Meet You Future Second and Third Graders!

Field Trip Day

My devilish darling son Sam has never been on a field trip before. Why, you ask? Well, last year on his first field trip attempt, he got into a skirmish before school even started and was sent home for the day. It was his rock bottom for the first grade. This year, when Lucy got to go on that same first grade field trip, he was livid. It kind of set off a domino effect of bad behavior which lasted several weeks, culminating in more than one trip to the principal's office, lots of punishments, and talking about things with initials and such.  I've been super anxious about this, and specifically about today: second grade field trip day. Honestly, we both have been stressing about it. So much so that his father called before school this morning (which he does pretty much NEVER) to pep talk him and give him a double dose of daily parental positive vibes.

I'm happy to report that IT WORKED! Sam attended his field trip to the symphony, and his teacher reported that he was awesome, although he confessed to once pretending to pick his nose to make some boys around him chuckle. The symphony wasn't something he was particularly excited about, so I was a little more concerned that he would act out if he got bored, but he didn't! Plus, he's had a run of really great days at school. Last week I was literally sobbing and being totally dismal about his future, but today? Well, his dad's positivity talk must have rubbed off on me. 

Back To School Update: The Girls

Oh, my darling daughters. Both of you faced some serious changes in your school routines this year. Lucy changed schools, which I was very nervous about. I really felt like moving her to the public school was a good idea, and now that we have a few weeks under our collective belts I feel like we made the right decision. She loved her Montessori classroom, but struggled with the freedom of choosing her own work. This year, in a more traditional classroom setting she is doing great! Socially, things don't seem to shabby either. A little girl she knew from gymnastics was assigned to the same classroom, so luckily she didn't have to walk in on the first day not knowing anyone, and since then she had made some new friends. I was a little troubled when a birthday party at the end of the first week was kind of disastrous for Lu, but today I saw a friend call out to her and wait so that they could walk in together. My heart almost melted.

Maggie is in the same school, but we moved her from the afternoon class to the morning class, which means none of her friends from last year are with her anymore. I struggled mightily with this decision, but ultimately for the sake of family maintenance had to switch her. Freddie is now going to school in the morning, and keeping her in the afternoon would have meant a ridiculous amount of time dropping off and picking up at this particular school. Plus, the afternoon dismissal time at that school is still the same as at Sam & Lucy's school, so I would have been struggling to pick kids up at two spots across town from each other. After dealing with that last year, I felt pretty strongly that moving her to the morning class would be key element to maintaining my sanity, and in the end that would be good for her. No one wants a bat shit crazy mom, right? Luckily, because she's a little social butterfly, this hasn't impacted her too negatively. The first few days were weird for her, but now she's got a whole new posse of friends, plus we're still friends with kids from last year and see them socially, so she's got that going for her.

Extracurricularly speaking, my girls are BUSY. Lucy is taking golf lessons after school one day a week, and they both are attending a group piano class and a dance/acrobatics class. Luckily for me, since they are close enough in age, they go to the same piano and dance class, which was a huge relief for me. With Sam in hockey and piano and golf (not to mention the therapy that Sam and Lucy are still going to for now) I don't know how I'm going to manage all of this once Fred starts with sports/activities. Probably with a lot of coffee, and maybe some druge. Legal ones, of course, but I'm pretty sure drugs will be necessary.

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In other unrelated news, we are having a giant birthday party for Maggie this weekend. She wanted a pinata in the shape of a unicorn, of course. I was just starting to think that I was going to have to whip out some paper mache around here, but then a trip to Target saved me. Wandering down the party aisles, Maggie should out, "THERE IT IS! MY UNICORN PINATA!!!"

If anyone dares to tell her that it's actually a donkey, I'll use the pinata stick on your head.

Back To School Update: Boy Edition

This little goofball started pre-pre-school last week. He freaking loves it, and only made a fuss when it was over. To be fair to him, the first two days were only 15 minutes long, and then the third was only 30 minutes. And he only goes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Since it's at the same place that Maggie goes to school, we're there pretty often.  He begs to be taken to his class each and every time we drop her off or pick her up. I'm glad he likes it, but man it's a little tough literally dragging/carrying him out of the building while he cries and scream, "NO! I GO TO SCHOOL TOOOOOOOOOOO!" On second day I was in the classroom with him, and he just randomly started counting and didn't stop until he reached 23. And then he correctly identified all of the colors of the cubbies. When he saw that his cubby was yellow, he looked up at his teacher and said, clear as a bell, "I love my yellow cubby. Yellow is my favorite color you know." She looked at me with a shocked expression and I just threw my hands up and laughed. What could I say? "Here is my adorable son who apparently happens to be a genius. But be careful, because sometimes he bites." 

This one? Surprises me more each and every day. After all of our struggles last year, Sam had a really hard time mentally preparing to go back to school. He cried a lot the night before the first day, and the morning of as well. He was so convinced that his problems from last year were going to following him into the second grade. One of the school's support team teachers came to see him on the first day, and that sent him into a tailspin because he associated her with being in trouble. Luckily, his teacher picked up on this, and had a little talk with him on day two about fresh starts and getting to know one another. After that, he was like a new kid. He even told me on Friday that he likes school again. He has some really nice kids in his class, and some kids from hockey are in there, too, so his social world is expanding. And his classroom behavior has improved a lot as well. He isn't perfect, but he's trying. Last week at pickup, his teacher asked me if I got her message. My heart started pounding because my history with calls from the teacher have never been pleasant. Luckily, this was a good news situation. She just wanted to touch base with me and let me know how well things were going. I was so relieved/happy that I almost cried right there on the spot. 

How is your school year going so far? 

Six Going On Sixteen

I was unpacking Lucy's school bag yesterday when I came across this drawing:

Awwww! I thought to myself! She loves me again. And she's been so excited about being six that she had to include that little fact in her love note. It was folded like a card, so I opened it expecting some more about how much she loves her mother. Sadly for me, that was not the case. Observe: 

Translation:  Dear Jon, Your heart is for love as a heart as I'm heart.

And then the lovely illustration of the two young sweethearts. I asked her why she brought this home instead of giving it to this Jon character. 'Well,' she explained, 'I found out at recess that his name is actually Jack.' 

First Day Fun Facts!

Back To Where???

Every blog and facebook status update I've been reading lately is all about back to school, but we don't go back for two weeks and one day more. There is a humongous and expensive construction project ongoing at our high school, and to maximize the amount of time that work can be done without students present, they pushed the district's first day back until September 3rd. Which is fine and all, but I'm starting to get a little bored, and so are my kids! Luckily, Sam is attending one final camp this week (Lego robotics! Awesome, right?) with the coolest second cousin in the land, and next week Lucy is going to Philly, so we're staving off boredom the best wasy we can. I barely have to do any back to school shopping thanks to a lovely fundraiser program the district offers wherein I send them a few extra bucks and everything just appears in the kids' desk on the first day. And it was only $30 for both kids! I'd easily spend away at least double that in the random aisles of Target if I had to go and procure all of those pencil cases myself. Because we all know I need another fruit scented hair conditioner.

(For the record, I have mango, coconut, citrus, and avocado smelling ones. I also have two non-fruit smelling ones. I have issues. Hair issues.)

The weather hasn't really been all that conducive for swimming, but we did learn to ride bikes last week.

Lucy got the hang of things first, and Sam was unsurprisingly PISSED about that. It was a ton of fun, really.

I'm going to try and cram a bunch of fun summer-type activities in over the next two weeks, including a special trip into the city for Lulu's sixth birthday on Thursday. And then we go to Philly to get Lucy over Labor Day weekend and then, finally SCHOOL!

Last Day of First Grade

Posing choices made by Sam.

Don't It Make You Smile?

I PACKED MY LAST SCHOOL LUNCH OF 2013!!! WOO!!! HOO!!!

(Can you tell that I hate packing lunches?)

This is a phenomenon that I truly don't understand in myself. I mean, I make the children nearly the exact same lunch at home, but it doesn't seem to bother me too much. Unfortunately, there will be at least one week of packing camp lunches this summer, so I'm not totally off the hook, but that's not until the end of July.

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We are having a weekend pool party cook out friendship bonanza this weekend, which will include 8 adults, one of which is pregnant, 4 children, including an adorable pair of 9-month old twin boys, and one puppy, sleeping in our home. Plus our crazy clan. We kind of did one of these a few years ago in WV (see here) and it was great fun. So we decided to expand things a bit for even more fun! If you don't hear from me after this weekend, assume I died happily of a friendship overdose.

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The peas are in their pods! At least some of them are. Most of them are still just little white pea blossoms, but it won't be long until we are feasting on garden peas! And some of my tomatoes and cucumbers are also flowering. Oh, the bounty we'll have once all of this is all edible! 

Last Day, Part One

Today was the last day of school for my girls. So I hauled them out into the yard this morning for a not-so-quick photo session. Luckily, they were both champs! 

Despite having a bit of a rocky year, Lucy is sad for the school year to be over. She is going to miss her friends and teachers, and spent over an hour last night drawing and writing notes for them. Most of the cards included an invitation for the recipient to come over and see her Easy Bake Oven. She really is a hoot, this one. Luckily, she gets to bring a part of her classroom home with us over the summer in the form of Peace and Harmony, the classroom rats pets. I didn't really want to volunteer to give them a home for the summer, but last week Lucy flooded the bathroom twice in two days, so I felt like I owed the school something. 

Maggie isn't really upset about school being over, but that's mostly because I don't think she really gets it. For example, her dance class is also over now, but she keeps asking if she has dance class tomorrow. I'm a little worried that next week she's going to be pissed, because this kid loves school. And dance class. I would try and woo her with the swimming pool, but she's not really that into it. I guess I'll be forced to bust out some play dough, which is her favorite in-school activity.

And just because they're sisters, here's a picture of them together!

And here's their picture from the first day of school. I was going to try and have them wear the same dresses, but they both grew so much this year that the hemlines were indecent. Where does the time go???

I Wish My Life Were a Fairy Tale...

We have had some big challenges this week, but yesterday Sam performed in his first grade spring concert about fairy tales. It was beyond awesome. So I'm just going to ignore everything else and watch this over and over again...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Sam. Samuel. Sammy. My firstborn. He's had some trouble this year, remember? It's been a tough row to hoe.

On Monday we got a letter from the school, but not that kind of letter. It was to Sammy's entire class. His teacher had been waiting to adopt a baby, and was finally getting one, but on very little notice. Therefore, she was going to be taking an immediate leave of absence for the reminder of the year.

Sam was devastated, which really threw me for a loop. Most of his trouble at school has stemmed around this teacher. She is a very nice person, and seems like a good teacher, but her personality and Sam's personality don't mix well together. At first I was really hesitant to go down this avenue of thinking, but after consulting with a therapist I'm not so afraid.

No one wants to be that parent who claims it's the teacher's fault that their kid is in trouble all of the time. But what if that's occasionally true, at least partially? After several incidences at the beginning of the year, our school recommended that Sam see a therapist. Since then, the therapist has had some conference calls with Sam's principal, guidance counselor and teacher, and shared with me her opinion that perhaps his teacher is being a bit too hard on him. That maybe his behavior earlier in the year (when we were driving up from WV, and then living in a 2 bedroom apartment, and my grandma died, and then we moved into the wallpaper hell. The gypsy life.) has put him under an unfair microscope. That maybe she is trying too hard to squeeze him into a mold that doesn't fit.

Believe me, if I were in charge of a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds all day, I'd really want them to be good and quiet all of the time. But that pretty much sums up why I'm not a first grade teacher. Having a roomful of calm, peaceful obedient first graders is a damn near impossibility. Does Sam need to work on his impulse control? You bet your hat he does. Are there at least two or three other kids in his class that have the same issue? You bet your sweet bippy there are. Are their parents having monthly meetings with several school personnel and getting daily behavior reports sent home? It doesn't appear so.

So I explained to Sam that it's alright to be sad his teacher was leaving, but I also explained that adopting a baby is a truly joyous occasion and he should be happy for her.

And then I allowed myself a quiet little celebration, both for Sam and his teacher.

Little Lucy Goes A Long Way

This has been a big week for my little Lulu! 

She completed her first round of gymnastics classes, and in first place no less! (FYI, all of the kids finished in first place, but don't tell them that!) She enjoys her time there so much, and she can almost do a cartwheel, just ask her! This whole cartwheel thing really bother Sam, because he can't even begin to approximate one. She's reveling in being better than him in something. It's cute. Until they start fighting.

She also had a performance at her school!

This gave me no small amount of anxiety, because we had NO idea it was happening until the day before it was happening. That's what you get when you take your kids to Florida in the middle of February, I guess. To make matters even more anxiety-filled, she was the first performer IN THE WHOLE SCHOOL!

She had to recite a line about William Penn while wearing a lovely hand made quaker hat, which totally went with her sequenced tunic, pink jeans and zebra rain boots. Can you tell she dresses herself? 

She said: William Penn was born on October 14th, 1644 in London, England. 

And she said it like a total boss. 

And she knew it, too. After all of kids took a bow, most of the dispersed to find their parents. Lucy stayed on stage and blew kisses to her adoring fans.

Apples to Oranges to Bananas

Sometimes it's hard not to.

In the past few weeks, all three school-age kids have had their parent-teacher conferences. In the cases of Sam and Lucy, we kind of knew what to expect. With Sam, we weren't surprised to hear about his behavior issues, but we were a little dismayed to find that his behavior issues were overshadowing his academic abilities. In Lucy's case, her academic capacity was noted, but downplayed because of her teacher's (perceived) issues with her behavior. Maggie, on the other-other hand, got a fucking gold star in every category. 

It's especially hard not to compare the girls. They go to the same school, have the same classroom setups, and are getting the same evaluations. Granted, they are adjusted for age, but that might have made it even harder for me. For her age, Maggie is performing above and beyond. For her age, Lucy is lagging behind quite a bit. Compounding the issues, Maggie is being compared against other 3 year-olds with little or no experience in a Montessori classroom, while Lucy is being compared against kindergarten children who have had two or three years experience in a Montessori classroom. When I attended open house last week, her inexperience was abundantly clear in the classroom materials decorating the walls. I came home and cried. A lot. To several different people. 

I love my Lucy with all of my heart, and I always think of this song when I'm feeling sad or weary about her. Please go and watch the video link in the upper right hand corner. 

It's not so much what we have in the life that matters,

It's what we do with what we have.

The alphabet is fine, but it's what we do with it that matters most. 

Making words like 'friend' and 'love,'

That's what really matters. 

- Fred Rogers

And now I'm crying again. 

Lucy's First Day of Kindergarten

Gypsy Life: Day Four

Today was a rather uneventful day. I was glad the weekend was over so the kids could go back to school. Speaking of back to school, I totally forgot to post about these two cuties and their new school.

This was (obviously) taken last week when we were still in WV, but it was the day the packing and moving began, and I never got a chance to post it. They both absolutely love it, but I, at the moment, am not. You see, they do an elaborate phasing-in schedule, so Maggie only goes for an hour, and Lucy goes for an hour and a half, but not at the same or consecutive times. That means that most days I am picking up or dropping off six times. Luckily, Lucy starts her longer kindergarten program tomorrow, so while I will still be doing six trips, them timing should be a little easier on my schedule. We'll see...

Another thing that might make my life easier in the near future is the babysitter I hope to hire. I put an ad out on sitter city today and got several responses right away. I'm going to meet up with some of the applicants this week, so here's hoping that by next week I'll have someone to pick Sam up from school. You know, since all of a sudden this year both Sam's school and the girls' school get dismissed at the exact same time, but they are three miles apart. That's fun.

I also did an On Demand kick boxing workout today. I really hope the person/people who live below us work during the day.

Finally, here is a video of my baby feeding himself meatballs with a giant fork, and then demanding bites of my salad, which was drenched with balsamic vinegar. WTF?

Pre-School, Part THREE

Tomorrow morning I'm going to tour a new pre-school for my little Maggie. Yes, MAGGIE. As in, this one:

How is it possible that she is going to pre-school? She doesn't even turn three until the end of next September. But for most pre-schools, you only have to be two and three-quarters, so off to school she goes!

Now, we could send her to the same pre-school here that Sam and Lucy went to last year. It was a nice school, and the hours would be pretty compatible with Sam and Lucy's schedule. BUT! In an effort to make my life more complicated, I'm going to check out a Montessori school up in Pennsylvania, about 20-30 minutes away. Given the start and end times, I may be able to make it work. Maybe.

There is also a YMCA in that area. One thing that I miss more than anything here in Morgantown is a Y. Everywhere we've lived with kids, the Y has been a permanent fixture for both the kids and myself. If Maggs does three hours of school each day, then Fred and I can hang at the Y in the meantime. Lunch on the way home, naps when we arrive back at our domicile. If everything goes according to plan.

In all likelyhood, Maggie is going to end up going to the same pre-school here in Mo-town that Sam and Lu went to, but I feel like I own it to her to check out this other option. Sam did the Montessori thing, and I think it was super-beneficial to him. I want to be able to give that kind of experience to all of my kids, if possible. So while it may make my life a little more crazy, if it's better for my kids, it's better for me.

BUT, I totally reserve the right to bitch and moan about it whenever I wish.

Lucy's First Day

Yesterday Lucy started pre-kindergarten. Last week her teacher came over for a visit, and during that time they told me that I had to come in with her on the first day. She said most parents stay until lunch, and that if she was having a rough time I could take her home then. Well, we weren't even there for five minutes when I was dismissed by my four year old daughter. I told her I wasn't leaving yet, and she didn't look too pleased with me. Half an hour later she told me, in no uncertain terms, that it was time to go. "Grown ups don't count here, mom," she said to me. I collocated myself, and a hug and a kiss, and slowly backed away from the table.

At the end of the day, she walked hand-in-hand with Sammy to the car. She loved it, naturally. It was awesome, and she couldn't wait to go back!

First Day Jitters

Today was the day. Sam's first day of real school. Public, federally mandated, all day kindergarten.

Despite the photo, he didn't actually take the bus, because, well, I'm just not there yet. The drivers here seem a bit wild and they have to drive on the interstate, so I think I'll be driving them for at least this next few years.

We got to his classroom, and he kind of clammed up. We met his teacher last week, and he recognized her, but the other kids in the room were all strangers to him. He asked me to stay a while, and since we were early-ish, I obliged. It was totally because he asked, and not because I was weepy and sentimental to a point.

He settled down with some blocks, and soon enough another little boy came over to join him. At first Sam was reluctant to converse with him, but as soon as Star Wars came up, it was like they were long lost brothers. Mere moments later, I was sent away with a quick hug and barely another glance.

And I totally didn't cry the whole way home. Only half the way home.

While I waited to pick him up at 3:15, I was a nervous wreck. What if he hated it? What if someone made fun of his lisp? What if he pooped and needed help wiping his butt? What if to INFINITY?

So as soon as he was buckled in the car, I asked, "So Sammy, how was kindergarten?"

"Mom," he said, "It was so awesome! It was more than awesome. It was...Spectacular!"

And then I cried the entire way home.

Change of Season

Today it is downright cool outside, and even though it's supposed to be 88 degrees tomorrow, it's hard to ignore the coming signs of fall. Tomorrow is Sam's first day of kindergarten, and on he'll be joined by Lucy on Monday when she beings her all day pre-kindergarten. One of our maple trees is already blushing red, and a few discarded leaves dot the lawn. The stores are overflowing with freshmen, and the roads are flooded with sophomores high on their new driving privileges. We got back-to-school haircuts yesterday, and stuffed back packs are at the ready on their hooks in the hall. Tonight I'll pack a lunchbox for my big boy, and I'll make sure to write him a note so he knows how much I'll be missing him tomorrow.

But for one more day it's summer. I'll let the kids stay in their jammies until late morning. We'll eat lunch outside and drink lemonade and I'll swing them until their tummies tickle. We'll blow bubbles, ride bikes and draw with chalk.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll still be able to smell the summer on our shoulders.