Gettin' Cozi...

I have a bit of a confession to make...
I am virtually incapable of organization and time managment.
Maybe "virtually" is the wrong word...

Ah, yes. Absolutely.

I am ABSOLUTELY incapable of organization and time management. I have tried EVERYTHING (short of that brain transplant surgery my husband has been hinting at) to get my life under some semblance of control.

Enter Cozi Central.

Cozi Central is a FANTASTIC website with an online family calendar program...that you can also download (if you have a PC). You can access the online calendar from any computer, anywhere (everything is password protected). And, you don't have to carry anything! What is so clever about an online calendar is that everyone in the family can access it from wherever they are (school, work, home). Everyone can exchange messages, insert calendar events and appointments and even add to the grocery list (which means anyone can print it off and actually DO the grocery shopping!!) You can also sync Cozi with Microsoft Outlook.

I can't tell you how excited I was when Parent Bloggers Network sent out information about Cozi Central! I'm pretty sure that I actually begged to be in on this particular campaign! Because, I need some kind of intervention for my complete lack of both organizational skills and scheduling prowess!!

I anxiously set up the Cozi basics and got to work making some lists (and checking them twice! heh.) I punched in a few appointments, including the Proposal of Dissertation Defense that I just completed YESTERDAY! (and knocked clean out of the park, thankyouverymuch!! Now I get to put "ABD" after my name! Yeah, baby! Feel free to bow down before me!!

Back to Cozi, I also showed my husband how to access and use it. We were off to a magnificent start but...I lasted two weeks. My obstacle was having to be at the computer to modify or add anything. I still think Cozi Central is wonderful, but it is perhaps geared more toward those families where one or more people regularly and frequently have a computer at the ready. (I actually think there are many, many families who fit that description, for whom Cozi Central would be a lifesaver.) But, for me to use the Cozi calendar program successfully, I would need to have a computer always available and at the ready. So that I could get everything into the calendar...before forgetting it or losing the tiny slip of paper upon which it was scrawled for the transfer to the Cozi calendar.

I'll still use Cozi Central, though. For the grocery list function. I have used that aspect quite successfully over the past few weeks. Also, there is a really awesome (like, totally) feature that I haven't tried yet, but expect to love. Apparently, Cozi will actually text-message your Grocery list to your cell phone. How COOL is THAT?! It seems so much like heaven, I can hardly even imagine it...no more lost grocery lists!! Somebody pinch me!

Let's Get Ready...

My children are brilliant. But, I did not need to tell you that, right? I mean, of course they are brilliant...they are mine!! (Heh.)

My oldest son is currently in kindergarten. Heavenly, glorious PUBLIC SCHOOL kindergarten. He surprises me each new day with facts and tidbits of information that I may or may not want to know. He is inquisitive and loves to figure things out. Just this past weekend his magnificent curiosity was featured in a picture in the local paper. My boy...caught in the act of trying to figure out how a bug had found its way into a pipe! (me = swelling with pride)

So, on our recent trip to Manzanita, I made sure to bring along "Let's Get Ready For First Grade!" knowing it would keep him distracted and entertained. But as I reported earlier, the boy is a genius!


My Lobito has been reading the "Let's Get Ready for First Grade!" book for almost 2 weeks. When I looked through the book initially, I assumed that it would be something that we would work on together because the concepts seemed to be a bit beyond what he has learned in kindergarten. So, we sat down one night and went through the book. The book easily held his attention, with bright colors and fun pictures (his favorite is the 3 cats singing...). As we worked our way through the book, he had difficulty understanding two concepts: suffixes/prefixes and ordinals. The rest? Well, let's just say that on the way to Manzanita he was Teacher Lobito, thankyouverymuch!

"FAFFI, this is a QUAAARRR-TER. Can you say quarter?"

"Lobito! I'm not a baby!"

"Well then, how much money does two dimes and a nickel make? Huh?! You won't ever know until you listen to me teach you. PAY ATTENTION! This is an 'R,' see? It is a Daddy-'R,' but this book calls it something else that I don't know."

On it went, Teacher Lobito trying desperately to teach his non-compliant little pupil!

Overall, the book was not very challenging for Lobito. This was good, for two reasons. 1) It makes me even more happy with the education that he is getting. 2) Kindergarteners who are almost First Graders need concepts that they can easily master, so that they are never discouraged at learning. Which makes this book....absolutely perfect! It holds his attention, but is not too difficult that he becomes discouraged.

Definitely deserving of an "A."