Naptime Blog

In a week or so, kiddo’s school year will finally be over. I’ve dealt with the battle of homework, uniforms, school meetings, fees, etc. I’m so over the school year. I wonder if I’m more excited than kiddo about the idea of no more school.

“No more school; no more books; no more teacher’s dirty looks.” Though in this case kiddo would sing “no more mommy’s dirty looks.” At the beginning of the year, kiddo was pumped for the 4^th grade. He was ready to take on the world after a long break from summer. Several weeks into the school year, he was done with the excitement and already lamenting all of the schoolwork. He counted down the days until Christmas. Homework continued to be a battle throughout the school year. Battles of wills took place all the time with kiddo on one side and me on the other. I’d be there urging him to finish doing an assignment (usually something to do with reading/writing) and he would be there whining about how the homework was hard. Rather than read the directions to understand how to complete it, he’d call me over to help him. Frequent breaks were my thing during homework time. I’d go to the kitchen or my room or my bathroom (anything!) to take a breather from the growing frustration of dealing with homework. So as the end of the school year and summer camp approaches, I’m quite ready to give up the uniforms, the homework, and the homework battles. Summer, here I come!

Over the past 13 years, Wal-Mart’s  Parent’s Choice Infant  Formula has helped write the earliest chapters in millions of success stories by allowing parents to provide their children with outstanding nutrition at affordable prices.

Now the folks at Parent’s Choice will help one student and one family write another important chapter with the launch of the Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Savings Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes, created in partnership with PBM Products, LLC, a Perrigo Company, will provide one lucky winner with a $10,000 college scholarship in the form of a College Savings 529 Plan.

The Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Sweepstakes was officially launched today, June 15, and will run through 11:59 p.m. on August 15, 2011.

More information, rules and an entry form is available at http://parentschoicesweepstakes.listrak.com

Parent’s Choice Infant formula is Walmart’s private brand formula and is available exclusively at Walmart locations nationwide and online at www.walmart.com.

As I’ve been hearing the latest news on bullying and suicides connected to bullying, I’m amazed. Mostly because my son’s school has implemented a wonderful “No Bullying” program and I’ve seen great results.

Kiddo has had a much more positive attitude about school. When the program was started a couple of years ago, the school sponsored a special day filled with “No Bullying” activities. Kiddo has designed t-shirts celebrating friendship and peace with other students. He also told me about groups with older and younger students talking about what it means to connect positively with other kids. I also have seen how the older students have been more helpful to younger students, which is wonderful since kiddo has connected well with them. He greets kids all the time and is happier about being in the school.

At the beginning of the school year, kiddo and I both signed a “no bullying” agreement acknowledging the school’s zero tolerance of bullying in any form. It was weird at first, but I’ve warmed up to it since kiddo has had such a positive impact from it. He had issues with a student in the second grade, but because of the “No Bullying” policy, that student has not returned to the school.

Overall, kiddo has been doing well because he knows that he won’t be bullied anymore, which made me so happy because I was bullied. I went to the same elementary school that kiddo’s in now and the principal was shocked to hear that I was bullied. This was after I told her how glad I was that the program was implemented. Since its inception, the ‘No Bullying” program has changed the entire student body and I’m so happy about it.

What has your child’s school done to help kids avoid bullying in school?

Ever have a moment when you shine as a mommy? I had it this morning. My son tells me last night, before bed no less, that he had to create a hat for school vocabulary contest. I remembered seeing the notice about the contest in his folder and told him that he needed to get to bed now. I also told him that I’d get him up early tomorrow morning to get the hat done.

Fast forward to this morning. I get kiddo up at 7 (broke my heart to wake him up earlier than that) and sent him to get to the bathroom quickly so that we could work on the hat. While he does that I get the construction paper out as well as crayons and anything else we might need.

Kiddo had to pick a word and decorate a hat with that word. He also had to make sure that the meaning of the word was somewhere on the hat. Science geek that he is, he chooses the word plutonium. Since his school is against anything having to do with fighting or war or danger, I had him look up the meaning of the word and asked him if that would be a good one to choose for the contest. I told him that I wanted him to win and talked to him about using another scientific word – DNA. I was so excited that my mommy brain still worked well enough for me to say deoxyribonucleic acid. As we looked online for drawings, kiddo worked on creating a picture of DNA while I drew a bath for him.

When he finished everything for the hat, he went to take his bath and get dressed. I found a knitted beret and stapled the drawings to the hat. We finished getting him ready and fed before heading out to the school. I had to share this mommy moment because it’s not often that I remember to give myself a pat on the back for multi-tasking my butt off. So mamas, what is your proud mommy moment of the week?

When my oldest child was ready to begin elementary school, my husband and I were trying to conceive another baby.  Many variables had to be considered in her childhood education.  We needed to factor in finances, schedules, availability of an after school program, bussing availability and of course standard of education.

After trying to conceive for months with no success, we decided that I would continue working and Juliana would go to private school.  We enrolled her in our parish elementary school, and I was happy with my decision.  We knew many of the faculty and staff, we felt that she would be safe and sound in the school, I was happy with her getting a religious education in her curriculum, and they had an excellent after school program which would enable me to continue working my full-time job without worrying about additional after school care.

When we learned we were expecting twins later on in the school year, we needed to re-evaluate our decision on Juliana’s education.  We were happy with her progress, as she was an A+ student and had made many friends.  She was socially excelling as well as academically.  The only negative was the tuition.  If I chose to go back to work after the twins were born, the majority of my salary would need to go towards her tuition and the boys’ childcare.  We decided that I would stay home and my daughter would remain in her school.

Juliana is now in the third grade.  She has a 98 average and her standardized tests results are in the ninety-fifth percentile and above.  I work from home in between taking care of (now) three babies aged two and under.  Fortunately, for us, this is working out quite well.  We will re-evaluate once again when the boys are ready to start pre-school next year, and again when they begin their journey of childhood education the year after.

This morning, I met with kiddo’s teacher for his first progress report. As a single mom (with kiddo’s father being semi-in the picture), I was overwhelmed when I heard about kiddo’s issues in class. Especially when the teacher told me that she was very concerned and wanted to do as much as possible to help him. Kiddo is having trouble socializing with the other kids and has been very angry.

Even though the teacher was very supportive and understanding, I had to hold my tears in because of the weight of what she was saying about kiddo’s behavior. His grades are okay, but he really needs to work on his listening and people skills overall. I felt so alone in that moment because I couldn’t fix it. Period. As if the magic wand that I wanted to use was misplaced somewhere. My eyes watered and I pretended that they were itchy so that people couldn’t see that I was crying. It took everything I had not to break down as soon as I got to work. I didn’t think my day (or my outlook) would improve after starting it out this way.

As the day wore on, and friends heard my dilemma, I realized that there really is a village. I have a team backing me up to make sure that I do the best job I can as a mom. A village full of friends, family, teachers, etc all who care about kiddo’s well-being and success. Even if it’s just offering a suggestion or a shoulder to cry on, my village supports me when I feel like my foundations will crumble any second.

I also realized that even though my village is small, it is strong. And once I allowed myself to lean on that village for support, I was okay and ready to take on the challenges of being a mom. I was able to recognize that I have ideas and resources that can help kiddo improve at school so that he can enjoy it rather than tolerate it.

Thank goodness I have my village to help me parent; couldn’t live without it. Who’s in your village?

It was recently back to preschool for my Finleypotamus. He just loves riding the big yellow school bus. He started the day after his third birthday in April and attended a little over five weeks last school year. This will be his first full year.

During the summer, we enrolled him in a great local program called P.A.L.S. It was two days a week and taught by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and a teacher from the school district. The P.A.L.S. program features a theme-based curriculum designed to teach academic, language, and social skills to preschool children, ages 2 and a half through five. If you are in the Houston area, I highly recommend it as a way to help kiddos retain skills from the school year or just interact and have fun with others. He LOVED it and really gained a love of music and started interacting a lot more.

I snapped the photo at the top of this post right after he got on the bus his first day back this year. He doesn’t look super smiley, because he was ready to go to school and was over posing for my photos. I think he enjoys it a lot. I say I think he does, because he doesn’t talk a lot, but he shows his excitement, joy and happiness through his smile and body movements. He gave his father and I many hugs and kisses before school and said “Ah zoozoo” (I love you) over and over. He is sweet, precious, innocent and kind beyond words. He sure is growing up fast (but not fast enough to fill out his new back to school jeans… oops!).

I just love how kind and gentle the bus drivers and attendants are with him and the other little ones in their care. Here is the attendant helping my little dude off of the bus today:

His little brother enjoyed time with Mommy and Daddy that day. My husband had the day off. I think Kierbear will enjoy the alone time in the mornings. He started a two day a week program at our local church recently as well. He is excited to carry a backpack and lunch and have the opportunity to play and learn with other children his age. I will enjoy having a few hours of alone time with him three mornings a week to laugh and giggle at his comedic antics. He is my entertainer and keeps us in stitches daily.

Tell me all about your kiddos’ first day. I would love to see photos and hear stories from proud parents. Aren’t these children such blessings? Praying that all kids have a wonderful and educational 2010-2011 school year!

Sounds funny?  Well, I am not making it up!  Today was Juliana’s first day of school and I was so proud of myself for having everything in order.  Her school supplies were all neatly labeled and bagged, her folders and notebooks and everything she needed was neatly placed in her new schoolbag, her uniform was ironed and her underwear, socks and shoes were neatly laid out for her so we wouldn’t need to scramble in the morning…  And then, I remembered the pencils.

We had forgotten to sharpen the pencils (and she needed to bring 50!), so I sent Juliana to my husband’s desk to get the electric sharpener.  She brought it back to me and I guess whoever unplugged it last time pulled it from the cord and the plug was bent (I probably did it!).  So I tried to wiggle the plug straight and get it in the outlet.  In doing so, I accidently opened the shavings tub and YUCK!  Pencil shavings ALL OVER MY BED!

I didn’t want to move (I had shavings all over me, too, so moving an inch would have made it worse!), so I asked Juliana to get the vacuum.  She brought it in and I grabbed the hose to vacuum all the shavings off my legs and my nice clean comforter (well, it was!).  I was cleaning the shavings when I heard a strange noise and started smelling something burning.  When I shut off the vacuum I realized my favorite flip flops were under it, and the left flip flop was now in pieces!  In the garbage went the shoes, and vacuuming up the flip flop pieces was next on my list. 

Needless to say, we only sharpened five pencils.  What do they say about the best laid plans?  Hope all your children are enjoying their first day of school!

Am I the only one that feels like I live in my car lately?

I have had other moms say they welcome the respite of summer. They enjoy days spent lounging by the pool and the fact that they don’t have to run their kids to school, after-school practices, soccer games, dance classes, etc. Maybe it’s just because I have a son who attends therapies to help him walk better and talk better and catch up with his peers, but I am always on the road or in an appointment. There aren’t many days where we just relax.

That being said, my three year old will start back to preschool later this month and my two year old will start Mother’s Day Out two days a week. Looking at the schedule that will leave me about two hours on Tuesdays and about two hours on Thursdays where I am completely alone without my sweet kiddos. What on earth will I do with all of this time? Anytime I procure a little time like this, I always seem to wander around like a lost puppy. While shopping, it just feels weird to not be wrestling two wiggly boys or constantly stopping to retrieve sippy cups that have been launched from the stroller. I love having them with me, so taking me time is a bit difficult. I know it is much needed though. It always refreshes me when I actually do it.

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Am I the only parent that feels this way? I know parents who go to the gym and go to get massages and manicures and pedicures. I think maybe I should jump on that train. What do you think?

DECISIONS, Decisions, decisions,

Our sweet little baby Jayce is growing right on up! He is currently going to a home daycare. While I know the family LOVES him to death, I wonder if it is time for him to be around his peers. He is 16 months and I don’t want him to miss out on that social component that he will get from being around his peers.

This is such a tough decision for me. I know he is well taking care of and watched closely now, but I am afraid when he is in a room full of small toddlers he will get lost in the crowd.

I am praying that the pros out weight the cons. He is grow in right on up…

~Shanta