Homework, Cocktails and Colleagues

It's was the 100th day of school for the kids, and once again, I failed miserably as a helicopter parent. My daughter dilligently glued 100 cheerios in a random, non-aesthetic pattern to a red sheet of paper and then proceeded to screech at me while insisting that she had to write the numbers 1-100 next to each of them. If any number did not come out as she wished or bumped into another, she furiously erased, breaking the already affixed cheerios and then the process got longer and longer.

Parents at school divide into the "homework is enriching time with my kids" or the "crap, it's due again and he/she would rather be playing with legos...doing anything but and now we have a confrontation." You also have to be very careful in discussing homework with parents as it is not easy to identify which side the parent stands on. Some of the crunchiest I-don't-believe-in-structure parents reveal their type A sides in the homework competition.

Case in point: my daughter's best friend produced her 100 day project as a full portrait of Obama produced in varying shade of dried beans. Now this kid is very artistic, but come on. Her parents are artists and her husband specializes in painting dogs peeing. Not your usual homework obsessives.

After the grand celebration which involved cupcakes -- I actually volunteered but was mercifully trumped by a mom who revealed she does use Duncan Hines but stops at that nasty canned icing -- I slathered on some makeup and made it into the city for a re-union of the marketing staff at a highly successful dot-com I worked at.

The good news: most are gainfully employed, many a bit unhappy about where they are, but holding onto their aeron chairs for survival. The years have added a few kids, a few personal tragedies, but life has gone on and for the most part for the better.

For those on the outside wondering what actually went on at various dot-coms, yes, work happened. I was at this one during the last bust -- a lot of work on a small staff -- and we didn't get free food. The irony? Those who stuck this one out stayed through a buyout and now they get renowned chef-prepared free food, but have to deal with lego stations, scooters in the office and arrogant 25 year olds all over again.

I remember the bizarre run-ups to the conferences the company held -- one which got staged twice in one calendar year nearly resulting in a meltdown by the person who had to do all the logistics. I got the easy part of working on content. The last conference I worked on I got to deliver one of my favorite research projects I developed. I had had a baby a matter of weeks before the conference and I managed to suck my stomach in, stap on the heels and get up there in front of everyone. The weird thing is that what made that speech work is that in a male dominated industry I personalized the data and injected information about how the Internet was changing women's lives -- and even made some positive statements about online grocery shopping which did prove to be true, at least in certain markets.

Well, now here I am, far from that conference room, my online grocery account idle as I plan to save money and go to the butcher, sit with my daughter and make valentine cards, make sure my son reads his homework for the night and listen for them breathing ever deeper as they fall asleep on my shoulders.

• Laundry count: none today, changed two beds yesterday and even washed comforters +10 points!
• Stickers unglued from dining room chairs: 10, after all it's valentine's card time
• Vacuum: give it up until the last shred of glitter from valentine's is used up
• Dinner: give in to the siren call of frozen Ore Ida french fries...