Glimpsing the Future

Today was NOT fun! I was up at the butt-crack of dawn gathering sleeping children and trying to keep myself some-what sane! After I get the hang of this new schedule I think I'll like it, but it's DEFINITELY gonna take some time!

To help myself out I've spent my newly acquired babysitting paycheck on helpful baby stuff. We bought a nice play pen and a clearance baby swing. I'm hoping that while one baby is screaming and crying, I'll be able to soothe the other one with either the play pen or the swing.

Walking to school with Cameron, L and E this morning was a HUGE eye-opener. I'm not sure how I'll be able to walk with an extra child and not have a stroller that holds all of them. UGH! So fortunately, Jane's mom is going to pick up Cam for school tomorrow! That's one less thing I'll have to worry about! I'll just have to figure out how to get him home! Any suggestions!?

I was seriously stressing about this whole situation yesterday, but now I think it'll be okay. When I realized I would be watching kids from 5:30 until noon, I thought it would drag on forever. But in reality, it went by really fast! Adding one more child shouldn't hurt...should it!?

Thanks for all of your kind words about my insanity...most others when I tell them about my new habit give me THAT look. You know the one....where the smile fades and the eyes speak words I don't really like to use! I just have to have a positive attitude and all will be well. Once the schedule is established it will be FABULOUS!!

And on a slightly funny note: Cam cried HARD today when I dropped him off at school today. The kid has been going to school now for 3 years, but he chooses today to have a breakdown! He was fine once I left, but it was quite a sad feeling seeing his blotchy red face and hearing his piercing screams fill the room. Eventually he was fine, but it broke MY heart!

Day Two of my Kindergarten Saga

I'm THRILLED beyond words!! A little girl from church is in Cam's class!! When I was talking with her mom earlier this summer, we both mentioned how good it would be for our kids if they were together in school, AND NOW THEY ARE!! I can breathe a sigh of relief. Little Jane will take GOOD care of my boy: helping him feel more included and help him be more outgoing. Jane is THE most outgoing little kid I know! I love her to DEATH!! Every Sunday she makes sure that she goes out of her way to make Cameron know that she's happy to see him. I can't tell you how excited I am for this!

We walked to school this morning...on our own for probably the last time for a LONG time, and I reviewed all of the "walking to school rules." ("Do you see any cars coming?" "Hold my hand." "Where are you going to meet mama after school?") Now I just have to worry about getting my babysitting habit under control.

Here's my NEW problem: I'm adding yet another child to my growing list of charges to babysit. (YES, I am officially insane!) Last night I talked with my aunt who wondered if I could watch her granddaughter for an hour or two here and there while she's busy working, and her daughter has to go to work...until her OTHER daughters get home from school. (Are you confused yet!?) So now my babysitting schedule is going to be crazy!!

On Mondays I will pretty much be on my own!! (Thank heaven for SMALL miracles...) I'll only have another kid if I have to watch baby B. (My new charge...she's 7 months old...so she'll be one of the OLD kids! What am I getting myself into!?) And even then, I'll only be watching her from 12:30 until 3:00! Not too bad!!

On Tuesdays I will only have to watch baby J. (The newborn...he'll be a month old on Saturday!) I'll start watching him about 7:30 or so...I haven't really figured out the times yet with him. I'll be talking to my cousin about it sometime soon! And after school, Cam STILL has speech therapy. Will I be able to shuffle all of this!?

On Wednesdays I may or may not have little L and baby E. (Little L is almost 2 and baby E is 3 months old.) When I start watching them tomorrow I'll have to be awake at 5:30 AM! (I am NOT a morning person, so this will be the hard part!) My friend L will drop them off in jammies and blankies and hopefully *crossing fingers* they'll sleep until 8:00 or so. (As long as Cam doesn't wake them!) Then I'll have to dress all three kids (me too) and walk Cam to school at 8:30! This is where I'm starting to think I was crazy to agree to all of this. Hopefully we'll get a routine going and the kids will adjust quickly! On Wednesdays Cam gets out of school early, so we'll pick him up and I'll only be busy with all three kids for an hour or so...until L and E's dad comes to pick them up.

Thursdays will be my insanely busy day! I'll have baby J, little L, and baby E! We'll ALL have to walk to take Cam to school....can I say....DOUBLE STROLLER!? Then I'll have all three kids together until noon....After L and E go home with their dad I'll have J until about 4 or so, but in that time Cam will have to ride the van so he can go to occupational therapy at 3:00! I'll be able to NAP when they all are gone! (At least I'm hoping!)

Fridays I'll be back to having L and E...coming bright and early at 5:30! But we don't have therapy, or extra kids...unless I need to watch B. (B could come during ANY of those days too, so the count will stand at kids: 5 me: one!)

I may have to babysit on an occasional Saturday, but it won't be too bad! On those days I'll only have the kiddos for a few hours here and there! My main concern right now is just finding a decent play pen to put the babies in while the older ones romp and play. Right now when I lay baby E on the floor he loves it, but he will get mauled shortly afterward if I don't keep a close eye on him. I'm hoping with a play pen, he'll be able to lay or play without the added bonus of being attacked by little L and Cameron.

So, in summary....I'm a crazy lady and I need a padded room and a straight jacket immediately! Anyone able to help!?

Day of Nerves and Relief

Kindergarten is going FABULOUSLY...even with it's being the first day! I got Cam up and dressed (He whined all night last night. Don't really know if it was nerves, or if he was really in pain like he claimed!) He was so defiant, but seemed ready to go to school. We got dressed, and then we were off on our walk to the "big" school. (It's just down the street...takes all of 2 minutes to get to the front door of the school!)
Anyway, as we started off, I noticed my visiting teaching partner walking her daughter to school as well. I thought, "This will be cool...having our kids together!" We walked to the classroom and Cam kept asking me if they really needed him at school. He's always been an inquisitive child, and when he asks us why daddy has to go to work our response is, "Because they need him there." So he thinks that school is his work, and that they need him there! I reassured him that they DID need him and we walked into the room which was FILLED with students, parents, and aides. I saw some kids who clung to their parents for dear life, and others (like my son) who found their seat and waved good-bye to their parents...all grown up! We dropped of the community supplies (aka: school supplies) then we hung up empty back packs and found our way to the school's library. Most of us were BRAND new as kindergarten students' parents. I think MOST of the kids are the oldest ones and that's why we all were new to this. We talked with the principal (still don't know if I like her or not...), filled out forms, and made sure that our kids were ready to continue their start into kindergarten.
We actually didn't do too much, so after the "open house" was over we all sat in the hallway and waited for our students to finish up their evaluations. I don't know if I explained it very well, but what the deal is with the unknowing which session they're in is this: the kids were tested today to see where they place on early reading tests. Those tests were evaluated to see what percentile they're in, and then the classes were arranged with equal numbers of kids who are high on the scale and low on the scale...to make for a more BALANCED class.
When we were all crowded into the library I checked to see if I had turned in the proper papers for Cam to be in school and the secretary showed me the paper. Next to Cam's name it had "AM." She asked me if I still wanted him in the AM session, and I agreed. She told me that unless something major happened, he would most likely be in that session since I had requested it. PHEW!! What a relief that was!!
I ended up talking with some other parents and we all were nervous for our kids and hoping they were all getting along well. After a very LONG hour (time really does change when you are anxious!) the kids came out, found their parents and backpacks and the day was done. I talked with both the principal and the teacher to tell them that the in-class aide situation was in the works, but that the aide couldn't start until NEXT week. They both thought that was okay, and reassured me that he would be just fine this first week without an aide. This week will be mostly spent on further testing of the kids to see what they know and what needs to be worked on. I can't believe all the stuff kindergartners have to do now! I just remember coloring, playing with toys, and having fun...now they work, work, work! I certainly hope Cam makes it through all that he's expected to get through! (Can you tell I'm WAY more nervous about this than Cam is!?)
Overall I wasn't that worried about him leaving...just him being left behind the other kids. Having a child who isn't developmentally up to date with his peers is hard!! Especially for someone like me who is so perfectionistic. I guess I just have to let him learn and grow at his own pace and not worry too much about it. But it's going to be hard!
I did get the news I wanted...he WILL be in the morning session!! YAY! Now we'll just have to figure out the babysitting situation. More stress to come!!
And now, as a special treat for reading my extra long blog, that cartoon I TRIED to scan two weeks ago, but now all colored and pretty...and READABLE!! :)