easy Chocolate Truffles! Wha… wow? I’m going to young women’s next time!
Get this. There are only three ingredients…

Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate 8oz.


Whole Package of Oreos

2} 8oz. Packages of Cream Cheese

Last weekend when she asked to make them at home… oh boy, she REALLY had to twist my arm.

And the little sister helped. She ‘shaped’ the truffles…

The recipe is all over the internet, google “easy chocolate oreo truffles” and you’ll find it.

Basically you simply use a food processor to grind up the Oreos then mix into the softened cream cheese (use your hands). Then form small balls (or hearts?) and dip in melted chocolate. (We melted the chocolate on medium low on the stove.) Let them cool for a few hours in the fridge and… (uh huh, we didn’t make it that long either!)