WORDS of the week

One of the hats that I wear is TEACHER.

I teach young adults with disabilities from the ages of 18-21. We work a lot on learning the requirements of adulthood. We work A LOT on soft skills.

At some point this year, we got into the habit of having a 'word of the week', which gave us something to work on. I then wrote the previous week's word off to the side and the new word on the board each week. We have a long list now, of our words. Today I was typing them up to keep them safe for another year and it occurred to me, how many of these words do other adults in my life know? Do they display any of these skills or characteristics?

It's a lot to be an adult. But it's not all that hard to be a decent person. At least I don't think that it is. Take a look at this list and see if there are any here that you need to polish up. I see a few for myself. It's a good review, anyway.

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Words of the Week

2015-2016

·      Flexibility

·      Acceptance

·      Healthy habits

·      Kindness

·      Self-awareness

·      Respect

·      Honesty

·      Perseverance

·      Self-control

·      Joy

·      Thankfulness

·      Believe

·      Generosity

·      Listen

·      Peace

·      Friendship

·      Energy

·      Considerate

·      Motivation

·      Ready

·      Calm

·      Mature

·      Diligent

·      Cop out/Show up!

·      Communication

·      THINK before you speak

2/6

A steady diet of Tuck Everlasting, twice daily, makes these cold February days much more contented. Have you read it? It's fantastic!!!

1/3

A day back to work after two weeks off...brain...fuzzy...

Science in Action

Yes, my kids take tests at school. They are measured against normed group samples and then tested again to show progress. Yup, that happens.

What we all need to remember is that there are also some really great things going on in schools and that teachers work really hard to make that happen.

The assignment was for science. Bring three ideas of what you would like to bring for a plant buffet. My Bee looked at the fruit and vegetable sections of my two best cookbooks and wrote down 1. Cinnamon Apples 2. Cheesy Broccoli 3. Potato Salad. Hey mom! Did you know that broccoli is a FLOWER?!?!!

The third graders are studying plants in science and today they are having a grand feast of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.

And we are bringing the flowers.
I say THANK YOU to every grade school teacher, you make such a difference in this world in ways that are amazing and special. There are special halos reserved just for you, I'm sure of it!

Time flies.

And now we are all in school. The kids will spend their days at our neighborhood elementary school, B is in 3rd grade and Buddy is a kindergartener. Wow.

J and I spend our days at local high schools. The Hubs is principal at our districts high school and I work for the public schools as a special education teacher in the resource room at a parochial high school. It's a strange position to be in, but so far I love it! I always say that the Hubs and I are such nerds about school that we decided to spend our whole lives going there.

This year is sure to be crazy busy, but so much fun. I can't wait to see what sort of brain expansion occurs. We have a new token economy for our screen time (it involve chips worth 30 minutes each and budgeting time for how to spend them). We started it this weekend and it worked great. I'm hoping that it helps reduce some of the fights for how to balance time. The kids will start fall activities in a couple of weeks and I'd like to get a solid school routine down before we get too far into the year.

The best part about this year? My hours. I work 12-4. Meaning that when I get home from dropping the kids off to school, I have a few hours to do chores/errands...and ahem, a little computer time.

It is balance that I seek, yet again. I think we are off to a great start for finding it this year.

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Here We Go Again

So summer's over. Everything has changed.

We took a trip to Kansas City over B's birthday and I came back to a job interview and a new job. I'm going to be working afternoons as a special education teacher at our local parochial school and started last Friday. My head is so heavy with new information, it makes for very little room for anything else.

My own kids start school on Monday. My little Buddy is going to kindergarten and B will start third grade. Two school age kids in the house and we are all so excited! I tell everyone that the Hubs and I both love school so much we decided never to leave (we both work in high schools) so the whole kindergarten thing is NOT sad, but a cause for celebration! That doesn't stop me from getting a little nostalgic and perhaps a wee bit melancholy about the speedy passage of time and the lack of babies in my home and the massive changes that these kids have undergone in such a short period of time.

That being said, we are all very excited for the year to begin. I can't believe that my year off is over and here we are again. Working part-time is going to be a really great fit for the family, I'm grateful that it all worked out that way. Now if my brain can just catch up and comprehend everything it's been learning over the past week. I'll be good to go.

Preschool!

The kids have had so many FIRSTS this year, it's so great how resilient they are. How willing to try new things. Our little Buddy had been at his same childcare center since he was four months old. It was also our church, so it was a second home to us all. When he started preschool last year, it wasn't a huge deal - just a move down the hall.

This year though, what a difference! A whole new experience in a whole new place. Buddy started preschool the Tuesday after Labor Day. We are so lucky that Jay's first cousin had invited us to enroll at the preschool at her church, where she's the teacher this year. It is working out so perfectly, I'm so pleased with what a smooth transition it's been! He's also quite pleased at the fact that he gets picked up "before lunch" and it's just three days a week. Something he likes to point out to his sister at every opportunity!

                                       Posing with big sister, so excited to go to school now too!

                                    I love this one, all sweet with each other and ready for school.

                                                          Ready to go in...what a big day!

Would I take so many changes in stride the way that they have? Not sure. They are my inspiration to not dwell on things and just live in the moment. It has worked out great for them!

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Grow where you are planted

Every afternoon we head back to the elementary school around 3. We park a little ways up the hill and walk over to get B. He waits with me or runs off to the playground. Good exercise, fresh air, a nice break in the afternoon.

Today he was fascinated by the grass, sprouting up tall and blooming. He picked me a bouquet. I was so happy to tell him what I knew about seeds and wind. It hit me right then how happy I am for this time. He's just four and so open to the world and learning. I'm so happy for the extra time I've got with him...and his sister...time that wasn't there before. That somehow maybe it will be what lingers in their memories. Picking grass on the walk up to see sis. Walking out from second grade and there's mom. Maybe she's looking a little worse for the wear, maybe she gets grumpy sometimes. But she's mom and she's there. Every day.

And so it is that I try to see past recent frustrations, trials, and even the kids' sadness over friends they are missing.

I tell them that home is wherever we are together, as a family. That Omaha would not be home without daddy. So here we are, making a home together.

And I do my best to let my kids bloom here, not unlike the grass in my kitchen window.


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Back to School

Our B started second grade at her new school on Monday. What a big day!

When I picked her up, she said it was a great day. She definitely liked her teacher, school, and made a few new friends. I could tell she was really tired, but how fun it was to pick her up right after school and get the full recap.

The Buddy and I stayed home on Monday and made up for the weeks I'd spent packing and now unpacking. We did crafts, play dough, painting, outdoor play, a shopping trip and even went to get ice cream after picking up B. It was a full day and he passed out at 7:30. The true sign of a day well spent!

I may have given him the wrong impression...I hope he doesn't think we're doing this much every day!!

Buddy added the shades to my sun, a definite improvement!

We got these awesome play dough stampers at Target, I had fun playing with them!

I can say with certainty that our year is off to a great start. With all of the changes we've gone through lately, I think we're in pretty good shape.

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Grade 1

Learn –verb (used with object)
1. to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience: to learn French; to learn to ski.
2. to become informed of or acquainted with; ascertain: to learn the truth.
3. to memorize: He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
4. to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like; acquire: She learned patience from her father.

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My B had her first day of first grade this week. Very exciting! She has a brand new teacher (new to the building, new to teaching).

She had to fill in the blanks on a first day of school project. Learn. What a great word! Her teacher told her how to spell it, the first of many experiences they will share this year.

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Hubs and I discussed what the sketch represented (B was playing in her room at the time). My guess was a globe. Hubs said it was a brain. We called her down to find out. Her response, "Everyone thought is was the world, but it's a BRAIN!" Hubs: 1, Me: 0.

I envy my childrens' teachers a bit, the bonding that happens when you are helping someone expand their mind.

B, I can't wait for this year, for all that you are going to LEARN.

I Really Want to Complain

The cyclical nature of my life is really starting to show right here on my blog.

I want to write a whiny August post about how tired I am and how hard my job is and how I just need to power through and I know I will feel better in a week or two.

Instead I went and read my August archives from the last couple of years and realize it's just part of the life I lead. Every year I feel this way, regardless of how much stress there is (this year there is extra, let me tell you...new co-teachers, student teacher, new classroom, seven new students, new stitches in my finger from an unfortunate kitchen accident, new wrinkles on my face and a new zen perspective that keeps me from falling right over...) and it passes in a bit.

Right now life is a blur. We are all well and things are fine. It's just a little fuzzy from the dizzy rush that seems to be occurring.

All in all. . . life is good. September and October are my favorite months of the year. We are approaching a season change that makes me very happy.

I just need to get through the week. And next week.
And maybe even the next.

Then I can breathe.
Then I can see clearly.

For now. It's survival mode.

bliss - noun
a state of extreme happiness

The Hubs and I, we are admitted dorks. Loving school the way that dorks do. Having our B start kindergarten, well it's feeding that obsession like we never dreamed it could. We are embarrassingly enthusiastic about the whole situation.

I imagine us in days to come saying things to each other like, "Wow! They're teaching her to read?! And they do math?!??! How lucky are we! What a great school! They have a library and books and a gym and a gym teacher!!!! We are the luckiest people ever!"

The school sends home a Thursday folder. It comes home on Thursday. You send it back to school on Friday, to be brought home again the next week. We were hungry wolves, chomping down on that weekly school newsletter, ravenous for more school fun.

Dorks, I told you so.

I don't know if this will wear off, as all things do with me, in about three weeks. I just can't contain it. She's learning so much and it makes me so excited. Every little tid bit leaves us wanting more.

As I'm checking out her school's web site, reading about the weekly routine, I'm partly thinking and partly saying out loud, "She gets gymsic on Wednesdays! The music teacher and p.e. teacher co-teach a class that is music with movement! That is so friggin' awesome!"

Rock on school! You've got a couple of new groupies.

Dorky groupies, but groupies just the same.

A Milestone

For more Wordless Wednesday click here.

My B has decided that she wants to bring her lunch to school now that she's starting kindergarten. She found a lovely Tinkerbell (the non-slutty Tinkerbell, thank you very much) lunch box and I began researching how to pack a healthy kids' lunch.

Why would someone research this? You ask. Well, it's how I do anything at all in my life that I haven't done before. Even if I already know how.


So Aliki obliged my questioning and wrote me a whole post about it. I knew from previous posts that she's done time in the cafeteria.


I hunted online for a nice container to put B's lunch in. I couldn't face spending $30 to have something nice shipped to my house. If I knew she wouldn't lose it or throw it in the trash can, I'd go for it. Then I found these containers - score! for less than $4. It will hold her crackers, cheese, grapes, carrots, etc. perfectly. There's still room in the box for a reusable ice pack and her milk box. It's just a clear, plastic container with dividers, nothing fancy.













Problem being, is having your already odd lunch (healthy items, no pre-packaged stuff) in an odd container going to lead to lunchroom teasing? If there's one thing I don't want to do is to set up a kid to be teased for something I've done...not this anyways.


It seems I'm doomed to fuss over something and if it's lunch, so be it.

The Party's Over

Today my kids start back to the child care center that we have used for three years. They are gracious enough to let teachers' kids take the summer off with no tuition and still have a spot after the break. It's housed at the church we go to and has been a wonderfully nurturing place for my kids to go during the day.

But still...I didn't know I'd feel this way today. The sun is just starting to come up, I'm sipping a cup of coffee, trying to find a little peace. It's coming, I think. I woke up feeling nervous, knowing that my kids would be upset in a couple of hours as we say good-bye.

They always end up having a great day. It's just that B is starting in a new program and some of her friends haven't made the move up yet (school-agers!) and she's going on field trips this week and I feel nervous for her. So many changes coming for my soon-to-be kindergartner. As of next week, I can't say soon-to-be.

My little man will go back to his same class, with the teachers and friends that he was sad to leave in May. This morning, he will be sad to stay. Hopefully that won't last long.

I wonder if I will feel this way every year. Even as my kids are older, more confident. This ebb and flow of emotions. The ending of one thing, the beginning of another. We do it every year, and with each change - a bit of trepidation.

We will face it, the way we do each year.
I hope it will be as positive as the previous experiences.

Tomorrow I want to wake up with no knots in my stomach.

Here we go!

Listen to Me

My heart bursts with pride when I look at her.
It's the selfish part of being a parent, yes?

We went for the audiology exam at school today. "Perfect" ears, our district audiologist said. A man I have come to know as he trained me to use the amplification system for one of my students who has a hearing impairment.

As I coach parents through the grieving they endure. As I tell them that their children are beautiful and wonderful and special (something I believe with every fiber of my being), I feel this pride. This embarassingly huge pride. For my own kids.

So I tell my B, "My heart bursts with love for you."
She says, "Me too."
It's the real thing.

Tomorrow is the kindergarten round-up. The Hubs will take her, I will pick her up. Luckily our home, church/daycare, school, and work are all within 15 blocks of each other. We have perfected this working parent dance, it all seems so easy sometimes.

Then I think of the day that the mom of my student got her news. Your son only has one ear. Your perfect baby boy has suffered strokes in utero. He'll need surgery immediately (and will survive 20 more in the next 15 years). The day she was told, "Hearing impaired."

How do I help her to that pride?
When will she see what I do?
I am proud of him. I tell him so.
I hope he will believe me some day.
The way that my B does.