Friday Wrap-Up (Saturday Edition)

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It is always a busy time in accounting land at the end/beginning of the month, but this week felt like year end.

In addition to my "normal" chaos, there was a significant issue with my cash book account balancing to my cash general ledger account (for you non-accounting folks, this is similar to when your checkbook doesn't match what the bank says you have in your account) ... to the tune of about $1M.

Wednesday morning, the CFO and controller called me into a meeting to address the situation. With a computer linked to a big screen, and a white board the size of a semi truck, we dove in.

Now understand, I thought this was my fault, and I had let it go far too long (since the beginning of the year). I kept thinking I was fixing it and yet the discrepancy kept getting bigger and bigger. I prepared myself for the ass-chewing I knew I deserved. It was bad enough that I clearly had no idea what I was doing, but to neglect the issue for EIGHT MONTHS was quite irresponsible.

Come to find out, I was doing the right things. The controller - in an attempt to circumnavigate an ongoing problem with my AZ bookkeeper - made a change to the way the general ledger accounts were mapped ... and neglected to tell anyone.

Seven hours (and no lunch or bathroom breaks) later, it became clear that each time I made an entry through cash book, the money was going into the wrong general ledger account.

Ummmm ... yeah ...

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Cam hates his new school ... I don't ...

I am confident that Cam is getting fair and equal treatment this year - that his perception of everyone picking on him is skewed. I continue to reinforce that he is responsible for his actions and his length of stay at the therapeutic day school. He can either cooperate, do what is needed, and move on, or he can dig in his heels and make his life extremely difficult (his current M.O.).

What is different this year is that the school and I are on the same page. They are trying to get him out of his therapeutic day school placement, but in this case, that action means Cam is being successful - not that he is failing - and that is a good thing.

I have no doubt we are in for a rough ride, but I have vowed to give myself credit for doing the right things (offering a place to study, help with homework, etc.) and allowing Cam the choice (and consequences) to succeed or fail.

I've got four years to help him make a positive difference in his life.

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If you're not too hung-over, repenting your sins at church too busy on Sunday morning (11:00 AM EDT), tune in to Show #2 of "I'm With Stupid" - Jayman and Matt-Man's escapade into the world of Blog Talk Radio.

You never know what you might get ... sometimes there is even a live stream. Noooo ... not via webcam, but via Matt-Man's bathroom visits!

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Ivy League Preschools

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I am somewhat baffled by the preschool anxiety some parents face. No, not the separation anxiety associated with sending your 4-year old for a few hours in a new environment, but the anxiety - let's call it an obsession - some parents have with sending their child to the best preschool.

There are preschool fairs, similar to the college fairs put on by high schools. Some parent groups develop preschool binders with information and parent reviews of local schools. The best preschools have months-long waiting lists for parents to just step inside to visit the preschool.

I may be a slacker mom, but I chose Cam's preschool similarly to the way I chose his daycare the previous four years.

Could I afford it? Price was first and foremost. The list gets quite short when you're not willing to take out educational loans for preschool.

Was it safe? And by safe I don't mean were there cameras set up every 5 feet so that I could spy on the staff from my computer at work, I mean was the facility clean and the equipment in good condition and age appropriate?

Was it convenient? I wasn't about to add 30 minutes to my commute to insure a "proper" Ivy League preschool education.

And guess what? Cam learned to count, to read, to write his name and to get along with others.

These Ivy-League-obsessed parents who begin a mindless academic death march in preschool so that they can say, with a sense of superiority, that their little snowflake attends The Harvard Preschool of Kindergarten Prep Academy irritate me. I don't care what preschool your child goes to, do they say please and thank you? Do they help little Johnny out when he's clearly struggling? Do they share their toys??

I don't know ... I've never seen a college application that requested preschool transcripts ...

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What? Me Worry

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Life is funny sometimes, giving you what you need to hear when you need to hear it.

Just last week I was talking about worry - how much I worry - the ridiculous life changing things I worry about.

Then down from the cyber heavens an NPR article, 5 Worries Parents Should Drop And 5 They Shouldn't, lands in my lap. Considering it's been quite some time since anything landed in my lap, I got a little excited.

According to the article, most parents are worrying about all the wrong things.

Based on surveys Christie Barnes, mother of four and author of The Paranoid Parents Guide, collected, the top five worries of parents are, in order:

1. Kidnapping
2. School snipers
3. Terrorists
4. Dangerous strangers
5. Drugs

But how do children really get hurt or killed?

1. Car accidents
2. Homicide (usually committed by a person who knows the child, not a stranger)
3. Abuse
4. Suicide
5. Drowning

Barnes insists that it would be easier on parents if, "every news story came with a little warning at the bottom that said, 'Even though this is very tragic, this is 1 in 10 million, 1 in a million or 1 in 20'. "

Damn media! You mean they sensationalize things??

This unnecessary worrying, Barnes argues, is detrimental to parents, causing health issues and negatively impacting parent relationships with other adults. Not only that but focusing on rare dangers distracts parents from the dangers that matter. *gasp*

Now, I do take issue with one of the items that didn't make the real list - drugs (and alcohol). I think it's likely that the survey data was from parents of the under 10 crowd ... because we know I would never worry about some psycho picking up my 14-year old son, in a van, on the first day of school and taking him to parts unknown ... but I do have concerns about drugs and alcohol.

What does Barnes suggest. She says that according to her research, making kids wear protective gear and buckle up in the car cuts kids' chances of death by 90 percent and their chances of serious injury by 78 percent.

Hmmmm ... I think I'll go out and stock up on duct tape and bubble wrap so that I can focus my worries on homicide and suicide ...

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