A Few Good Changes

1. Rex started 1st grade.  And he still really likes school.  And is doing ok.  His teacher this year is medicore at best and isn't doing much to push or challenge him.  She's pushed him back on his reading 2 levels from where he ended in kindergarten; she's repeating math that he learned last year (but that I taught him when he was 3 or 4); and her bahavior plan sucks.  Rex came home the first week of school really upset that he had to pull his card for talking.  The second time he had to pull his card he was a little upset.  Now he doesn't care.  Way to instill a desire to behave.  NOT!  Plus she makes him pull his card for the dumbest stuff.  Now I'm boarding on rant so I'll stop.  Greg says I'm being unfair, which may have been true but then another mom from Rex's class with a daughter at the same level as Rex and who also had Mrs. Reilly last year approached me at Curriculum Night about the teacher this year--AND I"M NOT CRAZY.  She doesn't like the teacher either and has even tried to move her daughter out of the class.  For now, we've decided we don't care about Rex's behavior chart and I'm keeping my antenea up for any other nonsense because I get what I want and I want my kid happy at school dang it.

Anyway, Rex still likes school.

He saw this pose on the back of a cereal box in Utah this summer and told me about it a week before school started.  And then I forgot.  Luckily I found some chalk under a tree so I didn't ruin his day.

Then on day 3, I had to buy Rex new socks because tall socks are in this year.  I guess my days of ignoring pop culture are over.  UGGG!

2. Alice also started school.  It's just me and her this year and after mostly failing to do Mommy Preschool with Alice last year, I made some positive changes to make sure it happens this year.

First, instead of hoping for a time during Henry's nap some day of the week to do some stuff with her, I decided that Tuesday will be the day and that I will guard it like I guard house-cleaning Monday.  The only reason we leave the house on Tuesday is for me to go running, which takes about an hour (not that I run for an hour but between finding all the shoes, getting kids in the car, etc. it's an hour)  and then school starts at 11 and goes until about 1:50.  I've decided to do themes by week this year instead of by month so I get to mix things up.  I've also decided to stop taking naps.  I'm a napper.  I just love the feeling of having my eyes closed.  But I realized over the summer in Utah that I didn't have to have a nap every day, because I didn't in Utah.  But I also went to bed earlier and slept in a bit later.  And thus the revelation: if I go to bed earlier, then I won't be so tired all the time.  I counted 8 hours back from when I have to wake up to get Rex on the bus.  Now I go to bed at 10:30.  It's made a huge difference.  I'm way less tired.  I'm less cranky with my kids because I'm not so concerned about getting my nap in. I'm more willing to help others by being more flexible with my schedule (except Tuesday, of course).  I get a lot more done because I don't accidently sleep longer than I intended or having a hard time waking up.  I feel better about myself and my use of time because I'm using my time instead of sleeping it away.  Although, last week, I did take a nice long nap after a rough night with Alice and Henry--they had both fallen asleep too so we just had nap hour at our house.

Alice and I spent a day making this calendar so school felt more official.  She really liked it at first, but now she gets tired of doing it.  But calendar time teaches so many important concepts--time, days of the week, seasons, months, counting, cycles, weather--it's worth the hassel.

One day we did an activity that Rex did in Kindergarten.  I gave her a few blocks and told her to see put the blocks on the lids in different combinations and with different numbers of lids.  This is a precurser to adding--I have 5 blocks and 2 lids so I can put 3 blocks on one lid and 2 on the other or I can put 4 blocks on one and 1 on the other.  Then we practiced saying the number sentence 3 + 2 = 5. See why I'm annoyed at the crap Rex is doing?   

Alice is also taking dance this year--a combined ballet/tap class. There's only 1 other little girl in her class and Alice just LOVES it.  She asks every day if it's Friday yet.  I signed her up for several reasons: 1. the one-day a week preschool I wanted to put her in wouldn't let her because of her birthday, 2. she loves Fancy Nancy and Fancy Nany does ballet, 3. she likes to dance, 4. all little girls should take a dance class, 5. it's important for children to learn how to cooperate in a social environment without their parents controlling everything.  I just hope I win the lottery by next year because I still want to put her in the other preschool but don't think she'll want to do that instead of dance, which means both....any suggestions on lucky numbers?

4.   Henry is the mostly ignored and neglected child.  He gets the occassional afternoon attention hour if the older two head over to the Wheatleys.  One day I gave him some puff balls to put in the ice cub tray and then added a spoon because he loves spoons.  He did this for about an hour.  I, of course, had to sit right next to him and watch him but he had fun.  And then the other two came home and started throwing the puff balls around, which was not cool.

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 And then one day I found Henry like this.  Now that he's figured out how to get in, we often have a baby in our (fake) oven.