It All Started With the Frog

Friday afternoon- it was one of those afternoons. It started innocently enough with nothing out of the ordinary. CJ was fastened into his car seat carrying about 5 toys and his blanket. As usual he wants it all directly in his lap covering everything I need to see in order to get him buckled in properly. His favorite items in the whole world consist of rubber ducks, toy frogs, a stuffed Cookie Monster (gift from Aunt Michele & Uncle Peter) and the blue fluffy blanket- disgustingly dirty most of the time. Juggling all this I manage to get him securely strapped in and off we go. About three seconds after merging onto the interstate he drops a frog in between his seat & the door. His seat is located on the passengers side of the backseat- I can barely reach him, let alone that door. He screams for his frog and I have to tell him there is no way for me to get it right then. Well, you know what hit the fan. He proceeded to kick and scream the entire twenty mile journey in rush hour traffic to WC's school. I arrive at the school and retrieve the frog and give it to him. But no dice, he is so pissed off from frog deprivation that he continues his fit as I carry him into the gym. The fit continues as I write the check for next weeks after care. An employee attempts to console the raging toddler to no avail. While writing the check I explain the issue and offer to give him to the woman. She politely declines stating she has two grandchildren at home. WC sees us comes in and finally makes his way across the gym after retrieving his back pack. I carry CJ- who has begun to cough uncontrollably and I'm convinced he's about to vomit on himself. Back into the car we go w/ WC now in tow. Luckily, we're just a couple min from home at this point. At home I take CJ directly to their room and deposit him on WC's bed and close the door. I can't be around him at that moment. I go lay down on the couch. WC wanders in the house and asks what I did with CJ. I explain that CJ is in alone time in their room & I'm having alone time on the couch. CJ finagles the door knob until he is free and I can hear him sniffling and snotting all the way down the hall coming towards me. He climbs up on the couch and onto me. We just sit there.

WC enters the room with a jack in the box that came home from a weekend at my mom's with. He proceeded to get CJ interested in that. Then took CJ back to my room and put an Elmo video on for him and left me alone on the couch. I guess Toddler crack is good for something.

I had two thoughts that ran through my head at that moment. One was to start on the four beers in the fridge and the other was to try out one of the new work out dvd's that I'd recently purchased. Surprisingly enough the workout dvd won. It shocked me too. It was broken into "circuits" and you and choose to play the entire workout or pick & choose which "circuits" you do. I decided to choose a few of the 6 min circuits just to get my feet wet. I'm out of shape- seriously.

Later that night after CJ was tucked in bed I decided to go out for margarita supplies. I have to go to the next town over for a liquor store- about 7 miles. I believe I've blogged before on how driving at night relaxes me- so really it was more of an excuse to get to go out on a back two lane road with the windows down. The temp was in the 60's- no humidity. Beyond awesome for August in the south. I took a little detour and drove further out- to the battlefield. No one around. Quiet. Tranquil. I was decompressed enough that I really didnt feel the need for a margarita but since I was out and told Jay I was getting it. I went back to the liquor store- picked up a bottle of wine while too I was there. I think it was December the last time I've been  to a liquor store.

The next afternoon- I felt that ab workout from the video on Friday night. OMG.

And we're off and running

Here we go. Today is the first full day of Kindergarten plus after care. We arrive at the school this morning at 6:44 (doors open at 6:45) and were the seventh car in line. My goal was to drop WC at the door and have him walk in by himself. Next week the parents aren't allowed to escort the kids in per school policy. And besides the gym, where the kids go when they're dropped off this early, is right inside the doors. I'm not concerned he cant find his way. However, while waiting in line he begins to whine & moan that he doesn't want to walk in by himself. When the people in front of me unload their children and leave, I pull forward and put the car in park and get out with him. I've taken him by the hand and we're walking to the building and I'm in the process of telling him that he's going to the gym when he lets go of my hand and says, "I know where the gym is." In a snotty tone. And then proceeds to power walk away from me. It seems he noticed the other kids going in- all of them sans parent. So I just yell after him. "Okay, have a good day. See you this afternoon- Love you." (little twerp) Through the window I see his skinny legs shuffling quickly in the direction of the gym. Oddly enough I'm not offended by this move. In away I would worry more if he had clung to me. I understand the power of perception of your peers. He doesn't want to stand out as "a new kid" Or have the others think him a "baby" He wants to blend & fit in. Sadly to say if your kid is confident enough to leave you behind then you're doing your job right.

I'm happy to report that I made it to work on time- before 7:30. I dint think there was any way traffic would be that thin- it was rush hour. But maybe I hit it at an in between time. I'm not counting every morning to be that easy. We'll see how next week goes.

Cat was to drop CJ off at my moms on the way to work. She works part time on the weekends at a new age bookstore. Said she'd be back Sunday night to help out next week. I'm not sure I'll need it. 90-95% of the time she's either injured, ill or going through personal relationship drama. So I don't know. She arrived last Sunday & by Tues she had a sore throat and last night her shoulder hurt so bad she walked around looking like Quasimodo. For the most part she just lay on the couch. She kept wincing and whining and bouncing her leg until I told her if she hurt that bad then she needed to see a doctor. She claims she took 8 ibuprofen and they did nothing. I worked on massaging the shoulder for 20 minutes and she said it "dulled the stabbing pain enough to be tolerable." What a drama queen. She isn't suited for being a care giver- it takes too much of the focus off of her. I'm not really sure if the arrangement will work out or not. Maybe we'll try it another week and see what other incurable, horrible condition she comes down with

Mom did call me a little after nine and CJ was safely at her house. Cat's car wouldn't start and she said it stalled backing out of my driveway- but they made it. I shudder. It wasn't easy for me to let her drive my baby...

 

First Day-The Verdict

After my blog post yesterday, Cat & I took CJ over to the daycare to get him setup to start next week. Unfortunately he came down with cold or allergies over the weekend. I spent Sunday giving him the nebulizer and by Monday the chest congestion was gone but his nose is still a fountain. He seems to respond well to Dimetapp and doesnt appear to feel badly. I introduced Cat to the daycare Director- since she may have to pick him up I wanted them to meet. After the paperwork was squared away then we took his things to his classroom. I placed his clothes, etc in the cubby and he clung to my leg. An Elmo doll was spotted across the room. He grabbed my led me over there so he could claim it. The teacher, Ms. Jen came over to talk to him. I've known her for years and she was WC's first daycare teacher. He sat at my feet w/ his blanket and newly claimed Elmo and stared at her like she was out of her mind. Until she announced it was time to color. She asked CJ if he would like to come over to table and color. Now that perked up his interest and he, blanket and Elmo high-tailed it over to the table to get in on the action. It was markers- glorious markers. He never gets markers at home. He colored his neck, the back of his hair, his blanket, Ms. Jen's leg and his paper. Every now and then he'd peek back & make sure I didnt pull a fast one on him and leave. After coloring, we thanked Ms. Jen for letting us come in and visit. I'm so glad Jay's the one tasked with CJ's drop off when the day arrives on Monday.

Yesterday I arrived fifteen minutes before Kindergarten was to let out. Initially worried that we'd be there way too early- then I rounded the corner and became about the thirtieth car in line. Seriously people? As previously instructed I placed the tag w/ my child's name emblazoned in giant bold marker on my dashboard. Luckily- my sister Cat had decided to tag along and CJ sat quietly in his seat, mentally off in another world somewhere. She & I chatted idly with the car windows down with  a lovely uncharacteristically cool breeze for August. Then out came a woman walking down the center between the two rows of cars and she was reading names from the dashboards into a walkie talkie. Once the line got moving it didnt take five minutes to get my kid. He threw his bag into the car and climbed in. "How'd it go?" I asked. "Great," he replied in all smiles. I asked how he liked his teacher. "She was nice to me, so I like her." Then he talked about 900 mph for the next hour and a half. From what I could gather the new playground was "awesome" (he pretended to be Spiderman) and they had a scavenger type hunt for a gingerbread man reading clues that he left on post-it notes. I was able to discern it was one of those get to know your surroundings type exercises. I have to hand it to her in the creativity department. Better than a finger pointing tour- "bathroom over there" with a hand motion. They never could catch that darn gingerbread man but he did leave them cookies. WC is convinced the gingerbread man was, in fact, real.

First Day

I just dropped WC off for his first day of Kindergarten. I'm officially the mom of a school kid. Not sure how I feel about it, honestly. A mix of emotions from excited for him and this new stage to terrified for him to disbelief that I'm old enough to have kid in school.
We didnt even find out until Friday night that his first day would be today. Our school system does a "phase-in" week for Kindergarten. They have one half of the class on Monday & the second half on Tuesday for a half a day. I pick him up at eleven. Then he wont go back until Wed. On Wed is one half class for a full day- ending at 2:30. Then Thurs the other half of class for the day. Then Friday is full steam ahead for the rest of the year. When I left work on Friday I told my boss that I'd either be there Monday or I'd call. I called in this morning.
Last night I packed his book bag with the supplies from the list given me at registration and the other forms that she gave us Friday to fill out.
His teacher seems nice enough. I just wish she didnt speak to me the same way she talks to the kids. As long as WC likes her, that's what matters. Jay decided to go to work late today in order to take WC to school. So we both went with him. We left him sitting at the table coloring. He told me that he missed his friends. I assured him that everyone in the room was in the same situation he is in. Every one is new. None of his friends are at the preschool today. They're all in their new schools too. He told Jay that, "this is cool, man." It seems he has mixed feelings about the kindergarten adventure too.
Now I'm off to register CJ for daycare/preschool.

And the greatest of these is Love

Last night right after I arrived my parents to pick up CJ, a truck pulled in the driveway behind me. It was Uncle K- my dad's brother. Now I haven't seen Uncle K in two years and 5 months. I know this because the last time was at Grandma's funeral, less than a month before CJ was born. My dad was executor of my grandparent's estate (they passed away less than two months apart) and jealousy over money reared its ugly head in a vicious way with my uncles. I'm positive it was spearheaded by the oldest brother "J" and uncle K was sucked in or whatever. They accused my dad of hiding money from them and not splitting it fairly. Now my grandfather's will give all the control to my dad as to what to do. He didn't have to give them a cent. And without a shadow of a doubt I can say my dad didn't do what they accused him of. He isn't perfect by any stretch but he is honest.  My dad is the youngest, by quite a bit. He's a late in life baby. Grandma thought she was going through menopause and turned up pregnant. As most people realize your last child is different from your first. Through time and experience you raise them differently, even if you don't mean to. My dad was the ultimate "baby" of the family. He was spoiled rotten.  It seems that 50 years later his oldest brother still couldn't let that go. Being the first son of my grandfather probably wasn't easy. My grandfather was the oldest of nine kids; he grew up on a farm in rural TN during the depression. His parents died when he was a newlywed and five siblings came to live with him & his new wife.  Then he was drafted into the army and sent to war. Life was hard. I can imagine he was a tough cookie. I also imagine he may have fathered in a way that I would disagree with.  Dad used to tell me the grandfather I knew wasn't the same man who raised them. He was the product of his time/experiences. We all are.

Sadly, "J" has allowed his childhood to taint his entire existence. He's always been a bitter/angry man. The day my grandfather passed away he asked my mom what she was going to do with her inheritance. Naturally, she was appalled. The thought hadn't crossed her mind-the man wasn't cold yet. He said he was looking forward to building his custom house in the country.  I couldn't believe the callousness at the death of his father. He was drunk during the wake.  My father told him not to show up at the funeral if he was drunk. He managed to arrive sober. In the two years since he had to have half his stomach removed because of bleeding. And his liver is shot. This is what holding on to bitterness, anger, resentment gets you- Old, miserable and alone in your custom built house.  The only person he's damaging is himself. Doesn't seem like a way to live- in my humble opinion.

When Uncle K arrived at the back door last night my mom answered. Dad was lounging w/ CJ watching television. Uncle K asked my mom if he was welcome here. And she responded, "Of course you are. Get in here."  I hugged him and we spoke of my kids briefly. He'd never seen CJ & I introduced them. I told CJ that it was his Uncle K. I had to leave to go pick up WC. We said our goodbyes. This morning I asked Mom what he wanted.  He wanted to make amends and see everyone. He's on the list for a heart transplant.  He's been morbidly obese (medically) for a number of years. Years ago he had a heart attack, which caused him to quit smoking. And for a while seemed to watch diet and take care of him. He appears to have backslidden a bit over the past few years. It happens to the best of us, I suppose.

Mom lamented she wished they'd ("J" & Uncle K) would find Christ. I'm thinking that Uncle K coming back over and them welcoming him in and showing him love and forgiveness for the past is huge testimony. She doesn't realize that her actions spoke volumes. I hoping the open dialog can continue and they forge a new relationship and continue to show him the love of Christ through their actions. Maybe even "J" will come back around. Doubtful. We can still pray for him anyway.

Me vs. Wasp

There isn't a lot out there that I'm afraid of. Bugs, spiders, snakes and even the occasional mouse that would get into our ground floor rental didnt leave me standing on a chair in hysterics. But wasps, on the other hand, freak me out. They fly, have stingers and are quick to anger. I understand that they are not some super evil stinging machine- but this goes into that little pocket of irrationality that exists some where in everyone's mind. Some people have more things crammed into that pocket than others. Wasps are one thing in mine.

Yesterday I'd spent my day home with my boys. After WC's test, we went home and played, lunch, CJ went down for nap. WC and I picked up. He washed the sippy cups in the sink. Then CJ woke up and they went about play. I'd been in the office working on photo's then went back into the kitchen to make them dinner. When I heard it. Buzzing. In the window, trapped between the blinds & the glass- A Wasp- on the inside of my house. In the house with me & my babies. I immediately call Jay. He's still a half an hour away. He tells me to kill it. After all he swats wasps out of the air w/ his hand & then steps on them. Seriously- that would mean I'd have to get close. He tells me to wad up a paper towel & smash it. Was he listening to himself? Nothing between me & a wasp stinger but paper- Man's gone mad. And then what if I miss. Then I have a pissed off wasp coming after me. Use a fly swatter- he tells me. But then I'd have to raise the blinds & risk the thing being loose inside the house. I might wet myself. He was of no help- so I hung up. After I pep talk myself- buck up, be a woman not a wuss. I have to keep it away from my kids. I creep closer to the window & lower the blinds all the way & close them- to hopefully better entrap it. I go back to the office and locate the largest hard bound book I could find- Zondervan's Exhaustive Concordance- about five thousand pages (yes I know- I'm crazy). Return to the kitchen. The wasp is madly beating itself against the window and the blinds. It lands on the inside of the blinds and I watch it crawl around. It appeared as though it was about to crawl between the slats when I slammed it through the blinds with the end of the book. When it occurred to me that the pages were inset a little bit- so I'm only squashing it w/ a little bit of the book. I look & sure enough I have the thing trapped across the midsection to the glass- the blinds have parted and the little bastard's looking at me. So I tilt the book slightly then slam the cover of the book over finishing him off. I dont stop pushing on the book for a minute- I want to make sure when I pull the book away he doesnt come after me (yes, I am crazy). I call Jay to tell him my triumph against the evil wasp and he says to me, "Did you really think it could sting you through a thinner hard bound book?"

Just take away my victory man, take away my victory.

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

I purposely havent written in a while because I usually have to email my posts and I didnt want my prayer request for Michele to get buried. It needed to be on top. Today I happen to be at home and have placed my prayer request over on the right side.
Today WC goes for his Kindergarten placement test- we need to leave in about 45 min. We went school shopping Saturday. This was the tax free weekend for the state of TN. Sales tax isnt charged on things likes clothes (articles under $100), supplies needed for school and computers under a certain $ (not printers though). We racked up. I went to a local clothing retailer- every item purchased was on sale, I had a 20% off coupon & no sales tax. It was a blessing and an amazing budget saver. None of his pants from last year fit in length- waist wise he was fine but boys dont wear Capri's. Luckily I found several pants w/ adjustable waist. YAY! Best things ever.
Then to Target for school supplies. Found everything- except 16 count crayons. That's right the list from the school had 4 boxes of 16 count crayons. Why 4 boxes? Why 16 count? I dont know but they weren't there. 4 stores later- I find one box of 16- at the grocery store.
He picked out his back pack-favorite color green & lunch box-Transformers (of course). Now when I went to school the lunch box was metal (later plastic) & it came w/ a thermos on the inside. Education for mommy- they no longer come w/ the thermos. Those are separate & cost an arm & a leg for the character one your kid wants. WC walked around the store wearing his back pack & carrying the lunch box. He received quite the attention & told numerous people he was going to Kindergarten- but not today.
I can't believe it's already here. Kindergarten. It seemed such a long way away when we purchased our house 5 years ago- down the street from a good school. At the time it seemed like it would be forever before our little guy would go there. I think we were considered by some to be quite nuts for already considering his school- at 9 months old. But it has really been a blip.
I've been okay about it. Thought I was ready. But the closer it gets- next Monday- the harder its going to be (on me) he'll be fine.