Every time Paul goes out of town, the world spins in a different direction, all you-know-what breaks loose and I have never understood it, but have slowly come to accept it. "Whatever do you mean, Tanya?"
I'm glad you asked.
*On a NUMBER of occasions Paul has left to go to youth camp and I was VERY sick. I'm not just talking about a little head cold or a sore throat. I'm talking about full on throwing up, bed ridden...sick. On one particular occasion I vaguely remember telling Jacob, who was 4 yrs old at the time, to just bring me the milk and a cup and I would pour it for him...from the couch! I also remember on that particular occasion telling Jacob to watch his brother(2 1/2yrs) and his sister (18mos)and just make sure they didn't hurt themselves. That was also the time they ate four bags of fruit snacks for dinner, because that's what Jacob could reach.
*The behavior of my children also changes when Paul is gone...and NOT for the better. Apparently when Paul leaves out of town...my children lose all ability to hear me. I have to continually raise my voice until I break through the "daddy's not here so I don't have to listen to mommy" barrier. It drives me insane.
*I also lose my God-given ability to fall asleep instantly. That's right, you can ask anyone who has ever seen me go to sleep. I have an uncanny ability to literally fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow....except...when Paul's gone. I am also a rock-solid sleeper...not even throwing up children wakes me up! When he's not home...I cannot sleep! It takes hours for me to fall asleep and the slightest thing wakes me up. This also drives me insane.
*When Paul is gone things like this happen: the cat pooped in the bathtub and I scared it when I walked in to the bathroom and it jumped straight up into the air and then landed right back into the poop that just came out of it's butt and then ran all over my house. Yep. That only happens when Paul is not home.
*When Paul is not home the trash is always full...even if he took it out just before he left...the next thing I know...it's full. And I HATE taking out the trash. Same thing goes for the litter box.
*When Paul is not home, I clean. That's right people. I can do it. I just choose not to when Paul is home and does it so much better. However, I don't clean exactly like Paul does. I skip the normal sweeping, vaccuuming, dishes business and go straight to cleaning the tile grout with a toothbrush and some vinegar and water. No, I'm not kidding. The dishes are in the sink...he's coming home tomorrow!
I am sure there are hundreds of other things that happen when Paul is not here. If I come up with a good one I'll update, but for now. I'll NOT be going to sleep, no matter how hard I try...
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The first of "hundreds" of REAL grades
Jacob, as you well know, is in second grade. There are many new things about second grade and one of the most interesting things is REAL grades. Our school district only gives E's,S's and U's through first grade so you can imagine my surprise when I opened Jacob's folder the other day and pulled out all of the graded papers you see above.
Some are awesome, some are fine, and then there is one 70. Not really something I was expecting! Of course the 100 was in math. Praise the Lord he loves math and he "gets it!"
The 70 was on a Language Arts paper...because it was incomplete! Not something that set well with me. When I asked him why he didn't finish it...He said, "I just didn't want to."
Great.
That's what I need.
A SECOND grader that is bored of work already.
Well, here's to "hundreds" of more REAL grades and hopefully hundreds more "100's!"
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Special Talking Spot
School started this year, somewhat uneventfully. Everyone went into their classroom on their respective first days of school excited about the future school year.
...Until the second day...
We have now been in school for two weeks and I am just now getting to blog about this for various sundry reasons that would take the entire blog-o-sphere to explain, so I will save your eyes the trouble.
Jacob and Abby are having no problems going to school each day. They are excited and have no separation anxiety what-so-ever. And then there's Caleb.
Caleb is my tender hearted child. The one who is always concerned with other people's feelings. He is also the eternal peacemaker.
He cried going to school on the second day, and the third day, and the fourth day, and so on and so on. So on the second day of school I took him over to a corner of the hallway just down from his classroom and there was started the "special talk spot." This particular part of the hallway has a clock in it and every day we talk about how long it will be until I come to pick him up. He asks me if I am going to be ok without him. I tell him how excited I am that he gets to go to Kindergarten. etc...etc...
The whole time we talk his little lips quiver and his eyes water and he tries to hold it all back, but the tears slowly creep down his cheeks. It has gotten a little better with each passing day and he does eventually...and reluctantly go into his classroom for the day and I walk away praying that God will comfort him and that he will have the best day.
We have done this every day since the beginning of school...You see, Caleb is also a creature of routine. Paul even offered to take the boys to school one day and Caleb overheard him. Immediately Caleb ran to me crying saying, "Please Mommy, don't let Daddy take us to school, he doesn't even know where our special talk spot is!" (I, of course, took them to school.)
I also know that he has awesome days at school. I hear from his teacher, he is happy when he gets in the car at the end of the day...etc. It's just the initial separation in the morning. He told me one day after school that he had a "legendary" day at school. The next day he told me his day was "heroic, and that was one step down from legendary, but it was still good." Another day his teacher told me that Caleb was smiling at the end of the day and she asked Caleb if she could see him smile in the morning. He replied with, "Nope. I can't smile in the mornings because my mommy needs to see me cry."
On Friday I got to be in Caleb's class with him and help with a project and he is super happy and extremely polite and helpful to the teacher. I guess if I have to keep going to the special talk spot for the rest of the year, I will. The truth is, I secretly cherish this extremely special one-on-one time with my middle child...and at the same time I would love for him to learn to jump out of the car say "bye mom" and be off in a flash. Basically I want my cake and to eat it too.
...Until the second day...
We have now been in school for two weeks and I am just now getting to blog about this for various sundry reasons that would take the entire blog-o-sphere to explain, so I will save your eyes the trouble.
Jacob and Abby are having no problems going to school each day. They are excited and have no separation anxiety what-so-ever. And then there's Caleb.
Caleb is my tender hearted child. The one who is always concerned with other people's feelings. He is also the eternal peacemaker.
He cried going to school on the second day, and the third day, and the fourth day, and so on and so on. So on the second day of school I took him over to a corner of the hallway just down from his classroom and there was started the "special talk spot." This particular part of the hallway has a clock in it and every day we talk about how long it will be until I come to pick him up. He asks me if I am going to be ok without him. I tell him how excited I am that he gets to go to Kindergarten. etc...etc...
The whole time we talk his little lips quiver and his eyes water and he tries to hold it all back, but the tears slowly creep down his cheeks. It has gotten a little better with each passing day and he does eventually...and reluctantly go into his classroom for the day and I walk away praying that God will comfort him and that he will have the best day.
We have done this every day since the beginning of school...You see, Caleb is also a creature of routine. Paul even offered to take the boys to school one day and Caleb overheard him. Immediately Caleb ran to me crying saying, "Please Mommy, don't let Daddy take us to school, he doesn't even know where our special talk spot is!" (I, of course, took them to school.)
I also know that he has awesome days at school. I hear from his teacher, he is happy when he gets in the car at the end of the day...etc. It's just the initial separation in the morning. He told me one day after school that he had a "legendary" day at school. The next day he told me his day was "heroic, and that was one step down from legendary, but it was still good." Another day his teacher told me that Caleb was smiling at the end of the day and she asked Caleb if she could see him smile in the morning. He replied with, "Nope. I can't smile in the mornings because my mommy needs to see me cry."
On Friday I got to be in Caleb's class with him and help with a project and he is super happy and extremely polite and helpful to the teacher. I guess if I have to keep going to the special talk spot for the rest of the year, I will. The truth is, I secretly cherish this extremely special one-on-one time with my middle child...and at the same time I would love for him to learn to jump out of the car say "bye mom" and be off in a flash. Basically I want my cake and to eat it too.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)