Preschool Graduation

Graduations from anything but high school and college (at all levels) are corny and overdone. Any more it's preschool, kindergarten, 8th grade, Sunday school, etc. etc. etc. - all with little caps and gowns and speeches... unnecessary, even silly - until it's your kid.

George's day care held a graduation for the two kids who completed preschool and are going to kindergarten in the fall. They invited Jayden to graduate with them since she is the only kid at her center moving on next year. That made it even more special since Jayden is one of his best friends from the neighborhood, a little girl he has played with his entire life and will be going to school with in the fall.

My little man did great, and it was amazing how much he has grown and matured in the past year (let alone the 5 he has been at Best Hands). He stood up in front of everyone, he wore what he was supposed to (including a shirt with a collar and non-sweat pant shorts) and he spoke out loud.

and he looked darn handsome in his little cap and gown, and I got a glimpse of the young man he'll be at the end of high school... and the adult at the end of college, should he take that path.

 My little man, walking to his seat.

 

Leah (from his center), George, and Jayden.

My Grasp Slipped

Sunday night, after two weeks of craziness, stress, and anxiety, I looked at Tom and said, "We seem to be in the home stretch. If one more thing happened, I'd have a nervous breakdown." He laughed and said that it was guaranteed to happen now. And Monday morning, the call came that put me over the edge.

WARNING - graphic kid and poo (and kid poo) talk follows.

It really all started last month. A kid at day care was diagnosed with shigellosis after being out for a week with "flu-like" symptoms. Kids get sick. Kids in day care get sick. It happens, right? It's the price of doing business, of having kids in a shared space, be it day care or school or even a neighborhood play group. So when Clara got diarrhea a week later, I took her to the pediatrician. But the thing is, she also has dairy issues and she had mac and cheese (for lunch at day care) and ice cream (treat from daddy) in the couple days preceding it. And the morning of the appointment, her fever broke and she had normal... bathroom output. Because of all this, the ped declined to treat her for shigella, reiterated watching the dairy, and sent us on our way. That was May 21.

The assistant day care teacher was out sick that week, as was the baby in the center. The day care director also wasn't feeling well, went to Urgent Care, and received antibiotics for shigella - just to be safe. She also submitted a sample for testing. Her test eventually came back positive.

On May 30, the Director called me to tell me the county Health Department was closing the day care because of shigella. All kids and employees needed to be tested. "Tested" means submitting 2 stool samples at least 24 but not more than 48 hours apart. Clara was thrilled. She told anyone and everyone who would listen that she was going to poop in a cup. I ended up taking off work May 31 and July 1 to be home with the kids; I was already on vacation the next week to get ready for Clara's dance recital and family coming to visit.

Meantime, I had this lump form on the side of my head over the course of that week, almost like a golf ball was stuck behind my ear under my hairline. Friday it was so bad I wanted to cry when I washed my hair, and the water in the shower hitting my head felt like someone jabbing me with hot pokers. I called the doctor to see if I should get it looked at; they told me to be there in half an hour. Diagnosis: shingles. The wonderful nurse practitioner told me to take a deep breath and try to relax. Yeah right... The good news: Clara happily provided her first sample for testing.

Do you know how fun it is to get stool samples from kids? I won't go into all the details (which involve Saran Wrap, serious breaches of privacy, and a throw-away foam cooler filled with ice) but we got Clara's second and both of George's by Wednesday morning. I called the public health nurse to let her know, and she said she wasn't going to drive all the way to our town to get the samples when she had just been there Monday (when Clara's first sample was sent). She was going to wait until all kids had turned in both samples, then come get the whole lot. The thing is, the test takes 5 to 7 days to run, and in the meantime the kids are unable to return... so I went to day care, got the whole lot, and drove them all to the county health office.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night Clara had rehearsals for her dance recital. It was fun, but exhausting - the first night we were there until after 9, the second about the same, the third was a full dress rehearsal. I did enjoy sitting through that since I had volunteered to be dressing room mom for Clara's class, so it was the only chance I had to see the whole show.

Friday morning the Erie portion of the family arrived. God bless my Aunt Sue, but she made all the dips and snacks for George's preschool graduation party and the recital after-party at our house. And she walked in my door and said "What am I doing first?" She mopped, she washed wine glasses, she showed me once again the kind of person I want to be... especially when I got a call from the nurse in the county where we live (day care is one over) and was told Clara was shigella positive. Even though she is not sick. No symptoms. At all. Called the ped, got her in, got the antibiotics, and got an appointment made for Tom (it's a family practice office) who said he was having some issues.

Friday evening was the preschool graduation (I'll give that a post of it's own). Saturday morning Tom went to the doctor and started Cipro. Andy and his whole family came in Saturday. Saturday afternoon was George's t-ball game, and that night was the recital (which will also get it's own post). Clara and I got home from the recital a little after 10:00 pm. Needless to say, the after-party was mom, Patty, Aunt Sue, and me sitting around munching and having a drink - too late for everyone else.

Sunday the Erie crew went home, and George and I went to a Baltimore Orioles game with Andy, Julee and the kids. Sunday evening, Patty started texting me that she didn't feel well. Sunday night I made the fate-tempting statement.

And Monday. Monday. F'ing Monday. I went to work - I had been out 7 work days... Tom was home with the kids, Clara was finishing her antibiotics... that girl shoots down medicine like a sorority girl taking a tequila shot, bless her heart. And then the call came in that George was shigella positive. He is asymptomatic, never got sick before and it floored me. And Patty went to the doctor and got Cipro for likely shigella.

Today George and I went to the doctor (the front desk staff knows us on sight). He's on antibiotics now; they would not put me on any unless I submitted samples and turned up positive. Every time someone in this house uses a bathroom, it all gets wiped down with Clorox wipes, and we help the kids wash their hands. I'm working from home all this week, Tom will next week (while I am out of town for work. Yes, all week.).

Each kid needs to be off antibiotics 48 hours before they can give a sample. Hopefully we'll get Clara's on Thursday and Friday, testing will be early next week with results by the end of the week, and please God let her test negative. George will be on his antibiotics for 5 days, Monday we (Tom - I'm out of town) can start following him around for samples, get them in by Wednesday, get results by middle of the next week.

Oh, and day care is closed the week of July 2 for summer vacation... so now we are looking at July 9 as the week the boy can go back. So we are looking for a temporary nanny, and will have to double pay for child care because you have to pay day care to hold your spot.

And that, folks, is why my tenuous grasp slipped.

Comfort Zones

George has very clear comfort zones.

He will not talk to people he does not know (I'm kind of ok with that, at least out in public). He made it through an entire season of county T-Ball without speaking a word to the coaches or other players while still participating every week. He doesn't like to be touched by many people; Miss Andrea and I are really the only ones he will cuddle with. He's a bit of an introvert like his dad. Starting kindergarten in the fall has him on edge already.

Last week, he had a substitute coach in gymnastics and two kids in his class who were doing make-ups. So many unknown people! Afterwards, we went to Little League and he had the various coaches, kids and parents talking to him (he answered them some, my boy is growing up!). The coaches would move him into position, or help him hold and swing the bat.

When we got home it was time for him to "relax" - he doesn't nap any more, but he still has to be in his room with the door closed for an hour of quiet time. He can read, play quietly, sleep... whatever it is, it needs to be a bit of down time.

Tom woke Clara up first and she asked if she could get George. Tom said fine, and she opened her brother's door. Five seconds later, we hear "George! That. Is. AMAZING!" Tom looks at me, shrugs, and goes to see what's up. He then calls me and says "You'll want to bring your camera."

This is what the boy did during his quiet time:

Amazing indeed. And he got to exert a little order and control over his world, and all was once again right for him.

The Boys of Summer... or, in this case, the Boys of Fall Ball

George is playing Little League Fall Ball. Granted, it's T-Ball - but it's Little League, and he's picking up some pretty good skills. My lefty is, however, throwing with his right hand, so we are working on learning to catch with the left. He's getting better - he made the last "out" in yesterday's "game." And yes, those words are in quotes on purpose - the fall season started with enough kids to field two teams... we are down to one team on the field with one of the parents helping out, and one kid batting at a time.

So it's more or less glorified batting practice, with some running after the ball in the infield.

It is amazing watching G out there with two of his best friends. Their moms and I were all pregnant at the same time, the boys are growing up together, and it is just fun watching them play.

George is in the yellow shirt.

There is so little baby left in him, it breaks my heart in that bittersweet way. But he is turning into such a cool, funny little boy that it is exciting watching him grow up.

He'll pick up playing again in the spring, once this fall season ends in a few weeks. It will still be t-ball for another year or so, then coach pitch, then my little man will be in official Little League. 

And for some reason, this song got stuck in my head yesterday watching the kids scramble around for the ball when it was thrown to them, and it seems to sum up Fall T-Ball nicely.

Kenny Rogers - The Greatest

On your third birthday

Happy birthday baby girl. My sweet, feisty, strong, brave, tiny little bug. I can't believe you are three.

You are the baby I didn't know I needed until I had you, and now I can't imagine our family without you. And I do need you, baby girl. I need you and love you so much.  Some days it scares me, because I don't want to hurt you or damage you, and parenting a girl scares the ever living shit out of me. Girls are hard, and scary, and fearsome - I know, I am one... but you are so easy to love, and it all comes back to that.

I promise to always love you, my little one. Even when loving you means making you hate me. I want to wrap you up in bubble wrap and protect you from the world, but I can't and should not and won't. I will let you get hurt and make mistakes, and will hold you and rock you. I would take on any hurt you get if I could, be it a scraped knee or a broken heart. Hurting is part of it all, and it sucks, and it kills me to see your tears. May I always be able to kiss them away, may a "Hello Kitty" band-aid always make it better.

You are growing up so fast. I'll let you grow up, I promise. But you will always be my little buggy and I will always love you baby girl. Happy birthday, Clara. I can't wait to see what 3 brings to you.

Rewards

The kids are getting a little addicted to playing with my iPad and Tom's Samsung 10 tablet. And they think our laptops and desk tops are theirs. I try to work, they want to play Star Fall. Tom wants to read the news, they want Angry Birds. Add in some general bratty behavior (Clara flat out ignoring us, George saying "NO!" to every. damn. thing.) and we were done up.

So after chatting with their day care provider, talking to some mom friends, and Googling "bratty toddler behavior" (after having a couple glasses of wine - and I seriously suggest you do not Google that sober), I've come up with a strategy to attack this head on. And yes, I fully expect it to kick me in the ass later, but for now, let's go with it.

The kids now have to earn computer time. Yes, the 4.5-year-old and days-from-turning-3-year-old must now work for screen time. Good behavior, using manners, not throwing a shit fit when it is time for the evening clean-up, going to bed without a fight - all these things will earn tokens that can be traded for 10 minutes of computer time. I was going for 5 minutes, Tom thought 10 was more fair.

So while I do not believe in rewarding for being a member of the family and a good citizen, because that is just what is expected of a member of society, I do think that maybe the kids could use some kind of positive reinforcement... and I am tired of reading BOB books on my iPad when I really want to play Bubble Pop or browse Pinterest.

And I can already see their personalities coining out to the extreme in this - Clara is hoarding her tokens, George earns one and right away asks for the iPad and timer.

Song stuck in my head

This song has been playing in my head, off and on all day today. At least I think it was only in my head... although I know I was singing it for a bit, because I caught Clara humming it once or twice.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah


http://youtu.be/y8AWFf7EAc4