My mom was in town this past week! So, I’ve been a little quiet in the blogosphere and just doing other things! It was so nice to have her here. She comes like this, alone, now and then and while of course I love to have both of my parents here, it’s just a little different and fun to have just her once and a while. It feels more lowkey and less like “hosting”; she just goes with the flow and we basically can continue with all our regular daily activities, etc. She’s always happy to sort of do her own thing at times, too, which makes it easy and less “disruptive” to our regular schedules, and the boys like the 1:1 grandma time.
She often likes to help me with little projects around the house, too. With her help, I was able to check a few more decluttering goals off my list, among other things:
✅ cleaning out our water bottle cabinet which was literally overflowing with an array of water bottles, many of which were not even in good shape anymore (think, the flimsy plastic ones you get in a parade with a business logo on it?)
✅ cleaned out my kitchen broom closet!
✅ No pictures, but also cleaned out the 3- drawer unit in the sunroom where we store all of Charlie’s stuff (leash, harness, bags, coat, flashlights, doggy shampoo, etc.) It had a bunch of other misc stuff in the bottom drawer and was just a mess.
✅ My mom went through our 3 big book baskets in the living room that still had random kids books in them from years ago that no one has touched in ages and weeded things out.
On Saturday Asher had a swim meet, the first of the new spring/summer season. It was a home meet, so I had to volunteer. My shift was 7 am- 12:30 pm. That’s a pretty long shift! 5.5 hours. When you consider I already work 8+ hours Monday-Friday, it’s fun to work for free on the weekend too. 😉 Just kidding… it was totally fine. I’d be there, anyway, and besides- I used to be the Volunteer Coordinator! I will NOT complain about just having to show up, work my shift and go home.
I was in the “Hospitality area”, which means helping set up the breakfast/ lunch for all the coaches and officials, as well as distributing drinks to them on pool deck during the meet.
The mom who is the Hospitality Chair and actually organized/purchased/made all the food (for both meals) and brought everything is NEXT LEVEL. Whoa. (She is originally from Germany and apparently her family worked in Tourism/hotels and this is like, her jam. But she went all out. She had homemade au jus sauce for sandwiches for lunch and homemade mac and cheese and beans and so.many.crockpots and it seemed like a ton of work… I quietly and without complaint unpackaged the mandarin oranges and set the cutlery wherever she told me to! lol)
Asher had a great meet! Being the first meet back, the coaches had said to keep expectations low. But he really only added a tiny bit on his 2 best events (like <1 second), which was surprising and a good sign, and actually went best times on 2 other events! He was happy.
We went out to Chipotle after with my mom, and Ethan met us there. He had been volunteering in the morning. Side note, I am loving this new volunteer gig he has. He is a Volunteer Coach for a community soccer club aimed mostly at lower income families (no fees). They use high school soccer players (like Ethan) to help coach. It’s every Saturday and such a great experience for him!
In the afternoon I did a little Copenhagen planning and we watched the Kentucky Derby. I used to ride horses in middle school and have always loved horses, so I always try to watch if I can. I mostly just love to see the beautiful horses!! And the hats and the whole affair is intriguing.
I was very nervous with the rain + sloppy track… I did not want to watch a horse/jockey fall down! But thankfully, no incidents.
When they did the horse “parade” as they got lined up, Ethan said, “I think that one’s going to win!” when Sovereignty walked by… I agreed. He just looked gorgeous and sooo strong and majestic. Perfect name for him, and then, he did win! Very exciting. Too bad we hadn’t bet any money. 😅
The jockey was so cute and sweet, too! From Venezuela and just so overjoyed to be there at the Kentucky Derby, and to have won, obviously.
Now, onto a new week. Asher has his AP Human Geography test today!! He’s been studying a lot and went to a practice test last week + an after school review session last night. Ethan’s AP test is Thursday for AP World History (and he’s only a couple weeks out from final exams already!! His school gets done at the end of May!!!).
Asher also had a driving session last night from 5-7 (not the best timing with AP test today, oops. We didn’t realize it when we scheduled it….). He started off observing while the other girl drove, and about 10 minutes in he sent me this text from the backseat:
HAHA. 😬 Fortunately they made it back in one piece. 😉
Oh, and we got the news in Ethan’s school newsletter last week: Starting in the fall, his high school is going completely, 100% phone-free during the school day!!
They are going use these little pouches (I forget the name of the company) where the kids have to place their phones in them upon arrival in the morning, and then they can’t be ‘unlocked’ until the end of the day. (To unlock it you place the phone on some special device which then releases it. So the kids will still physically have their phones with them, but locked up.)
Apparently these little pouches are being used at concerts, speaking events, etc where organizers want a distraction-free/phone-free environment! Interesting!!! The blurb from the company even said some families are employing use of them at home….
I am fully on board with phone-free schools! I’ll admit it’s convenient to be able to text Ethan a question or logistical stuff during the day, but I think the benefits of a phone-free school far outweigh the cons. Not only due to distractions from learning, but the social aspect, too. I would bet anything that lunch time in a high school now looks like tables full of kids all sitting and staring at their phones while eating instead of talking, socializing, etc….
I am curious to see how it is all enforced, though. Like, is someone going to actually watch the kids putting their phones in the pouches…? I could also see mischievous kids bringing like, an old burner phone to put in the pouch, with their real phone hidden elsewhere….? Let’s just hope people play nice and follow the rules. I really think it’s for the best!
Alright, gotta run- I have a very busy day on the docket. Happy Tuesday!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for being able to have our windows open.
GRATEFUL KAE 
I totally get your tiny bit of “wait, didn’t I just work all week long?” when you had to show up at 7:30 for a required “volunteer” gig. But I also know that feeling when you look around and see parents doing SO MUCH MORE than you- I constantly feel guilty (but- maybe they don’t work full time jobs? I don’t know). Congrats to Asher for doing so well.
Interesting about the phones! So this is a private school, right? I’ve heard talk of this in Florida. I think after the initial inevitable pushback, the kids will enjoy it. A couple weeks ago, there was a day where my daughter couldn’t bring her phone to school (long, boring story- we were switching from T Mobile to AT&T and she got a new phone that wasn’t set up yet) and… she actually said she liked it! She said she got homework done in her downtime instead of using her phone. I suggested she have one or two phone-free days a week… but of course that hasn’t happened.
Your mom’s visit sounds really nice- glad you enjoyed it!
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Ethan’s school is private, yes. Asher’s is public- I have not heard any rumblings of this for his school, but I can’t say for sure. That is funny about your daughter’s experience! I can TOTALLY see that being the case! I think we’ve all experienced that from time to time, like maybe we forget to bring our phone or something and there’s initially this feeling of panic like, oh I forgot my phone!!! But then after a bit it’s like, wait, this is niiiiice. Haha. I definitely think in the case of schools, also, EVERYONE not having their phone would make it so much better. Just levels the playing field, so no single family or child has to attempt to make that change alone (near impossible!).
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Oh that’s so lovely to have a visit from your mom. She sounds a lot like mine – she likes to hang out and LOVES a project, so is really good at helping me tackle a problem. And she’s much better at sewing on Scouts badges than I am. A’s mum is here now and she does his ironing. Does a TERRIBLE job, but better than unironed? Maybe?
I’m so curious about the phone thing. I wish I could do them in my university level classes – I’m paid to teach whether you listen or not, but I think it’s so rude when students will be scrolling when their classmates are talking.
You’re raising such lovely kids! I love the volunteer gig.
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Ugh, I can imagine it would be SO ANNOYING to have people sitting in your class and just looking at their phones!! It definitely seems like somehow there should be enforcement of no phones, but I know it’s pretty hard. Hopefully at E’s school this pouch method or whatever will help. I suppose, too, that if “no one” has their phone, someone sneaking a phone would be really obvious? On the other hand, they have certain dress up liturgy days where the boys are supposed to wear ties, and I have noticed (and heard from Ethan) that more and more kids are just “wearing a sweatshirt” to hide the fact that they are not actually wearing the tie, or are wearing a polo instead of shirt + tie, etc. Like bending the rules…. and it seems like the teachers don’t really super enforce it. I am sure it’s exhausting for them. Next year it sounds like they’re moving away from that dress code and just having the kids all wear match polo shirts with the school logo on it for those special liturgy days instead. Probably much easier!
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Millennial with a kid going into kindergarten, so I haven’t had to deal with the smartphones in school issue yet! I’m hoping it gets figured out by the time my kid is old enough to need one.
The first time I heard of the phone-blocking devices was actually in the news for a play with nudity so the audience could not take photos!
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hahah oh, that makes sense and seems like a very smart use of the phone pouches!!
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my kid’s public high school bans phones during the school day, and it has helped so much with behavior and classroom management. When phone use went unregulated post-Covid, students weren’t paying attention to teachers; social media posts led to fights in the hallway. Individual teachers tried to enforce rules, but it was spotty. Now every teacher and administrator follow through on the ban. We also have only clear backpacks allowed – just like concerts!
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Ooh, interesting about the clear backpacks!! I hadn’t heard of that. And yes, I can only imagine how incredibly difficult it is for teachers to try and monitor phone use etc on top of everything else they have to do. I know at Asher’s school he said there was a kid I think in his ceramics art credit class who would just sit and watch videos on his phone with headphones and like refused to participate in making the art…. What’s a teacher supposed to do?!
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What a nice time with your mom! I love that you and she were able to accomplish so many decluttering goals together. It’s so nice to have help!
The news of your son’s phone ban makes me feel so hopeful! I am going to email our middle school director to see if he has any thoughts about doing something similar.
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I have heard more and more mention of this sort of thing in the news lately, so I think the concept is really gaining traction!
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My sixth grader doesn’t have a phone yet, but his middle school banned phones at the start of the school year and it has been great! They don’t have those pouches–kids are just required to deposit their phones in their locket at the beginning of the day and get them at the end of the day. I don’t know if compliance is 100% or if kids are sneaking them or whatever, but overall compliance seems pretty good, according to my kiddo. I also like that it minimizes the feeling that he’s the “only one” without a phone.
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At the boys’ old school (K-8), they had to put their phones in a closet in their “homeroom” each morning (the teachers had those plastic over the door shoe organizer things, I think labeled with each kid’s name). That seemed to work really well- the teacher would then lock that closet and that was that. But that would not work in a large middle or high school where the kids are switching classes all the time etc. This was at a relatively small school and they switched classes only across the halls with their whole class for different subjects etc.
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I have never watched the KY derby – but I am so not a horse person. I’ve only rode one once in my life as part of an excursion in Australia and never want to ride one again as I found it terrifying!! 😛
I think the no phone policy is great. Our elementary school doesn’t allow kids to bring phones. They also cannot wear a smart watch that you can make calls from/receive texts on. I like the policy since Paul really has no need to be able to contact me during the day! They are explicit about no smart watches in the rules since that is probably the device this age group would most likely have.
The visit with your mom sounded great!!
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Yes, the smart watch thing isn’t really anything we ever dealt with since around the time those became more popular, the boys were basically old enough for phones almost anyway. It definitely gets harder as they get older to enforce! I know when I walk Charlie in the morning, I pass the bus stops for local middle/ high schools and literally every kid is standing out there on the corner looking at a phone. It looks so bad!!!! I suppose a ban like this wouldn’t prevent that, but at least they wouldn’t have their phone at school…. It’s a real conundrum these days, isn’t it. I have seen lots of talk of phones + schools in news headlines/ articles/ podcasts/ etc lately I feel like, so it seems like it’s something more and more people are talking about.
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That’s really cool about the no-phone policy at school! I can only imagine how ubiquitous they are now and how much less kids actually interact face-to-face because they have their phones! I really like the idea of locking it up during the day so the kids can be focused on what’s going on and actually TALK to their friends, lol. I have to put a screentime lock on my phone at night because otherwise, I’ll use it and not get my other stuff done. So I’m not one to talk!
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