Secular Confessions

[Ky'sMom]

Ky did go through a phase like that. I wasn't too concerned with it though because I remember being "clumsy" what my dad called me. I have a freakish memory and remember being 3 years old.

I would spill every liquid in every cup I was given. I also used to drop things all the time. I also tripped a lot and didn't pay attention to where I was going quite often. My dad especially would get a little angry at me because I would spill milk every freaking time he gave me some lol! He didn't yell at me but he would always remind me not to be clumsy and to pay attention when I was holding a cup and I would get really nervous and tell myself "don't spill the milk, don't spill the milk" over and over again while I was drinking and through any meal and I would eventually spill or drop whatever it was I was worried about dropping/spilling. This went on for a long time, until I was in 1st grade I remember doing this. I remember because I remember that particular house we lived in from when I was 3 until 1st grade when we moved in with my grandma and my mom and dad broke up. Grandma didn't really care if I dropped things and she'd tell me not to get so sad about it and just clean it up lol! So after that I wasn't as worried about spilling/dropping and I actually stopped doing it.

Ky dropped things for a while. He didn't spill as much except when DH would tell him "don't spill that" and of course he would spill it after that because he was nervous, I could tell on his face. I would tell DH the story above and that he shouldn't be so worried literally about "spilled milk" that we could afford more and Ky could just clean it up if it got spilled.

Erin

[Suja]

Mira isn't clumsy (yet), but I am. I have a neurological problem (essential tremors), which causes my hand to shake uncontrollably. Would you believe that alcohol in small doses is considered a treatment?

[Gwenn]

Erin, I agree that individualized instruction makes such a huge difference. Your school does sound great and I'm so glad you have it as an option for your kids.

Bridget, grrr at DBF! He just makes me more and more angry. I was going to say a few other choice words, but erased them. You get the picture.

It's funny, I was doing some reading for professional development last night and there was a section on the development of play skills in infants/toddlers. As I was reading, I realized I was thinking of where my dogs fell in terms of the skills described! For example, one early play style that kids learn is to interact with an object in a simple pattern - such as putting in/taking out toys repeatedly. N loves to take his stuffed elephant and put it in my purse, or in a box, or wherever he can find. I had never thought of that in terms of play skills - and I have to say I think that's pretty smart for a dog. But maybe I'm biased. G doesn't play that way. There are so many things I can see my dogs doing that are skills I assess kids for - such as following simple directions, joint attention, turn-taking, following a point, etc. I know I'm crazy.

Suja, I actually would believe that about essential tremors. Since you have a medical reason, go for it!

[Cosmosmom]

I'm still pretty clumsy. LOL


Mandy that isn't crazy.....I think of my girls that way too. Both of mine like putting toys in the blanket and than having to "find" it. I think learned that from Cosmo. I remember when Molly was a new puppy and how she would just watch Cosmo's every move when we were playing fetch and things like that. Molly's newest is that she has a toy in her mouth and she has to kick her ball.....or will use the toy to push the ball.

When my parents were up with the boys, Molly and Chewie would just wrestle and chase like crazy....but it was like the designated the doggie bed as home plate/time out. LOL

I love watching them all play and learn. Though Cosmo is definitely the smartest dog I have ever known....never did any formal training with her but she could have had just a tiny bit and been a TV dog or something. She would have been perfect in agility when she was younger too.

[demigraf]

I didn't know about your tremors, Suja. I wouldn't call you clumsy in that case. Have a nice Chianti for me.

Erin, how sad that you felt psyched out about keeping the milk from spilling. I sure hope we don't make Bodhi feel pressured not to drop things. We always say to try not to drop things next time, to slow down and be more careful. I think in B's case, it's probably all related to the fact that he's over-excitable. He gets so pumped about grabbing the next thing that he forgets what he's already holding. I should teach him that "bird in the hand' addage.

Mandy, Nero sounds pretty skilled to me. Good doggie!

And Jennifer, tell Cosmo I woof her.

[AmeriBrit]

OMG, I am still so very clumsy! I spill stuff all the time. My DH has banned me from bringing any drinks in to the living room! (I roll my eyes at him when he reminds me of how clumsy I am, but I really am bad about it!) I'm sure we've talked about clumsiness before because didn't someone say it's part of your brain function or something like that? I walk in to doors a lot and do things like that because I am not very spatially aware.

I went and visited the classroom that I'll be working in on Wednesday and saw the teacher I'm working with again. I just wanted to get acquainted with the room and the whole school building, really. It's going to take some time to get familiar with it. When I walked in to the classroom, the teacher-I'll call him Mr. F-was talking to two other assistants who are not new to the school and I was really disappointed with how they reacted to me. Mr. F went out of his way to include me in the conversation, but the two women didn't even make eye contact with me, look my way or even acknowledge that I was even there listening in on the conversation. I felt annoyed by that; like they already don't like me. I hope it's not the case, but I do feel like some women are like that sometimes, like they judge you by just looking at you. I'm not too worried about it, though, since I'm one of 3 new assistants they hired for the school year and I've met the other 2 newbies and they are really nice.

[missychrissy]

I'm not really clumsy, but I can be a complete airhead sometimes. I use that as opportunities for a good laugh. I'll need 3 things from my workroom, which sits just outside my cubicle and end up having to go in there 3 times because I won't remember what I need when I'm in there. The busier I am, the worse it is. I spent over an hour trouble-shooting a rule I was trying to create in Outlook. I've used Outlook forever and consider myself pretty savvy with it. I wanted to filter our tech support messages, separate the ones that had "have been assigned to you" into a folder by itself...ya know, so they'd stand out to me and be easier to see. I could not figure out why it was moving ALL the messages in the Service Desk folder and was blaming either Microsoft for the "sort by subject" being broken, or our Exchange team for having a setting that broke it. I finally gave up because I had real work to do but then another ticket came in that was assigned to me and I was annoyed. I wanted it to go to a folder by itself! We get 40+ emails a day, and maybe 5 will get assigned to me. It's time consuming to skim through them. The 2nd time I went to look I instantly realized what the problem was. ALL the tickets had "assigned to your group" in the subject, so filtering by "assigned to you" wouldn't work, as that was part of the group subject as well. Derp at me! I had to tell my colleagues so they could get a good laugh. Thankfully, I'm not quite that level of airheaded on a regular basis or else I wouldn't be able to do my job. Another time I spent 2 hours troubleshooting why the sound wouldn't work on my home desktop. Removed drivers, rebooted, looked for hardware issues, updated drives and even software that may have been OEM with that HP. It turned out one of my girls had headphones plugged into it and they were curled around the back (they plugged in on the side). Derp again. But balance and coordination? I got that. (watch me fall today!)

I have to say, we did Conner Kindergarten orientation last night and omg He's so excited. I'm excited for him. Rich, Jesi, her bf Kaleb and Syd all came along and we all hung out. We had a leisurely time wandering the school, playground, and trails behind the school. It was really a wonderful time and for a long period I even forgot Rich & I aren't together and it felt good to just be like that. I don't feel pangs for what could have been nor do I want to go back, but as I was getting in my car I couldn't help but think that's how it could be if he never drank. I do think he was the love of my life. We are great for each other...our personalities mesh perfectly. When he's not drinking. I think it says a lot about us that we can still have a truly good time with our kids after so recently separating...and after 20 years.

Who knows. If we had a year of this I may rethink going back. I can't tell him that though because he's capable of staying sober for a year. I'd want it to be forever and I don't know that he can ever make me trust him enough again.

[3andMe]

I think kids don't have the executive function to plan ahead, to predict what might happen if they do things, nor the impulse control, nor the motor control to keep from spilling things all the time. I don't expect it at all. I give our kids real cups sometimes at the table, but most of the time I use the older kid sippy cups, because I can keep them filled up and let them go to the living room and back into the fridge and out to the car and in backpack pockets. Crayons and markers and stuff I keep in cups and trays. Any art projects with little pieces I either have on a towel if it's just a temporary project (to keep from rolling) or in the little plastic cups like applesauce or mandarin orange slices come in. Those things are wonderful for paints, beads, pompoms, etc. Rinse and reuse. I have about 30 of them.

[demigraf]

Thanks, L. I was thinking along the same lines as your first sentence too. Bodhi drops something on the floor at every meal, often his utensil, sometimes half his meal (if it's a handheld one like a pizza). It probably doesn't help that we allow toys and books at the table, so B is navigating around them and generally distracted by them. We've thought about making rules about toys at the table, but he always seems to be waiting for us to finish cooking or his food to cool down. We'd have to re-time everything so we don 't call him to the table until it's really ready. I'm reluctant to change our routine there because we enjoy those minutes that lead up to the meal, where he's sitting there playing and chatting with us. I guess we could just be more strict about getting the toys out of his line of sight once his plate's in front of him. Another transition to manage. Thanks for letting me think through these details out loud, guys. ;)

Ash, those assistants sound really catty. I hope it's not a mean girls thing where they're just threatened by you because you're cute. In any case, just give it time. Stay cordial to them when you see them and they may eventually warm up. I am really friendly to new people so I don't get that behavior at all. I think immaturity explains it.

ETA: There's a newcomer who posted out there in the general Secular forum, for anyone who wants to jump in.

[Ky'sMom]

Ash so sorry about the cold welcome from the other assistants. I hope they are just jealous or something and not catty and that you all will get along well during the upcoming school year.

Dragon Con has started here in Atlanta. It seems smaller than last year. I know they went up on a lot of the prices this year and they don't offer free childcare anymore for attendees due to a scandal with one of the original founders being a pedophile, even though he is no longer associated with Dragon Con and hasn't been for a long time, they stopped offering the childcare services.

I wanted to take Ky to see the robot battle competitions they have but they were sold out last year when I wanted to buy tickets, like immediately upon being released. They are having a gaming exposition for free on Saturday though, so I think we will come down and check that out.

There are a lot of Steam Punk folks dressed up and a lot of zombies as usual. Not as many fairies as last year and not nearly as many Dorothy's from the Wizard of Oz.

Labor Day weekend is a big time affair here in Atlanta due to Dragon Con, Black Gay Pride Weekend, and the kick off of college football. Texas is having a game tomorrow, don't know who they are playing, but man it is PACKED down here. The news said there will be approximately 200,000 additional people here this weekend. I am hoping to leave the office today at 3pm to avoid all the rush hour crowds and football events. Yesterday, I got stuck in my parking deck for 30 minutes. Considering I only have a 15 minute commute to go pick up Elle, Ky, and go home, that basically quadrupled my time in the car and I want to avoid that today if possible.

Erin

[demigraf]

Have a GREAT time this weekend, Erin. I remember you telling us about Dragon Con last year and me thinking that sounded really cool. I wish you good traffic karma too.

[missychrissy]

I went and visited the classroom that I'll be working in on Wednesday and saw the teacher I'm working with again. I just wanted to get acquainted with the room and the whole school building, really. It's going to take some time to get familiar with it. When I walked in to the classroom, the teacher-I'll call him Mr. F-was talking to two other assistants who are not new to the school and I was really disappointed with how they reacted to me. Mr. F went out of his way to include me in the conversation, but the two women didn't even make eye contact with me, look my way or even acknowledge that I was even there listening in on the conversation. I felt annoyed by that; like they already don't like me. I hope it's not the case, but I do feel like some women are like that sometimes, like they judge you by just looking at you. I'm not too worried about it, though, since I'm one of 3 new assistants they hired for the school year and I've met the other 2 newbies and they are really nice.

Boo on them. Jerks.

Ash, those assistants sound really catty. I hope it's not a mean girls thing where they're just threatened by you because you're cute. In any case, just give it time. Stay cordial to them when you see them and they may eventually warm up. I am really friendly to new people so I don't get that behavior at all. I think immaturity explains it.

That's what I was really going to say. It sounds like a case of instant dislike out of pure jealousy. I think that your warm personality will win them over. I know, it's not fair to you but it's a fact of life. Plus, isn't there some saying about the British not being as open and friendly as Americans?

[Suja]

Erin, have a great time this weekend, and we're sending you good traffic juju. The DC Metro area has the second worst traffic in the nation, and gridlocks are pretty much the norm, so I feel your pain. Back when I used to commute to the NIH, my 22 mile commute was 45 minutes. The worst I had was 3 hours (with several in the 1hour 30 minutes mark thrown in for good measure).

Ash, can't believe they were giving you the cold shoulder. Hopefully they'll at least feel ashamed for their behavior when they find out just how lovely you are.

I've been so forgetful lately. Just the other day, I went to upload some pics on Photobucket. The password was not working, so I thought I had forgotten, clicked the 'forgot password' link, and reset it. In the meantime, I'm thinking to myself, oh look, Adobe must've bought them out or something, because the logo is prominently on display. Go in there, and find out that OMG! My pictures are all gone. Freak out, called Adobe and Photoshop all kinds of name, and then slooooowly came to the realization that Photoshop.com is NOT the same as Photobucket.com. D'OH!

This has been an extremely stressful week. Can't wait for it to be over.

[missychrissy]

oopsie! I do that sort of thing all the time. Glad you didn't lose your pictures! Did you see you can backup your Facebook photos to Photobucket now? I haven't done it myself but was thinking it might not be a bad idea.

[Suja]

oopsie! I do that sort of thing all the time. Glad you didn't lose your pictures! Did you see you can backup your Facebook photos to Photobucket now? I haven't done it myself but was thinking it might not be a bad idea.

I didn't know that. But, Photobucket is my primary repository. Mira's album has something like 600 pics, I think. Then there are the dog pictures and miscellaneous stuff. Mostly, I'm really careful about posting stuff on FB, because there are people there that know me lots of different ways, and my Photobucket albums are only accessible with a password, and given only to close family.

[demigraf]

... because there are people there that know me lots of different ways...

Sounds kinky, Suja. And LOL about photoshop.com. Totally something I would do.

Two of my close girlfriends had beautiful baby girls yesterday and today. Want one!

[missychrissy]

Congrats to your friends :-)

[3andMe]

I have problems with Photobucket's Terms of Use, specifically these items:

Remember: if you share it from the Site, it's no longer private, even if you marked it "private."

• If you make your Content public, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to copy, distribute, publicly perform (e.g., stream it), publicly display (e.g., post it elsewhere), reproduce and create derivative works from it (meaning things based on it), anywhere, whether in print or any kind of electronic version that exists now or later developed, for any purpose, including a commercial purpose.
• You are also giving other Users the right to copy, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and create derivative works from it via the Site or third party websites or applications (for example, via services allowing Users to order prints of Content or t-shirts and similar items containing Content, and via social media websites).

I tend to try to minimize the pictures I have stored there, and delete what I can when I'm done with it.Plus there was this recently: Photobucket privacy fail.I might be excessively paranoid having found my kids' pictures in a couple of different places on the web, but at least when it is my own legal content, I have the right to ask them to remove it. Photobucket essentially says when it's posted there and has been shared, any other member can do whatever they want with it.

--

Ash, nobody should be less than welcoming to you, but some women see a pretty face as nothing but a rival and don't realize that she could be sweet and nice to boot.

---

Happy long weekends, everyone! I'm planning on recuperating still. I went back to work while I was still on the tail end of being sick, and it was a super-busy few days followed by a long evening meeting at school and I've been getting no sleep. I haven't made any weekend plans at all. It totally snuck up on me. I have even brought some paperwork home with me.
--
For those of you who haven't started school yet, here's to gearing up for it!
---
Mylah, DS has a wonderful friend in class named Ethan and I think he is the son of some of your friends. He said he and Ethan were playing a game today and they were having so much fun.

[demigraf]

L, I'm racking my brain to remember a friend with a son named Ethan but am drawing a blank. I'd feel really bad if I do know his family and they just slipped my mind. I'm glad that R seems to have found a buddy, though!

BTW, we're finally watching Breaking Bad. We're on the 4th episode of Season 1. You were right, L. It's really good.

DH & I were talking about that article about algebra they're discussing in Random today, and "just for fun", we ended up doing a few problems on the "Math for Morons" website. I have to write logic every day on the job, but DH can still solve circles around me. Stick an equation in front of him and he immediately knows what to do without first having to sit there and make sense of it. I forget that he minored in Math. It was kind of sexy. OK. Really sexy. Someone might get lucky tonight.

[Bridget]

Congrats to your friends, Myles! Sawyer is such a sweet baby er toddler, he makes me want to have another.
Savana and Kai start school on tuesday. I just can't believe how much it hurts my heart to think of being away from them all day five days a week. It looks like, for the moment anway, I am going to be so lucky to be a stay at home mom to Sawyer alone during school hours. I only have kids before and after school as of now and if dbf's job continues in the right direction I may take a break from daycare and do paperwork for his company at home at an hourly rate. It remains to be seen of course but for now I won't enroll new kids and I'll get to enjoy one on one time with my baby boy. I feel very lucky for that.

[demigraf]

Aww, Bridget, it must feel like an empty nest with the kids at school, (hugs!) but you said just what I was thinking about having quality time with Sawyer. He gets to feel like an only child for awhile and have his mommy all to himself. Lucky Sawyer!

L, I just remembered! He's Asian, right? I worked w/ his mom for 7 yrs down south and we lost touch after I left the job in 2007. Then last yr, we bumped into each other on the street in front of my office bldg. We'd both moved to Bay Area and she works just next door. I actually have never met Ethan, but she's a very nice lady.

[3andMe]

L, I'm racking my brain to remember a friend with a son named Ethan but am drawing a blank. I'd feel really bad if I do know his family and they just slipped my mind. I'm glad that R seems to have found a buddy, though!

It was your friends from our meet-up last weekend at Fairyland--they said that THEY had some friends with a son named Ethan starting K at our school, and you weren't there when they were talking about them, but I figured you were all in the same group, so you were friends too. Maybe you don't know them at all. I guess it's at least one degree of separation. Sorry about the confusion.

DS was so cute when he was talking about him. He has not had many friends at preschool, and last night he was telling me about Ethan, and how Ethan knew so much stuff. He said said, "Ethan knows so much! He knows about turtles and about everything, just like me!" He described how they were playing a game called Switch with some other kids and how they were both doing really well and they didn't miss a turn.

DD has been very disappointed that some of the girl she really clicked with at our get-to-know-each-other playdates aren't in her class. She moans that she only sees Ginger and Sonja at recess and lunch. I'm actually really happy, though, because if anyone has been reading the preschool girl behavior thread in NM, DD does get very cliquey and exclusionary and bossy when she is around a certain type of girl. In preschool, she played with a group of girls who did not want DS to play with them, and DS was always very sad about it.

Their kindergarten class is very diverse, with a dearth of pink-wearing princessy type girls. There are Middle Eastern kids, African American, Mexican, one Tibetan (I think), Chinese, and some Caucasian. The girls in this class do not seem like the type to run around with DD and talk smack about DS or force him to not play with them, and more importantly, it seems like there are a lot more boys there with similar interests to DS. DD has found a friend there already, but she is a sweet and serious girl who sits next to her and is not going to be catty or exclusionary.

Breaking Bad IS awesome. It's a well-known phenomenon to be jealous of someone who is just starting to embark on something (a book, a movie, a tv show) that is wonderful, because they have all this wonderful world yet to be discovered, while it's already known and essentially used up for the rest of us. There is a little pleasure in knowing that you're in for such a treat, but I can still be jealous that you still have so much ahead of you whereas for me it's over already. Kind of similar to the sadness one feels just by one's self at the end of a good book or a good show.

We both liked Game of Thrones (so far we've seen the first season) a lot, too. I liked it so much that I actually bought the books and have been reading them one by one on my kindle. It felt mildly life-changing. Deadwood was a while ago, but we were just talking about re-watching that because we keep seeing characters that used to be on it and we're getting a little fuzzy on some of the details. I talked my mom into getting Game of Thrones and she was appalled. She said, "It's all violence and dwarf sex, and you recommended this to me?" She ended up watching it to the end of the first season, and said it was good after all, but she wouldn't continue.

Bridget, I know it's going to be a huge HUGE adjustment to be gone from Savana and Kai during the weekdays, but what an incredible opportunity to have some one-on-one time with Sawyer! I had a total blast on the days when I had baby S. to myself and the twins were in preschool. Maybe you just found it super-easy to multi-task all those kids all the time anyway, but I never ever ever ever ever had one baby at a time, not ever. I had never even been given the opportunity to run to the store by myself with just one kid or anything when the twins were little, so it was like this amazing freedom, being able to even just run errands with one baby, or take a shower with only one baby in there, or cook with only one baby, or put away dishes with only one baby. This might be one of the reasons he is picking up things so much faster than they are. When I had two kids scrambling and fighting over the dishes in the dishwasher, or grabbing knives and trying to chop carrots, I would have to stop them and just get them out of there eventually. With just one, I can take the time to show him how to do it. S. can put away dishes better than the twins can.

Also, kind of like money, the more time you have the more you spend it. You will want to get all the chores done during the day so you can take the time you want and need with Savana and Kai after they get home from school. You will have the time to organize all the stuff you wanted to organize, one closet and room at a time! And I don't know about you, but there has been one meeting and conference after another since school started for us.

Their school sounds like a really neat school, though. I am really envious of the amount of outdoor time they get.

Erin, I hope you're out having fun this weekend~! It sounds like a blast.

Suja, my commute is 14 miles and it routinely takes me 45 minutes in the morning and 60+ minutes in the evening.

[3andMe]

Aww, Bridget, it must feel like an empty nest with the kids at school, (hugs!) but you said just what I was thinking about having quality time with Sawyer. He gets to feel like an only child for awhile and have his mommy all to himself. Lucky Sawyer!

L, I just remembered! He's Asian, right? I worked w/ his mom for 7 yrs down south and we lost touch after I left the job in 2007. Then last yr, we bumped into each other on the street in front of my office bldg. We'd both moved to Bay Area and she works just next door. I actually have never met Ethan, but she's a very nice lady.

I have not met him yet, so I have no clue if he's Asian or not.

[3andMe]

I don't think you want to know how long that really long post took me to write.

[missychrissy]

Everyone seems to be talking about Breaking Bad. I might have to watch it. Is it on Netflix? I cancelled my account, but I'm seriously thinking about cutting cable and getting it back.

I'm really anxious about school starting. My experiences have been predominantly negative, arguing with the school 2-3 times a year for the last 15 years. I'm really having a hard time trying to be optimistic, but I'm forcing myself to be. I keep reminding myself that I have all this experience. I know what works. I don't have to fight with them. I can demand assertively...but still. I dread it. One year they tested Jesi and found she could use math help, but she went to AES and the special math help teacher was located in the OES school. I went round and round with them, even suggesting she transfer to the OES school since 1) she needed it and 2) we lived closer to OES anyway. The flat out refused. Sorry, there's nothing we can do attitude. I got on the NYS board of education web site and learning it's a mandated program and it's supposed to be available for ALL students in the district. I pointed that out (rather angrily too) and threatened to report them if they didn't get her that assistance. They did. Another year they tried to say they would not bus them from their licensed daycare due to budget cuts. It's when gas started going over the $3/gallon mark and no one was really prepared for that. I felt for them, but I wasn't going to change their daycare. I rallied all the parents and all of us were being told no. Again, I visited the board of education web site and learned that they have to provide transportation from any licensed daycare in their district. No exceptions. I talked to the transportation guy and he asked me to forward the link to him to take to the school board meeting. The kids kept their bus transportation. The trouble is, NYS's board of education web site has drastically changed and just out of curiosity I tried looking those two things up again and I couldn't find them. Of course, my motivation isn't the same as it was in those two circumstances. Maybe when I'm pissed, I'll find what I need. But my whole point is...WHY do they do that? Every year it's something. Last year it was "There is no bullying going on in this school!!" after I called to tell them some kids had told Syd to go home and kill herself. And after they had 5 students commit suicide in 1 year.

They're not an awful-awful school in that educationally, they're pretty darn good for a rural school. We have Lockheed Martin in town and I think that's the biggest reason this one fares better than the other schools in this county (here, the schools in the same county are all run independently from each other). Not only are the parents better off financially, but they're more educated. My town is predominantly anti-frack, whereas everyone else in the county is all for it 'cause it will bring jobs. That's all they know. They don't believe there's an environmental risk. The school also does many, MANY more trips than they had at Candor in one year. Syd missed her 5th grade trip to NYC that Owego does every year because we lived in Candor. I feel really bad about that because it's something all the kids look forward to all through elementary school. I think I owe her a trip Candor can't do anything like that. They just can't afford it.

It's exhausting though, dealing with the school and having to make sure they're doing their jobs. 13 more year.

[Bridget]

Lol L! I bet! It was long. And I enjoyed it, especially the part directed to me Really though I appreciate thap perspective. I have already though about how I will be able to get all my chores done as well as meal prep probably while Sawyer is napping. Then when Savana and Kai are home I will just be able to be with them. I plan to bring a snack for them and the other children I'm transporting to eat in the car on the way home since it's been my experience that kids are starving when they get done with school. I really feel like I will be overwhelmed with time but there is so much to do that it will be really really nice to get it all done and organized. And with dbf traveling I will actually be kind of alone when Sawyer is sleeping. I haven't been alone for a long time. Still, every time I think about school starting, my heart sinks a little.

Today I am going to a going away party for my bff since she is moving back to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. I am bringing Sawyer and am so excited to see some old friends that I haven't seen in years. I hope S and K and dbf have a stress free night.

[missychrissy]

Have a great time Bridget!!

I'm sure you'll have moments of sadness, but a new pattern will develop. I loved hearing the kids talk about their day. That's when it really hit me the most-that they really do have their own little lives outside of our house. It was both sad and exciting at the same time.

[3andMe]

I have been looking at the list of things kids are expected to know by the end of kindergarten, and it's really amazing. A lot of the things my kids already know, and some of the things, I am just blown away by. I think they probably already know all the 50 sight words, and they can count up to 100. I don't know if they can count to 100 by 2s, 5s, and 10s, though. Definitely not by 2s. DH was disappointed that they could not figure out that 1999 + 1 = 2000 last night.

[Bridget]

Savana didn't know any of that. She wouldn't count past 12 for me. She said she couldn't though I knew she could if she wanted but I didn't push it. She couldn't read at all and didn't know all her letters. I didn't push any of that with home schooling. By the end of her first month in school she knew it all and he teacher said she was beyone where she needed to be by the end of the year. When she learned to count to 100 she could also do it backwards.

[missychrissy]

I didn't push any of that with my kids either, and they all learned what they needed to by the end of the year. Jesi was held back in Kindergarten simply because of her maturity level. She was 4 when she started and it made a big difference. That's why I opted to keep Conner out and not have him start at 4. Their birthdays are both in Sept, her's the 21st and his the 25th. If she wasn't ready at that age, I was certain Conner wouldn't be. Not only is he very much like her in personality, but he's a boy to boot. Jesi could count to 100, but she absolutely refused to do it in school. I think they had her officially marked as only being able to count to 8, which I literally laughed out loud to at the parent/teacher conference. She was counting well beyond that at home all the time. Thankfully, the teacher did believe me but it was one of the maturity level issues she brought up when she first suggested holding her back. There were other things of course and I agreed with her. I don't regret it, but it definitely made me rethink letting Conner start at 4.

Just thinking about him going to school is making me depressed and wanting to cry right now. I'm committed to forcing myself to wait till he's on the bus, and being over it before he gets home. I have Wednesday off because I know I'm going to be a mess.