Sept 08

Ever have a time in your life where you get so busy that you just want to hide under a rock for a week to recoup? Yep- that's us.

Aida had her 3rd bday party. It turned out to be pouring rain on that day, so we had it indoors. Thank goodness for a fairly open basement. The funny things: 1- she wanted to wear her Mini-mouse costume, 2- she was sooo very girly and received MANY girly presents, and 3- she was the ONLY girl. All her guests were boys! Cute. She is learning to mind her manners more, and when school started back up, she was having some fits here and there, but lots of time in time-out has started to cure that ailment. She loves preschool and talks about her friends incessantly.

Liam is a big kindergartener now. He is in a full day program, and his teacher is someone I know, so yay! His first day of school, he thought the school bus was the coolest thing! He has had an adjustment period as have we. His teacher has a level-system for discipline, and the second week, Liam brought home an "oops" note. Which means he was in trouble 3 times that day. So, we had no tv that night, he lost his videogame privilege for the weekend, and he helped write an apology letter to his teacher. After speaking with his teacher, it seemed that he wasn't listening to what he was supposed to do, and they would have to ask him several times. Also, when he did get in trouble, sometimes he would melt-down and cry-cry-cry-cry-cry. We practiced attentive listening with Liam that week, and hoped things would improve. Liam started to not want to talk about school. He is usually so talkative, and to get him to talk about his day was like pulling teeth. The next week, Liam got another "oops" note, and so we took all his Star Wars toys out of his room, no tv, no leapster, and we started him on a behavior chart. Brack took Liam to school a bit early the next morning to discuss it with his teacher, and she immediately brought us back to Earth. Liam has a problem with transitions. He is so involved in working on whatever they are working on that he doesn't hear the instructions for transitioning to another activity. He keeps working on the same thing. She told us he isn't consciously misbehaving, he just doesn't hear. She was going to focus more on the positives, and we decided to as well. So, last week, he came home twice with positive notes home. He was very proud, and earned a ticket for each. I want him to like school, and I don't want him to misbehave, but I also want to push him to do his best (maybe because I wasn't pushed). This parenting thing is so confusing.

On the parental note: Brack and I are as busy as ever with the kids. Brack gets Liam up, fed, and to the bus stop each morning since Aida and I are already gone by then. I have to leave school within 8 minutes of school getting out in order to make it to pick up Aida, then home and to Liam's bus stop on time to pick him up. Aida sometimes makes it harder by not wanting to leave preschool, but we're working on it. I am thinking of parking across the street from the school. Parent drivers picking up their middle school kids (and the elementary kids next door) are insane drivers! They don't look where they are going, they stop in the middle of the road and call to their kids to run through the traffic to pick them up... etc. It is CRAZY! Brack is still in soccer, and he has finally finished his Storm Trooper costume/uniform. He can now apply to be part of the 501st which is involved in countless charity events. I'm really happy for him. I am crazy busy with school- conferences are already next week, I have project and papers to grade, and I have students I am specifically monitoring their work completion. I had gone through the grade book of their prior year's English teacher, and found the percentages of work not handed in. So, I have kids I am focusing on who didn't turn in 13%-40% of their work last year. I am contacting parents often and putting into practice the saying of one of my fellow teachers: "we make doing the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult."

Brack and Maw
Family Hike

Visit to Breck

At the museum