Why are schools still on SAHM-time*?

So, I still hadn't received my DD's school schedule yet for Kindergarten. Silly me, it's two weeks before school starts here and I figured that I should have heard something by now.

Nope.

According to the office person that I spoke with on Monday, who goes to what class has yet to be decided.

Huh? How is this possible?

I'm a full-time working-outside-the-home mother (WOTHM). My DH also works full-time. We have to coordinate child care, transportation to and from (no busing), etc. How am I to do this if I don't have her schedule.

Oh -- and I was informed that her Kindergarten Assessment was the next day. Between 8:30 AM and 11:30 AM.

Excuse me? I'm just now finding out about this?

Oh -- well, we've lost track of who we've called and who we haven't.

??????????????????????

These people are going to be educating my child? Oy vey.

Fortunately, I now work at a company that values family time, and is somewhat flexible with time off. However, I have made a commitment to be at work. I need to be at work. So, naturally, the only times that this is being held is during my work day (DH is off in the afternoon -- he could have taken her, if they had afternoon appointments). DH doesn't have the flexibility that I do and couldn't afford to take off work (no paid time off), even though he works right next to our home and school, and I work 10 miles away.

{sigh}

Hence my question in the title of this post. I thought my school district was advanced in this regard -- for example, they offer child care and breakfast for the children. However, not everyone can drop everything they are doing and zoom over to Kindergarten Assessment...or Parent/Teacher conferences...you get the idea. I know school is during the "regular" day and all, but could schools keep in mind working parents' needs when trying to schedule classes and meetings?

We are in the 21st Century right?

Just checking.

*Note: This post is not meant in any way, shape, or form to be a slam on SAHMs. Traditionally, though, SAHMs have more flexible schedules than moms who have to go to work at specific times. If I was able to be a SAHM, I wouldn't be having this complaint, other than the assessment was scheduled at the last minute.

The Prince Charming Myth

So, I picked up the vampire issue of Entertainment Weekly last week (Me? Obsessed? No....), and read it over the weekend.

I love how almost all of the other vampire genre authors snub Twilight in one form or another. One, though, actually appreciated the buzz it's created and how it benefited her by generating interest in her novels.

Something that one of the other authors interviewed, though, caught my attention in her diss of the Saga.

Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series (which I have not read), said:

"They [meaning fans of Twilight] like the idea that (Bella) was like the fairy princess and (Edward) is the handsome prince that rides in and saves her. The fact that women are so attracted to that idea -- that they want to wait for Prince Charming rather than taking control of their own life -- I find that frightening."

Uh...What?

OK, I kind of see her point. I also kind of think she's cracked.

Maybe I can help. Here's my take.

Bella was a lost soul -- an old one, perhaps, but still a lost soul. So was Edward. Together, they completed each other. He didn't "save" her from finding her own life. She found her life -- and took control of it -- when she found him. She was the one pushing her way into his life, while he feared her presence in it, wanting her to pursue a more human existence. He "saved" her from the villain in the first book, she saved him from himself in the second, he saved her from the villains in the third, and she saved HER ENTIRE FAMILY in the last book, her new husband Edward included.

The attraction that I think women have to this story is the desire to find that one person that completes their circuit -- the Ying to their Yang, as it were. It's the same theme that most love stories have. Who, on earth, wants to wander this life alone? You always want to think that there is a companion out there for you, whether he's from another time (Outlander), another species (Twilight), or just a good ole' human.

Twilight is not about a girl pining for marriage and then -- viola! -- a man enters into her life who just happens to want the same thing -- marriage to a girl pining for him.

This isn't Cinderella, Ms. Hamilton. Of course, this really isn't about Prince Charming, now is it?

Does anyone have an original thought anymore?

I was reading the hubbub over Stephenie Meyer supposedly plagiarizing Breaking Dawn from some unknown chick's book. (Note to unknown chick - get a life already. Tell your lawyer to do the same.) After reading some people's responses to the various articles that I read, the thought occurred to me - Does anyone have an original thought anymore?

Think about it. Hollywood is in this weird time warp - making a live action Smurfs (dear god), the Transformers' movies, and - wait for it - Tron 2 (oh, for the love of everything holy...).

In this age of YouTube, FanFics, blogs, everyone sharing every. frickin'. thing. instantly...Somewhere along the way, people's thoughts are going to cross and get jumbled up together.

(I will say that this moron put her original, unpublished work on her web site for any and all to see, then cries that someone may have actually read it and thought enough of it to use it. I don't think Meyer copied it, but seriously...someone send that chick a paw print, stat.)

I have the crazy notion of writing a novel someday. However, stories like this make me think and rethink it all the time. My life has always been influenced by comic books, movies, magazines, TV shows...I am quite the media baby. How then am I expected not to use some of these ideas to spur my own creativity? Am I copying or paying homage? Who is to judge anymore? The internet has turned copyrights onto its ear. Who the hell knows what is actually "original"?

I mean, the land of make believe can't seem to figure it out - how should we?

So not ready...

...for this weekend to be over. I had a three-day weekend and still feel like I need another day.

*YAWN*

I have a sink full of dishes to load into the dishwasher, then I can go to bed...but I can't seem to find the inspiration to get off this couch. I'd much rather blog/read all night here. Tired, but sleep is a waste of time. I could do so much more if I could skip sleeping and eating altogether.

I love my little ones, but I love how quiet the house gets when they are asleep. It's "me" time. Hubby is envious because he doesn't get nearly the time that I get. I try to tell him that I sacrifice sleep in order to get it, and he doesn't believe me. Oh well.

Think I could wish Monday away? Yeah, I thought not.