My First Week Teaching Tiny Kids

Some of my most memorable moments of the week:
*I took the kids outside to practice a fire drill. I saw a couple boys pick up handfuls of rocks and put them in their pockets. I told them that they needed to put the rocks on the ground. One of the boys looked at me with this super mad look, then he turned and threw the rocks with all might into the middle of the parking lot. I then had to "pat down" the kids as they walked inside.
*I finally learned what "bubble and buckle" meant. I kept hearing teachers say it, so I finally asked. They put a bubble in their mouth to keep them quiet, and the buckle their hands behind their back to keep their hands to themselves. By Thursday I was saying, "Bubble and buckle" like a pro.
*After a couple days, I realized that I needed to have a 5 minute demonstration and lesson about how to sit in "big kid" chairs. Oh, that was after about 6 kids legitimately fell out of their seats.
*I believe that no shoe for any kid under the age of 8 should have shoe laces - they should all be velcro and slip-ons. I think I have tied more shoes this week than I have in my entire lifetime.
*A sweet girl came up to me and said, "You have hair like my mommy. That makes me happy."
*My question: "Why should we eat healthy foods?" Answer: "Because if we eat healthy we get big and skinny, if we eat junk we get big and fat."
*I asked a boy what he was drawing a picture of. (it was a big black circle) His answer: "That's my friend, Emory. He's black."
*Kids were supposed to be drawing things that make them happy. I went to one table and a boy had a bunch of flowers on his card. Another boy had a bunch of sports pictures. I asked them what they liked. The boy with flowers said, "I like flowers, they are pretty." The sports guy said, "Flowers, yuck! I like sports."
*I never realized that kids as old as 2nd grade would be sitting in class sucking their thumbs! Crazy!
*I also never realized that there was an actual technique to leading lines.

Oh my, elementary is a different world! And I feel like an alien in it!

It's Over, It's Really Over

After two long weeks back at work, I am ready for summer again! In the words of my darling daughter, "I want summer back!" I agree, wholeheartedly. The first week, when we were going to bed on Monday night. I told her that we were going to have to wake up early again the next day and every day after that for a long time. She responded, "Oh, that's going to be a problem."
We had a very good first couple days back in the routine. Cory was gone on a fishing trip, so it was "just the girls" again, but they did pretty good. Kacy struggled with her naps at daycare, so she was really tired in the evenings. After having to peel her off my neck the first couple of days, Adilyn got back into the swing of things. She liked playing with her friends again, and she loved showing me her drawings each day.

The girls love being silly at dinner time. Adilyn always loves to love Kacy while we are eating. The time between me making dinner, and us sitting down to eat is always my most stressful time! Everyone is hungry, everyone is tired, and everyone is grumpy (even me!) So, once we finally get to sit down, it's nice to watch the girls be goofy together!

Now, the real problems came when school actually started...Oh my, I didn't know what I was getting myself into with this new job. I have been teaching at Beck JH for the last 8 years. I knew everyone there, knew the curriculum, knew how much of a slacker I could be, and everything else that I needed to know to be comfortable. The problem was that I was tired of coaching, and I was tired of the same old, same old. Most of my friends have left the school for different reasons, but I didn't really have anything holding me there. I applied for a transfer, and interviewed for a couple positions. I was offered a jr. high 6th language arts position, a 9th grade English position, and finally an elementary health/PE teacher. After much thought and stress, I decided to go with the elementary position. It seemed like an interesting job - I would teach health topics to kindergarteners to 5th graders Monday through Thursday, then I would teach PE with the other teacher on Fridays.

I got the textbooks, objectives, and some of the information that the old teacher used. As I looked through the objectives, I started to get excited. Teaching about handwashing, fire safety, making friends, and learning good character sounded pretty fun. I thought a little bit about the reality of teaching these tiny kids, but I kind of shoved my anxiety to the back of my mind. As the first day of school inched closer, I realized that I had NO idea how in the world I would teach a 5 year old anything! I talked to a couple kinder teachers about a lesson I had planned, and she said, as sweetly as she could, "Uh, yeah, that's never gonna work." Yikes! So, I got some advice from her, and I realized that I was just going to have to go for it, and hope for the best.

The first day of school...

We start the day with 3rd then 4th graders. Everything was going great, I was feeling confident. Anxiety began to subside...then in walks 26 tiny, little 1st graders...oh man, these little creatures turned my world upside down! Within the first few minutes, a girl gets out of her seat and pulls on my shirt. She says, "I want to sing my favorite song for you."Um, I was right in the middle of talking about our rules and procedures, what? Then I told them that they need to wear tennis shoes for health class. About 30 seconds after I say that, about 15 of them started telling me about their new school shoes, and they were showing them to me. Wow! This was not going well! I had NO control.Nobody would listen to me, they were squirmy and wiggly, and I couldn't even focus on what I was doing. I swear it was the longest 50 minutes of my life! I survived, but barely...then I realized that I had exactly 40 minutes before I had a huge group of kindergarteners coming my way. Oh crap! I knew that they were going to be way worse. I didn't know what to do, so I figured I would just wing it and hold on tight! Luckily, when they walked in, there was a helping teacher in with us to help a special needs kids. Actually, when I saw her I was relieved, but also nervous because I didn't want her to know how completely terrified of them I was. She helped me with the kids that were falling out of their chairs because they were too small to sit in them. She also helped me try to get the kids to sit still as much as possible. One kid wrote on another kid with a pencil, the kid that got written on cried. Another boy cried because he missed his mommy, and I got into a tug a war with a little girl who wouldn't give me her name card. Holy crap, what have I done?!?!?! I was texting Cory and antoher friend about how horrible everything was going. I think they thought I was kidding...I wasn't laughing!

I went home that first day, and I really never wanted to go back, ever! It was the worst first day of school that I have ever had. I never in a million years could have imagined how difficult those kids would be to control. They are not scared of teachers at all. Many of the kindergarteners have no idea how to wait their turn, listen to the teacher, or even sit still!

Each day got a little better, and I have realized that I really can't talk to the little ones for more than 5 minutes at a time. I also realized that I need to be mean to them, and I need to get in their faces at times. I have seen many of the teachers get very firm with them, so even though that has never really been my style, it's what I need to do.

It was a week of total ups and downs, but today when I was in the gym playing games with them all day long, and it was so much fun! I just need to figure out what works with each group the best...I hope that I can figure it out sooner rather than later!

Sometimes we are sweet to our sister...

All Kacy ever wants to do is walk while holding on to someone. The little push walker things don't interest her, she doesn't like cruising on furniture, just only holding someone's hands! We have gotten her to just hold one hand, which saves the back pain, but it's still exhausting sometimes. Finally, we got Adilyn to walk with her some. Of course, it usually lasts for about 14.5 seconds, which is when Adilyn decides that Kacy wants to run and pulls her over! :)

But...for those 14.5 seconds it is so sweet to see them playing together and laughing.

Summer Reflections...

Fun at the splashpad - one of our favorite morning outings!

This was our last week of summer, so sad! :( I have had a great time with the girls this summer. I remember when the summer started I wasn't sure how things would go. Last summer was a little boring at times because we were stuck inside a lot once Kacy was born. The thought of being home with both girls mostly by myself was a little daunting, but it turned out to be a great time! We had a lot of little vacations to break up the time at home, so we barely even had time to get bored. There were a lot of dance parties, park visits, trips to the swimming pool, a few trips to the beach, and some playing at the gym (while I worked out). Adilyn stopped napping, but she still had "rest time" for an hour or two each day. Adilyn did a great job "swimming", which is really just treading water. She loved jumping off the edge of the pool and swimming around in her princess tube. She enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, and her new obsession, Carebears. I tried to limit her television to one hour a day, but she could have watched it all day if I let her. We also watched "So You Think You Can Dance" together at nights somtimes. We tried to get outside and walk, ride her bike, or just play a little bit each day. It was pretty hot, so we usually went early or waited until after dinner to go outside. Despite a few days of fighting and hitting here and there, she did pretty good with Kacy through the summer. I think she made me laugh everyday at least a few times. She became very attached to me for a while, which wasn't very good, but I think she is doing a little better now.

Kacy can walk by herself, but she still loves to walk around holding our hands. I think it's her way of getting us to go where she wants us to go. She was pretty grumpy this summer between her ear infections and getting new teeth, but she is still so sweet. She tries to be funny, which is hilarious. Just the other day, she learned to blink her eyes really fast, so now she does it all the time to make Adilyn laugh. She also learned to "kiss", all she does is open her mouth huge and lunges toward us. :) She has slept really well for the summer; she usually takes a 2 hour nap in the early afternoon and another short 1 hour nap later. She got a little pickier about her food, but she is still a pretty good eater. I think she weighs about 21 pounds now, and she is looking more like a "toddler". I am still breastfeeding her, but only two or three times a day. It seemed that she was uninterested in it for awhile, but then I guess she changed her mind and decided that she wasn't done. I am not going to pump at school this year, so I will only feed her in the morning and night until she wants to be done.

It's hard to be a working mom a lot of times, but I think being a teacher is the best job to have! I can't imagine not having my summers with my kids. It's just the perfect amount of time to have fun, go on trips, and be lazy together. It's still going to be hard to start school, but I know in 9 short months....summer fun will begin again! Yay!

"Mommy, why did you leave me?"

Adilyn is still having issues listening, imagine that! Her newest thing to push my buttons is to stay in the car when it's time to get out. I will have everything out of the car, my hands full with Kacy and whatever else, and she will stay in the middle of the seats where I can't reach her. I will tell her that we are going inside and we would love for her to join us. She will say that she wants to stay longer. Meanwhile, it's about 150 million degrees outside, and I am getting irritated. I tell her that I am leaving when I count to 3. I get to 3, and she doesn't care. I start to move toward the house. She screams out, like I am the worst mother ever, "Mommy! Mommy! Why did you leave me out here all alone?" Then, I have to go out and somehow balance everything and grab her hand as we all walk in together.
Such a drama queen...

Bulldozer!

Kacy is not walking much yet, and it's driving me crazy! All she ever wants to do is still walk with someone's fingers and/or hands. Sometimes she can just go with one hand, but most of the time she wants two. To save my back, I have tried to get Adilyn to walk with her, but unfortunately Kacy is too slow for her. Adilyn just ends up pulling her down to the ground. She would be so much happier if she could just take off on her own. I know that she will walk in her own time, but jeez....
Anyway, when she wants me to "walk" with her she will crawl up to me and just ram her head into my leg. She usually does it when I am cooking, but it's hilarious. I will just be standing there, and all of a sudden, I hear little Kacy crawling noises. Then boom, she crashes into my leg! Adilyn said one night, "Mama, Kacy is bulldozing you!" :)

Doctors and Dentists and Surgeries, Oh My!

We finally made it through the week of appointments! I think Adilyn's first dentist appointment was more traumatizing for me than Kacy's surgery! We went to Adilyn's dentist appointment, and I thought that I had prepared her pretty well. I didn't think about the automatic chair and the big camera to take x-rays! She was doing okay with the cleaning and "Mr. Thirsty" and all of that. Every time the dental hygenist would bring something new, you could see Adilyn getting all nervous and breathing hard. It was hard to see her get so scared! She wouldn't let them get the x-rays because she got totally freaked out. Oh well, maybe next visit will be better!
I was not too anxious about Kacy's surgery, and I just knew that everything was going to be okay. All my friends that have gone through it told me that it was going to be quick and simple. We had to be there at 6am in the morning, so we got there and got all set up. She was pretty grumpy because she was tired and hungry, but they went pretty quick. The anesthiologist came over and explained what was going to happen. He asked me if I had any other kids, and I told him that I had a 3 year old. He said, "Oh, so you must have gone through this before." I told him that I hadn't, and he said that I seemed so relaxed that he thought I had done it before. I guess I was just laidback about it because it's my nature not to get all uptight about stuff, or maybe because I was just being positive. Either way, I felt very calm. It was nice because the anesthiologist just carried her away, and I didn't have to see her actually hooked up to anything or asleep in a big huge bed or something. I walked out to the waiting room where Pops and Adilyn were waiting for us. We were honestly out there for 10 minutes when they came and got me. She was done! I went back to the recovery room, and there she was in a rocking chair with one of the nurses. She had little marks on her face from the tape on her eyes, and she seemed pretty sleepy. When I went to get her, she just snuggled up to the nurse. I guess she was comfy there! I felt bad that she didn't want to come to me, but then she realized that it was me and reached out for me. We sat there for about 20 minutes or so, she had some milk, and she smiled at some people. Then, they sent us home! She has had no complications or anything. I sure hope this makes her feel better!

Kacy's Ear Surgery

My little Kacy will have surgery to get tubes in her ears on Thursday. I sure hope that this will make her a little happier. She has been pretty grumpy the last month or so, and I hope that her ears are the source of her troubles! I always thought that people got tubes too much, that it was an overdone surgery and an "easy" fix. When Kacy had her ENT appointment, the doctor said that if there a child ever has more than 6 ear infections in a calendar year, there is not much else you can do but get tubes or wait for her own tubes to form properly. Most all of my friends that waited to get tubes and tried different things, usually ended up with them anyway. They always seemed to say that they wish they would have gotten them sooner, too. With summer coming to an end and a new school year approaching, I sure would like for Kacy to avoid so many ear infections this year, and I also worry about her hearing being affected. I also think that all the antibiotics are messing with her stomach and her appetite, and nobody wants an upset stomach all the time! I know it's an easy surgery, so I hope that she'll come out of it and be just fine!

I Am Sooooo Confused!

Adilyn is a great communicator, most of the time. I am trying to teach her manners, and I am trying to get her to ask for what she wants and needs before screaming about it. It seems that once things get mixed up in her mind, she has a really hard time getting it right. Here are some things that can really cause some confusion!

#1 - She has her nods mixed up. She nods up and down for "no" and shakes her head left and right for "yes". Which do I believe, her words or her gestures?!?!?!

#2 - Faster = louder and slower = softer. When we are listening to the radio, she'll say, "Mommy, I want the music faster!"

We'll get that sorted out one day! :)

Lake Trip 2010

Last weekend we went to Lake Placid for our annual lake trip with friends. We have gone for 3 years now, and it is such a blast every time! Cory and a bunch of his high school friends have stayed very close throughout the years, and a couple years back we decided to rent a house for a little get together. Most of us are in the Houston area, only one family is near Dallas. Our very first trip we rented two houses. One was designated the "kid" house, and one was the "adult/party" house. There is no way we could have an adult house this year - we had 10 kids all under the age of 6! Kacy was the youngest last year, but this year Luke was the youngest at 12 weeks. The kids are about to outnumber the adults! We'll be in trouble then! We rented one big house, and we crammed in it. The house was not set up exactly perfectly, but we made it work. The two biggest issues were that it only had two bathrooms and that the upstairs was a big loft with two "rooms". Luckily everyone is very laidback and relaxed, so we all worked it out. We decided to get a house with a pool this year, and thank goodness we did! Both of the people that had boats last year were sold, so we did not have a boat to play on. It was no big deal because the pool was perfect! It had an amazing shallow end that the kids loved to play in. We went over there at least twice a day. day Adilyn stayed in the pool from around 10:30 until 1:45! Everyone slept very well at night, and the adults had some time being silly. The kids loved playing with army men and magnetic tile shapes when they were inside. We also set up a slip and slide for the little ones to run in.

It's such a great group of people, and it's amazing to be able to spend 3 days with people and have a great time, and no drama to deal with. Everyone made it through the trip with no major tragedies...last year was a little rough with Cory's dad passing away and little Isaac hurting his toe. The only problem we had was when Kacy busted her lip open on the entertainment center, but she was fine after it stopped bleeding and took a nap.

Overall, it was a terrific last "mini vacation" for us, and a great way to end the summer!