My Latest Tax Experience

Did you know there is such an animal as the Alternative Minimum Tax? Originally this creature was created to force some of the wealthiest in our country to pay taxes as they had previously found so many ways to make deductions that they owed little to no income tax. The government spotted their clever ruse and decided to make a way to force these misers to actually pay. Unfortunately, like so many government institutions and ideas, once enacted the AMT was never updated to reflect inflation and tax cuts. Consequently the AMT no longer applies to the upper class but increasingly manages to snare folks in the middle class range as well. Basically the AMT says that if you make over X number of dollars and also have more than Y number of deductions (thus reducing the amount of federal income tax you owe), there is a chance that the government will say NO WAY to your tax rate and put you in a higher bracket, forcing you to pay more. The AMT dollar figure started high but isn't so high anymore. Needless to say I was a little peeved when I was schooled on this matter. But not to worry, I have sufficiently calmed myself after learning that Congress took another look at the cooky AMT and did some revising so as to leave us middle of the roaders out.

Acceptance Letters 101

Here it is...the first of my to-blog list!

Due to some recent decisions that will significantly change our family's lifestyle, Luke and I have been diligently searching for a pre-school for Jack for the 2008-2009 school year. Our first thoughts of course were the pre-school at our church. Being the good (read lazy) mom that I am, I polled members of our Adult Bible Fellowship in regards to the the CEC. After receiving mixed reviews on everything from the academic standards to the amount of chapel attended each week, I found myself in the pre-school trap. I was certain that if I didn't find the EXACT perfect pre-school certain doom would befall. After a week of researching and pulling my hair out in angst I came to the realization that it really doesn't matter. The pre-school I send Jack to has no bearing in any form on the university he will attend or the career he will have. It is just pre-school -- a chance for his three year old (when school starts that is) self to run around, make some friends, color some pictures and learn some songs.

But this recent search opened my eyes to an entire world I assumed I was miles away from...the crazy land of pre-school competition. I called one school to find that there was a waiting list several students long...already...and registration hadn't even been opened officially. Other moms I know were visiting pre-school after pre-school in hopes of finding the program that offered the most Bible exposure, the most creative yet rigorous academics, the nicest looking facility, the most options (ballet and tae-kwon-do to name a few). They were and are genuinely concerned that their children will somehow be behind in life if the perfect pre-school isn't found. The entire process is preposterous. And that is when I noticed the correlation -- between these parents and the students I teach now. My students are so concerned with each grade and every extra-curricular all in hopes of earning a spot in the most prestigious university; most of these students are so focused on prestige they haven't stopped to consider whether the university of choice is the best fit for them -- just like these other moms.

So here is the conclusion to which I have arrived. Jack will attend CEC -- we hope that he will learn a few things he didn't know before, he will gain a greater sense of the God to whom he belongs, he will make friends that may last a school year or a lifetime but most of all we hope that he will have fun. After all, isn't that what being three is all about?

Things to blog about...

The purpose of this blog was to de-clutter and organize my very cluttered brain. Well three months of maternity leave has left my brain uncluttered (sort of). I honestly think the reason for the lack of clutter is not so much that I have managed to organize my thoughts but rather that I am living on the brink of utter exhaustion and therefore have so few original thoughts that I couldn't possibly be cluttered. That being said there are a few things on which I would like to voice my opinion. Here is a list...I will leave you in anticipation as to my thoughts on each subject. Think of this as a blog to-do list.

1. Acceptance letters 101: from preschool through college
2. Playgroup and beyond - where the real crazies live
3. my recent tax experience
4. my new BFF: the new parent friend dilemma
5. Brain drain: the new study that proves pregnancy does cause the crazies (not that I didn't know that already) and what this means for moms everywhere

I think that's about it. I am going to try to get writing on some of these soon. Of course, since I return to work in a week, my likelihood of success is anyone's guess

The perfect mom

With the new year upon us, I find myself wanting to make resolutions. However common sense and history have slapped me around enough that I know that any resolution I make will end up being broken. Nonetheless, the desire to become something I am currently not is a bit overwhelming. For instance, with the temperature dropping below freezing for the first time this season, I realized that I needed to get Jack a new coat for winter. So after picking him up from school today we made what I hoped would be a quick stop at Kohl's. Last year this turned out to be the golden spot for finding coats so I had every reason to believe events would be repeated. No such luck. There was not a toddler sized boy coat in the entire store. As we trudged back to the car I had the nagging feeling that good moms had already purchased their children's coats months ago and that perfect moms had purchased their children's coats at the end of last season on clearance. As for me -- I waited until there were no coats to be found before thinking of the need at all. I wish I were the perfect mom, or at least the good mom. For now I will have to satisfied just being Mom and hope the boys won't remember my deficiences.

Now off to buy coats...

Getting old...

After two recent events I have no choice but to conclude that I am getting old...not in the numerical sense, that would be ridiculous. No one in his right mind would claim that 26 years is old. Rather, in the grand scheme of life stage, I am getting old. Let me relate the two incidents and you decide.

Incident One: We were spending a quiet evening at my parents' house a few days after Christmas. The family was set to enjoy the Aggie game (a disappointment that Aggie fans have learned to deal with of late). After most major plays of the game (the game changers if you will) my sister pulled out her cell phone and began to busily text message someone. It matters not to whom the message was sent nor does the content of the message matter much. Rather my reaction is what, in hindsight, concerns me...my only thought -- at first private and silent only to later be voiced -- was "can't you just call the person?". I had and have no idea what the draw is to the text message. My sister's ability to text only irritated me. I attempted to justify my irritation by rationalizing that text messages are the cause for the deterioration of the written word not to mention the utter disintegration of the spoken interaction. But in all reality there is no justification for my irritation except to admit that I am old.

Incident Two: Since the addition of children to our lives, Luke and I have found typical "childless" celebrations difficult. New Year's Eve for example proves to be quite the challenge. Last year we braved the event sans-child and had a wonderful time. This year, with a new addition to the family an adult celebration was out of the question. So the Pearsons celebrated the New Year by hanging out on the couch. Luke and I lasted as late as we could stand it. After two rousing episodes of "Jon and Kate plus 8" (we watch the show to make ourselves feel better. As crazy as our life is, it could be much crazier -- finding comfort in other's pain is cruel, yes, but nonetheless helpful.) Luke and I called it quits around 11:30pm. Any parent knows that a newborn in the house means that you can fall asleep instanteously. Consequently Luke and I were sound asleep by 11:31pm. Around midnight-ish, I was awakened by the sound of loud fireworks from some of the neighbor's kids. My first thought, however, was not "Oh it's midnight. I should kiss my husband." No, no -- my first thought was "Dang kids and fireworks -- if they wake the boys I will seriously go outside and kick someone's backside." Again, upon waking and relating this story to Luke I was and am forced to conclude only one thing...I am getting old. These kids had every legal right to discharge fireworks and even moreso the timing they chose was extremely appropriate, yet their disturbance of my very precious sleep was so aggravating that I forgot all these things.

Uggghhh...I hope I regain some youth as my boys get older...otherwise within the month I will be heading to bed by 4:30 in the afternoon...

Merry Christmas from The Pearson family!!

a long time coming

I would like to pen a lengthy explanation as to why it has been almost a month since my last post and how the drought has been caused by a serious overload of schedule. Unfortunately while yes I have been incredibly busy, the drought has been caused pregnancy brain. I simply have had no intelligent thought in weeks...actually months...

We have had a particularly busy start of school which is the prompt for this particular post. What is it that makes some parents crazy? I would attempt a different adjective but really only "crazy" will suffice. I have a particular parent who emails me at least 4 times a day to complain about some facet of my class. This same parent refuses to meet in person to discuss the perceived complications, refuses to encourage his child to attend tutorials, refuses to listen to logical reasoning. He is the quintessential "helicopter parent." So here lies the exigence for this post. My course is in essence a collegiate level composition course and I manage it as one would expect for a collegiate level course. Yet the parents I encounter seem to fail to recognize this fact. I wonder, will this same father call his daughter's professors in college to complain about their class averages, book prices and availability and temperature of the room? My answer -- yes without a doubt he will. Parents like this man are physically unable to allow their children the room to grow personally and academically independent from mom and dad.

As a parent this is a rather disturbing trend. I want Jack (and Sam when he arrives) to be as successful as possible; I want the boys to have every opportunity available. What then will keep me from becoming one of these helicopter parents? Is the possibility (or even scarier the probability) within my parental DNA even as I type? Or must something happen, something snap to make me stalk with no remorse anyone and everyone who might stand in the way of my child's success? Ugghhh...I hope I can maintain some perspective.

That's all I have for now. I am off to watch more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, to play more football and to gestate appropriately. (By the way...countdown to Sam is 58 days!)