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.