My oldest DS 'graduates' from 5th grade and elementary school next week. I am still in a state of shock over this. I remember walking him up to school on his first day...and having to leave quickly because my youngest DS realized that brother wasn't coming home with us and he was NOT happy -- he started crying. We beat a hasty exit so his tears didn't set off the entire kindergarten class!
My oldest DS is moving to middle school. He came home last week saying that his class had been to the middle school for a tour and "that we met the police officer who stays at our school!" Like that was a good thing. Ugh. I am still mortified that I live in a day and age and place that requires the presence of a police officer to control illegal behavior in a group of 6th through 8th graders! Part of me wants to yank DS out and home school him too. However, we're way TOO MUCH alike for that to be a successful venture. Of course, there are always home school co-ops.....hmm....
My oldest is going to receive a Presidential Award next week due to good grades. I'm very proud of him for that. He doesn't know about the award, but his teacher was nice enough to let me know, so we can all be there to cheer DS on.
DS is signed up for a gifted and talented summer program for 4 weeks this summer. He's not thrilled about it, but it's a way to make sure he meets other G&T kids that may potentially be at the new middle school next year. An opportunity to meet new friends.
I'm worried about DS's best friend. He's a kid that needs more strict supervision ( parental or otherwise ) and has behavioral issues that unfortunately my DS thinks are just hilarious! The friend actually kicked my husband in the shin a few weeks back -- at church! When the parents were informed, DH said that they did not seem surprised or mortified. That's just sad. So, I want my DS to meet some other kids this year!
Unfortunately, DS has procrastinated and has NOT completed his required 100 minutes of reading each week. When the reading log is not turned in, it counts against your 'study skills' which are on the report card. So, DH and I had to come down hard on DS last week. So far he's stepped up and has completed 200 of 900 minutes that have to be read. He's working right now on getting another 30 minutes of reading in today. If we keep up this pace, he'll be able to 'recover' two weeks worth of reading before school is out. We've also told DS that he has to read another 600 minutes for US by the end of June. It is SO doable for him. He just hates having to document what he's done.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Mom's Surgery Postponed again
She's got an infection of some sort, so the cataract surgery is delayed ONE MORE TIME!
Daddy got good news from the ENT today -- it looks like Daddy's healing on his own and no surgery will be required to close the spot where his trach. was! Hooray.
My brother is STILL a putz and is not coming to help Mom. Oh well...if she'd just stop expecting it, she wouldn't be disappointed. But as a parent, I understand wanting to believe in the best of my children. She does this with my brother and I understand it.
I wish he'd prove me wrong and step up....
Daddy got good news from the ENT today -- it looks like Daddy's healing on his own and no surgery will be required to close the spot where his trach. was! Hooray.
My brother is STILL a putz and is not coming to help Mom. Oh well...if she'd just stop expecting it, she wouldn't be disappointed. But as a parent, I understand wanting to believe in the best of my children. She does this with my brother and I understand it.
I wish he'd prove me wrong and step up....
Friday, May 16, 2008
Working Through it all...
Well, we have begun our spring garage sale. Got rid of some larger toy items today (bikes, workbench, etc.)
The hubby returns from D.C. tonight! Hooray. And the boys are off to my parents to spend the night tomorrow.
I might actually get to see a new release movie before it goes to video.
The house isn't much cleaner, but at least I'm getting rid of some of the unused clutter.
The hubby returns from D.C. tonight! Hooray. And the boys are off to my parents to spend the night tomorrow.
I might actually get to see a new release movie before it goes to video.
The house isn't much cleaner, but at least I'm getting rid of some of the unused clutter.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Drowning in junk and other weighty thoughts
As I've said before, it's been a hard year around here.
And when you walk into my house, you see it. We never get all of the laundry done at one time any more. That I'm coming to grips with. I'll just do laundry daily until my kids are grown. O.K. I have kids. They are healthy. They get clothes dirty. I can do the wash -- and so can they (thank goodness).
But...my hobby of stamping cards and other stuff has taken a back burner this year. I miss having time to do that. I miss being invited to be the demonstrator at stamping parties. Of course, I have to get out there and rebuild my business and get new customers who want to have parties. And when will I find time to do that? Who knows!
I never seem to have a single room completely clean any more. I can hire people to clean the house, but NO ONE can clean the house if it's drowning in clutter. And I don't have the drive to get it in order. Depressed? maybe. Discouraged? yes. Wishing that I could twitch my nose like Samantha did on Bewitched? You bet! But we all know that THAT only happens on T.V.!
And adding home schooling to my list of activities and responsibilities this year certainly didn't open up any free time. If anything it created another area in which I can feel inadequate. (And yes I did have to rephrase that sentence so it didn't end with a preposition! Maybe I"m learning something too! ha) I don't think that I have done the best that I could as a home schooler this year. But I have to measure that against "the best that I could do...given that my life stunk this year." And as a good home school friend has told me -- "God knew what your year would be like when He placed it on your heart to home school. Don't worry about it." I need to have that tattooed on my arm or something so that I can see it all the time.
But, my son is able to read now. He is reading for pleasure on occasion. He is still loving math -- which was always a love for him. We do occupational and speech therapy, in addition to musical education -- all of those three are outside the home.
What were my goals when we started home schooling?
1) to teach my son to read.
2) to give him a more relaxed environment in which to learn -- we certainly don't hold to any strict schedule here!
3) to allow him another year to mature and to overcome gross and fine motor skill problems in the hope that handwriting would improve.
4) to work on tackling the speech issues.
5) to get the ADD under control, so that he can concentrate and learn.
If I sit and look back at that list, then I have been successful. I hope that others think so. It's difficult when my mom is a retired public school teacher. I feel the urge and push to put my child back in public school so that I don't make her think that I thought her career was misspent. My choice to do home schooling this past year had nothing to do with her, or her career choice.
This past year was about doing what was best for my child so that he could learn at a pace that worked for him.
But now the 'school year end' is looming. And so are the questions from everyone about "Are you going to continue to homeschool?" At this point I have to say "I don't know." I am trying to decide if it's worth the trouble to have ALL of that testing redone in the public school system (because they won't use the old results -- for good or bad). It's a huge mess that I'd have to navigate once again. And when the testing is done, there's no guarantee that an IEP would be created for my child. Then I'd have to approach the school system about a 504 plan. Sort of a way of getting the services needed, but without being under the special ed umbrella.
OR
I could give it another try this year with a different curriculum. And possibly join a co-op so that we have 1) other friends who are home schoolers, 2) a social outlet for me (see previous post from today), and 3) the opportunity for my DS to socialize and play with other kids.
Why am I so moody today? It's not a full moon. The weather isn't changing, is it? All elementary school teachers would tell you that if either of those occurred, the kids would be swinging from the rafters. And if they happened to occur AT THE SAME TIME! oh my word.
That's what I feel like today. Full moon + weather craziness all wrapped up into one big mess and thrown at me. and that the world hit a bullseye on my emotions.
Ugh.
And when you walk into my house, you see it. We never get all of the laundry done at one time any more. That I'm coming to grips with. I'll just do laundry daily until my kids are grown. O.K. I have kids. They are healthy. They get clothes dirty. I can do the wash -- and so can they (thank goodness).
But...my hobby of stamping cards and other stuff has taken a back burner this year. I miss having time to do that. I miss being invited to be the demonstrator at stamping parties. Of course, I have to get out there and rebuild my business and get new customers who want to have parties. And when will I find time to do that? Who knows!
I never seem to have a single room completely clean any more. I can hire people to clean the house, but NO ONE can clean the house if it's drowning in clutter. And I don't have the drive to get it in order. Depressed? maybe. Discouraged? yes. Wishing that I could twitch my nose like Samantha did on Bewitched? You bet! But we all know that THAT only happens on T.V.!
And adding home schooling to my list of activities and responsibilities this year certainly didn't open up any free time. If anything it created another area in which I can feel inadequate. (And yes I did have to rephrase that sentence so it didn't end with a preposition! Maybe I"m learning something too! ha) I don't think that I have done the best that I could as a home schooler this year. But I have to measure that against "the best that I could do...given that my life stunk this year." And as a good home school friend has told me -- "God knew what your year would be like when He placed it on your heart to home school. Don't worry about it." I need to have that tattooed on my arm or something so that I can see it all the time.
But, my son is able to read now. He is reading for pleasure on occasion. He is still loving math -- which was always a love for him. We do occupational and speech therapy, in addition to musical education -- all of those three are outside the home.
What were my goals when we started home schooling?
1) to teach my son to read.
2) to give him a more relaxed environment in which to learn -- we certainly don't hold to any strict schedule here!
3) to allow him another year to mature and to overcome gross and fine motor skill problems in the hope that handwriting would improve.
4) to work on tackling the speech issues.
5) to get the ADD under control, so that he can concentrate and learn.
If I sit and look back at that list, then I have been successful. I hope that others think so. It's difficult when my mom is a retired public school teacher. I feel the urge and push to put my child back in public school so that I don't make her think that I thought her career was misspent. My choice to do home schooling this past year had nothing to do with her, or her career choice.
This past year was about doing what was best for my child so that he could learn at a pace that worked for him.
But now the 'school year end' is looming. And so are the questions from everyone about "Are you going to continue to homeschool?" At this point I have to say "I don't know." I am trying to decide if it's worth the trouble to have ALL of that testing redone in the public school system (because they won't use the old results -- for good or bad). It's a huge mess that I'd have to navigate once again. And when the testing is done, there's no guarantee that an IEP would be created for my child. Then I'd have to approach the school system about a 504 plan. Sort of a way of getting the services needed, but without being under the special ed umbrella.
OR
I could give it another try this year with a different curriculum. And possibly join a co-op so that we have 1) other friends who are home schoolers, 2) a social outlet for me (see previous post from today), and 3) the opportunity for my DS to socialize and play with other kids.
Why am I so moody today? It's not a full moon. The weather isn't changing, is it? All elementary school teachers would tell you that if either of those occurred, the kids would be swinging from the rafters. And if they happened to occur AT THE SAME TIME! oh my word.
That's what I feel like today. Full moon + weather craziness all wrapped up into one big mess and thrown at me. and that the world hit a bullseye on my emotions.
Ugh.
Lonesome
It seems lately (now that I'm not at the hospital or dealing with a crisis every day), that I really don't have that many personal friends to do things with. Since my Dad's attempted suicide, I've been so focused on my parents and on trying to still be a good mom to my sons, that I have not had much time to interact with my friends. Have some of them slipped away during the past year? I can't say that I feel that they have. I just feel that I've been soooo busy with my family, I've neglected my friends.
That's something that I want to change.
I'd also like to make new friendships and branch out a little. Sometimes that's hard to do with all that has gone on. I sometimes feel that in order to understand who I am now, people have to know what I've been through in the past year. That may be partially true, but I've always been one of those "full-disclosure" people -- for better or for worse. And I guess that's alot to unload on a 'new' friend. Maybe they think I'm one of those high-maintenance people.
My hubby is leaving town for a week-long business trip tomorrow afternoon and I just dread another week with my boys, with no female friends with which I can commiserate during his absence. I guess this blog will be a good place to put my feelings and thoughts when I need an outlet.
Not many people have walked the road I'm on -- at least, not many that I know right now. I would never wish this past year on anyone. So I guess I'm going to try to find a way to branch out some without scaring people off with my recent history.
That's something that I want to change.
I'd also like to make new friendships and branch out a little. Sometimes that's hard to do with all that has gone on. I sometimes feel that in order to understand who I am now, people have to know what I've been through in the past year. That may be partially true, but I've always been one of those "full-disclosure" people -- for better or for worse. And I guess that's alot to unload on a 'new' friend. Maybe they think I'm one of those high-maintenance people.
My hubby is leaving town for a week-long business trip tomorrow afternoon and I just dread another week with my boys, with no female friends with which I can commiserate during his absence. I guess this blog will be a good place to put my feelings and thoughts when I need an outlet.
Not many people have walked the road I'm on -- at least, not many that I know right now. I would never wish this past year on anyone. So I guess I'm going to try to find a way to branch out some without scaring people off with my recent history.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May Day
It's a good friend's birthday today. It's also that day that the USSR used to trot out all of it's military might for a parade before the rulers in power -- and to attempt to intimidate the western world.
My what 20 years will do for you.
On the home front, Mom is home from the hospital. Daddy is doing very well. I've taken him to two doctors appointments this week. Both doctors are very pleased with how Daddy is doing. The GP is getting home health care lined up so that a speech therapist will go to their house and help dad learn how to swallow food again.
I take Mom to the urologist who did her surgery tomorrow for a post-op check up. This weekend isn't very busy with plans, so we'll probably work in the yard and get all the sprinkler heads working again. My how nice and mundane that sounds!
My what 20 years will do for you.
On the home front, Mom is home from the hospital. Daddy is doing very well. I've taken him to two doctors appointments this week. Both doctors are very pleased with how Daddy is doing. The GP is getting home health care lined up so that a speech therapist will go to their house and help dad learn how to swallow food again.
I take Mom to the urologist who did her surgery tomorrow for a post-op check up. This weekend isn't very busy with plans, so we'll probably work in the yard and get all the sprinkler heads working again. My how nice and mundane that sounds!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)