Tara I Owe You Munchkins

You rock. I have my blog back, I'm feeling less panicky now, and aside from the fact I cant get the damn photo to align properly Im ok with it. I think I can breathe again. You can have my first born as payment. Maybe my second too.


/laughs maniacally


But seriously, if I learned one thing from this its that the next time blogspot decides to screw around with my blog I am going to have to go postal on them. This blog is a part of me and reflects who I am. Do not make me think that I have to be stuck with a simple and cutsie theme. I'm not into cute. Or simple. Or whateverthehell you want to call it. Give me my black white and red. Allow me to align my damn pictures. And dont screw around with blogs.


GRRRRR!

Call Me teacher and Bring Me an (Iced Beer) Apple

The other week as I took Xavier to school, Ashe asked me what his older brother is doing at school.
"Well", I said, "he learns things. Like how to read and write. he learns science and math and all sorts of stuff."
"I WANNA LEARN TOO, MOMMY.  I WANNA GO TO SCHOOL."
"You can go to school when you are 5 and start kindergarten."
"NO MOMMY I WANT A SCHOOL AT HOME. YOU CAN BE MY TEACHER." He grins at me.
"Oh yeah? I think we could do that." I had done homeschooling for Xavier when he was the same age and we had a lot of fun with it. I let him decide what he wanted to learn and we ran with that. I figured I could do the same with Ashe. "So what do you want to learn?"
"WRITING."
"Well in order to write you need to learn how to read. You want to learn that too?"
"YUP!"
"Ok then! Anything else?"
"YEAH, I WANNA LEARN ABOUT VAN GOGH.... AND MOZART.... AND BUGS!" (thank you, Baby Einstein. Now, when Xavier wanted to learn things he wanted to learn about police cars and fire trucks. And bugs. I should have known Ashe would have picked something from Baby Einstein, but it still took me off guard.)
"Errrrrm..... ok"
"AND I WANT OUR SCHOOL TO BE CALLED THE BLUE SCHOOL!"
"Sure, we can call it whatever you like."

and thus I became a teacher.... again.


Last weekend i spent hours pouring over websites, relearning about vincent Van Gogh and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I bookmarked music from Mozart, to play on my computer as we learned about the boy genius composer. I found online games about bugs, made puzzles out of artwork, coloring pages printed out of van Goghs Sunflowers and Starry Night. And on Monday morning I taped a bunch of artwork and portraits of the things we were going to learn about and held my breath.

I admit it. I didn't think we'd last a day. There is a big difference between Baby Einsteins videos and real life information on artists and musicians. It took me almost an hour to make ashe understand that Baby Van Goat is NOT, in fact, Vincent Van Gogh. But he soaked it all up and wanted more.

He even insisted on getting biographies on his 2 historic figures when we went to the library. And made me read them over and over and over.

By the end of the week his curiosity was sated on his chosen subjects. We did try writing but he decided he was too young and would try again later. He did like tracing letters on my phone app though.

And come the weekend I asked him if he liked school and wanted to keep going.
"YEAH!"
"Ok, what do you want to learn next week?"
"I WANNA LEARN ABOUT BACH!"
"OK. Would you like to learn about a cool artist who was also an inventor?"
"OH YES PWEASE! WHO IS IT?"
"His name is Leonardo Davinci and he's awesome!"
"OK! OH, AND I ALSO WANT TO LEARN ABOUT DRAGONS."
"Dragons, huh?"
"YUP!"


Oh he is so my kid.

RAWR!

What is Going on with Blogspot????

So what is up with blogspot? I know I've been MIA and haven't posted in ages (the kids locked me in the cellar but I hid and filed down a discarded chicken bone I found and was able to pick the locks. OK OK I've been busy and havent had a moment to breathe let alone post) but I come back and my really cool background is gone. Not only is it gone but I cant figure out how the hell to get it back! I hate this template template Im forced to use. I want my old look back!

/whine


Anyone have the secret? I'll pay you in Dunkin Donut munchkins =)



I've got a few blogs i need to write down so stay tuned! And if you don't hear back from me..... can you please come unduct tape me?

Whoops!

I warred with myself on whether or not to blog about this topic. For one thing, I didn't want J to feel awkward and I respect his wishes. But he gave me permission so long as I wrote it carefully. I also wanted to write this not just because it was humorous, but because one day, my goal is to print out all my blogs and make a book for my kids when they start their own families, so they know what they're getting into. Forewarning or revenge? I haven't decided yet.

I also want to write this particular blog because as a parent this is something we all fear, and we all may face one day. It could happen when your kids are young, or when their in their teenage years. And one thing I have learned over many stories like mine, you never know what the fall out will be.

But I also know by putting it down I'll never forget it. And while it *is* funny, it's also quite embarrassing. Go ahead and laugh at my expense. You're entitled to, at least until it happens to you. And trust me, it very well can. Then we can commiserate together. I'll be waiting with a sympathetic smile and I'll offer you a virtual glass of wine and we can trade war stories.

The other night, J and I ascended our stairs to bed. It was late at night, the kids were all tucked in bed and passed out cold. As husbands and wives do, we delayed sleeping that night to enjoy one another's, ahh, company. Little did we know that one of the most intense thunderstorms was headed our way and would be the platform for a new chapter in our parenting history.

So we're enjoying ourselves as the lightning begins to flicker. We were too wrapped up that we didn't notice. BAD BAD BAD TIMING!!! Especially in our house, where Xavier is prone to terror in regards to thunderstorms. Let me back up a moment here. Xavier deals with ADHD but has also been dealing with some anxiety issues. Tornados are his big trigger point. So anytime we have even the smallest storm, he begins to freak out. And he needs the assurance that when he panics he can come to us. So while many parents across the world have the option to lock their doors to ensure they can have their privacy, that option, alas, is not open to us. A locked door would probably make him hyperventilate.

The next thing we know, thunder booms, and our door is flung open, slamming into the wall, to portray in silhouette, Xavier standing in the hallway. Even from our bed I can see the whites of hie eyes. Quick as a flash (No pun intended) we threw a sheet over us, and turned to face our eldest son.

"MOM! DAD! THERE IS A THUNDERSTORM!!!"

"Hey look at that. There sure is. it's ok honey you're safe. you can go back to bed."

"BUT THERE COULD BE A TORNADO!!!"

"..... uhhh, no tornados hon. I promise I will let you know if there are any. Promise. Can you go back to bed sweetie? Dad and I are *really* tired."

"BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW THERE AREN'T ANY TORNADOS COMING TO KILL US????"

"Because my phone will tell me of any warnings. I'll tell you what. I'll go downstairs and bring my phone up here and if my phone beeps any tornado warnings, I'll let you know."

".... PROMISE?"

"Yup." I jump out of bed and race down the stairs to grab my phone. Fortunately, while we don't flaunt nudity, it's also not a huge deal in our household. So me racing down the stairs in my birthday suit in the middle of the night doesn't cause any issues. I know that soon, that will not be appropriate as he gets older, but for now, I'll take what little advantage I can get. I grab my phone, race upstairs, plug it in and show him that it's all set. With a surprising move of intelligence I also tell Xavier that he has a radio on in his room and he can listen too so he doesn't have to worry that I dont hear my phone. This makes him happy. But I give him specific instructions: Do NOT barge into our room again unless you hear on the radio a warning for a tornado!!!!

He leaves our room satisfied that all is right with the world. I shut the door, we giggle awkwardly, strain our ears to make sure that we hear nothing for a long while, then go back to where we left off.

Minutes later....

BOOM!

The door slams open again and we stifle a shriek of surprise.

"MOOOOOM!" 

"WHAAAAT????"

"THERE'S A WARNING ON THE RADIO!!!"

"Oh... I didnt hear anything on my phone."

"YEAH! IT'S A FLASH FLOOD WARNING "(for the next county over, mind you)

"Umm, Zavi... what kind of warning did I say you could come in here for again?"

"Uhhhh...... tornado?"

"Bingo. Was this a tornado warning?"

"....no."

"THEN GO TO BED!"

" Sorry. Night."

"Night."

He slowly closes the door and J and I listen as he patters back down the hall to his room. Rolling our eyes, we look at each other, sigh, and cuddle. Which was a good thing because in the next moment a giant crash of thunder erupts and our door flings open with both Xavier and Ashe sobbing in fear.

While J stayed in bed, covered up in our sheets, I spent the next 10 minutes comforting the boys and finally had them calm enough to go back to bed, with Xavier being such a good brother and offering to read Ashe bedtime stories for awhile.Suffice to say the mood was gone by the time our 2 boys were settled and all was finally quiet. I don't know about J, but I couldn't stop wondering if there would be questions in the morning, after the terror abated. You hear the horror stories of your friends vividly remembering the time they walked in on Mom and Dad doing Mom and Dad things, and how they swear they were scarred for life. Or the stories where your friends kids walked in on them, and how they can't look their kids in the eyes after. I wondered what the outcome would be from this night.

We were lucky. No questions, no comments, no eye aversion from either side. Xavier never brought anything up. I think the fact that he knows we sleep in the buff sometimes just made him not even realize that things were a little different. And I think that because he is 8, in his eyes the world revolves around him, and he was too wrapped up in his own fears to even pay attention to anything else going on. So we dodged a bullet that could have had interesting consequences and for once in my life I am thankful he has tunnel vision. 

But J and I learned a very important lesson that night. Always check the weather radar before going to bed!

First Day of School

Ahhh. Today is a momentous day. A day looked forward to for many weeks. A day that begins a new journey for my eldest, and the beginning of a new era for me.

Today is Xaviers first day of 3rd grade.

I admit, I did the happy dance as I bustled all 3 kids into the car, still in my PJs, having downed a cup of coffee as fast as possible before grabbing the keys and making our way. And yes, I did it in front of Zavi. It's ok though. He did his own little happy dance too. He got something unexpected this year, something he wanted so badly but we thought was impossible. He got to stay at his old school despite the fact we moved (slightly) out of district and we were told by many there was no way he was going to be able to stay there for this year. But he did. Without asking them for the possibility, knowing it was futile, WCPSS decided that because his new base YR school was full, if I agreed to transport him to and from school, he would stay at his old school. Not just for this year, but until he goes to middle school.

Long story short, after we moved we were given permission to stay at the current school as there was only 6 more weeks to go until summer vacation started. I started the transfer process for the following year. Our default school for our new district is a traditional calendar but we wanted YR so I had to go through a painful and long application process. But when summer was upon us and we got our letter from the county, they made a decision none of us were expecting. They decided that because our district YR school was full, instead of placing us in traditional (which we expected to happen) they would allow Zavi to stay at his old school. If I wanted him to go to a traditional calendar school (which none of us did) I would have to redo the entire damn application process again.

Oh hell no.

The catch is that I have to provide transportation. While the old school is not far off, it's not easy to strap 3 kids into a van twice a day for at least a 30 minute trip (10 there, 10-20 waiting in line, 10 driving home). That's a lot to ask 2 young kids in carseats. But after weighing everything out we decided it was the best decision. And Zavi had it pounded into his head how much his younger brothers were sacrificing for his happiness.

So now I am a carpooling mom. I hate carpooling. But I'll sacrifice an hour a day for the happiness of my son, knowing he's getting a damn fine education, he loves GOING to school, and really, I couldnt ask for a better deal. I'll just vent about it here when I have a bad carpool day =)

And I also have the house back to semi normal. I love all three of my kids dearly, but I'll be frank. Having 3 kids in the house for weeks on end with no break is hard to deal with and maintain what little sanity I have left.  Already Ashe is happier not fighting for the computer or the one green marker that has not yet dried out as the boys color. Soren is happily smashing the keyboard to the kids computer without an older brother freaking out. And I know Xavier is having the time of his life with a teacher he loves already, with friends in his class, and at some point today, will proudly display the box of shark teeth he bought with his allowance money at the museum to his classmates. He's in 7th heaven.


So am I. I love the first day of school