My Commitment

So the week after I made a commitment to be more faithful with my blog-writing, my computer monitor died. Here I am anyway using Shelby's work computer to post this week's entry. See how dedicated I am?

We made it through the first week of school relatively intact. There is a small busing issue that I am not pleased about. In order to save money, Silver Trail has doubled up with the high school for transportation. The result is a 6:50 pick-up time for my FIVE AND SIX YEAR-OLD! We live eight miles from the school so driving them myself is not an affordable option. No worries though, I have already raised a stink and apparently I am not alone in my concerns. Hopefully it will be peacefully resolved. Of course, that is up to them.

Lilly has every-other-day, all-day kindergarten, a so today was only her third day of school. Not surprisingly, she is a whole different student than Rachel. Every school day with Rachel last year I would get mountains of worksheets, newsletters, and various other little things. With the exception of the first day, I have yet to see a single shred of evidence that Lilly does anything in kindergarten at all. I ask her how her day was, and she seems unsure. I ask her what she did all day and she tells me "I don't know." If you do not know Lilly like I do, you may assume she has a dud for a teacher. But I know my little girl and she is a space cadet. I would not be surprised if she has a stack of papers in her take-home folder (which I also have yet to see, even though I was told it exists) that she keeps forgetting to bring home. I would be more upset and concerned about her spaciness except I can only blame myself. That girl got a strong dose of my genes, I'm afraid. One thing she has that I do not is a great fashion sense. On the second day of school Lilly had a specific outfit in mind. She wanted to wear her new striped shirt (I'm talking bold colors here. The kind of shirt that will cause seizures if you look at it too long) along with black leggings and a blue floral skirt. I tried to talk her out of it but she insisted. I decided that my motives for wanting her to change were vain and self-serving, so I begrudgingly gave in. She put the outfit on the next morning, and you would not believe how cute it was! Probably wouldn't win any fashion awards, but the outfit really did work.

Sending my kids off in the world is emotionally upsetting to me. Every time I send them on that bus I lose control of their well-being. Don't get me wrong, they have fabulous adults out there to help them through the day. But those adults have the best interest of the students as a whole in mind. I don't care a lick about the other students. My number one concern are my precious girls. Rachel came home upset on the second day of school. With much prodding she finally told me her problem. There is a strict rule about pushing in chairs in her class, and when she got up to get a drink, she forgot to push hers in. She said when she came back it was gone. When she asked her teacher, she was told it must have run away. She felt embarrassed, and was heartbroken. I had to suppress my anger long enough to come to the conclusion that the teacher had her reasons, and was not out to get my girl. Rachel was totally over it by the next day, and loves her teacher to death. So no real tragedy here, but it has put me on guard with both my girls.

I have had two full days where it has only been Carson, Emmy, and me at home. Emmy sleeps much of the time, and does not say much. The result is a feeling of a lot of one-on-one time with Carson. I have loved it! Carson and I never ever ever get to spend time together just the two of us. I will say he has a much stronger personality when his sisters are not here. He actually has an opinion on things, and he makes that opinion known! I love it though. One opinionated three-year-old is still easier than two opinionated big girls, an easy-going little boy, and a VERY opinionated one-year-old. While I am loving the time together, I think Carson has been a little bored. On Monday he headed for the bus stop without me about three hours too early. I asked him where he was going and he said very firmly "To get Rachel and Lilly." It was all I could do to convince him to wait. Today while we were running errands, his mood changed noticeably. He became much more subdued as he crossed his arms and dropped his head. I asked him what was wrong and he said "I miss Rachel and Lilly." So sad!

Emilia has got to be my worst traveler so far. I cannot get in the car with her without hearing her pterodactyl screech. I thought moving her to a forward facing seat would help keep her brain occupied. All it has done is helped her create eye contact with everyone while she complains. Still I love her. She voluntarily gives me kisses all the time, which makes my whole world go around. She is just learning how to go down the stairs. It is inevitable that every baby will fall at least once when mastering this fete. Emmy's fall was yesterday. Remember, the bottom of our stairs is a stone landing. She was of course upset. I trotted down and brushed her off, and cuddled her a little and the whole thing was over. Now contrast that with the time Rachel rolled off the couch onto a soft carpeted floor when she was a baby. I was sure I had given her brain-damage. Luckily I was on the phone with a veteran mother at the time who told me she was probably just fine. I went ahead and forewent the 911 call, but I was shaky and panicked. I spend the rest of the day watching for signs of a concussion. First babies, you know.

First Day of School!

I have not blogged since July 6th? For the one or two people who read this blog faithfully I apologize. As I have said in the last couple of posts, we have been having way too much summer fun! Laundry has piled up, the house is in need of some serious tlc, and we have all been going to bed far too late and sleeping in way too long. Sadly summer fun is no more as of yesterday. Rachel started first grade yesterday, and my little Lilly began her first day of kindergarten this morning. Kuna school district, the fate of my little children is now in your hands. At least Monday through Friday from 8am until 2:30. Treat them well, they are special little beings!

I only get slightly choked up when I think about Lilly going off into the world where I cannot protect her, but despite the absence of tears, I am emotionally affected. Last night I had a dream that I sent my three oldest children to Disneyland with a large group of strangers. It didn't occur to me that it was a bad idea until they were already gone. When they got back I asked if everyone was nice to them and they told me no. The deeper meaning is not hard to see.

You have never met two children who were this excited to start school. Lilly was visibly giddy. She is a giggly thing anyway, but last night after Shelby took her to buy a new Dora the Explorer backpack she came back beside herself. She had a hard time settling down for bed, but got up this morning very willingly and got ready in record time.

As is Rachel's nature, her excitement was a bit more subtle. When asked if she is excited for first grade, her eyes light up and she does her trademark coy smile and answers with a quiet "yes". Her teacher told her on back-to-school night that her only homework was to get a good night's sleep. Rachel obeyed and was out by eight. This never happens in Rachel's world. She is a night owl who likes to sleep in. Since her bus picks her up at the unreasonable hour of 6:50, hopefully she will be able to make a habit of going to sleep early.

Carson is quite enjoying this day without his sisters. Emilia is asleep, so he and I have the rare treat of being each other's sole companions. Still, it was almost ten o'clock before he realized the girls were missing. He asked were they were, and was not at all upset when I told them they would be gone for the day.

As sad as I am to see summer fun end, and as much as I dread having to once again wake up before the crack of dawn, it has been apparent over these past few weeks how very restless we were all becoming. There have been a lot of little fights, and even a few knock-down drag-outs. Most of the fights involved Rachel "just playing" with Carson or Lilly, who would in turn screech and squeal and cry, since neither of them thought of Rachel's man-handling as playing. As my tolerance waned, I found myself sending them downstairs to watch movies way more than I should have. This all made it easier to send them back to school.

For the record, Emmy had her 12-month check-up a couple of weeks ago. Yes it is true, my little baby is now a 1-year-old! The doctor says everything looks good, although she is excessively small. She weighed in at 17lbs, which puts her once again in the 1st percentile. No worries though. Dr. Hanks is unconcerned, and so am I. The kid eats like crazy, and is very happy and healthy. She can now say mom (although she almost never does), dad (her favorite word), uh-oh, and I swear she occasionally says "cat". She also has "tricks" that she will do, but not usually on command. She gives big slobbery kisses, waves, and claps. But my favorite thing is when she dances. I am always amazed at how innate the need to move to music is, and how young babies are when they start grooving to the beat.