Driving Miss Cranky : Volunteering

Thanks, but no thanks, Countess

Karen Waldkirch — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:09:57 GMT

A couple of weeks ago on The Real Housewives of New York City, LuAnn de Lesseps, a.k.a. The Countess, visited a Boys & Girls Club to meet with and mentor a group of “Smart Girls.” After watching this segment of the show, I immediately wanted to quote Bethenny and shout: “Oh no you di-in’t!”

I give The Countess credit for “giving back” to the community, although when giving back requires that you reach your destination in a chauffeured town car, perhaps your perspective is a bit askew.

The session started with the girls and LuAnn writing down what they like best about themselves. Rather than LuAnn further reinforcing the girls’ self-esteem, she merely reinforced her own by telling the girls that she’s likeable, funny and organized. Nothing terrible there.

Where it quickly went downhill was when LuAnn quizzed the girls on the importance of being a Countess, which was met with blank stares and such disinterest, I almost heard crickets chirping.

And then, the “piece de resistance,” as The Countess would say, was when the girls talked about what they wanted to do when they grew up. One girl, who was tall and somewhat heavyset (as my mother would say), said she wanted to be a model. Thankfully, LuAnn agreed that she had a pretty face. But then, as a throw-away aside to the co-mentor, she said “Losing weight is the easy part.” Wow, Countess, thanks for crushing that girl’s dreams. The girl never mentioned her weight but LuAnn just had to point out her flaws in a session aimed at building up. Funny, how it ended with her tearing someone down.

The scene ended with her playing basketball with the girls and feeling like the girls just couldn’t get enough of her time with them. I think that if these are truly the “smart girls,” they had more than enough Countess for one day.

Watch yourself and tell me if I'm wrong:

My Own March Madness

Karen Waldkirch — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:22:00 GMT

This morning, I opened my eyes at 4:45 am. Yes, of course I went back to sleep. But finally, I gave in and crawled out of bed at 5:00 am. Why, you ask? Because I am smack dab in the middle of my own personal "March Madness."

You see, 2009 was humming along nicely. Sure, I had the typical "Mom" things to deal with - laundry, cooking, driving, attending meetings - a volunteer gig here or there. But it was well-spaced out. I had time in-between most of these things. Enough time to breathe, that is.

Suddenly, it's mid-March and those great and powerful forces have collided. I have too much to do in too little time. I won't list everything because I guarantee that there are many of you whose list would dwarf mine. I get that.

My point is that my to-do list is waking me up, pre-dawn. Instead of dreaming of warm beaches, I'm trying to figure out what to cook tomorrow night that can be eaten (neatly) in a car on the way from play practice to the college night meeting. And can I get the key to the school refrigerator before or after I drop off the smelly dog for grooming? And top it off with wishing the economy would boom so that my college senior could quickly find a job after graduation. Sigh.

The thing is, I know I'll get it all done...somehow, and probably not well, but it'll be finished. I should sleep when I can't do anything about my list. But that's not how I operate. Sleep deprivation seems to be the way I roll. Yawn....Note to self: Fill out NCAA brackets before Thursday!

I Chaperoned...I Survived

Karen Waldkirch — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:28:26 GMT

This past weekend, I chaperoned a choir trip to Disney World. Although the thought of warm weather was enticing, mine is not typically the first hand up when it comes to chaperone duties. I love kids, but I’m best at dealing with them one or two at a time. I’m the mom that doesn’t mind stuffing envelopes instead of doing playground duty or going to the pumpkin farm. Hide me in an office instead of on the bus with the kids. Truth be told, I’m not good with drama from other people’s kids.

But this was a different situation. It was a choir of all girls – 14 of them in all, including my daughter. They seemed like really nice kids, between the ages of 15 and 18. Then again, I’ll totally admit that I was cautiously optimistic at best. You never know with kids – especially girls. Will they be mean? Will they obsess over their hair? Will they fight with each other? Will they run around outside our hotel rooms all night long? Will they ostracize each other so that the quiet ones end up hanging with the chaperones?

Miracles of miracles, none of that happened. They were really nice. Sure, there were a few latecomers every day and I don’t even want to tell you how messy their hotel rooms became. (God bless the housekeeping service. They earned their paycheck this weekend.) But I have to say, this was the perfect trip to chaperone. There was virtually no drama.

You know what that means? The next trip I chaperone will be awful, just awful. I'm counting on it.