I'm going to go ahead....

...and blog about this. I probably shouldn't, but I guess I need to share and vent....

My daughter got sent to the principal's office last week.  (frowny face)

I did not know about it until three days later!  ...and I probably wouldn't have known about it had I not stopped the teacher after school on Friday to just ask "so, everything going okay?...."

I'm frustrated that my daughter was sent to the principal's office for misbehavior.  However, I do know that she has a semi-wild side to her, and she is very active and very "hands-on" so to speak.  Thus, the nature of the visit. More about that in a second. I'm REALLY frustrated that I was NOT TOLD that she had visited the principal's office.  Does this happen so often with students that parents are not informed each time it happens?  Even a note home that day would have been something...some type of notification.

Am I a "helicopter mom"?  Am I too involved in my kid's activities? I have done all this reading that it is a GOOD thing to be involved in your children's lives and in their school activities, etc.  I'm starting to question that.

Anyway, back to the 'why' of the trip to the principal's office....As I mentioned, Allison is very "hands on" meaning that she has always been a huggy, touchy kid...I've encouraged that at home. Again, I thought it was a good thing.  Show your kid that you love them, etc.  She loves to give hugs and kisses.  Well, she also does this at school. It was a problem in preschool and kindergarten, but I guess I thought it had been handled satisfactorily there.  This summer, we had some more issues with it.   I told a friend that we tell her so often when she goes to do something, "Now, remember, what do you do with your hands?" or something similar that I think she hears Charlie Brown's teacher's voice..."blah blah blah blah"....

This year I guess she is "punching' boys in the stomach.  Is it punching to hurt, or just kind of a jab, I don't know, and it really doesn't matter.  The little boy she sits by is taking it from her, but overall the boys don't like it, which is of course understandable.  The teacher is afraid that someone is going to retaliate (to which I thought well that would maybe help end it)...of course neither of us can encourage that.  ...and I don't want the expensive glasses to be broken...

So, what do I do?  She knows it's wrong; she knows she shouldn't do it.......but she is not mature enough yet to control herself.  This otherwise very bright little girl cannot control her .... herself...her reactions...her driven instinct....

(sigh)  It's going to be a long year.....heck, a long two years......................


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Grandparents Day at School

Today was Grandparents' Day celebration at Allison's school.  There was a potluck breakfast and then chapel service and then grandparents could go back to the kids' rooms if they wanted to.  


I made a "French Toast Souffle", which I also had made last year.  Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as it was last year...:(   I didn't have any half-and-half cream, so I just used regular milk...and I thought I would use French bread instead of just plain old bread. I had seen other recipes that called for French bread so I figured it would be okay. I think I used too much maybe. There just wasn't very much flavor. The recipe also uses 8 ounces of cream cheese. I remember tasting more of that last year.  So, note to self...do FOLLOW the recipe! HA!



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In Remebrance

Many of the children I work with, if not all, were too young at the time of September 11, 2001, to remember the events of that day, or not even BORN yet.  It seems impossible that it's been 10 years.  

It was an awful day....

I was living in Marysville, but had not gotten married yet.  We were to be married in just a little over two short months from when this happened.  I was teaching in the worst job that I've ever had ... I was in a job teaching jr. high special education, a job that I was totally not prepared nor educated to perform.   It was just as 2nd hour was beginning or had just started.  I was told to turn on the television in the classroom.   Fear overcame me.  I had never had to view something this horrific on American soil.  Something like this was not supposed to happen on American soil.

I have read comments from people that they do not with to relive those horrific events of September 11, 2011, and why is the media playing back-to-back shows regarding this.  Well, I can agree with this statement from the view that today's media just seems to want to sensationalize anything that will draw an audience. However, on the other hand, I can see the need, given it IS the 10th anniversary, to ... remember ....   To honor those INNOCENT people who were either trapped in one of the airplanes used as bombs, those people who were performing their jobs in the Pentagon or one of the Twin Towers, those brave emergency workers who are called upon each and every day of their jobs to serve and protect the public....

So, thanks to God for protecting HIS citizens and taking those in HIS comforting arms.  Thanks to those who make a difference in our world today, doing God's work, to HIS glory.

God Bless America

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Family Storytime....New Year Begins

...and who would the new family storytime storyteller????  Why it is ME!  ...and we had our first session Thursday evening.  I was nervous, believe it or not.  I had done storytime before Allison was born, when I worked at the library before.  I did my last storytime like two or three weeks before Allison was born...almost 7 years ago.  I normally feel competent to work with kids, and talking in front of kids, and in fact when I do something like this, I don't even realize there are adults/parents in the room. However, like I said, I was nervous going into it.  I don't think I felt as prepared as I would have liked to have been. Plus, we've had two really really creative people lead family storytime in the interim.  I am working 10 hours a week at the library now, which does include the 4.5 hours that I do Homework Center. That leaves me 5.5 hours to plan and actually DO the storytime each week.  That may sound like a lot of time but it really goes fast.

So, how did Thursday go? It went fine. It went FAST too!  Allison really liked Mandy, the last person who did storytime. She was disappointed when she left.  She really wasn't that happy that I took it over either. It's interesting how all the child development/psychology material say that parents should be involved in their children's lives, at school, etc etc etc......I think Allison feels I am TOO involved in her life!!!  Whether it be school, Sunday School, activities, and NOW library too....it's too much! LOL    So,  asked her how I did after storytime was over Thursday night. She looks real serious and says, "Better than I expected really."  Well, okay then......


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Labor Day Weekend Family Reunion

For the past several years, my mom's side of the family has had a family reunion on Labor Day weekend.  In the past it has been on Saturday; this year it was today, on Sunday. There was a really good turnout this year, too, probably due to the change of days.  I believe there was nearly 100 people there.  We met this year at the 'home' church of my grandma's family in McFarland.  It was a nice day; nice weather, and nice turnout. It was good to see my sister, her husband, and my darling little niece Shelby.   She is so sweet...loved seeing her!


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Proud Mama

I knew of course that Allison was a bright little girl.  She's been speaking and carrying on conversations since she was about 18 months old; she's known her alphabet and how to count since about then too; letter sounds came early; and she easily is reading at least at a fourth grade level at least in word call and usage since mid-kindergarten.  


At the end of the school year last year (kindergarten), Allison's class took the ITBS (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills).   I know as well as others that testing are all really very subjective. There are so many factors that have effect on the results of children's achievement testing.  That's why it is and has been such a conflicted and debated subject.  However, it is, by nature, something that we may put a lot of stock into, whether we want to verbally admit it to others.  As educators, it does play a part in the overall assessment of a child in their classroom...along with the day to day work, testing, and anecdotes.  The state and federal departments of education and other funding agencies and licensing agencies put a lot more stock into the test scores.  As a private school, however, with small class sizes, we don't always see the testing results in general because they only post on the education website those classes with at least 10 (I think) students.  


Well, anyway, the school sent home a little envelope with the test results in it.  I had been looking forward to seeing this information, but I didn't know that was what was in this little blue envelope before I opened it.  There was a multi-folded 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper with typing on it, and a small slip of paper, maybe 1 1/2 inch x 11 inches.  I held my breath. I know, I know....   But at that moment, the whole worth of me as a mother, and Allison's success (or not) in school all lay in balance in that little strip of paper.  The large piece of paper was written by the school principal to try to assist in reading the test results.  


The tests assessed Vocabulary, Word Analysis, Listening, Language, Mathematics, and the Core Total.  My little miss got the highest score possible pretty much in all areas.  Whew! I am so proud of her.!!!  I am not necessarily proud of how much pressure I put on myself to have Allison be successful.  I try really really hard not to put undue stress on her! I do realize that about myself.  However, I just want her to be the most successful, well-adjusted (:-) child that I can....   I also think education is soooo extremely important.  It's what makes a person who they are.  Education doesn't necessarily mean all book and paper and in-school learning. It is LIFE and being exposed to different experiences and being curious and wanting to learn about different things.  


At any rate, I am so thankful that she is doing so well in school, and in education, and in life.  Now, we just need to continue our hard work, and keep that moving forward.  I think we'll do just fine. 


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