- The little black snail died and polluted the tank and gave Simon (the Betta) a fungal infection. So I cleaned the tank thoroughly and added a little aquarium salt. Simon is quickly losing the white patches and getting back to his gorgeous green-blue color. Dyson (the large golden apple snail) didn’t care for all the commotion or the added salt so I moved him to the smaller tank. Now he’s sliming all over the place, but still moving about some. Hopefully after a few days of rest and separation, I can reunite them as healthy critters.
- The Kid starts school next week, entering the first grade. His teacher sent him the cutest postcard welcoming him to her class. I’m so hoping that this year goes more smoothly. The Kid’s behavior has improved this summer, but it’s just him and his brother most of the time, not an entire class of kids. So we’ll see how things go with the new teacher. He is sleeping better since his tonsils and adenoids came out, so there’s that, too. He’s also been working with Hubby on his writing and getting better all the time.
- The Kid is really into cartoons right now and starting to venture into territory I’d rather he didn’t go. I don’t mind Code Name Kids Next Door or Fanboy & Chum Chum, but when he starts getting into the more violent cartoons, I have a problem. I’m one of those weird Americans who would rather my kid see people get naked than people getting hurt/killed (not that we sit around with nudie movies on either, but you get my point). So we’ve told him that anything over a TV-Y rating, he has to ask mom or dad if he can watch. We try to keep an eye on what he’s watching, but it helps that he’s such an incredibly honest kid.
- Boo moved up to a big boy bed! Hubby’s folks had the head/foot boards that match the Kid’s, so we bought them a new frame for their mattresses and set up the matching bed for Boo (his mattress is nicer than ours!). He seems to be doing well with it. There was one rough night where he was up every hour or so, but he seems to have gotten over it. The worst part is that he’s a total wiggle worm at night and moves ALL OVER the bed. He’s already cracked his head on the headboard a time or two and somehow ended up on the floor this morning (if he fell out, he didn’t cry). It’s a happy and sad thought to think that we don’t have a use for the crib anymore, but our little Boo is 2 and a half.
- My job has been sucking lately. Only because I haven’t had much to do. Finally today I got to start a big project creating computer-based training for another girl in our greater department. I was SO happy to be doing CBTs again! Our boss has pigeon-holed us to the point that all I do is system administration for our training tracking system (when I’m not traveling) and my coworker was doing all the eLearning stuff. Lucky, for me, said coworker is busy with other project right now so he was more than happy to pass this one to me! I’m hoping this will help people see there is more to me than just being a system administrator.
- Went to a weekend crop last weekend and finished 22 pages. Not bad for me. Especially since I missed half of the first day when I was trapped in an airport trying to get back home. I’m about a year and a half behind on my scrapbooking right now so I was glad I got any time at all to get a few pages done and catch up with my Scrap Mafia girls. They are about the coolest bunch of ladies I’ve ever known. Even when we don’t talk for months, it’s like we were never apart.
- Speaking of women friends, apparently I need to remember who reads my blog and not be so rude to them on here. I would hope that folks would realize when I’m venting and just doing an emotional dump here, but I also realize that I use some strong words sometimes. So I’m sorry if I offended or angered anyone reading this.
- Speaking of reading, I am slowly but surely making my way through “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest”. This book is very hard for me to get into. I really liked the first two, but this one is slow going and not really keeping my attention. Hopefully, I’ll finish it soon so I can start the new Patricia Briggs werewolf book.
Today we met with the Kid’s principle and the teacher who ran the testing a few weeks ago. Basically, the Kid is off the charts in overall “communication arts”. His reading level is an 18. I have no idea what that means, but the next highest score (IN THE ENTIRE K CLASS) is an 11. According to the test, his reading and comprehension put him in the 2nd grade. We tend to think it’s actually higher, but part of the test included writing answers to comprehension questions and the Kid hates to write (more on that later). His math skills are at about the level a 1st grader would be at mid-school year, so he’s a little advanced there as well. Much of what he missed on the math portion are things he’s just never been exposed to. Some of the stuff *I* had never been exposed to (What’s up with doing math problems in a triangle?).
The subject he’s definitely at or below level in is writing. He writes in all capitol letters with no spaces between words and no punctuation. When asked to write a descriptive story about a special event in his life, with pages and pages to write on, he basically wrote “MYCLASSWENTTOTHEMAGICHOUSE”. So writing is definitely an area he needs more work in. But he couldn’t write at all before Kindergarten so we’re on the right track. He’s just one of those kids who expects things to master things easily and when it doesn’t, he either gets overly emotional or just shuts down. We’ve got to work on that.
In the end, we decided that he should go to 1st grade next year, with enriching activities in reading and math. Luckily, the teacher who tested him will be his teacher next year. She had a really good rapport with the Kid and seems to be on top of her game. She said it would be no problem to give him more advanced work and had worked with kids with his talent previously. I let her know that I’m not trying to be the helicopter parent from Hell, I just want my kid to not hate school and to be challenged in his work. I made sure to let the principal know how disappointed and upset I am with his Kindergarten teacher. She promised us enriching activities too and it never happened. She continued to teach to the lowest common denominator. I was also upset by her demeaner towards my son. The Kid came hom on more than one occasion saying that she had called him a “bad kid” and then the other kids started calling him bad. I know my kid isn’t the most well behaved child, but he is NOT a bad kid.
So we’ll see how it goes next year. The prinicipal is awesome and very open to reconsidering the plan if it’s not working out. If the 1st grade teacher can’t provide what he needs, they could pull him up to 2nd grade just for the reading activities. Or re-assess bumping him up a grade. I just hope next year is better for my boy. Of course I want my kids to only have the best of everything!
Sorry my first post back was so incredibly bitchy. The funk has decended this week and I can’t seem to shake it. Hopefully, it will pass soon.
In other news, did I mention I just got back from the motherfrakking Netherlands?!?! How cool is that? I stayed in a great litle village just a few miles from the sea and took a gorgeous bike ride to the beach one night. I was there for work, but I made sure to make time for fun this time since I was there for a week. On Friday night, I stayed at a hotel near Schiphol Airport and explored Amsterdam Centraal. For those up on your voetbal, you already know that was the night that Holland won against Brazil. Needless to say, there was great merryment in the streets. I’ll post some pictures and video soon.
During my mad travels over the last 3 weeks, I also made a stop in Raleigh, NC and picked up my very first designer handbag (yes, you heard that right: handbag. Not purse. Don’t be hatin’.). I was so impressed with Marty’s story of the stolen bag and the designer’s willingness to replace it for her, free of charge (who does that?!). Plus, the bags are so cute and damn near indestructable, I had to get one of my very own. Unfortunately, the bag I bought is too small for the great wealth of crap I carry around from day to day. Lucky for me, the very awesome Holly Aiken agreed to let me exchange my bag for a larger version when I return to Raleigh later this month since I haven’t used it!
Another exciting (to me) purchase was my new brown work shoes. My old ones were falling apart and I was having a terrible time finding a new pair that was comfortable and looked decent with a pair of khaki dress pants. These little gems fit the bill, with the caveat that I have to put band aids over the bone under my big toe otherwise they rub very painfully on that spot.
In kid news, the Kid smacked his little brother in the mouth with the metal gate that’s between the kitchen and the living room and chipped his front tooth. Luckily they both already had an appointment witht he dentist that week. Boo’s tooth is OK and the dentist filed off the sharp edge, but he’s going to have a chipped smile until his baby teeth fall out in a few years. The Kid has had a bad run of doing things that end up with his briother crying lately. I think now that Boo is getting a little older/bigger, he forgets that he still outweighs him by 50 pounds. I’ve got an older kid off the charts in weight/height and a younger kid below the 30th percentile. Add that to the fact that they’re 4 years apart and you can see that it’s a dangerous combination when they play rough (as boys are wont to do).
We have an appointment with the Kid’s principal and one of the teachers tomorrow. We had the school administer some additional tests to see if he could be accelerated to 2nd grade next year. Really, I’m not sold on him skipping grades (even though socially he does do better with older kids), I just want the school to formally recognize his “smarts” and teach him accordingly. It was ridiculous that a kid who reads on a 4th grade level (according to the school) be teached the basics of the alphabet and letter sounds for an entire school year. I want him taught on his level and to be challenged (more than just once a week in the gifted program), whether that’s in 1st or 2nd grade.
I’ve got a few other things I want to talk about, but I’ll save that for another post!
Random updates for those who might still be reading…
- The Kid has officially been slapped with the label of “gifted”. This means he’s bussed to another school for the all day gifted program once a week. Mrs. O (the gifted teacher) is awesome with him, challenging him and yet remaining firm when he gets out of control. She reported back that he has an IQ of 132, for whatever that’s worth. I’m just glad he gets a chance to get out and learn HIS way without being held back in the areas he excels. I’m not saying these two things are related, but his behavior has improved remarkably in his regular class since he started the gifted program. Imagine that!
- Boo is just as smart as his big brother, in his own way. The moms in playgroup are jokingly accusing him of “showing off” when he starts spouting his huge vocabulary (like “Skeleton!” at the Science Center). Even people at the grocery store today were commenting with amazement on the 21-month-old shouting “Quesadilla!” in the ethnic food aisle. He recognizes at least 90% of the alphabet and has started counting objects up to three on a regular basis. His two loves right now are Sesame Street and Max & Ruby (Max is a bad little bunny!). I do believe that Sesame Street contributes a lot to what he knows. The Electric Company (original) taught the Kid to read. TV isn’t all bad.
- There’s a pretty major change a-coming at work, but I can’t talk about it just yet. It’s a good thing though and I’m excited about it. An opportunity to get back to some of the things I’m most passionate about. I’ll be give more details in about 2 weeks.
- I wore a dress to work yesterday. No, seriously. Stop laughing! Unfortunately (or fortunately), there is no photographic evidence.
- Two things I really want to buy when I get some money: a dressy coat and some knee-high black boots. These things may or may not be related to my former dress wearing. And the fact that I’ve bought more jewelry in the past month than I ever have before. I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?
- OMG, I got so fat in Vegas. Well, technically I was already fat, but eating those huge meals and sitting in presentations all day did not help. I came back and started 750mg of Met.formin XR twice daily. This should help me lose some weight, if only because I spend half my time on the toilet (TMI!). I’m still not dieting really, but I am working out on the elliptical 3x/week. I do well with eating at work: I eat a sensible breakfast and lunch and don’t snack in between. However, once I get home I eat a carb-laden dinner and inevitably cap the night off with chocolate or ice cream. And weekends are just a wash since I forget to work out and just eat whatever’s handy throughout the day. I’ll get there, but right now I’m slowly easing into the lifestyle changes.
OK, so apparently my hubby is deciding to keep his brilliant observations of our kids on his playgroup forum instead of sharing with all of you. Sorry, that’s just the way he rolls.
And since I’m all boring now that I’m medicated, I don’t have much to share anymore. I’m entirely too mellow to get all up on my soapbox and rant about politics or crazy news stories. I’m enjoying feeling sane, but it does make for a boring blog.
So work is good. I’m a busy little bee trying to implement our learning management system for about 150 people and their hundreds of documents. It’s tedious work, but it keeps me busy and it keeps me connected to my customers, which is very nice. I’m moving cubes next week (again). It’s just up one floor, but I’ll have lots of storage space and a whole wall of windows. Yeah, it’s a view of the parking lot, but it’s SUNSHINE! (When there is sunshine to see.) It’s in the lab area and that’s a little disconcerting, but I know you all will tell me if I start growing a fifth limb or third eye.
The kids are doing well. Everybody is healthy at the moment (*knock on wood*). My little geniuses are blowing my mind every day. The Kid is reading full on chapter books now (he’s read the entire Magic Treehouse series and the Captain Underpants books, he just started the My Teacher is an Alien series). Baby Boo can recognize and name at least 3/4 of the alphabet. He’s speaking in 2-3 word sentences and repeating every other word we say. It’s amazing how their little brains just soak everything up! Needless to say, I’m very proud of my smart little guys.
OK, enough bragging. Here’s a little something I saw while Boo was watching Sesame Street the other day. I like how they kept so much of the original song lyrics and changed it into a great little kid song. Plus, it’s cool that Jason Mraz is so comfortable singing with the puppets.
I don’t have the slightest clue what to do with the Kid. Sell him to the circus? Send him off to military school? Ground him until he’s 25? Seriously. What do you do with a 5 year old who thinks he knows everything and refuses to listen to anything his parents or teachers say?
Here is an actual email from his Kindergarten teacher:
[The Kid] has started going to first grade now for guided reading and Mrs. [X] says he really enjoyed it. I also want to keep you updated on his behavior. He had 3 really great days last week. This week he has been very disruptive. He is constantly (not exaggerating) yelling out ho ho ho. He also has been disruptive at rest time (even when I give him a book) and during work time he is barely finishing his work b/c he is falling out of his seat or yelling things to me and the class. I just wanted to touch base. If you have any questions let me know.
The other day he was given a writing assignment to review a book he’d read. His teacher has been trying to get him to write at length instead of just one short sentence. So she gave him the direction that he had to write enough to fill up all the lines on the page. So this is what he wrote:
I like the storey bcuse it was funne and it was fun. It made me go ha ha ha ha ha ha [with the ha's filling up the rest of the paper].
When he doesn’t have a book in his face at home he is crazy out of control. His voice has no volume switch and everything must be said at eardrum blowing decibels. Unlike most kids who get quieter the more they’re misbehaving, the Kid gets louder the worse he’s behaving. Punishment/discipline does not impact him. Even when we take away his most prized possessions, he may get upset for a brief moment then he just doesn’t care. Sending him to his room is pointless since it’s completely full of books and toys. Time outs in the hall seem to make somewhat of an impact, but he’s over and misbehaving again the second he’s released. It’s like nothing gets through to him long enough to make an impact beyond the very short term.
We manage fairly well at home. Usually there are enough activities (between books, TV, computer, toys and chores) to distract him from the bad behavior. Plus there are two of us to wrangle him. But at school his teacher is entirely too soft spoken to get a firm handle on him. Not only that, but she has 20 other students to worry about. I know part of the problem is that he’s bored, but he’s not even completing the work before he’s acting up and disrupting the class. I just really don’t know what to do. Nothing seems to get through to him. Punishments don’t work, rewards don’t work. I want him to enjoy school, but I know he needs to learn to tolerate the structure of school and to thrive in spire of it.
And he’s such a brilliant boy, I know he’s smart enough to follow directions. Within the last 2 weeks, he’s read almost the entire “Magic Tree House” series (that’s over 25 short chapter books), not to mention all the other books he’s read lately. He’s in the advanced math group in Kindergarten adding, subtracting, counting by 5s and 10s, and working extensively with money. The child is so smart. And I know his intelligence makes us and his teachers expect more from him. He is only 5 (6 in April) and 5 year old boys are high energy by nature. I’m not interested in putting him on ADD/ADHD meds, but I do want to look into other avenues for helping him focus and be more productive with all that brain. I would like to take him to an expert for analysis and to give us some guidance in that arena, but I’m also afraid to have him be labeled so young.
Luckily, for the next 2 weeks everyone will be home and maybe we can give him more attention than usual and see if that helps at all. Plus, the Christmas crazies will get an opportunity to work their way out of his system and maybe things will be settled down more by the time he goes back to school.
We totally need the “Clean Sweep” people or at least a Merry Maid to come out and take care of this for us. And this is BEFORE Christmas, people! I can only imagine the horror after another toybox throws up in our house.
Please note that the following video contains images which may upset neat freaks and those with OCD. Viewer discretion is advised.
