Keeping up with the Joneses

Monkey has spent his kindergarten year in private school. He has friends who are different than his previous friends from Preschool. He's gone from families with dual incomes and two super-hardworking Parents who work inside the home and at paying jobs outside the home to a school with kids who have Moms that only have one job, CEO of Household.

These Moms are able to do things like manage a home with 3-4 children, take care of running the household, cook nightly and make amazing Shabbat meals. These Moms make fancy desserts with swirls of chocolate on the plate and drizzles of syrups and all sorts of beautiful creations that take time and patience. These Moms drive carpools, run their kids to extra curricular activities, head to the gym daily and I found out this past Shabbat, READ BOOKS from start to finish in one day. Who has that kind of time?!  It's nerve-wracking starting as a Mom at this type of school. I didn't know how nervous I would be starting kindergarten in such a school and as the year progressed, it's only gotten worse for me.

This past Shabbat we had two such families over for lunch. I wanted to make a really nice lunch so I worked hard, marinated meat, got recipes for a new amazing trifle dish, made new salads. It took lots of trips to the vegetable store, lots of planning and lots of preparation. I even thought of dessert that would be fun for the kids. On Friday afternoon I get home and there was an amazing new cookbook (I love cookbooks, by the way) waiting for me with a note from one of the families coming the next day for lunch, pre-thanking me for having them over. About an hour before Shabbat a knock at my door was the other family I invited over with yet another gift. Oh my goodness, I have never been showered with more gifts for hosting a meal. I was beyond impressed and realized first grade might be more than I bargained for, for me... not Monkey. I need a class, "Keeping Up with the Joneses", do they offer that for Moms new to private school? If not, they should.

Oy Vey, I'm in trouble..............