Singin' the homework blues..

Oh those famous words, "I don't know".. or in my case it sounds more like "I dunnow" with a small shrug and an innocent look of "please let me play instead".  Oh yes, I am faced- with the home work blues.

As a parent to a child who was previously a virtual public student, homework was a piece of cake.  I was able to login to the school website and have direct contact with the teacher via email or phone anytime of the day or week.  I was on top of the homework situation and more times than not, there was no homework because we got it done during the day.

My child is now a bricks and mortar public school student.

My access to what she is doing every day in the classroom has slimmed.  We hear lots of people say with public bricks and mortar students that they are very aware of what their child is doing educationally- but let's face it, that statement in it's entirety may not all be true.

In the midst of confusion and shrugs of  "I dunnow" from my beautiful little second grader, I have found it easier to write notes with the teacher back and forth on homework assignments so that I better understand what is needed to be done.

Homework is much easier now that I have a better system of communication with the teacher, and I can rest a bit easier at night knowing what's going on.

Oh how I will not miss the days of the contagious I dunnow's and enjoy the days of better communication and honor roll grades!

 But for one last sake, grab a mic or a cup of hot cocoa and sing the homework blues with me and this wonderful young lady (whom I don't know) in this awesome Youtube video- named, Mackenzie.

Thunderstorms and teary eyes

So this morning at 4am we heard loud crashes of thunder that sounded like we were right in the clouds with the storm.  Having just moved to a new house, this was our first night with a storm.  My four year old son wakes up and flashes his bedroom light on like it's Christmas morning.

After some pursuasion and comforting kisses, he decides it's okay to return to sleep safely.

Six o'clock I hear my alarm.. at six thirty I hear my potty training son announcing "I have to peeeee!" and so I realize, where did six o'clock go and when did I hit the snooze?  We get up with still lots of time to spare and do our normal routine.

The kiddos are talking between eachother and so we decide that we would take our little second grader into the school ourself for some extra family time instead of ride the school bus today. Yay for family time!

We pull up in front of the school and before she gets out of the car, I see my little girl reach over and hug my son. This is quite different, because normally when I drop her off or pick her up she doesn't pay his emotions much attention.

I see my little guy sad and begin to cry saying "I miss you when you're at your school" and in return her say to him "It's okay I always come back in the afternoon".  I watched with a smile as she hugged him tight and grabbed her bookbag to go.

I watched her as she went in the school and saw that right before she went in, she wiped a tear from her cheek as she turned to look at the car one last time. My heart broke a little, but I was happy to see the love between my little roos.

Of course now they are both fine and working their way through their busy days.  But that is a little memory I will always have. That love that I will remember between the two the next time they are arguing or taking eachothers toys. It's moments like this that make me more proud than ever.

Sleep..ZZsnore.. Bus is here!

As most people know, my daughter has began attending a bricks and mortar school. It's going very well. Well, everything is except the bus schedule.

Now don't think we're just being lazy or are used to sleeping in (we used to stay on a normal school schedule even when she was home in a virtual public school), because that's not it. My daughter's bus driver clearly runs on her own schedule. But that however, was not a bad thing for us just this morning!

The paper the school gave me says 27 minutes after the hour.. I however passed the bus in a panic the first morning because it was 18 minutes after. o.O In a few minutes of thinking "No bus, stop! Come back! You need my kid!" I had decided to stop chasing the bus like a child chasing an ice cream truck, and just take her to the school myself.

And I did just that.

So I decided it would be best if I began getting us to the school bus stop early.  Maybe, too early..

Okay, so we now know that the bus driver is NOT going to be there at ten minutes after the hour. Note to self.

A week later, we now get to our stop at fifteen minutes after, and this allows us just a few minutes to wait for the bus to arrive.  Yes, this is before and after school.

However this morning, we were warm and cozy in our beds. Aaah! What a nice place to be since mother nature has decided to release her wrath of chilliness on us early this fall.

Ten more minutes, yup we can lay here ten more minutes.

Get up, wake up the kiddos. Turn on the light. Pull the blankets off of the kiddos. Flicker the light. Kiss their foreheads. Wave the blankets over their heads. Five minutes later one is out of bed.

Checks clock.. ten minutes later, the second has finally put her feet over the edge.

After many minutes of persuasion, we leave in a panic because it is now twenty two minutes after and we're all awake racing outside chanting "The bus, the bus!"  Lucky for us, she is not there yet.

Whew!

One morning of panic and lesson well learned- the bus driver gets there early and we should, too. Also, sleeping in is bad- not matter how warm and cozy those beds feel!

Sleep.. ZZzzsnore... Bus is here!

Time flies when you're potty training!

In the past few months my little roos and I have made some major changes. Major, positive- changes in our lives.  We made a move to a new home in another city (that we all absolutely love) and made some changes as far as school is concerned, too.

My little girl is now a second grader in a bricks and mortar school. Yes, this is much different than the virtual public school she has been recently attending. She is doing great educationally and socially. She loves the stability and mechanism of being in the classroom.  I'm happy with her teacher. She is a young mom of two kids whos ages are the same as my own, and is very well educated.

On that note, my little girl came home this past week and I listened to her sing as she shook her butt and flung her hair side to side saying "trick or treat smell my feet, give me something good to eat! If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear" (all the while giggling outrageously in between each verse). I asked, "Where in the world did you learn that song?"

She looked at me with the biggest smile and said "My teacher".

She smiled and continue'd to sing.

I am very proud of both of my children. I love them more than the air I breathe. They are my life.

My son however has began his first preschool year.  He loves his preschool teacher and thinks it is the coolest thing ever that he gets to "do school", too.

Because his passion is airplanes, his teacher has made lessons to customize his interests.  He gets to make paper airplanes, sing airplane songs and do many more educational things related to this passion.  It's really neat to watch him and think "Wow, it wasn't that long ago I was rocking you to sleep".

My, how time flies.

On another note, we have also been working hard on potty training.  My super amazing boyfriend has been a tremendous help with this.  My little guy is doing wonderful in the daytime, as a matter of fact he hasn't worn a diaper in months (Woohoo, way to go little man!).

But bedtime, is a whole other battle.

My boyfriend has helped remind me to cut off his liquid at night (which seems to help a lot because my son is always thirsty and I'm a huge goober that has a fear of hydration and caves by saying "Awe it's okay, just one sip..") and so I not only have cut off the drinks before bedtime, but I also recently began waking him throughout the night and walking him to the potty.
The past few nights, it seems to be working well.  I am hoping that if I continue this habit with him, that he will eventually be able to wake himself up to go potty at night, when he feels he has to go.

So until this happens with no help from us, I will continue to work with him and cheer him on. Go Steve!!

That sums up my parenting adventures for the moment.  I bid you all reading this a wonderful Fall season and may the joys of the new school year and potty training be kind to all of you!