Life Is Hard

Posted by Patience on September 22, 2009 at 7:12 AM in School

It started with a sleepover. The brothers returned home after one of the best nights ever to a task they had been dreading. After weeks of avoiding it and one million legos on the floor later, the time had come for them to clean their room.

Maybe it was the exhaustion from so much fun the night before or the magnitude of the job, but Josiah was pacing and looked very overwhelmed. He wandered in the kitchen, buried his face in his hands and started to bawl.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Life is so hard, ya know?" he said through heaving breaths.

"And as I get bigger, it just keeps getting harder." He went on.

I sighed and agreed, it is so true. I asked what was feeling big today.

"School is harder and my room, just everything, I feel so overwhelmed." he said.

The second week of school is always the kicker. It is the time when everything sinks in, revealing what is before you, all you have to learn. In a way, I have felt like I am in my own personal development academy. I can very much relate to feeling overwhelmed by all life is putting before me to teach me.

We sat together for awhile, reminding each other that we only have to do a little at a time and take it moment by moment. I suggested a break so we climbed in bed, he read books, I surfed the internet. Tomorrow is another day and our work will be waiting for us, but today we are just in life together.

Supersister tip of the day: Looks like third grade is a kicker of a year.

Are you hitting the second week wall at your house? What do you do when your kids feel overwhelmed? Or even better, what do you do for yourself?

Really Listen To Me

Posted by Patience on September 15, 2009 at 7:19 AM in School

He was late again. Getting back into the school routine is hard for everybody but especially Jack. There were so many interesting things to distract him from the living room to the bathroom where he was going to brush his teeth. It might have been the lint on the floor that caught his eye. It's just hard to be focused on the task at hand when your mind takes you so many places.

This was driving me crazy. School was calling, the little box that lists the tardies on the report card has become my own report card of sorts. Truth be told, I failed miserably last year so I'm trying to not let the tardies get in the double digits this year. I sent Jack to get his socks on, it was my third attempt with no success, I was frustrated and went into drill sargeant mode. It was taking awhile so I went up stairs to lay into him, he started to explain but I wasn't having it. I went into a tirade about responsibility and schedules, he started to cry.

"Mom, I was upstairs thinking about how you weren't really listening to me, I really didn't hear you mom, I didn't know..." he cried in a sad whimper.
I stopped, this child has a way of exposing his heart and mine in the most thought provoking and tender way. He will tell me the truth in almost any circumstance, and I hear it, I see it, I will listen, even if I didn't before. We exchanged apologies and I got my first tardy of the year but it was worth it, I think I'm looking at a different report card now.

Off They Go

Posted by Patience on September 8, 2009 at 1:19 PM in School

We made it through another first morning of the first day of school.
New clothes were laid out ready for this morning, hair brushed, hot breakfast, lunches made the night before, and somehow we were still late. I'm blaming it on the pouring rain and not my perpetual problem of tardiness. Jack did ask if they could NOT be the last kids to be picked up from the car pool this year. I told him I would do my best.

I'm pretty sure this will also be the longest week of my life as preschool does not start until next week. This fact is near impossible for Lucy to understand as she had her snack and tote bag ready by the door this morning. I've never seen her get ready so fast and be so cheery. I've explained, clarified and drawn charts but there is no convincing her. She's sure it is a conspiracy against her.

So here we are, hoping all is well. Holding hope and space even from the house, saying little prayers for lunchtime friends and kind teachers.

If your crew started school today, how was your morning?

Time Is Tickin'

Posted by Patience on August 7, 2009 at 8:00 AM in School, Summer Fun

The school supplies are back in the stores, it feels like the time on summer is winding down. Before long we'll be packing lunches and backpacks, rushing out the door. I try not to mention this too much as we wish it could stay summer forever over here.

Are you ready for summer to be done at your house? Have you started the earlier bedtimes yet? Or do you soak in every last minute?

If school is on your brain, check out this awesome guide to all things about going to school. It's especially great if you have a first timer.

Sometimes you realize that not everyone else has it easy

Posted by Kristen on January 8, 2009 at 6:59 AM in Kristen, Raising Boys, School

Derek called to tell me that he had just gotten back from lunch with our friend Laura. It seems that her nearly two-year-old has been giving them a run for their money, too.

I had been starting to believe that we were the only people with crazy children. I know it's not true, but sometimes it feels this way. In fact, Nathan just got dropped off from school yesterday with a comment that he had bitten another child in the class. There are only eight children in his class. He has bitten three of them. Which means 50% of the class since he clearly can't get in trouble for biting himself. When I asked him why he bit poor victim number 3, he yelled, "it was MINE, Mommy."

Um, no, it wasn't. It wasn't yours. I'm pretty sure of that since we don't take anything to school with us. I'm pretty sure it was the school's. Whatever it was. But back to our friend.

It appears that just before Christmas, Baby Girl hopped over not one but two gates around the Christmas tree and her mother only realized this as she heard her glass ornaments shatter against the wall. It seems that Baby Girl was throwing the ornaments because she liked the sound they made as they hit the wall. And then there were the heirloom fabric ornaments that she attempted to flush down the toilet a few days later after filling the bowl.

K: Tell me you didn't laugh.
D: It was funny.
K: No, it's not funny.
D: Oh, it's funny when it's not your kid who is doing it.

They had discussed failed nap times and nearly snapping and slowing feeling like you are losing your mind. I felt this conversation was wasted on my husband. He usually makes it until 20 minutes into bathtime before bed before he starts freaking out because the boys have started this really awesome game of sliding down the back of the tub at the same time to see how big a splash they can send into the far wall before the wave veers over onto the floor.

And I don't even do bathtime. I guess that's because by 7:15, I'm already rocking in a corner, babbling inconsolably. At least today I'm not the person who is mourning her Christmas ornaments. We may be a small band of parents of ill-behaved, mischievous children but we know how to stick together. Now would be a good time to tell me your best story of "spirited" behavior by your child. I could use the company. Go on.

It's all about the giving

Posted by Kristen on December 11, 2008 at 6:28 AM in Kristen, School

I'll admit that I am a slacker mom. At least once every other week I get that nice little note from the preschool teacher reminding me yet again that I should be sending a drink AND a washcloth in Nathan's bag. I don't mean to be all non-green but if you end up going to the dollar store and buying an 18-pack of washcloths that you sometimes remember to throw in the wash, it seems like a wet paper towel might not be such a bad alternative.

My latest parental question mark regarding preschool is the fact that the snack calendar gets filled up before I can even add Ethan's name to it. This would be fine if there wasn't a grand ceremony involving snack and the snack giver as supreme distributor of the snack to all his appreciative friends. I already have a kid that wants to serve his friends but now I seem to be thwarted on the official end of giving to friends.

E: Mom.mom.mom.mom.mom. Can I bring snack to school? CanIcanIcanIcanI?

I've been trying to beat the calendar. I hover. Then I am scheduled for pick up instead of drop off and in one morning the calendar is full. I apologize to my disheartened son another month. This month I got clever. I just asked the teacher to add his name before she even posted the calendar and tomorrow is our big day.

Or as Ethan told his teachers on Tuesday, tomorrow's tomorrow. The next big hurdle was getting authorization for making chocolate chip cookies. You know, that whole ban on wheat, dairy, gluten, sugar, nut, egg thing. We got the okay and I promptly forgot about snack until last night at 7:15.

Is there anything more heart-warming as a mom than having your child be insanely excited about making and taking cookies to his friends at school? I just love this kid. I can't help it.