An Alberta Family Fun Vacation! Woo!

This past Easter weekend we closed up the store and headed to Jasper for a few days, just the family.  It was really nice.  We stayed at the Sawridge, which was very comfortable, with nice restaurants, and a pool which was a big highlight for the boys.  It was a quick trip, but there is something about the mountain air that recharges me.

We got in Friday evening, had a little supper, and then went for a little walk towards the town.  It was a bit rainy so we retreated to the hotel where we settled in and played charades and taboo like games (it's an App on my husband's iPad and it's terrific).  We even got the electronics obsessed 12 year-old involved by playing the video game and Pokémon categories! Then we snuggled in and watched Frozen on the hotel TV.  My older son and husband hadn't seen it before so this seemed like the right time.  I liked it just as much the second time!

On Saturday we started with a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and then headed into town for a little exploration.  I like Jasper and it was nice to window shop a bit.  We also checked out the VIA rail station which is like a mini-museum in some respects. The boys, however, wanted to get to the wilderness, so we drove up to Lac Beauvert and hiked around the lake.  we got some great walking in and wanted to try and make it to the JPL, but the little guy kiboshed that and we instead headed back to the van.  He was just not able to walk too much more (late night, tired camper!).  We instead headed back to Jasper where we grabbed some Pizza before returning to the hotel to make good use of the hotel's pool.  Mark caught a nap and I read while the boys played and swam.  I think they could easily have stayed in the pool for hours and hours. 

The next morning was Easter and the boys woke up to an Egg Hunt in the room, followed by an Egg Hunt in the hotel.  They got a lot of chocolate, luckily not much that I like.  The Easter Bunny was smart about that! After all the hunting we hit the road and drove back to Edmonton for Easter dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's with family and yet another Egg Hunt. 

It was nice to have this little mini-vacation and to enjoy one of our Province's treasures.  We have gone to Drumheller before, and I think next I would like to take them to Banff.  So much wonderful to see!

When the Boys are Away... The Mom plans her Calendar!

My kids have gone fishing with their Grandpa this weekend up North at Grist Lake.  As a result the house is very quiet.  It feels weird.  I realized that when the kids are home I am always "on" and with them being gone I feel this void of intent.  It was weird this afternoon when I realized that I didn't have to get home at any particular time and I kind of lost focus.  I dream of having time to myself but there I was, with time to myself, and I hadn't planned to do anything so I was just wandering aimlessly... Ha ha ha... If I hadn't been so busy leading up to them going today I might have planned to do some of the things I want to do, like write... It was a lost opportunity but it was also very interesting to see where my brain went without the overriding focus of the kids to power it.

Anyhow, I took the time to map out the calendar for my upcoming theatre and other things. It's all on my iPad but it needs to be transferred to the Big Calendar.  I have Freewill Players Lear and Midsummer, Walterdale's Anything Goes, rehearsals for Death Comes to Auntie Norma (Fringe) and production meetings for Proof. It sounds like a lot, but it's spaced out nicely and hopefully this kid-free weekend will help me relax as I enter summer.

Maybe I will see you at some of the shows?

Two Kids With P.A.T.'s - I stress...

So, I have kids who are three grade levels apart.  What that means is that every three years they will both be writing P.A.T.s (Provincial Achievement Tests).  As a former grade nine teacher I am all too familiar with these.  For me as a teacher, it was always about trying to figure out from the results how I could teach my kids better. For me as a parent, it becomes something completely different.  I have written before that I have been very frustrated by the Elementary School reporting system.  I find it useless to me in terms of evaluating my children at least as a communication tool.  I have my own observations of my kids, and I want to be able to help them achieve and learn better, but the evaluations seemed more based on "Goal Setting Booklets" that I have to fill out with my kid or whether or not I sign off on their reading than on actually evaluating what they can and cannot do.  My kingdom for a Rubric or a list of acquired Curriculum Objectives! Anyhow, the idiocy of the report cards and reporting methods (all the Parent Teacher meetings are student-led and never is there an opportunity to look at their marks on things and marks seemed to be more tied to behaviour than actual cognitive measures) made me curious about how much they do know.  I know that in the big scheme of things elementary grades mean nothing, but I still want to be sure they are both developing cognitively as they should be and I must admit my expectations are on the high side.  So, today we investigated the website that the school provided for practicing for P.A.T.s.  Oliver has done a few practice Math ones and is working on his second Reading Comprehension one and it has highlighted some gaps.  I think that they 'missed' a couple units in the math curriculum because there were terms that Oliver didn't have a clue about.  We made a visit to his textbook and he said they hadn't done that chapter yet which at this point of the year concerns me.  They should be reviewing about now... sigh...

Anyhow, I am very happy that the school has this website set up for us to practice on.  They do their tests on the iPad and can post their initials and school if they do well and they both seem to actually enjoy it. Oliver actually asked to do a few more!  For me, there is a relief that they both seem to be doing okay.  All of their scores on the mini-tests have ranged from 80-100% so that makes me happy.  And because we can look at what they got wrong, I can cover those concepts with some individualized instruction. We are doing the English tests... that is a drawback, because I cannot understand the French well enough to help, but I will get them to do those closer to their testing.  I am more concerned with evaluating what they do or do not know and the English tests will do for that purpose.

The Ubiquitous End of Year Post... My Year in Review

2011 Here it goes. For more detail, of course, you can flip through the whole Blog, but I know that I wrote more sparsely at different times of the year and sometimes my writing was motivated more by the emotional state of my life than the actual events. So a look back seems to bring out the significance in what happened this year.

Theatrical Events:
It was busy in 2011. The first half of the year I wrapped up my tenure as AD of Walterdale. I started the season knee-deep in Rabbit Hole and I think that will always be one of the most satisfying directorial experiences of my life. I had challenges that fed my personal needs. I had a terrific cast, production team and crew. I had to make some tough decisions. I had a script that I really wanted to serve and I think I did that. I also complicated my life by overlapping rehearsals for that show with The Threepenny Opera. I enjoyed doing that show. It too had elements that really made me work. The music in that show was some of the most challenging I have ever sung. Like G & S, Weill is not in my wheelhouse, meaning I had to work. So many fabulous people and it was great to be onstage in the season. I confess, I was trying to find a way to do as much as I could before the end of my tenure. So that led into my first 'real' set design for Village of Idiots. I was more nervous about that than any acting or directing job I have ever done. I worked with the wonderful Linette Smith in a kind of full-circle sort of way (she directed Steel Magnolias which was my second show at Walterdale, but the one where I really knew I was home). The summer meant Fringe and this year I was so happy to re-visit and re-draft Pieces. I was thrilled with the response form both critics and audiences. I can tell you quite honestly that the sounds of sniffling audiences makes me very happy. I also really enjoyed working with my cast and Team. The luxury of doing your own Fringe show is picking the people you want to work with. I was happy with our picks. I was also happy with the new draft as I felt that it was so much closer to the story I wanted to tell. Fall rolled into A Little Night Music at Festival Place. Another wonderful new family and the joy of singing Sondheim. And then I wrapped up the year as Master Painter for Wyrd Sisters at Walterdale. This was a fun challenge as I did not have my mentor, Joan, on hand so I had to solve the painting mystery myself and I also brought my kids on board to be my crew. Someday I see Gibson as having the potential to be an excellent set painter. Oliver might be too, if he gets paid, but I doubt he has the patience for detail work.

Educational Events:
I did Drama 209 first semester and Drama 257 second semester. Drama 209 is the second theatre history course at the U of A and you travel from just after Shakespeare to Ibsen. I really enjoyed it and find that aside from the essays I really love theatre history. Good thing I kick major butt on the exams! Drama 257 is scene study and while I really enjoyed the class, particularly my classmates, it really made me ask questions about what I was doing at University. I haven't fully answered this question but I was frustrated because although I enjoyed the course I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know. It did remind me that I was lazy about some of the character prep work that I could be doing. It also shook up my approach to objectives and tactics because I think I do them a lot more instinctively and less formally and really they are so useful, but it was more like a refresher course than an eye-opener. It is making me re-think my second semester choice. Outside of University I went to Playworks Ink in the Fall and for one very short weekend I was reminded of how much I love writing and how little time I put into it. I have so many plays I need to write. I need to make time for that writing. I don't. I need to.

Personal/Family/All the Rest:
* This year we said goodbye to Smeep, our beloved cat. This was very hard for me. She was a wonderful member of our family. I still expect her to greet me when I come home and the bumps and thumps in the night have no explanation any more. We had her longer than Oliver.
* Oliver and Gibson started basketball and for half a year it took over our lives. Well, mine anyhow. I have a better idea of how it works now and know that it means the Fall will be challenging for scheduling in other activities, but it has been very cool to watch Oliver grow as a player and start to think like a team player and an athlete.
*My cousin Margaret got married and I got to travel on my own to San Francisco/Berkley for a great family reunion - too short, as always.
* I taught my first (hopefully of many) Workshop By Request in Calmar. It was on Giving and Receiving Direction and I had so much fun with this wonderful group who have a fabulous attitude towards what they do.
* I did not gain weight, but I haven't really significantly lost any. This has to change. I am working on trying to streamline my life so that I am doing only the projects I want to do and therefore can have enough to be happy and not too much so that I can't work more on my physical shape. I just don't want that whole diet and fitness thing to take over my life. I think that would depress me and make me want to eat... I did lose 10 lbs in the last 10 weeks of 2011 and have a great support group online with my extended family. So hopefully I can continue this momentum into the new year. I am comfortable with 10 lbs in 10 weeks. It's not crazy. It's realistic.
* I did not write as much as I would have liked. This is also about time. I need to make the time for it. Pieces was a lovely opportunity and I do have a half a draft I was supposed to finish for December 15th to send to Daniel MacIvor. I need to finish that and do more. I must.

It's been a good year.

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

The last few weeks have felt very strange to me. I have been sick, that hasn't helped, but I have also been in a weird kind of funk about what my focus is right now. Because the last two years I had a purpose and artistic vision through Walterdale, now that my term as AD is complete I am realizing I need to find that same kind of purpose for my own life, but I am not sure how. I know I need to really focus on my writing, but I am not spending the time I should on that. There are other personal things I need to be doing with regards to my health, but I am not spending the time I should on that, either (being sick has not helped there). I feel stretched thin with my kids - trying to encourage them and help them and get them to practices and the like, but I feel like I am not doing that well. I must admit a bit of regret for the basketball because its irregularity upsets my sense of planning and scheduling, but I see it's potential for good things for both my boys. I do regret that I haven't found a way to fit in piano yet...

I know I need to sit down with myself and figure this out. A few more weeks feeling like this and I am going to lose it. I am looking forward to Playworks Ink and hoping that weekend time will provide some clarity for me. I even bought a few more colours of highlighters to help me organize my day timer in case that is what I need. I am worried, because there have been a few opportunities come my way that I had to pass on because they didn't feel right, but I worry that I will stop getting offers if I keep saying no. On the one hand, I do not want to be volunteering my time for something I do not want to do 100%, but on the other hand I do not want to miss out on fabulous experiences. I wish I could just roll a die and make my choices that way...

Children are soooooo Cute...

Today was the final presentation for the Boys' Foote Theatre School Drama Classes. Gibson's was at 9:30 A.M. and Oliver's was at 4:00 P.M. so it was a long day. The presentations were very cute. I think the Ziedler was a little too big a space for the little kids as most were inaudible past the first few rows (I don't even know if you could hear them in the 3rd row). But the shows were very cute. I think that if they do the little kids shows in that space they need to incorporate more choral speech or repetition to increase the amount of the show that you could hear. All the 'plays' were well-known fairy tales so that helped and, like I said, the cuteness factor was through the roof. Oliver's class was much easier to hear and I think the space was perfect for them, but I was in the second row this time. I certainly felt the volumes were much more appropriate. I was very pleased with his presentation. Every year I have seen a progression in the quality of the production. To me this is a sign that as the kids move up in age the expectations are also going up and we are seeing a growth. To me this is a sign of a very good program. I feel that the Foote is worth the money (it is on the slightly more expensive side for extracurricular programs) and I think they have some wonderful teachers that work well with a variety of kids. It is always fun for the boys and that is what matter to me.

And they are pretty darn cute on the stage!

Teacher's Convention... Not so Bad this year...

I wasn't really looking forward to having the 2 of them home all day together, but they were fabulous this year. With the cold being what it was, there would be no outlet in sending them outside to work it out in physical activity. However, other than one of two small altercations over the two days they were great little guys. They took turns, they joked, they played together and apart. Yes, Gibson made several messes on my table involving cutting paper and drawing things and yes, Oliver played a lot of DS, but they also read, played the Wii, played with toys, etc... and they got along for the most part. That was nice.

I also got some work done. Mostly online via email and such, but I also went to class and worked on some playwriting stuff and rehearsed. A production couple of days for me.

Tomorrow night I am going to a show at the U of A - Death and the Maiden. I am looking forward to seeing it. I hope to work on my lines during the day while at the Drama classes, but that is never the best place. I do not rehearse until Tuesday night so I have some time (a small bit) to get some work done. I feel better about it all, but the song words are elusive and there is one I have barely rehearsed (How to Survive). The words ain't easy in this show!

Safety City!

Went on a field trip to Safety City with Gibson and his Kindergarten Class this morning. Very fun. Gibson declared the day AWESOME! Hard to corral those high energy Kindergarten kids and mine was no exception, but they did love driving the mini-quads!

I have made my choices and I respect yours, just tone down the vitriol...

In doing some online research into arguments on both sides of the abortion debate for a script I am working on I came across pages devoted to people writing about their decision not to have children. These pages were called things like "I Hate Kids" and "No Kids", etc... Now, I understand the need for community and having discussions with people who have made similar choices or have similar views and belief systems. People need reassurance that they are not alone in the wilderness. It's why many people join parenting groups when they have children. However, the vitriol on some of those pages was astounding. I have kids but I would never expect everyone else to have kids. I also expect that there are times when having my kids around is not appropriate but there are times when it is appropriate and someone else's decision not to have children should not mean that they should never have to interact in a situation with children in it. After all, wasn't everyone a child once? Make your choice, that's fine. If you really can't handle kids at all, avoid places where kids are and suck it up when you are in a situation where kids are. Remember, some of those kids will be wiping your butt one day when you are in the nursing home - if they didn't exist you might have some major issues in your twilight years!

Sometimes You Just Have to Answer the Question and that's all good...

I have had a few interesting 'conversations' with my 8 year old over the last few months. The first was when he asked me if boys could marry boys. We had a nice chat about that. I talked about what being gay was and that, yes, in Canada, boys who loved each other could marry. I also talked about the fact that there are some people who don't like that, but that I thought it was a good thing. He's 8, so I wasn't going to get into details beyond much more than that. The other thing we talked about was how he was really starting to like acting (he takes a class at The Citadel - Foote Theatre School). He asked if he could be an Actor and a Pharmacist. I suggested that might be very possible and very practical.

The Pattern of the Weekend

On Saturday I drive, I sit, I run, I ride, I run, I ride back, I sit, I drive, I drop one off, I drive, I drop the other off, the first one and I have a drink (non-alcoholic - he's only 8), and I drive home, then it's tidying up, supper and then some TV. On Sunday, I sleep in a little, I clean, I do laundry, I fix lunch, I clean more, more laundry, I nap if I am lucky, I fix supper, I do more laundry and probably run the dishwasher, I watch TV, I check my email (etc...) and then I go to bed. There might be a few other things in there, but I am fairly committed to this until Drama is done. I am not sure how long piano will run, but despite the running around, I quite like Saturdays now that I figured out how to only have one child with me at a time. It's like the fox, the chicken and the bag of corn riddle - how to get all three across the river... I know the answer now.

First Day of Drama Class...

And I want to buy straight jackets. The classes went fine. Both boys seemed to enjoy their classes and when I only had one of them with me it was all good. It was the hour and a half in between the classes that drove me mad. We are wandering around Edmonton Centre Mall and neither kid can keep his hands to himself. They both were picking at each other and acting like 'those bratty kids' that everyone glares at. I am working on an elaborate plan for next week involving leaving one of them with Mark at the store and my getting the other using the LRT in between the classes. That would work, I think. I don't know. I was just so unimpressed with them. We might also spend the hour and a half at the Library. I could try that. There is enough there to occupy the both of them, as long as I can keep them from picking at each other. Gah!

In good news... Anna, the lovely Annelle from Steel Magnolias, is one of Gibson's teachers and Amy from last year is one of Oliver's teachers. I totally trust both of them and know they do good work. Amy also knows Oliver so she is well aware of his high jinks and has never had trouble keeping him in line. I can relax...

The Decade of Children and Parenting...

In 2000 I finally got pregnant. This was after a couple of years of frustration, fertility medication, continued frustration, going off the the fertility medication, seeing a specialist, doing one simple investigative procedure (histosalpingogram - ow!) and then waiting for results. In the *wait time* we finally got pregnant. So in the summer of 2001, after a long non-progressing labour, we had Oliver. A few years later (2004) Gibson came along. So for the bulk of the last decade the having and raising of children has been the most significant thing in my life. Sure, we moved and we bought a store and there's all that theatre stuff, but I would drop all of the other things for the kids in a heartbeat if I had to, so there you have it.



Along with kids came the struggle to figure out parenthood. Mark and I come from very different backgrounds. I won't get into the details, as I am sure almost every set of new parents (and old parents dealing with a new aged kid) have to deal with the challenge of wanting to do things differently. I do not want to replicate my parents necessarily. I am a different person and no matter how good I turned out, my children are different from me and I am trying to find what works best for all of us. It can be easy to fall into the 'this is what my parents did and look how good I turned out' but let's be honest, no one is perfect. Anyhow, suffice it to say, we still argue and struggle with the parenting. I get frustrated with unilateral decisions that Mark sometimes makes in the moment and expects me to back him up. I don't want to undercut his authority, but it is hard when sometimes I don't agree with what he is doing. For the most part he is awesome, but there are stressful times when the plan is spontaneous when he falls back on the techniques of his mother, most of which I do not agree with as they do not suit our eldest child. I know that he thinks I am too lenient, and sometimes I do let things slide, but I am pretty sure I draw the important lines. I'm not saying I'm perfect at this. I know I am not. It's a work in progress and there are many moments I look back on and say 'I wish I did that better'.



The children. The Children. They are different. They say you get the children you can handle. We are blessed with two very high energy boys.



Oliver, our eldest, has always been super high energy. I like to think he 'attacks life' rather than lives it. This year he has mellowed a bit, but the teacher reports anxiety, something I never had to deal with from Ollie. I think he grew into the idea that he is a public person. Prior to this year he never thought about how he was perceived. I guess it is part of his development. He walked early, but talked quite late. We figured he was putting all his energy into gross motor development. A speech delay - easily remedied by a year in Early Ed. Stress for us - did we do something wrong? I don't think so. I always just knew what he wanted, so he never had to ask much. His vocabulary (language) was above average, he just couldn't make the right sounds (helicopter = harro-opper) so his speech was mild-moderate delayed. I knew, even before he started school, that we would be hearing about behavioural issues but that academically and cognitively he would be fine (better than fine). That happened and this year that seems to be getting better. At home he challenges some things - mostly the challenges come around bedtime and have to do with stopping play to go to bed. He doesn't want to. He fights us. This frustrates Mark more than I. I have my line. I can usually redirect Ollie so he doesn't cross it and if he does - that's it. No story, no snuggle, just lights out. Mark's line is a lot easier to cross and he doesn't do as much redirection as I, so Ollie crosses it more when Mark is putting him to bed. I don't know how to fix that. I can't do it every night. Sometimes I need a break and sometimes he needs to be more flexible. It's just bedtime - it's not life or death. Anyhow, I have enjoyed watching Oliver grow up to the 8 1/2 years that he is now. He is funny and musical and smart and can be patient with his brother (like right now) when he chooses to. He is usually very good with younger kids, particularly toddlers, and loves his family. He is a hugger and a snuggler and rarely fibs (and if he does, you know right away or else he tells you in less than 2 minutes because he feels guilty). I sense with him that he fights us when he feels like he has no control over what he can do. That's the way it has to be, so we will keep fighting him on the important things, but I know that the fights will get easier. Like with his homework. The first month was brutal, every day. Now, however, he knows he has to do it so the fight is gone. It's all good.



Next post - Gibson - the Sequel.

Aftermath...

It all went very well, but perhaps we let the boys stay up too late and eat too much crap. We are off to visit Mark's family tomorrow and he would like to leave by 11:30 a.m. I do not think that is going to happen. I want to sleep in. I still need to pack. They boys need to not be rushed around on someone else's time table. They have had a couple of very exciting days, and very late nights and excited early mornings.

I got a Webkinz. A Hippopotamus. I think someone heard me singing.

Needle Woes...

I took the boys for their H1N1 shots today. I deliberately didn't tell them until just before we went. They both have a tendency to be dramatic (not sure where that comes from) and the longer they would know, they more worked up they would get. So we got the shots and within 5 minutes, Oliver threw up. Yay. That was fun. Gibson was very mad at Oliver and I because we told him it wasn't bad (it wasn't, but he said it was horrible). Luckily my Mom came with us. We waited in the medical room for Oliver's stomach to calm down and for them to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction and she ran off to Zellers to buy Oliver a new outfit since his was pretty gross.

We are home now. You can't tell that just 2 1/2 hours ago Oliver threw up and Gibson was angry at us. They are playing actively and watching the movie that Grandma picked up when she bought the outfit. And hopefully, we are immune to H1N1.

School Winter Concert

This past week we experienced the boy's school winter concerts. I had to go both nights, because their classes were scheduled on opposite evenings. Most parents only had to experience one evening of the *fun*. Now, I know my disappointment with the evenings has to do with my extensive performance and directing experience and the quality of the Christmas concerts that I saw in Fort McMurray. These did not quite measure up, but that's okay. Everyone had fun and the kids gave it their all. The gym set up is imperfect and the acoustics suck so you can't do much with that. I don't quite understand why all the classes sing along to a recording (including vocal track). Yes, I know the music teacher can't play piano and conduct at the same time, but why not a karaoke track so we can hear the kids, not the vocal track? Oh well, I would do it differently. Some of the parents are up in arms because the focus is more secular than spiritual, but it's a public school so that doesn't bother me. There are Christian programs (LOGOS) in the Public system and you can always go to the Catholic system if that's what you want. Our school is 1/4 Muslim and unless you are going to also include religious songs from their faith (as well as any other faiths in the building, as I am sure there are others) then secular is the way to go. I personally think that they could just find good songs for kids to sing (not rewritten words to Christmas Carols like "Joy to the World, My Shopping's Done") and that would be better. The end song that the whole school sang along to, Sarah McLachlan's Ordinary Miracle is a good example. Just a good song that shows us whether or not the kids can sing. Anyhow, I am not upset about the lack of Christ in the Christmas Concert (they call it a Winter Concert).

I was upset, however, at the impossibly bad manners of the parents and grandparents in the audience. There were people saving an entire row of seats so that people who arrived before those who sat were standing room only at the back. I can understand saving a seat for your spouse, but not for your spouse, 2 sets of grandparents and a couple of aunts and uncles! Ridiculous. Then there were those camera jockeys who would stand up, either in their row or in the aisle and block the audience from seeing the concert so they could get a picture of their child. I would have liked to see Gibson's group, but the mass of picture takers blocked most of the performance. There were also unattended children up and down and moving all over the place during the show, during performances and between. And then there were the talkers. Right behind me, both evenings, I had people chatting when their children were not onstage. Excuse me?! I am here to hear everyone, and I didn't talk through your child's performance so shut the @$%@$ up! I left Tuesday night so annoyed. Wednesday was better, but only just barely. I was appalled and am certainly not looking forward to future concerts unless the behaviour of the audience improves.

Productive Day

I am almost done my Christmas cards. So far I have 'finished' 67 of them (about 10 of those need stamps, however. I have more to do, but I ran out of pictures of the boys so I will have to get more of those tomorrow morning and finish the cards off tomorrow afternoon. I postponed my big shopping day until tomorrow because I was worried about my sitter having to drive all the way up here on the roads in their current condition. It is supposed to be better tomorrow and that will be nicer for me, as well. It may get warm enough to not make gassing up the car physically uncomfortable.

Tonight is Gibson's Christmas Concert. Oliver's is tomorrow night. I wish we could have gotten the same night. I don't know exactly whey they don't just put the French Immersion classes on one night and the English classes on the other night, but it may have to do with numbers. I think there are significantly more English classes than French ones. Oh well. Two nights out, wrangling kids on my own and trying to get decent parking. Sigh. At least they will be insufferably cute!

Read-In Week

Today I went into the school and read in both my boys' classrooms for Read-In Week. I had a lot of fun and I liked being in the classrooms to get a sense of the classroom culture. I am so far please with this year's school. Gibson has adjusted quite well to Kindergarten and Oliver really seems to have settled down this year. I think he is developing the maturity I have been hoping for over the past few years. This week, Oliver did his homework (correctly) on the bus every day so that he had no homework to do at the table before 'fun time'. Nothing like hearing "I did all my work on the bus, Mom" to make a Mom happy! I spoke to Oliver's teacher about coming in later in the year about reading (she asked me, actually - I guess she liked my funny voices) and I hope to visit Gib's class again. This is one of the reasons I am 'home' - so that I can be that parent volunteer and really connect to their educational journey.

Days of Sand...

We have entered the time of year I like to call the Days of Sand. This is because from now until about October I will be finding sand in everything. There will be sand in my couches. There will be sand on my floors. There will be sand in the washing machine and dryer. There will even be sand in the beds (on occasion - although since Gibson doesn't nap so much anymore it will be greatly reduced). I will sweep several times a days to no avail. My car will have a bunch of sand in the back seat and on the floor. The worst will be the feeling that I am covered in sand, that it is on my face and in my hair (and it might be). I imagine that a sand facial is not the best kind, but that is what I will be getting.

Parenthood Blues...

It's a real struggle trying to do this job. You do what you think is right and you find things working for you at home and then you find out it isn't working at school. You want to be able to send your kid out into the world and have them function the way they do when you are around... but they don't, not always, not with my kid.

I am at a loss. Other than attending school with him, I am not sure what I can do.