week ending sept 20, 2009:

Week ending Sept 20, 2009: This week the kids have been playing with some kids from the neighborhood. The boy is in their kindergarten class and the girl is 2 or 3 years older, but rides the bus with them and seems to really hit it off with Chloe. On Friday I dropped both twins off at their house and they all played together, and on Saturday as soon as they got up Alex and Chloe wanted me to call and see if they could have another play date. I called and got the answering machine. The twins asked 20 questions about when we would receive a call back. They watched the phone and worried that we’d miss the call. When they couldn’t stare at the phone they made frequent trips back to the phone to check to see if the message light was blinking. When we did hear from the family we opted for a “kid swap” and I dropped Chloe off and picked up their son leaving each family with the same number of kids, but all the kids much happier. When I was driving the neighbor boy back to his house, he and Alex were planning their next get together. They decided that the next day they’d go to the boy’s house, and then they’d do our house, and then alternate houses every day forever. It was so cute to see them both so excited about seeing each other again!

Chloe’s big excitement this week came when she lost an upper tooth (her 3rd tooth loss). The tooth had been hanging on by a thread for well over a week and she’d been talking with everyone about it. One of the kids on the bus told her that the tooth fairy isn’t real and that it is really the moms who take the teeth and leave presents. Chloe wasn’t having any of it though because she said that if a parent walked into her room after she’d gone to sleep, she would wake up and see the parent.

week ending sept 13, 2009:

Week ending Sept 13, 2009: This week the shine wore off of school. Alex decided he hates school and doesn’t want to go anymore. Even Chloe started having some complaints. It turns out that Alex got in trouble for not paying attention. The teacher has clothes pins with one child’s name on each. If the child gets a warning their clothes pin gets put in “red” and if they have trouble again, they go into “sit and think” (the school’s version of time out). Chloe’s been in “sit and think” before, but she doesn’t really mind. I’ve said before that she has a more “fluid” vision of rules than Alex’s very rigid view. Alex, however, was crushed when he was put in “sit and think”. He was mad at the teacher and ready to give up on school. He said it was “too hard”. It so happened that later that day was “back to school” night and I got to go to the school and meet the teacher. She said that most of the kids were settling in and getting relaxed and that part of the “getting relaxed” process was that many of them are forgetting to follow the rules. The next day neither Alex nor Chloe had to go in “sit and think”, so I congratulated them on accomplishing something that was so hard and we went to the dollar store to pick out a treat each.

I’ve been taking advantage of the time that the kids are at school to go through their toys and get rid of some things to make room for the goodies they are likely to get for their birthdays. I went through Alex’s desk drawers, 4 of them, that are each filled to the brim with each and every paper airplane that he has ever made. I decided that getting rid of half was fair and picked through to find the ones that looked least likely to fly or most similar to the others in the same drawer (and therefore least likely to be missed). When I finished there was a HUGE pile of paper airplanes on the bedroom floor so I decided to count them. It turns out that HALF of Alex’s paper airplane collection consists of 64 airplanes. SIXTY FOUR!

We went to Deleware to visit Great Granddad because Uncle Bob, Aunt Liz, Cousin Ginny, and Cousin Samantha were also visiting. Grammy Carole, Granddad, Dan, Danielle, Natalie, and Aiden also joined us. The kids decided to go the neighborhood creek and wade while looking for minnows. The kids had a great time with their cousins. The older girls are 12 and 13, but they really make the effort to pay attention to the little ones and the little ones just eat up the attention. pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/constance.phelps/SmithFamilyReunion2009#

week ending sept 6, 2009

Week ending September 6, 2009: The kids and I survived their 1st full week of Kindergarten. In fact none of us even cried. Chloe told me that a couple kids in their class have cried during the week because they miss their moms, but Alex and Chloe have been ok. When she said that a girl had cried, I asked Chloe if she had given the girl a hug. Chloe said “There are rules, Mom. ‘Stay in your seat, no talking, no touching’.” She repeated it rapid-fire, like a mantra that they’d heard over and over. So far all the things that the kids have said about their teacher sound like good things. She seems to be encouraging and upbeat. One problem though is that she has trouble remembering Chloe’s name and calls her “Cleo” instead. Chloe let it slip that the teacher was joking and said she’d remember Chloe’s name if Chloe would remember to follow the rules. Oh? And what rule have you been breaking? Turns out it was the “no talking” rule. Go figure! Both kids really like gym class and they have been showing off their muscles to me. On the first day that the whole class came to school at the same time, Alex was happy to learn that one of his friends from preschool is in the class. It is harder to get Alex’s impression of school because he doesn’t volunteer to talk about it. One day I asked him “what was one good thing that happened today?” He said “I didn’t get kicked”. He wasn’t being sarcastic or displaying an early version of dry humor, he was really grateful that he didn’t get kicked that day because the day before someone kicked him. I guess it pays to be thankful for the little things!

The kids were pretty tired in the mornings and if I didn’t keep an eye on them I’d find them lying down on the rug instead of getting ready, but they cooperate as long as I am on top of them. One morning Alex seemed so tired he was almost like a zombie. I’d find him just staring at the wall, and then I’d say “put your shirt on” and he’d pull it over his head and stare at the wall again, and then I’d say “put your arms through the holes… now the other arm”. Fortunately I’m NOT trying to get myself ready at the same time, so I can just stand between the two of them and bark orders.

Which leads me to the question everyone seems to ask, “What do you DO all day while the kids are at school?”. As soon as the bus leaves, I jog for about 10 minutes (which is actually longer than my stamina right now and I have to walk part of it), then I do some more exercise at home, shower, do dishes and laundry, run errands, work toward catching up on housework, and I’ve been doing a lot of cooking. So far I’ve made soy sauce chicken, turkey pot pie, pumpkin pie, sausage rolls, and homemade bread.

week ending aug 30, 2009

Week ending Aug 30, 2009: I should have anticipated the results of the teacher allowing the kids to help create the rules at school: Chloe wants to set her own rules at home. I didn’t say “no”, I said “what rule would you want to set?” She said “more TV time”. I said “do you want to be smart when you grow up so you can get a good job and earn lots of money and buy a nice house?” She said “Yes”. I said “then you need to spend your time learning, playing, and exercising. TV is just a waste of time.” She said that she learns to read and count by watching TV. I asked what she learned from “The Penguins of Madagascar” (a very silly show). Chloe admitted she didn’t learn anything from that show. Alex said he learned fighting skills. Chloe asked why they make TV if it is a waste of time. At least I diverted the argument without being the bad guy! One benefit of the kids being away for several hours is that I got the housework done and got a break from 20 questions such that I didn’t mind participating in this particular debate (it never hurts when I win the debate either). Although I will concede Chloe one point, she said “you spend all day on the computer and that’s a waste of time”. Ouch!

We took advantage of one of our last weekdays together before school starts to visit some local toy stores with the twins and update their wish lists. I’ve posted the results on-line.