Schools in Wake County

I had a conversation with somebody this evening about schools. She has a daughter who like our daughter, is entering Kindergarten in the fall. I asked her where she would be going to school and after telling me that she had applied for several magnet schools and her designated Year Round school, she didn't get into any of them and will be attending her base school. She sounded somewhat disappointed about the school so I asked which school it was. It happened to be the same school as our daughter is registered for. After hearing that and finding out that we actually live in the neighborhood, she seemed happier. It definitely made a difference that her daughter would know somebody from the neighborhood who could ride the bus with her. Both of the kids have been talking about taking the bus to school and are very excited about it.

Because she seemed disappointed at first, I told her that I missed the deadlines for applying for magnet schools and I figured that our base school would be as good as we make it out to be. By being close to the school we would have more opportunity to visit the school and be involved in our children's education. She said that her husband was very excited at the thought of being close to the school as he intended to be there to help out in the classroom as much as he could.

A parent can spend so much time being concerned about the school their child is attending that they don't consider that it is the parent's who can make any school great. This particular school may not look like one of the best schools on paper but I have several friends and neighbors with children in this school and they are very happy. It is all what you make it out to be. We are in Wake County and most of the schools are good. The not so good ones can improve and if you look at the history of all the schools, you can see that many not so good schools have become great over time. My belief is that as parents we need to be supportive of our children and do what we can to help the teachers and administrative staffs in our schools. We don't necessarily need great schools, we need great students and that is up to the PARENTS.

Triangle Events in May

I was looking around to find family-friendly events scheduled in May for the Triangle area. I found a couple of good ones that I want to share. On May 16th and 17th, Artsplosure - The Raleigh Arts Festival will be filling the Raleigh downtown streets with food, art, music, and plenty of people. This is a great event for the whole family. Also on that same weekend, the 8th annual Carolina Kids Expo will be held at the State Fairgrounds. If you have younger children, this is an event you shouldn't miss. I've been to this event every year for the past three years and my children always have a good time. It's also a great opportunity to learn about all the different products and services that are offered around the Triangle.

The Got To Be NC Festival is being held on May 29th and 30th at the State Fairgrounds. I have never attended this event but if you take a look at their webpage (http://www.ncagfest.com/), it looks like a lot of fun. Free parking, free admission, food, rides, and shows. It looks like a mini version of the state fair. Check it out!

The Clear Channel Health & Wellness Expo will be held at the State Fairgrounds on May 30th and 31st. I have attended this event for the past two years and found the information to be educational for adults and children of all ages. I'm guessing that with this event and the Got To Be NC Festival going on during the same weekend in the same location, it would be hard to attend this and skip the carnival - especially if your kids spot the rides.

Please check out the Events Calendar on www.trianglemomnetwork.com for links to these events and upcoming June events.

Bedtime and Naps

It seems like some people have no problems getting their children to go to sleep at night. Others dread bedtime because it can be so unpredictable. We were in the "others" group. It's not because we didn't have a routine because we have had the same routine for years. Some nights are so easy - we don't have to say anything and pajamas are on, teeth are brushed, and everyone is ready for bed. The other nights were dreadful. We put the kids to bed, one would come out to get water, the other would come out to use the bathroom, then one of them would come out to tell a story. This went on for an hour or more. It was frustrating but it was difficult say "you can't use the bathroom" or "we don't want to hear your story". So we had to determine what was causing this on some nights and why other nights were easy and come up with a solution.

We identified the problem. Neither of our preschoolers take naps at home but they are required to at least lay on their cots until everyone is asleep at preschool. Sometimes they may fall asleep which means they get an extra 2 hours of sleep in the afternoon. By bedtime they just weren't tired yet but I need that time from 8:30 to 11:00 to do things around the house, call family, catch up on bills, and relax so I want them to go to sleep. Once they go to sleep, they both sleep well and get at least 10 hours of sleep at night. So that combined with the 2 in the afternoon is over the 11 hours of recommended sleep for children their age.

So we now ask them if they slept at school and we plan our evenings around their answer. If they slept at school, we allow them to quietly look at books in their room for 20 minutes. If they can do it without being loud or fighting with each other then they get to stay up and I can still get my things done. It seems to work most nights but we do still have those occasional nights when they just don't want to go to sleep.

Triangle Mom Network

Another new endeavor I am working on is Triangle Mom Network or www.trianglemomnetwork.com. I am building a networking community for women in the Triangle area. The site contains a link to the Triangle Mom Network forum where members can start new topics of discussion, continue already started topics, or just look around and read what others have to say. It is a great to get to know other area women and find out what people are talking about. Other plans for the website are to build in a social networking tool, recruit locally owned businesses and women-owned businesses to advertise their products and services, and provide information on things that matter pertaining to women, families, and children.

If you have ideas for Triangle Mom Network, want to make comments, know of something missing for this area that we can add, or just want to talk, please log on to www.trianglemomnetwork.com and submit your comments. You can also send an email to info@trianglemomnetwork. Thank you for reading and come back again.

Lack of Sleep - Ear Infections

Last night was rough in our house. Our 4 year old son had an ear infection and was up pretty much all night long. He started complaining about his ear hurting on Friday which I probably should have paid more attention to considering he rarely complains and does not have a history of being sick. On Saturday, he seemed uncomfortable at times but at other times he was a typical 4 year old boy, very busy and all over the place. He doesn't take naps but fell asleep late in the afternoon and continued to complain about his ear hurting. I was hoping to get through the weekend so we could set an appointment with his regular doctor so we gave him Tylenol (he was running a low grade fever) and that seemed to work for about 3 hours or so.

He went to bed at his regular time (around 8:30) and was up the first time at about 11:00. We got him back to bed fairly quickly and he went back to sleep for about 2 hours. This went on for the entire night. I slept in 2 hour increments in between running up and down stairs getting water, Tylenol, or just sitting with him while he went back to sleep. By early morning I had already determined that we would need to visit the Urgent Care Clinic as soon as we could get there.

We went to a clinic near Rex Hospital that is open on Sunday. They were very efficient and the staff was extremely nice. The Physician Assistant (PAC) that we saw was great with children. He explained what the American Association for Pediatrics says about treating ear infections and offered me choices. We were in and out in an hour. It was a great experience considering some of the horror stories I have heard from others about "off hours" doctor visits.

By the time I am writing this at 10:00 pm, all is good and our son is sleeping peacefully.

Working Moms

It's amazing how much a working Mom can accomplish in a week. It surprises me every day of how much I can accomplish and how much my friends who work outside of the home and have children get done each day. Yesterday is a good example of a day that when I step back and think about it, I don't know how it all gets done. After leaving my house with my two preschoolers, dropping them off at preschool, working a very long day, and getting back to the preschool, I was told (at 5:00 pm) that it is possible my 4 year old has an infection and can not come back to school without a doctor's note. I probably didn't have the best reaction (because it turns out that he did have an infection) but I was not happy about the fact that the afternoon teacher pulled out a note from her pocket that was written by the morning teacher. The morning teacher leaves at 1:00 so I was a little confused as to why I was being told at 5:00 pm - after the doctor's office is closed - that I need a doctor's appointment before my son can go back to school. I left because I was there early to take my daughter to dance class and I needed to beat the traffic to get her to the studio by 5:30.

I dropped my daughter off and decided to go to the Minute Clinic. I figured if it was an infection that my son had then surely the nurse at the Minute Clinic would know what it is and get him on the antibiotic that he needed. So we had 45 minutes before I had to pick up my daughter and CVS is right up the road. We walked in, no wait, got right in, and sure enough, he has an infection. They send the prescription to the pharmacy and we can pick it up right after we pick up my daughter. 6:15 - we get to the studio just in time to hear the announcements regarding the upcoming recital. Now back to the pharmacy - perfect - they have a drive thru. We get the prescription within 10 minutes then head to the grocery store.

We picked up what we needed for a couple of nights, take all of our stuff home and have sandwiches for dinner. It's way to late to start cooking something and my husband and two step-children aren't home from baseball yet. It's almost 8:00 (bedtime for the preschoolers) and I need to make lunches and they really need baths tonight. So I get one started on a batch, I make the lunches, change the water and put another kid in the bathtub. Finally, it's over. I read a quick book, tuck them in, clean the kitchen, put a load of laundry in, feed the guinea pig, take out the garbage, and I can finally sit down and relax. Actually, I don't really relax because I left some work unfinished and I have to work for an hour to prepare for some meetings the next day.

Now I can relax. But it's time for bed so I just go to bed and try to sleep for 6-7 hours so I can do it all over again.

Triangle Business Network

Wow, I didn't realize it has been so long since I posted. I guess between work, children, after school activities, housework, and all the other things that come along with parenthood - time just got a way from me. I spent the past week working on a new networking community in which I'm hoping to be able to promote at the beginning of June. It is called Triangle Business Network or www.trianglebiznetwork.com. Please feel free to check it out. Although, I do have it published, it needs some work but I'm getting there.

Basically, the site is intended to be a networking tool for the business owners, entrepreneurs, future business owners, and even customers of local businesses in the Triangle area of North Carolina. I call it a networking tool because eventually I intend to organize social events, meetings, and even training sessions for the members. The internet will be a tool along with actual face-to-face social gatherings.

I believe there are a lot of small or family owned businesses out there who would prefer to purchase products and services from other small or family owned businesses. This community is an opportunity to put buyers and sellers of products and services from the local area together. It also gives entrepreneurs and business owners opportunities to learn from each other and share information about current events and the local business climate.

I hope you have a chance to look at the new website. Feel free to send comments to info@trianglebiznetwork.com or comment here.