Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Lessons from Kindergarten

We are learning an awful lot from kindergarten--*we* being me and Will, not Troy. Sure, he's learning quite a bit, but the lessons seem to be more for us than anything (me more than Will though).
1) I am a control freak. Yep. I had an idea I had issues, but until Troy started school, I had no idea how much of one. In Preschool, his teacher gave us a folder every day that had something in it--a great day sticker, homework, a letter, work from the day....I loved knowing what was going on. Kindergarten--not so much. I know it's hard for 18-21 students so I understand but I feel so lost and frustrated not know how he's doing. In his words, he's behaving and doing everything right, but is he........???
2) I had no idea that I needed to explain to throw away the trash from lunch. Didn't realize that he would bring home leftover pudding UNCOVERED, banana peels, mandarin orange cups with juice still in it. His lunch bag has been used a total of 4 days and it's disgusting.
3) Didn't realize that I also needed to explain that as sweet as it is to want Will to be included, he needed to be told NOT to try to save popsicles for him
And here I was worrying more about letters, numbers, social skills.....
4) When parents told me to expect my child to be hungry after school, they did not tell me that he would act like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Yesterday after school, he had 4 PB crackers, fruit snacks, raisins, and carrots and BEGGED FOR MORE!
5) And on the same note, yes, I was warned that he would be a little tired and grumpy, but I was not expecting that every day at 5pm, he would act like he was possessed
6)Will has learned that he gets a lot of attention at pick up and really likes it so let's just say, he's very good at getting it (in other words, he's LOUD)
7) Will also has learned that he misses his big brother. He enjoys his time one on one, but he's refusing to nap because I mentioned that after nap we would go pick up Troy. Soooo, in toddler rationale, I won't nap so therefore, we pick Troy up now.
There are more, but since I most go deal with the child having a party in his room.....

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

So all that complaining....

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have complained about my boys and their early rising. I have moaned and groaned for over 5 years now about Troy being an early riser. Will hasn't been bad until recently, but he's now getting up between 6:00 and 6:30 as well. I have been a broken record and know I have annoyed so many people with my gripes. I am here to tell you now that I am done being frustrated. These past 5 years of waking up no later than 7AM and most days around 6:00 (5:45 when I try to work out before they get up which is a joke) have done nothing but prepare me for school. I heard so many parents talk about dreading waking their children up early for school or being up that early themselves because they cannot function. Now, it's my turn to laugh at you and feel the jealousy because I. had. to. do. nothing. That's right. Not. a. darn. thing. This is my life daily--holidays, weekends, summers.....there was no adjustment needed! HAH! Sure, you get to sleep in on the weekends or during school breaks. Sure, your children may sleep until 9 or later and you can lounge and drink your coffee in peace. Sure, you can watch the news or whatever. BUT, I don't have to fight to get Troy up and ready for school. He's up, dressed and walking into my room at 7 (usually 6:45) asking to fix himself breakfast. AND he's totally crashed every night by 7:30. 8 at the latest and some nights by 7. So good news my friends and family, I am done complaining and will now enjoy that at the start of every school year without the added stress of having to fight the boys to get up and moving. And having listened to sooooo many of you, this is a good thing, a very good thing!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Well, Definitely Won't Have Perfect Attendance

Sigh. Troy started kindergarten yesterday and is already out today sick and most likely will miss tomorrow :( I probably shouldn't have even sent him yesterday but he seemed okay in the AM, minus what I thought was anxiety issues. Of course, I could have been totally wrong since he came home with a 100+ fever (never could get a good reading) and just plain exhausted. He wasn't up to par on Tuesday, but ran no higher than a 99.4 temp and seemed much better as the day went on so we thought he would be fine for his 1st day. He was such a trooper though and after a very hard morning, he put on a smile and went to school. He told Will to have a good day and off we went to kindergarten. They told me NOT to go back to the room, but it seemed as if every other parent was. I held strong though (as hard as it was) and watched him walk into his classroom. He looked so big and grown up doing it and I was just so proud of him! I will admit that after my mom left and Will was distracted, I lost it. I didn't think I would, but I did and am not too proud to admit it. I just felt lost all day and Will was really confused. We went to grab lunch at a local place and he repeatedly asked when were we picking up Troy since that's what we did for preschool. We were just both out of sorts and to be completely honest, 3:00 couldn't come fast enough. I started really getting antsy around 2 and that last hour dragged! I missed him so much and couldn't wait to hear about his day. Unfortunately, he didn't really tell me much. This is what I got from him-- "We didn't paint, draw, cut or paste, but we did a fire drill." So I know bits and pieces but that's it. Poor thing was just hot, tired and ready to be left alone. Here are some pics from before school and I didn't bother being the good parent and doing pics at pick up which was probably a good thing....
Outside on the patio. He just looks so old!
 Right before I say good bye :'(
 Walking down the hall to his class like he's been doing it forever

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Kindergarten Eve

It's the day before Kindergarten and I had a whole idea of what the day would be like. After taking care of annoying household chores and errands, we were going to go to the playground, ride bikes, play and just have an enjoyable day. Then it was home for lunch a quiet afternoon and playtime with Troy's buddy. A nice dinner, maybe out for ice cream to celebrate and then early to bed. HAH! Let's see what happened so far:
The morning started off nice and we ran our errands and did the annoying household chores. On the way home, we find two Jack Russels getting ready to wander into a busy road so I call them to us and they jump right in the car. They are wearing tags so we find the owner's name. Number disconnected :( Call the vet that's listed on the tag and find the owner's name. Number is the same but I get the road they live on and try a couple places but as you can imagine at 10:30 in the morning, no one is home. Apparently I am the only one who stays at home in this neighborhood. Soooooo, we head to the playground for a short time. There, I call Jay at work and he finds a new number (thank you white pages) but since no one is home, I can only leave a message, BUT get the exact address (score 2 for white pages). Tell the boys they have 10 minutes since I don't want to just leave the dogs in the hot car, plus I have groceries in there that I don't want them to help themselves to. Deal with the griping and complaining and the "YOU PROMISED".....So I load some disappointed boys in the car and alas, I find that we already went to the house and no one is home still. It had only been 10 minutes so again, no surprise. Decide to go home and put them in our fenced in yard to enjoy. AHHHH that is taken care of so now we wait to hear back from the owners. Now it's lunch time. Really? It took that much time!?! Now, Troy starts complaining about his belly hurting and getting grumpified in a major way. Hmmmmm. Is it hunger or something else? Decide because Will had been sick with a virus the past weekend just to check his temp. What do ya know? He has a low grade fever--just 99, so as long as it stays down, we are cool for tomorrow. Getting a little stressed at this point. Shocker, I know. He finally admits that he is scared of tomorrow and starts to cry and say he's going to be sick. I give him the typical parent pep talk about fun and new friends and being brave and he calms down a little. Letting the dogs into the house helps a bit as it's a distraction but one pees in my bedroom. Yay. Now it's 1:30, he's feeling better, the dogs are chilling out with us, Will is napping and I am desperately wanting to exercise but promised Troy he could have movie time as a special treat so Jillian Michaels' has to wait. Hoping for a calmer afternoon.....and that Troy's fever stays down. I really hate the idea of him missing his first day, but have a bad feeling. Yep, call me Negative Nellie
Oh and now it's 1:55 and we just had an earthquake....yep, that's right, in VA....just add it to the list of how life is crazy today :o

Monday, August 22, 2011

I Did Not Expect This

Well, it's actually coming. I knew the day was approaching, but until today, Meet the Teacher Day, it hadn't sunk in fully. I have been very excited for Troy to start school. I cannot wait to see what he learns, how he does, who he becomes friends with....I of course am a little nervous for him because he's had lots of anxiety in the past. He seems to be past this, but I just don't know what to expect come Wednesday. Yes, I know he'll be fine. Yes, I know there are other kids that may be scared or nervous and yes, I know kindergarten teachers expect this and know how to handle this. BUT, he's my kid and I can be a freak about it if I want. What I did not expect was to be the one not able to sleep and feeling anxious about it all and the littlest of details. I mean, really? I laid in bed last night worrying about if he'll know how to deal with buying lunch (of course he will, yet I worried). I didn't expect to be concerned about what happens if he doesn't like the lunch. Should I pack him something just in case? I didn't expect to be concerned about the pick up and drop off. Yes, this stuff, the littlest of details is what is causing me anxiety and butterflies in MY stomach! Most parents say they are worried about the big things--will their child make friends, will they behave, will they learn and develop and here I am worrying about lunch??? Yes, I will gladly admit that I am a total freak and didn't expect this at all. However, when I texted the husband about being nervous, his reply was "So business as usual, huh?" Maybe I should have expected it after all.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

One week until Kindergarten. Getting ready....

Friday, August 5, 2011

Aren't they good little helpers?

The boys love to help me around the house. Usually it's wiping down stuff with Lysol wipes, scrubbing the toilet (why they like this, I will never know), sweeping, or vacuuming. Quick disclaimer--as nice as it sounds, I still have to go behind and clean up the mess they leave behind with their helping. But whatever, they are trying. Today, they really wanted to help with laundry. They were a big help....





Tuesday, August 2, 2011

What was I thinking?

My boys are very much into fire fighting. It's Troy's absolute favorite thing and he takes it very seriously--he even has "Fire Kids" that live with us and help him. He has to take off work to be able to just play and enjoy the day and he's even given "talks" to school kids about safety. All done in our home or Granny's of course, but as you can see, it's a big deal in our household. Will isn't to this point yet, but he certainly has his sirens down pat--very loud sirens actually. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I am very pleased that this is Troy's obsession rather than some of the other common things with young boys these days. I actually find myself noticing everything dealing with firefighting at stores and have bought them items (reasonably priced of course) so that he can improve on his skills....Now, the other day, I was birthday shopping for my nephew and went down an aisle that was LOADED with police and firefighting accessories and I thought to myself, "I think I will just buy each of the boys this and break it out on a day where they are bored or need something new" (like they didn't have enough....). Here is the product:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11082694

No problem you say?
Look closely.....
Do you see the WHISTLE??? Have you ever given a 5 and 2 year old a WHISTLE? Especially when it's too hot to be outside???
Yes, what was I thinking????