It's Just A "Title"

It's that time of year again. Time to sign up every one for Awanas and soccer and baseball. Time to fill out form after form after form of information. I don't know how many times this month I've had to write down a child's name, address, phone number, insurance number, doctor's name and phone, and on and on and on...

It's also more complicated when you're a mixed family because there are these spots where you put the parent's name and signature and I sign for everything but in Jordan's case I put Brian as the parent and then just hope no one ever asks questions because I hate explaining the whole family dynamic. You know, "Jordan's dad and I are together, not married, we've lived together an X number of years and I'm the mom to Jordan's sister" type thing. I should just answer it's complicated, but no one ever asks. I must be sensitive to the thought of the question. It's not a big deal. I mean I sign for EVERY thing. Reading logs, permission slips, homework folders. Anything the kids need signed, I sign it. That's just what I do. And no one has asked me any questions. Ever. Not once.

And this whole "step" brother/sister/mother/father or "half" brother/sister must be an
adult-only concept because the kids don't ever use those titles when speaking about each other. Jordan's sister goes to Owyhee and Riley's brother goes to Idaho Arts Charter School and Jillian doesn't even know the meaning of half let alone a half brother or sister. Believe me, Darby is completely Jillian's sister and if anyone told Jillian otherwise she would probably freak out on them.

So, I guess I shouldn't be so self-conscious about it either. Of course, the easiest part of the form to fill out is when it asks to list siblings. I guess because it's so easy for the kids. They don't go around trying to explain the situation in complicated terms. It is what it is. That should be my philosophy from now on.

Okay, back to filling out forms. Awana registration is tonight.