Moms of Boys

Hi ladies,

Summer is not far away. Of course, that means we will be just as busy as ever. There’s always something to keep MOBs busy!

Hi ladies,

Went to a book reading/discussion on Friday night at Duke. It was part of the North Carolina Festival of the Book, and they had some awesome authors lined up. One of my favorites has always been Jill McCorkle, who is a NC native but now lives in Boston because she teaches at Harvard. Her book, The Cheerleader, is one of my favorite books as are a number of hers; but, that one stands out because it really inspired me to write back when it first came out in the ’80s. Check out her books if you haven’t.

Well, ladies, here it is spring, although it doesn’t feel much like it here in NC today. Rainy and cold. Last week we had temps around 85. My boys, particularly my oldest one, is really disappointed we haven’t had any snow in the last two winters. Snow days are a huge thing here because we don’t have enough of it for our govt. to invest in lots of snow removing equipment so lots of things kind of shut down. Schools, are one of those, of course. There is something kind of cozy about being in the house during these times; yet, as anyone knows who has kids, trying to get a toddler or pre-schooler into their snow clothes and boots five times a day can be frustrating beyond belief.

What a week! Taught writing classes at an elementary school this past week, five classes per day for an hour each. Great students and teachers, but it’s still draining to ‘talk’ that much. On my way to work one morning I got a speeding ticket; it was on one of those short roads where it starts off at 45 mph, then drops to 35 for ten yards and then to 25 in a school zone. I was going 40, thinking I was under the 45 limit posted at the beginning of the road. Then I started thinking about school reassignment and how the houses I was driving by were not reassigned to the new high school as my son was even though they live five miles closer to the school than we do. Anyway, I saw the cop coming, but again, I thought I was going under the speed limit, and didn’t worry - didn’t even hit the brakes. At the stoplight at the end of the road, I saw those dreadful blue lights in my rearview mirror.
Then when the policeman asked for my driver’s license, I gave it to him, only to have him hand it back and say, “That’s your credit card, ma’am.” Whoops. That was partly from being nervous and partly from force of habit. Pulling the credit card out is something I do too much of; I curse the day fast food drive-throughs started accepting credit. I’m sure this will put many people in the poor house.

Hi fellow MOB members:

Hope things are going well for you all. Other than having our ENTIRE weekends taken over by basketball games, and baseball and soccer practices, we’re doing fine. I wonder what percentage of our lives we spend going to these games? I like to see my boys play, but it does sort of take over my life.