Girlymama

We're all adjusting to the new school year over here in our house.

(Not included in this statement: missing the bus the third day of school, forgetting both girls nametags on the first day, forgetting Gracie's folder…)

The girls are exhausted, but the one having the hardest time in Colin.

He is walking around the house crying, "cee-ceeeeesss!" ("sissies!") He doesn't want to play, just sit in their room. We have to drop Gracie off at school after lunch and walk her in to the school. Where we usually see Ellie sitting in the cafeteria eating her lunch. So you can understand why he gets so sad.

Tuesday, he brought his little lunchbox into the school with him. I didn't notice until we were in the school and he was pointing at Ellie. He wanted to go eat lunch with her! He cried the whole way out "Mama! Wunchbox! WUNCHBOX!" It was so heartbreaking!

Every day he cries the whole way home…
Its hard to be the littlest one.

Exhibit A:

hopefully tomorrow. This morning, I woke up with the stomach bug.

So I will spend the rest of the day trying to entertain Colin while laying down and – hopefully – sleeping as much as possible whiel praying that no one else in my family catches it.

Later.

Gracie picked out her entire first day of kindergarten outfit to match her new backpack. She picked out everything, right down to her matching headband. Future diva, perhaps?

I know she's my kid, but isn't she SO ADORABLE? And she's going to Kindergarten! (SOB!)

Here's Ellie – she picked out her outfit (Hello Kitty themed) around the little do-dads that hang on her backpack.

(Pretend this was before school and not after she got off the bus. Ahem.)

**the giveaway is now closed. congrats to our winner, amy! hope this makes your back to school a bit easier!**

We're in the first week of school over here. Last year, this was one of the hardest weeks I've experienced as a parent.

On the first week of school last year, my daughter Ellie was targeted by a bully. I've never felt so helpless. Sitting there, holding my sobbing six year old daughter, as she tells me of how it  hurt when this girl pulled her hair and threatened her, but it really hurt when she said mean things about her.  Wiping away her tears as I wiped away my own. I was so upset and so very angry that some kid was purposely harrassing and hurting my child. I had no idea what to do, so I called the principal and her teacher.

And I was stunned.

Within 24 hours of the bullying was reported, the bus drivers had been informed, as well as the school counselor. The bully was reprimanded and made to apologize to Ellie. All of this was done with tremendous discretion on the part of the teacher and the principal which I greatly appreciated (I worried about Ellie being called a tattle-tale). That next day, Ellie came off the bus with a big smile on her face again. I can't even tell you what it meant to have the principal call me and immediately say "I will handle this. If I have to ride the bus every day myself, I will take care of Ellie."

Then there's the most amazing thing: Because of how wonderfully this was handled,  my sweet, kind girl was brave enough to give a bully a second chance.  After all that girl put her through, she took a chance and risked getting bullied again to reach out – to an older girl – and try to be her friend. Now they even sit together on the bus sometimes.

It still brings tears to my eyes.

As a parent, one of the most difficult things we have to do is to put our children into other people's hands. But, as painful as this experience was, it showed me how much the school cares about my child, how they really are watching out for her and want to take the best care of her they can. I am tremendously grateful to my children's school for all that they do, and I'm sure you feel the same way.

And so does the Clorox Company and that is why they started the Power a Bright Future program. Since 1980, Clorox has donated $80 million to non-profit organizations and community programs with a focus on schools. This year, the company is awarding four grants, totaling $110,000, to help fund school programs that will brighten and enrich the lives of kids.

As part of the Power A Bright Future grant program, Clorox is seeking nominations for school programs for a chance to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants to help provide critically needed resources to school programs that enrich kids’ lives and create brighter futures. In November, four schools will be chosen to receive grants and the opportunity to impact the lives of children in their communities.

I hope that you will consider honoring a school or teacher who is close to your heart.

To help promote this amazing program, Clorox is giving one Girlymama reader a Back-To-School gift basket, containing Clorox disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer, Dr. Harley Rotbart’s book Germ Proof Your Kids, plus a load of school supplies including scissors, markers and crayons! Here's how to enter:

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment sharing what teacher/school you would nominate.
Extra Entry #1: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me you subscribed to Girlymama's feed by email or in a reader.
Extra Entry #2:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, or  Tweeting about it.

Contest ends Tuesday, September 7th. Entries such as "Enter me" or "I want to win" will NOT be counted. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions. If I don't hear from the winner in 48 hours, I will be choosing a new winner.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Clorox and TheMotherhood. I was compensated for my time in writing this post and running this giveaway.

We were waiting at the end of the driveway, just as the bus started to come up our street and I said,"Oh, shoot! We forgot the nametag your teacher sent for you!"

One look at my daughter's devestated face told me I needed to get that nametag, even if I had to drive it to school.

"Hang on," I said.

I turned and tore into the house at a full run. Up three flights of stairs to my bedroom, yanked open the file cabinet, grabbed my folder labeled "school" and tore back down the stairs. I threw open the front door and ran across the lawn just as she was going up the stairs into the bus. I climbed partway into the school bus and handed her her special nametag from her new teacher. The look of relief on her face was worth it.

The bus driver, who she has had for three years now, was laughing at me and said, "Ready for another year, huh?"

Clearly my goal for this school year should be to get my act together.

The End by A.A. Milne

When I was one
I had just begun
When I was two
I was nearly new
When I was three
I was hardly me
When I was four
I was not much more
When I was five
I was just alive
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever;
so I think I'll be six now
for ever and ever

happy birthday, baby girl.

I love summer dresses. I do, I do! But fall dresses are their own breed of fabulous. Paired with boots, you can't go wrong!

1. The Shirt Dress
So cute! I'm clearly all about the shirt dress, after that adorable one I picked up yesterday at H & M. But there are some super cute ones out there right now. The work for so many different body types, can be worn loose or with a belt, with boots or flats… they're a great, versitle piece to add to your wardrobe.

I bought one like this one last year at Old Navy and I loved wearing it with my boots in the fall – it was so cute and so comfy. Shirt dresses can be really dressed up to with tights and heels, a la this ruffled shirt dress from Gap. Or this one by Lauren by Ralph Lauren. There are zillions of cute ones out there right now. Don't forget about adding a cute belt.

2. The Sweater Dress
Oh, the sweater dress. This has to be one of my very favorite trends. Just like the shirt dress, they can be dressed up with tights and boots or heels:

or down with jeggings:

They are so so very comfy as well! Bonus! There are about a zillion styles to choose from. I recommend going with a slight pattern (like the one from Limited above) and not too chunky so you add interest, but not bulk. Cause adding bulk is rarely attractive.

3. Combo dress:
This trend is still here and I'm still on the fence. I think you need a pretty average body type to pull this off – if you have a long torso or are short waisted, you might have trouble with this one.

What do you think? Yes or no?

4. Retro Dresses: One of the hottest trends right now are clothes inspired by the hit show Mad Men. They're so elegant and ladylike… What's not to love?

For more fashion friday posts, check out Big Mama (fall trends), Musings of a Housewife (back to school), Mommies With Style (military jackets).

If you love fashion fridays, go on over and join my facebook page, where we talk fashion all week long!

Ellie asked at dinner the other night.

She's SEVEN.

We tried to talk to her and figure out why she asked that, why she was worried about fat, if she even knew what fat was… but to no avail. She clammed up and wouldn't say another word.

I know what is coming. The obsessing over weight, the counting calories, the strange diets… all of us women go through it at various points in our lives. Being a teenager is tough – and struggling with body image is a huge part of that. I know we need to start talking more about healthy food, taking care of our bodies – but not obsessing over them, the changes that are ahead for her as she grows up… I just wasn't thinking we needed to start that quite so soon. It makes me so sad to think this gorgeous girl is even worrying about things like this.

This breaks my heart that we're seeing this at SEVEN. Is she really worried about getting fat at seven? Where is this coming from? We eat fairly healthy (with the occasional pizza thrown in), we're all pretty slim, we don't talk about diets or losing weight in front of the kids… and Ellie is very average in her height and weight. (And she's recently become obsessed with getting braces. For some reason she's worried about getting braces?)

Maybe because she is bigger than her sister? Gracie is younger,and fairly petite, but its not a huge difference between them. Maybe its from friends? I just can't figure it out. That question hit me like a truck and I'm still trying to sort it out. Any advice?

(Notice his mouth dropping open and him shaking with excitement!)