Kindergarten Stress

Sam brought home a paper from kindergarten today stating that they were going to start having spelling tests each Thursday, over three of the thirty high frequency words that the kids have been working on all year. It was accompanied by a note that said "Since your child has already mastered all of the high frequency words, he will be given three new words to learn each week." So we congratulated Sam, told him how proud we were of him, and I was rather impressed with this individualized instruction. But the joy wore off when I went to study with him, and realized he had never worked with his three words before (they are After, Again, and About). So tonight I just had him write each word three times. And it occurs to me that I will be teaching him these three words each week, on top of two soccer practices and one baseball practice. Why couldn't they have started spelling tests in the winter when there was nothing to do?

On top of that, in April and May we are supposed to be teaching our child their phone number, address, and how to tie their shoes. The tying the shoe part was awful with Maria - she never had any shoes to tie. While I realize it's impossible to tie 25 kids' shoes all day, I do get frustrated that the school request we only send our children in Velcro shoes, then expect us to teach them to learn to tie, when the child sees no point in learning this skill. I had trouble teaching Maria, and so I am worried it will be difficult with Sam too.

Not to mention that this past weekend we finally started addressing Sam's speech issues - mainly saying his L's and R's. The speech therapist at school told me last year that these were age appropriate problems that didn't need to be addressed until first grade if they were still going on. I have been very nervous about addressing this, since any stress about speaking can bring on his stuttering again. And I didn't address it with Maria until she started first grade - I always assumed she would just start doing it on her own and she never did. So we decided to see what he could do, with the agreement that if there were any stuttering issues we would quit. And I learned that if we start saying "La-la-la," he can say L words correctly if I help him with the starting sound. So now I am trying to make him go back and correct words that start with L - breaking his old habit. And most of the time he is O.K. with it and goes back to say it correctly. But he gets frustrated if I do words with L in the middle as well, so I am giving up on those for now. And I was hoping to master L words in a few weeks (a few months may be more likely) and then move onto R words. But now with spelling words and tying shoes and everything else, it may be too much. Time will tell.

Still Sick!

Maria had a pretty bad virus last week. But by Thursday evening, she seemed much better and her fever had been gone since Thursday morning. Friday was a long day - she went to school all day, then after school she and I went out to dinner and shopping for spring clothes. Other than being a little bit quieter than normal, and falling asleep on the way home, she seemed fine. When we got home, she laid on the couch from when we got home at 7:15 until she went to bed at 9:15. We decided she was just still recovering - other than a lingering cough and not much of an appetite she had no other symptoms.

But then Saturday morning she continued to lay around watching T.V. From 7:30 until lunch at noon. It is just not like her to lay around like that, but whenever I question her she insists she's fine, just tired or bored. So we continued with our plans - painted pottery and went to the mall again to pick out clothes for Sam (who was very pleased with his Mario Brothers and Bakugan T-shirts). She was fine, although tired, and asked if we could stay in the car while Ben and Sam shopped. But when we got home, if was back to the couch.

This morning was a little better - she played with Sam some. Then she had a bowling birthday party from 1:00 -3:00, and did fine there. But back to the couch when we got home, and now (4:45) she's asleep.

She's been on Amoxicillin since Thursday (Dr. gave it just in case it turned into an infection, and we figured better safe than sorry), so if it's a secondary infection I would think it should be going away. Regardless, if she's like this tomorrow after school I am taking her back to the Dr. (they have open office hours from 4:30-6:00). This has been going on for a week and it's been worrying me.

Maria's Report Card

Soccer Practice Blues

Friday nights in spring are special around here. In the fall, Ben has football games every Friday night. In the winter, it's basketball games, although not every Friday night, at least some of them. And Friday doesn't feel the same when Ben has to work in the evenings. But in spring, no one has to work on Friday nights. Combine that with the weather starting to get nice, we like to go out on Friday nights. Sometimes shopping and dinner, sometimes just out to dinner and then home for movie and a popcorn - it doesn't matter - we can finally celebrate the end of the week as a family.

So we were a little disappointed that Sam now has soccer practice on Tuesday and Friday nights. I understand the coach's theory - with games on Saturday mornings and the team being made up of 6 year old boys, the closer the practice is to the actual game the better chance the boys will remember the strategies learned. But neither of us really want to spend Friday evenings sitting, freezing, at the soccer field.

Last night was the first night of this, and we had to change around our plans - we were supposed to go paint pottery at Color Me Mine - going the last Friday of the month and participating in their "Pajama Party" saves us $25 in painting fees. But we didn't want Sam to miss his first practice, so we are painting pottery today, at the full price. We figured that it was more important to keep the family activity intact than it was to save $25. And Maria and I went shopping for her spring clothes while the boys were at practice. But when everyone got home, we were all exhausted, laid around until the kids went to bed, and it just felt like a school night. I'm sure we'll get used to it. I just feel like now our spring Fridays have been stolen from us as well.

By the way, shopping with Maria was fun. There were lots of sales, we knew just what she needed, and we were able to find everything at a few places at the mall. Sometimes I'm sad that she's too old for me to buy the cute matchy outfits at Gymboree, but shopping together was fun too. Today is Sam's turn, although he doesn't need much since he gets hand-me-downs from Mason. It will be interesting to see what he picks - how much he even cares. But I wanted to be fair to each kid - if Maria got to pick out her stuff, he should be able to pick out his stuff.

A Page from Sam's Journal

An excerpt from Sam's kindergarten January/February Journal:

Stubborn Sick Child

Maria is home sick today. I suspect she's been sick for at least two days, but wouldn't admit it.

Sunday, I picked the kids up at the halfway point after they spent the night at Rita and Darrell's. When we got home, Maria just wasn't very active, and ended up laying on the couch (which hardly ever happens) watching T.V. Even though it was nice outside and Sam was out there riding his bike. She told me that they went hiking and to the Air Force Museum earlier that day with Grandma and Grandpa, and the shoes she chose to wear were too small, causing pain in her foot and calf. She said it was getting better, though. So I threw those shoes away, so she doesn't try to wear them again, and finished cooking dinner.

When she sat down to eat, she was in extreme pain, had tears in her eyes, and readily agreed to take Motrin. Once that sunk in, she acted much better, and was excited to loose a tooth right before bed that night.

Monday morning, when I got her up she mentioned that she wished she could sleep all day. Odd for her, a morning person, but who doesn't feel that way when they get up on Monday? And she said her leg felt better. So we were good to go.

After school Monday, Maria looked awful. I questioned her about something happening at school to make her so grouchy? Her nose looked like it had been running. No, she said, just tired and has a cold.

When we got home, she went directly to the couch and laid down without taking off her coat. I can't tell you how odd that is for her - she only lays down to sleep, never after school! So then I felt her forehead, which was burning up. Fever of 101. We gave her Motrin, and later she ate some dinner, but never acted quite like herself. Since cold symptoms were only minor, we decided against calling the Dr.

This morning Ben went to feel her forehead at 6:00 so we would know if someone had to call in sick. She was awake, told Ben she felt fine. Her cheeks were flushed though, and the thermometer read 102.7. So not fine. Ben stayed home (I had my once a year evaluation with the principal today) and took her to the Dr., who said it's just a virus - no strep throat, no ear infection, etc. Which means it could go on for days. Ben says she's still feverish and sluggish now (3:00 Tuesday).

I e-mailed her teacher to tell him she would be absent, and he replied that he thought she might be sick yesterday. James, the son of our principal who is also in her class, told me this morning that "We all knew she was sick yesterday." So I feel like a horrible parent, but I was only going on what Maria was telling me. I didn't mean to send a sick child to school. And I know she was not that warm in the morning since I helped with her hair and would have noticed if her face was that hot.

She really didn't want to miss today because they were going to get their recorders in Music class. So I am walking over there after school to pick hers up, although I don't think she'll feel like playing it, but I am probably wrong again!

Not Much to Blog About

I'm sure if you read this blog frequently you have noticed a decrease in my posts the past several weeks. So have I, and I think there are a few reasons for it. So here they are:

1. Not a lot is going on here. We are enjoying a lull between basketball and soccer seasons for Sam, and Maria's life will get crazy with recital dress rehearsals and piano recital in a few weeks, but right now, life is just business as usual.

2. One of my children is an avid reader of this blog, and I'm sure the other child will be there soon. It sometimes limits topics I would like to vent about, or even stories that adults might find more amusing than the children would (especially if they are the star of the story).

3. Ben and I continue to exercise about 5 out of 7 days a week. He runs outside now, and I walk/jog on the treadmill. With each of us needing between 30 minutes to an hour to do this daily, and the other adult handling kids/dinner/etc., it cuts down on my free time in the evening to blog. Then when I do get the time later in the evening, the story no longer seems as amusing, or I'm just too tired. This does has an up side, though, as I have lost 10 pounds since January 1 and I think Ben has lost a little bit more than that. It feels good to be healthy (and to fit into my old jeans).

4. Facebook and Twitter are also time-consuming habits, although more for Ben than me. But once I have updated my status on each of those sites, I get tired of repeating myself on the blog too. I'm still trying to find the balance between using these sites.

So I think this lull will end soon as there is more going on here. Life being ho-hum is actually a bit of a blessing, in that we are all doing well and there are no problems to report. But I do intend to start blogging more frequently, since it serves as a bit of a scrapbook for our family.

Active Kids

Ben and I have never been parents who set limits on activities such as watching T.V. or playing video games. We have seen many of our friends set all kinds of limits, and I used to think maybe we should, but except for a short period during the winter when Sam was 2 and would not stop watching Sponge bob, we have pretty much let them set their own limits on how much T.V. and video game playing they do.

Many people would say that we are "bad" parents. Fine with me, the proof is in the pudding and I think we have pretty great kids. But what we have learned, is that they tend to limit themselves without any interference from us. Neither Maria or Sam are great at sitting and doing nothing for very long, and as frustrating as that was when we were at story hour when they were little, it has turned out to be a great personality trait. Even when they are watching T.V., they usually have something else going on. Maria tends to do crafts while watching, and Sam is always busy building with Legos or some other activity. They rarely sit for hours and watch mindlessly, unless they are sick.

Video games are slightly different, but still not a problem. When they get new games, they will spend hours playing them. But soon the new-ness wears off, and they will move onto something else. And in winter, there's not much else to do when it's -10 outside.

The spring weather has reminded me how both kids love to be active when the weather allows. They played outside today for an hour after school, making up their own games, and even running laps around the driveway. They came in to record their running in the "Record Books" that were made to record Wii game high scores. Then they made bead necklaces, one bead representing each lap. Then Maria went outside to run some more.

So I'm not worried. I think learning to set their own limits will serve them well as they grow up. I'm sure we will need to intervene more and more as they get older (I cringe thinking about them with cell phones!) But for right now, this is working for us.

New Drainage Tile

After our basement flooded in June, even though we hadn't had a flood in several years, we decided it was finally time to do something about the drainage situation in our backyard. We had thought that the addition we put on the back of the house in 2001 solved the problem, since we had not had water in the basement after it was built. We always knew the sump pump ran more that it should, but it was easy to ignore until that flood last summer.

So in July we consulted with a company, and agreed to have new tile put in from the sump pump all the way out to the field behind our house. The catch was that it had to be done between fall harvest and spring planting, since it tied into the field. Finally yesterday, after several months of waiting, it was done. We are hoping that this solves our drainage problem and may even allow us to finish the basement in the future. Unfortunately, the yard is going to take some time to recover, and that was part of what made us put off this project for so many years.

The other inconvenience was that we had to be home all day while this work was done - in case they ran into problems that required a decision. And they did, around noon, when they realized that the problem area in the back yard actually drains into the front yard. But they tied in the sump pump to the new tile in the back, and we are going to have to contact the county about a road sign in our front yard that is probably causing the problem out there. Anyway, the workers started at 7:30 a.m., and we figured they'd be done by mid-afternoon at the latest. So we told the kids we would take them swimming at the Dublin Rec Center once the workers left. We had heard their indoor pool was really cool, and Maria is considering having her birthday party there, so we wanted to check it out.

But at 4:00, they still weren't that close to being finished, and the kids were getting quite impatient. Also, I had taken a nap and when I got up I felt sick and dizzy, and it wasn't going away. So Ben ended up taking the kids to an early dinner (5:00) and then swimming, and I stayed home to deal with the workers (who finally finished about 5:45). Ben and the kids had a great time, and I felt a little better - much better today.

Ben's Teeth

Today Ben had to go have a tooth pulled. At his regular appointment last month, the dentist told him that on his upper right side, his wisdom tooth (that was never pulled since it never caused trouble) was crowding out and killing the tooth next to it. He referred Ben to an oral surgeon to have the dying tooth taken out, and told him wisdom tooth would spread out and fill in that gap.

So this afternoon was his appointment with the oral surgeon. Ben was told when he got there that they may have to take out the wisdom tooth as well, and they did. So he is missing two back teeth on the right side, and has to go back for implants in the next 3-4 months, after everything heals. In the meantime, he has to do all his chewing on the left side. For 3-4 months. He's not real happy, especially since the oral surgeon told him that the wisdom tooth really should have come out when he was a teenager.

We have the teeth, but I'll spare you and not post a picture. It is clear that the original pulled tooth was very dead, and that something needed to be done.

So far Ben is still numb so we're not sure about how bad the pain may be. He may have to stay home tomorrow if it's real bad. We have a narcotic prescription but will only fill it if necessary - he's going to try to just use ibuprofen.