MyBaby - vtmomof2 Journal

Better for you Microwave Popcorn

Posted March 31, 2008 at 9:33AM by vtmomof2
Life is crazy but wonderful.

I don't know about the rest of you, but my hubby and I have been looking for small ways to cut our food cost. The best way we have found was to eliminate snacks. We don't buy any chips, popcorn, candy, or cookies. But our kids love popcorn, so we found this recipe that allows us to have popcorn without buying expensive microwave popcorn. All you need is a brown paper bag and regular popcorn kernals. It takes 1/3 cup kernals in a brown paper bag, staple the top and pop in the microwave for about 2 minutes (depending on your microwave). This fills the bag with popcorn and you can top it any way you want. This is much healthier than microwave popcorn that has god only knows what chemicals in it. Plus a thing of kernals is cheaper than a box of microwave popcorn, and it is easy enough for kids to do.

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Sticky_Mommy responded March 31, 2008 at 9:39AM

I love my job, it gives me a break from my kids!

Really?

You don't need oil or anything like that? Sounds too heathly to be true, lol! Have you heard of pop corn lung? Another reason to eliminate microwave popcorn.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/06/health/main3239379.shtml

kelardo responded March 31, 2008 at 9:43AM

Where am I and what have they done to my body?

what about the staples? Do they spark in the microwave? I have dishes with a tiny "metal" rim on them that sparks.

vtmomof2 responded March 31, 2008 at 9:57AM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

I have heard of popcorn lung, and you really don't need oil. I was surprised to, and no the staples didn't spark in my microwave, and I did a little research and it says to use two staples, no more, and place them at least 3 inches apart. It was really good. If you want more info. see Alton Brown's - FoodNetwork - I'm Just Here For the Food cookbook.

dustbunny responded March 31, 2008 at 11:22AM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

NOW THAT IS AWESOME...seriously because microwavable is expensive. also, you can get one of those old school popcorn machines...you put the 1/3c kernels in an watch them pop & cascade...we have one and the kids love it. another idea: top popcorn with powdered cheese (parm)....it's really good!

vtmomof2 responded March 31, 2008 at 11:56AM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

I thought about buying an air popper, but now I don't have to. This works great, and my daughter can do it herself for her after school snack.

Test Anxiety, Perfectionism, etc.

Posted March 26, 2008 at 10:35AM by vtmomof2
Life is crazy but wonderful.

Ok, I have a meeting with my daughter's school set to deal with her test anxiety and her inability to formulate an answer on the spot. I have a call into her pediatrician to get some advice as to what would help in this situation. I have to do some research as to what exactly is test anxiety and how to deal with it. I want to be prepared when I go in there so that I am a good advocate for my daughter and her educational needs. Does anybody know about test anxiety, perfectionism, etc. that will help me in this meeting? There is an array of services that might be available to her. I need to make sure they offer the right one. Also my daughter is hard of hearing in her right ear, and this makes things that much more confusing for her when there is chaos. She doesn't even realize she has missed out on information. I have a real issue with the school doing everything timed. She has one minute to do her math problems, she has 10 minutes in a group of 3 kids for them all to answer 3 questions each. My daughter's brain just doesn't work like that. They ask her a question and before she has had a moment to process the question her time is up and they say she is slow. Whatever happened to teaching kids how to analyze or think through a problem? Now it makes sense when she has a question that I know she answer if she thought about, and I say think about the answer, that she gets frustrated and says can't you just tell me. They aren't teaching her to think it through.

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dustbunny responded March 26, 2008 at 10:53AM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

YES...call these people because they know everything that exists in VT to help your daughter!!!

http://www.vermontgifted.org/index.htm

tell lucy I referred you...seriously.
CAROL will go with you and help you deal diplomatically with your child's teachers and address her perfectionism issues...they are really nice!!!
Advisor

Carol M. Story, PhD is an advocate for gifted children, a consultant to families and schools regarding the education of these children, and a facilitator of graduate coursework in the education of the gifted. ?? She received her doctorate in gifted education from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and is a member of the consultant bank of the National Research Center on Gifted and Talented located at the university.?? She created the Talented Development Institute and is a founding member of the board of the Green Mountain Center for Gifted Education.

ALSO, call these guys...they are on your team. expensive but they will work to built you advocacy power...

http://www.learningcurvevt.com/

dustbunny responded March 26, 2008 at 10:56AM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

also, another thought...homeschooling and waldorf take the pressure off...

vtmomof2 responded March 26, 2008 at 10:56AM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

I knew I could count on you dustbunny:)

dustbunny responded March 26, 2008 at 11:00AM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

http://www.childrenofthenewearth.com/free.php?page=articles_free/homeschooling

vtmomof2 responded March 26, 2008 at 11:20AM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

well I looked up the first website you gave me, and she is gifted, she has all the characteristics. She has always been advance. The funny part is that I learned about me that I fit the description also. I have spent my whole life feeling odd and now it makes sense, maybe through helping her I can heal myself. Maybe I can help her avoid the problems I went through like depression.

Firespitting mad . . .

Posted March 14, 2008 at 12:46AM by vtmomof2
Life is crazy but wonderful.

I am so mad, I need to vent. I just got off the phone with my daughter's reading teacher. The problem, my daughter has come home two days in a row saying that the two kids she is teamed up with fight so much that she is distracted and can't get her work done. She had to stay in from recess because she couldn't get her work done. Now I told my daughter that if she doesn't get her work done then her teacher is right to keep her in. So I called her teacher to see if we could work out a solution to this problem (side note this is the second time I have had to do this), so I started out saying that we seem to have a problem, and I would like to have my daughter moved to another group, or one of these kids moved to another group so the fighting will stop. Now the one boy in this group is a problem for everyone. I talked to the teacher about him before, and really, I feel for her troubles, but what the teacher said made me mad. She went on and said that this little boy had the option of moving if he were stressed, or if he couldn't handle it, and on and on about this little boy. I stopped her and I said while I appreciate the problems she has with this kid, he is not my problem, my problem is that my daughter is uncomfortable, she is distracted, she is stressed by the fighting in her group. Then she just p####d me off by saying well did your daughter tell you that she isn't so quick with her sentences, or that she is falling behind. I laid into her and I told her that if my daughter were having a hard time then she should have called me and told me this. That if my daughter needed extra work then she should have called me and told me this. I would do whatever she thought was needed to make sure my daughter was up to par. I told her that she needed to get my kid away from these other kids, and that I needed a solution, and if she thought my daughter needed extra help or work then she needed to provide it. She said that she was going to talk to the principal and I told her she better and get back to me. I was so mad I was shaking. What makes me mad is that I am there three days a week, where any one of her teachers can talk to me if there is a problem. Last year when my daughter had trouble with math, her teacher spoke to me and we did extra math homework. I mean the problem is two kids that are fighting and my daughter who sits there quietly being stressed by it. She told me before that my kid is super quiet. I don't know if I should demand a conference or not. I am so mad I have to calm down and think about it. thanks for the vent.

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kelardo responded March 14, 2008 at 1:43PM

Where am I and what have they done to my body?

I so think it's conference time.

If not for anything else but the simple fact that when you started saying that your daughter expressed to you that she was having difficulty with kids in her group fighting the teacher was very quick to bring up your daughter's shortcomings in defense as if you were questioning her ability as a teacher. That should have been brought up at a different time all together and clearly sooner than when she did tell you your daughter is falling behind. That, in my opinion is not being a good educator or a good role model. She's there to help all the children weather they are sitting quietly or not. Yes, being a teacher is harder every day especially when there are children with discipline problems and I can't imagine all the hard work she has to put into her daily activities but when a parent is concerned for her child's ability to learn in class because of an obvious distraction then it needs to be dealt with as does the slow progress and not the way she did it. I mean really, had there been no fighting kids in the class, would she just have waited for the marking period to be over, you to see your daughter's report card grades and her comments and then wait for you to come to her? just nuts.

I would request that meeting with her and the principal together. She seems to have taken what you are telling her personally and it should not have been.

Good luck with this latest bump in the road. I feel your frustration.

Sticky_Mommy responded March 14, 2008 at 1:48PM

I love my job, it gives me a break from my kids!

Sounds like a young teacher who is deflicting the real issue.

vtmomof2 responded March 14, 2008 at 2:14PM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

that is funny, sticky, she just started teaching last year. I guess the newness is obvious. I actually got a call back from her, and she was switching the troubled boy away from my daughter because the principal told her to do that. I then addressed her concern about my daughter's slowness. Now my daughter scored above her classmates in the state test (NECAP) and she said it wasn't really a problem that can be fixed, that she was just slow on the timed assignments, which was not a surprise to me because she has timed test anxiety. She draws a blank on timed assignments and tests, we discovered this last year. We were able to work through it. So I asked her what we could do at home, and she stammered and said well nothing at home, just at school, so I asked her what she was going to do for her at school, and she stammered that she didn't know exactly what could happen. I told her about my daughter's test anxiety, and that I expected a solution from the school. I told her that if that problem was going to be thrown in her face when she faced a problem then I wanted a solution. I told her that I wanted a call back from her or the guidance counselor. I am going to bring it up to the principal to that I did not appreciate calling about a problem with my daughter and a distraction and having her retort with a problem she never told me about, and that was a known anxiety. I don't think it was professional.

dustbunny responded March 14, 2008 at 2:46PM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

a stressed student will naturally have more test anxiety...is she a perfectionist by any chance?

It sounds like she could easily be feeling that the group's stress and the feeling of failing (when group stayed in) is a reflection on her. That, in turn feeds the anxious child, who then second guesses everything...add that to a feeling that the teacher doesn't like her and you will have child delaying answers and not finishing work...I feel for you- I have one too- it's all very much to handle...I would schedule the meeting but I honestly wouldn't expect much out of it...just to go on the record that you are advocating for your child and that there should be more support systems in place for people whop are quietly struggling (your daughter) vs. the obviousl attention-seekers.. then, I'd not worry about it. if she rocked the necap, ask what they suggest the school do. I'd have the principal, teacher, guidance counselor and any support people who work with your daughter/the classroom regulalry.

good luck. then, take your daughter and go to friendly's...a big fat ice cream sundae is in order:)

you can also look into part time homeschooling. I know you are busy but if you think she's fine until a certain hour and that you could do a better job teacher her reading, those are options. it sucks, I feel for you!

vtmomof2 responded March 14, 2008 at 3:24PM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

dustbunny she is an incredible perfectionist. She does not like to get things wrong, or to upset the teacher. I actually went and talked to the guidance counselor and I have to fill out this form for her to get extra help with test taking, she (my daughter) told me that she was having trouble with math tests to. I have to have a meeting with them in two weeks to set up an evaluation and have a person work with her individually. I also spoke to the principal about the way I was spoken to, and how I did not appreciate this being turned around and made my daughter's problem. I told him that I expect any problems to be reported to me immediately when it concerns my kids and their progress. I don't know what I did, but something is happening. I will keep you posted.

dustbunny responded March 14, 2008 at 3:36PM

dishing the dirt, cleaning the chaos

please do- and your daughter's "problem" is probably a result of her environment, which the teacher is in control of. it's a bummer we can't see this perfectionist
"problem" as a sign of giftedness just as easily as we see the delay in arbitrary test answer commitment as a "problem". If you want the people at the green mountain center for gifted and talented to work with you, they will. they will send out a person who knows intense children to observe and help advocate for you. it's always an option.I'm not saying she's gifted but the perfectionism, high necap scores with c a conflicting classroom report (like your child isn't getting her work done or whatever) can mean a variety of things, one being gifted...

it's not about the label, it's about the acceptance of a child's behaviors as a result of being intelligent-

vtmomof2 responded March 14, 2008 at 3:50PM

Life is crazy but wonderful.

I know what you mean dustbunny, she is in the gifted program at her school, and then I here that she is having problems. What bothered me was when I asked more pointed questions about what problems she was having the teacher didn't have a good answer and backtracked. I don't know if she was trying to get the upper hand with me in an argument, or maybe she felt attacked when I told her that she needed to deal with this distraction, or what she was trying to do. All I know is that I'm not letting it go. you are right it is completely her environment. She has always been exceptional, and I have always had to fight with the school to give her extra work.

Where has Vtmomof2 been?????

Posted March 12, 2008 at 8:44AM by vtmomof2
Life is crazy but wonderful.

well it has been a while since I have posted. I have been super busy. I am taking 4 classes this semester and it is flying by. Yesterday was the first day I really had to slow down a little bit and it was only because my 4 year old spent the day throwing up. So I have been busily maintaining my A's in my classes, taking care of both of my kids, writing/blogging for Barack Obama, and following politics. My husband is waiting patiently to hear about a new job. It would be a tremedous opportunity for our entire family, since he would earn a decent salary and he would have a real opportunity to grow in his career. This weekend we are going away and thankfully my son appears to be feeling better. I'm crossing my fingers that he stays this way. I got a new bathing suit for this weekend. I went down a size, so it is no wonder my old bathing suit didn't fit well. I got a two piece because I cannot find a one piece that fits my long torso that doesn't cost a fortune. So I have a halter top and a skirted bottom. My hubby helped me pick it out, and since he loved it, I guess it looks ok. So I guess that sums up the past few weeks for me. Back to work:)

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