The last 7 days have been quite bizarre, mostly because of the weather here(I live in Colorado); I feel the need to write it down to remember down the road.
Monday 22nd: 65 degrees, clear and sunny. I went to the park with the kids in shorts and flipflops. My brother and a nephew were visiting from the Midwest and were excited by the spring like temperature.
Tuesday 23rd: The morning was cooler, only 45 or so but still clear. Forecast called for a snow/rain mix later in the day, with little accumulation. We went to the mountains so my nephew could snowboard. Around 3pm we heard the rain/snow mix was instead going to be a full force blizzard with up to 16 inches expected that evening. The first 8 inches apparently fell between 5-6 pm and wreaked havoc on our return trip. Yikes! Our 70 mile drive home took nearly 5.5 hours, complete with 3 small children cooped up in a car and no bathroom. Good times, truly. I have rarely been so glad to see my front door.
Wednesday 24th: still snowing lightly when we woke up around 7am, but clear and 45 degrees by about 11. We had about 14 inches total at our house. Bob had a snow day so he and the kids and my brother and nephew turned our front yard into a snowman army. Then the boys practiced their "kung fu" by knocking all the snowmen down.
Thursday 25th: Warm again and sunny. Most of the snow in the yard melted by the afternoon. I took my nephew and superkid to the local skatepark in the late afternoon. We wore sweatshirts and put sunscreen on our faces.
Friday 26th: Sunny in the am, cloudy and raining by late afternoon. forecast again calls for a rain/snow mix, but the snow portion never materializes. Took my brother and nephew to the airport around lunchtime.
Saturday 27th: My memory of Saturday is a little vague, but I remember the kids and I being so exhausted that they actually watched movies most of the morning, while Bob was in charge and I took a nap. All the adventures during the family visit wore them out.
Sunday 28th: Back to the park, once again in shorts, this time with sneakers, as it was a bit chilly for my toes to handle flipflops.
Today the forecast is for 64 and sunny, with more delightful weather all week long. I think I'd enjoy that consistency, so here's hoping.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I am "that Mom"
Today Bob and I took Superkid to tour the school where he will go to kindergarten next year. This was a big deal for me, both because our firstborn will be in kindergarten and because the school we went to is very close to my idea of a "dream school" for him. I admit that the last few months I have been a tad neurotic over the whole school thing. Not completely insane, but a bit over the top nonetheless.
To make a long story less long, we had some concerns about the neighborhood public school he currently attends for preschool. I mean no negative reflection on them, because it is a decent school and I know the staff work very hard. It is basically a solidly mediocre school and does a solidly average job. Superkid, however, is not an average child. I say this without conceit because people I like and respect and count on to tell me the truth tell me it is so. My little man is very bright, and very active and very inquisitive. He wants to know everything about everything, and then he wants to tell you why and how he learned it. My college degree is in early childhood education, so I can usually find ways to keep him engaged and intellectually stimulated. When I can't, his behavior spirals down down down like water in a toilet and then things are sad and ugly in our house until he's suitably challenged again.
So anyway, neither Bob nor I felt comfortable with the regular school in our neighborhood but we weren't sure what else we could do for him. Private schools are not in our budget, besides being out of sync with our desire to support public education as best we can. And while our district does offer choice enrollment and some special programs, none of the schools available were close to our home. Community involvement is important to us, and convenience is not to be ignored when there are 2 younger children for me to juggle as well. So we applied to a few places nearby--most specifically to a public charter school in our neighborhood--and waited to see what happened. The charter school has many more applicants each year than it has students, and I was told we would only be called by the charter school if his name came up in the lottery they hold. I must have heard the date wrong, because I thought the time had long since passed for the call to come. So when they called me last week to say they had a spot for him I was shocked, and then very excited. This school is academically sound, so he will get the basic skills and knowledge he needs for reading and writing and such, but it uses a less conventional curriculum model to teach them those things, and I love their approach. There will be much more time outside, and doing lessons in and about nature and more "real world" examples to learn from. And they go camping. Even in kindergarten. I love these things because Superkid loves to be outside and loves to learn how the world as a whole works together and loves to be "hands-on" in his learning. And I love it because several friends of mine, who are teachers or who work with schools in some aspect, have all told me "Superkid would do so well there, and so would Wonderboy."
So now I don't have to be "that Mom" about his school placement anymore because he'll be in our neighborhood, but still get his educational needs met and I won't have to sell my soul to pay for it. Yay!!(hands clap for joy and cheesy smile appears on face) Maybe next time I should just do my research, fill out my paperwork and then patiently wait to see how God will meet my needs huh? Someday I'll learn.
To make a long story less long, we had some concerns about the neighborhood public school he currently attends for preschool. I mean no negative reflection on them, because it is a decent school and I know the staff work very hard. It is basically a solidly mediocre school and does a solidly average job. Superkid, however, is not an average child. I say this without conceit because people I like and respect and count on to tell me the truth tell me it is so. My little man is very bright, and very active and very inquisitive. He wants to know everything about everything, and then he wants to tell you why and how he learned it. My college degree is in early childhood education, so I can usually find ways to keep him engaged and intellectually stimulated. When I can't, his behavior spirals down down down like water in a toilet and then things are sad and ugly in our house until he's suitably challenged again.
So anyway, neither Bob nor I felt comfortable with the regular school in our neighborhood but we weren't sure what else we could do for him. Private schools are not in our budget, besides being out of sync with our desire to support public education as best we can. And while our district does offer choice enrollment and some special programs, none of the schools available were close to our home. Community involvement is important to us, and convenience is not to be ignored when there are 2 younger children for me to juggle as well. So we applied to a few places nearby--most specifically to a public charter school in our neighborhood--and waited to see what happened. The charter school has many more applicants each year than it has students, and I was told we would only be called by the charter school if his name came up in the lottery they hold. I must have heard the date wrong, because I thought the time had long since passed for the call to come. So when they called me last week to say they had a spot for him I was shocked, and then very excited. This school is academically sound, so he will get the basic skills and knowledge he needs for reading and writing and such, but it uses a less conventional curriculum model to teach them those things, and I love their approach. There will be much more time outside, and doing lessons in and about nature and more "real world" examples to learn from. And they go camping. Even in kindergarten. I love these things because Superkid loves to be outside and loves to learn how the world as a whole works together and loves to be "hands-on" in his learning. And I love it because several friends of mine, who are teachers or who work with schools in some aspect, have all told me "Superkid would do so well there, and so would Wonderboy."
So now I don't have to be "that Mom" about his school placement anymore because he'll be in our neighborhood, but still get his educational needs met and I won't have to sell my soul to pay for it. Yay!!(hands clap for joy and cheesy smile appears on face) Maybe next time I should just do my research, fill out my paperwork and then patiently wait to see how God will meet my needs huh? Someday I'll learn.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Enough Eeyore, Enough!
Looking at my posts so far, I think too many have a mournful flavor and I am sick of it! Sick sick sick. Enough maudlin sadness. Today I am grateful! I will be grateful if it kills me. Here are some more things for my gratitude community list.
The peculiar crunch of frosted grass, no longer covered in snow.
Tiny fingers grasping cheerios
Superkid and his boundless energy and curiosity
Wonderboy's gentleness
Boys who adore their baby sister
Baby's hair tickling my face
Squishy mud to make footprints in
Peroxide and antiseptic ointment to prevent infections
Friends who don't mind visiting a messy house
Springtime smells and sounds.
Have a nice day.
The peculiar crunch of frosted grass, no longer covered in snow.
Tiny fingers grasping cheerios
Superkid and his boundless energy and curiosity
Wonderboy's gentleness
Boys who adore their baby sister
Baby's hair tickling my face
Squishy mud to make footprints in
Peroxide and antiseptic ointment to prevent infections
Friends who don't mind visiting a messy house
Springtime smells and sounds.
Have a nice day.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Dang it.
I just found out I will most likely not be seeing my grandmother this summer. Dang it. I don't mean to sound flippant about this, because the truth is I am heartbroken. My grandmother lives overseas and I see her rarely, and the last time she visited the states I was unable to go see her; there were good reasons for my not making that trip--baby was only about 3 weeks old--but I could have made something work. At the time I decided not to, because I thought she would be coming back this summer. And now she isn't--there is some room for hope but not much. And now I am so very sad. My Nana is elderly, and she has had some hard things in her life the last few years and traveling halfway across the globe is difficult for her. So I understand her choice, but still I am sad. I am sad because I haven't spent more than perhaps a few hours with her in the last 15 years or so and even then it has been amidst large groups of my relatives(very large groups, we're quite a tribe). I am sad because my children have never met her and she's the only living great-grandparent on my side of the family and I want them to know their heritage. I am especially sad because she is a link to my Dad, who is no longer living and I miss him terribly sometimes. She is a remarkable woman and I want so much to be able to spend some time with her before she leaves this world. I am going to be kicking myself for not turning my life even more upside down than it already was when she came last year. Kicking hard. That is all I can find to say.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)