You have to make a lot of decisions as a parent. I think we made a great one this week. Colm is SO excited about going to school now that he is going to be in Ms. Jan’s class. He absolutely did not want to go to school a week ago. Now he is mad that he has to wait until September for school to start. Ms. Jan let us come take a sneak peek at her class today in an attempt to get Colm excited about school…it worked! What three year old doesn’t love Ms. Jan? I think she puts a spell on them. While eating his lunch today Colm told me he loved her. Already? Whatever, as long as you want to go to school. I think this has also had a positive effect on his potty issues. He wore his big boy pants all afternoon and evening and is sleeping in them right now. He did not have an accident the entire time! He knew he had to be potty trained for Montessori. So, he solved that problem by not doing it. If I don’t use the potty then I can’t go to Montessori. Now that that problem is solved, he can use the potty. It may be a coincidence, but I don’t think so. Smartypants!
All of the sudden Liam gives a hoot about what he is wearing. When did this happen? He is especially picky about his shoes. He has completely grown out of his tennies that we bought last spring. I took him shopping and we found a pair that he likes. No problem. I decided he might need another pair. The kid only has a pair of sandals and a pair of tennies. One more wouldn’t hurt. Okay, maybe it could. He doesn’t like any pair of shoes anywhere on the planet Earth. He just turns up his nose…until tonight. God bless Zappos.com. We found a pair that is passable and, not that we need it, they have free overnight delivery and free returns. How cool is that?
There is a new source of stress in our house…getting the kids to bed on time, actually Liam. He has always gone to bed at a reasonable time, but now I feel like he has to be in bed by 8, at the lastest 8:15. He has got to get his rest for school the next day. If we have absolutely nowhere to go after school, we don’t get home until after 4. If we have violin or something else to do, then it really cuts our night short. We have to eat dinner in there somewhere. There’s also baths to take, violin to practice and stories to be read. There is no time to do anything else. We wanted to go look at the house tonight after dinner because they painted the inside today. It was this big decision. Do we have time? Will we be back in time to get everyone to bed on time?
On a related note… Colm is now sleeping with his light on. It all started a couple of nights ago when we had a big thunder/windstorm. Colm DOES NOT like thunder. He doesn’t cry, but it does scare him. That was the first night the lights went on. He doesn’t fret if you turn them off, either. He will just get out of bed and turn them back on after you leave. I turned them off last night before I went to bed at about 11. When I woke up this morning they were on. Sometime in the middle of the night he got up and turned them back on. Stinker.
Well, he’s not potty trained, even remotely, and after a lengthy discussion with his teacher, he will not be attending Montessori…and you know what, I am so happy about it. He will get to go to Liam’s old preschool now and have the teacher Liam had when he was three. She is the best teacher EVER! We can also go to Kindermusik, playgroup and storytime at the library now and do other fun things together that we would not have been able to do otherwise. I realize now how close I was to shipping him off to school too early. He would have been gone every day. I am so happy. Every time I look at his little dimpled smile it makes me smile even more now. I find myself hugging and squeezing him more, too. He’s my baby and I get to hold onto him a little bit longer now.
School starts in four days and Colm is not potty trained. I told him if he doesn’t go in the potty then he can’t go to school. He doesn’t care.
Rule #1. If school gets out at 3:40 and you show up at 3:40, your kid will be the last one to get picked up. (The line was so long I thought it was for the junior high next door. So I went around all of those cars to find out that I had been in the correct line. So then I had to turn around and go back to the end. Hopefully the length of the line will get shorter as the school year wears on.)
Rule #2 When you get out of your car to buckle your kid in, shut the driver side door. (I was in such a hurry to get out of the car to help Liam that I left my door open which meant no one could go around me. I think there might be a few parents who have me targeted now.)
Rule #3 Don’t get out of your car to buckle your kid in. It holds up the line. Pull forward and buckle them in. (Okay, no one told me this rule and truly it is not stated anywhere, but I think you have to do it that way or no one would ever get through the line.)
I know the drill now. I will do better tomorrow.
He has his Star Wars backpack with his Star Wars lunchsack with his Star Wars sunglassess.
Wiggling his loose tooth.
At his seat and ready to learn!
Liam starts school tomorrow! Holy cow! How did that happen? Preschool just got out! Where did our summer go? We went to Whole Foods today and loaded up on all of his lunch goodies so he can take his lunch. He has made it very clear, after viewing the lunch menu, that he is NOT going to eat the school lunch. Okay, fine by me. I have a feeling the novelty of packing his lunch every day is going to wear off quickly though. Everyone was in bed by 8pm tonight and we have the backpack by the door. Wow! Here we go!
I hope I didn’t sign my life away tonight. We had school events for both the boys tonight, both of which involved sign-ups. At Liam’s school I signed up to help the music teacher with misc stuff. I signed up to help with teacher appreciation lunches and one other thing I think. At Colm’s school I signed up to bring flowers twice during the year for the flower arranging lesson. I signed up to bring crickets twice during the year to feed the class tarantula and toad. I also signed up to help with the Halloween party, teacher appreciation lunches and community service projects. I may have signed up for something else, too. I can’t remember, but I am sure I will get an e-mail within the next few weeks reminding me of the commitments I have made.
I would like to take a few moments to toot my own horn. I got my grade back from my big pain in the hiney project I did this summer and I got a 100%. But wait, I’m not done. My instructor also wants to use one of my lessons I did with my student to use in her class to teach student teachers. Toot, toot.