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Projects Overloa

s a parent, you learn so
many skills you never imag-
ined you possessed.
I'd never known, for example, that
I could be such a capable negotia-
tor. Every time I hear that, "Mommy!
She ..." or "Mommy! He ..." I
know it's time for me to go in and
be the Boutros Boutros-Ghali of my
own little United Nation's of Squab-
bling Siblings.
Unlike many leading
statesmen, however, I usually
can end the matter quickly
because I hold the power of
television deprivation.
"You guys must be arguing
because you're exhausted,
so I guess we better skip TV tonight

fl

"NO!" my children scream in uni-
! son, in holy terror.
At the same time, I find myself
lacking in more than a few vital
areas. One of these is dealing with
Mount School Work.
Each day, my children bring
home 40,000,000 papers. Some
of these are notices from the school,
and there always seems to be at
least one book club order. But the
vast majority are projects Adina
and Yitz have made or worksheets
they have completed in class.
I love this stuff; I really do. I look
over it with the children, then
admire it later with my husband.
I My question is: What do I do with
it all?
I have a friend who can't stand to
get rid of anything her daughter has
made. I love going into her home,
because it's covered top to bottom
with the girl's drawings and paint-
: ings.
But I've got this neatness thing
going on — obsessive neatness,
actually. So while I'm happy to
have my children's drawings and
projects taped on the refrigerator
and the kitchen cabinets, for use as

bookmarks, atop our Friday night
challah, holding pencils, as birth-
day cards for relatives, and on
every shelf — well, I have to draw
the line somewhere.
With a vigor heretofore unknown,
I have perused parenting maga-
zines in search of help. One writer
suggested moms laminate a son's
drawings for use as place mats. It's
a good enough idea, but
how many place mats do
we need? With all the art I
have, I could produce
enough place mats for the
entire British kingdom —
and my son is only 5.
It's good to know I am not
alone. So many mothers with whom
I have spoken share this trauma. I
am convinced we can find a
cause, if only we work together.
Yes, a lot of this stuff can be
stored until at last we can pass it on
to the children who made it
("Honey, isn't it great! Four-thousand
tons of art you made when you
were little! Now it's all yours!").
Some can be thrown away, too, if
you already have another 80 like it.
Some can be passed on to rela-
tives, and some can be attached to
refrigerators . But what about the
7,000 remaining pieces?
Please send your ideas to me,
and I'll run them in an upcoming
issue of AppleTree. You can write
me c/o The Jewish News, send a
fax to my attention at (248) 354-
6069, or e-mail me at:

ESTOK
I

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%With

•

ELE8 ATION CONNECtid

DIRECTORY

in

11/6
1998

our Classified Section

Detroit Jewish News

87

