Some Insight into my Oldest
I can't believe we are back to school already. It seems that the summer flew by. The boys loved loved loved camp (of course, Gish loves anything that SG loves) but were so excited to start school that they didn't even mind camp ending. We even got to take a nice vacation at the end of the summer - and Gish was finally tall enough to ride some of the big coasters! Yippee! It's amazing how he can walk for 6 hours straight, up hills without uttering a single complaint when we are at an amusement park, but the 100 yard walk from the grocery store parking lot to the front door will do him in every time.
So back to the school year. Gish has gone from a 3 day a week, 2.5 a day schedule to a 5 day a week, 2 different school, plus aftercare program. The first day I thought when I went to pick him up that I would need to peel him off the floor, but no, my child actually sent me away because he wasn't done with his game yet and doggonit he was NOT leaving until he found out how the alphabet bingo game played out! When we left, he was actually skipping (SKIPPING) to the car and singing! I thought it was a first day fluke, but nope, he genuinely loves it. Thank goodness! The last thing I want is another babysitter living in my house. I've been punished enough, thank you.
It's hard being a working mom with 2 kids in school. Especially in the beginning of the year. There is so much to do it is hard to do any of it particularly well. I have been trying to be efficient wherever I can. One way I have done that is to combine my morning commute with exercise. I have been riding my bike to work on days that it is not raining. What this means is that I put on my gym clothes with makeup (I change my clothes when I get to work but not the makeup). It often looks pretty funny. Gish will often keep me company in the bathroom in the morning and a morning a couple of days ago, I looked particularly horrific in a cruddy t-shirt, stained sweats, and a full made up face. I said to Gish "how do I look?" He was silent so I figured he was just trying to spare my feelings. After a good 10-15 second pause he says "Mommy, you look so beautiful I have no words." That's my boy. Look out girls!
SG has the greatest teacher this year! I met her at Back to School last night and I wanted to be in the class! What fun she is! When I first got there, I was looking at all the stuff hanging out in the hall, and there was one particular project that all the kids had done but him. I asked the teacher about it and told her I was afraid that she didn't put it up because my child's handwriting is so atrocious and she didn't want to showcase that (I was joking). This started a conversation about how I think he is going to be a doctor based solely on his horrible penmanship. When she said that it isn't always that bad, something clicked for me. She's right. It's only bad when he is in a hurry to finish because there is the promise of something more fun or more interesting on the horizon. This would also explain the behavior I've heard about from his last 2 teachers. They said during certain parts of the day he would be unusually fidgety and have a hard time sitting still. Hmmm... I wonder if it was right before recess, or snack time, or gym time, or something else that he looks forward to. The thing that cemented it for me was what happened the first week of school. (I shared this story with the teacher and she said I made her night).
The first week of school was a bit crazy and I didn't get around to doing the laundry for a few days. When I finished folding it, I was struck by the fact that we all had 4 days of clothing but that something was missing. Noah didn't have any underwear in his pile. I feared that maybe he was having accidents again and hiding his underwear from me. He has never done that before, but who knows? I started to look under his bed, the back of the closet, etc. Then it hit me. After much probing, he finally admitted to me that he had not worn underwear all week! Not one time! He went to school every day commando! When I asked him why he did that he rolled his eyes at me and said exaperated, "Mim (he calls me Mim), I don't have TIME to put on underwear. I only have so much time to play my game before school and the underwear thing just slows me down!" Ugh. So now I have revised my morning checklist for him before he can play any games - homework in backpack, lunch in backpack, dressed (and checked for coordination of clothing - he is known for wearing things liked ripped orange cordoroy pants with a red muscle shirt on backwards), shoes and socks on, teeth brushed, pajamas in the laundry basket and now UNDERWEAR!
So back to the school year. Gish has gone from a 3 day a week, 2.5 a day schedule to a 5 day a week, 2 different school, plus aftercare program. The first day I thought when I went to pick him up that I would need to peel him off the floor, but no, my child actually sent me away because he wasn't done with his game yet and doggonit he was NOT leaving until he found out how the alphabet bingo game played out! When we left, he was actually skipping (SKIPPING) to the car and singing! I thought it was a first day fluke, but nope, he genuinely loves it. Thank goodness! The last thing I want is another babysitter living in my house. I've been punished enough, thank you.
It's hard being a working mom with 2 kids in school. Especially in the beginning of the year. There is so much to do it is hard to do any of it particularly well. I have been trying to be efficient wherever I can. One way I have done that is to combine my morning commute with exercise. I have been riding my bike to work on days that it is not raining. What this means is that I put on my gym clothes with makeup (I change my clothes when I get to work but not the makeup). It often looks pretty funny. Gish will often keep me company in the bathroom in the morning and a morning a couple of days ago, I looked particularly horrific in a cruddy t-shirt, stained sweats, and a full made up face. I said to Gish "how do I look?" He was silent so I figured he was just trying to spare my feelings. After a good 10-15 second pause he says "Mommy, you look so beautiful I have no words." That's my boy. Look out girls!
SG has the greatest teacher this year! I met her at Back to School last night and I wanted to be in the class! What fun she is! When I first got there, I was looking at all the stuff hanging out in the hall, and there was one particular project that all the kids had done but him. I asked the teacher about it and told her I was afraid that she didn't put it up because my child's handwriting is so atrocious and she didn't want to showcase that (I was joking). This started a conversation about how I think he is going to be a doctor based solely on his horrible penmanship. When she said that it isn't always that bad, something clicked for me. She's right. It's only bad when he is in a hurry to finish because there is the promise of something more fun or more interesting on the horizon. This would also explain the behavior I've heard about from his last 2 teachers. They said during certain parts of the day he would be unusually fidgety and have a hard time sitting still. Hmmm... I wonder if it was right before recess, or snack time, or gym time, or something else that he looks forward to. The thing that cemented it for me was what happened the first week of school. (I shared this story with the teacher and she said I made her night).
The first week of school was a bit crazy and I didn't get around to doing the laundry for a few days. When I finished folding it, I was struck by the fact that we all had 4 days of clothing but that something was missing. Noah didn't have any underwear in his pile. I feared that maybe he was having accidents again and hiding his underwear from me. He has never done that before, but who knows? I started to look under his bed, the back of the closet, etc. Then it hit me. After much probing, he finally admitted to me that he had not worn underwear all week! Not one time! He went to school every day commando! When I asked him why he did that he rolled his eyes at me and said exaperated, "Mim (he calls me Mim), I don't have TIME to put on underwear. I only have so much time to play my game before school and the underwear thing just slows me down!" Ugh. So now I have revised my morning checklist for him before he can play any games - homework in backpack, lunch in backpack, dressed (and checked for coordination of clothing - he is known for wearing things liked ripped orange cordoroy pants with a red muscle shirt on backwards), shoes and socks on, teeth brushed, pajamas in the laundry basket and now UNDERWEAR!
posted by Lain | 9:57 AM
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