AWARDS ASSEMBLIES

I went to awards assemblies all day on Monday (for my job.) While I was sitting there, I was feeling grateful that my daughters both got awards for being on the honor roll. They are excellent students. So I wrote the following poem:

Waiting for my daughter's name -
Enthusiastically listening -
Impressed by her achievement.
Other scholars are announced...
Their accolades are not why I'm here.
My beautiful child is beaming as she, too, waits.
I'm blessed to be here.
I'm honored to be her mother.
And still, I wait...
Then, her name is proclaimed.
I glow with pride.
Knowing that the true gratification is hers!
She earned the grades.
She labored diligently.
The honor belongs to her, alone.
I share in the joy because she is MY girl!

COMMERCIAL JINGLES

Here's the writing prompt I gave my choir students: Singer and songwriter Barry Manilow is well known for his pop music hits. But Manilow has written other tunes that millions of people hear every day: the jingles for products including Band Aids, State Farm Insurance, Stridex and Chevrolet. What is your favorite commercial jingle? Have you ever purchased the product it advertises? Why? And this is my reply:

Commercial jingles are so much fun! I find myself singing them all the time. My husband says I’m susceptible to them. Maybe it’s true. But I think in some WEIRD way, they have enriched my life!
One of my favorite commercial jingles from when I was a kid was Oscar Mayer’s bologna commercial. I loved that the little boy would sing about his bologna’s first and last name. I still sing this song when I fix sandwiches.
“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz Oh what a relief it is!” That little melody always pops into my head when ever I have a stomach ache. Alka-Seltzer is a life-saver sometimes!
I can’t stand Dr. Pepper. My husband likes it. But I want to be a Pepper when ever I hear the song “I’m a pepper. He’s a pepper. She’s a pepper. Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?”
Coco-Cola’s classic ad “I’d like to buy the world a coke” brings tears to my eyes. It was simple, yet refreshing. But it hasn’t made me a coke fan. I still prefer Diet Pepsi.
I’m allergic to cats. So is my husband and daughter. I’ve never been a real cat fan. But Meow Mix commercial can definitely get stuck in your head. Singing “Meow Meow Meow Meow” really can drive you crazy! But it’s a lot of fun too!
And one that drove me absolutely crazy was Desert Automobile’s add in Las Vegas. They took the Ghost Buster theme and sang “Who you gonna call? Call Desert!” My daughters loved the song, but didn’t realize it was really a rip off. I had to rest Ghostbusters for them so they could hear the “real” song!
So yes, commercial jingles have enhanced my life! I hope I get to hear many more memorable ones!

MEETING...

Sometimes meetings are boring, but when you think about what comes after the boring meetings, you aren't so bored. That was the case earlier this year at the first meeting of the school year:

We converged at the contemporary site
Assembled for pep talks and positive orations
Words like “World Class” and “Excellence” are tossed around
Inspiration dispersed on imported, vogue, paper plates
My eyes compete to stay open
Weariness and fatigue struggle to be overcome by exhilarated vitality
But relief comes, through thoughts of the Harry Potter movie this evening!
-2009

BOOKS

Fall break is the perfect time to read books! And I have read a lot of them! Too many according to my husband, daughters and father.... but with that said, here's my poem expressing my adulation for books:

An extraordinary book is an intimate friend.
An enjoyable book is an exceptional playmate.
An enlightening book is a reliable comrade.
A motivational book is a dependable companion.
A melancholy book is a tender confident.
A dramatic book is an arousing buddy.
An ambiguous book is a mystifying neighbor.
A memoir book is a candid pal.
My attachment to books may be peculiar,
I treasure my captivating relationship with my books.
-2009

RESPECT

I was feeling frustrated with some of my students at the end of last year. I had a 6th grade class that showed no respect to ANYONE. All the special teachers (Art, P.E. Technology, etc.) were moaning about how they didn't know how to teach these students respect. It was bad. This poem was my way of dealing with the lack of respect and lamenting the fact that my daughters were growing up with these 6th graders as "examples"....

Respect is fanishing,
A lost virtue,
Woefully missing.
Without this courtesy,
Life is full of entropy.
Control, self control, is ended.
I mourn for my daughters.
I sorrow for their generation.
Because:
Civility has been wrongly sentenced to life.
Decency has been brutally assassinated.
And the golden rule is being savagely slandered.
Is it too late for a metamorphosis?
Can respect ultimately triumph?
-2009