A little more notice would be nice

The weekly school notice came home on Monday and I scanned it quickly as I usually do. Normally most of the information in it doesn't pertain to kindergarten so I don't pay much attention. But something at the very end of the notice, almost like an afterthought, caught my eye. Pajama Day, February 6th! Wear your pajamas to school! So I wander over to the calendar and see that February 6th is this Friday. As in 4 days from now. This means I need to go out and buy the boys' pajamas for Pajama Day because they wear the footed pajamas at home. They love them. But I can't very well send them to school in feeties. So I have been on the hunt for long-sleeve, long-pants pajamas. But, of course, this being the first week in February all that is available is tank-top-and-shorts pajamas. Really, the retail industry annoys me to no end. Who the hell are going to buy summer pajamas in February in New England?

I really would like to know.

A milestone of sorts

Yesterday, I dropped the boys off for a playdate at their friend's house. Alone.

And that is the milestone.

I wouldn't call myself overprotective per se. More non-trusting. I just don't trust anyone else with my kids' safety and well-being besides family. Any time Sean and I go out, it is always my mother or my sister or his mother who watches the kids. We are so lucky to have so much family around.

The boys had been to this friend's house once before but I had gone with them. To scope it out for future alone-playdates. I have been chit-chatting with the mom in the schoolyard since September and she seems really nice and together but you just never know. So I went to their first playdate with them. And it was fine. They have two HUGE Rottweilers which freaked me out at first but they were like big teddy bears. So the house got the green light for future independent playdates.

I dropped them off after school and Ciara was all excited because she thought she was going too. Poor kid. She screamed for about 45 minutes with that choppy, sobbing kind of voice. "But I...(sob sob)....want to go to....(sob sob)...Jackson's house!!" And getting out of the car, Gavin told me that he wanted Ciara to come, too. That was sweet and kind of uncharacteristic of him. I think he really likes when all three of them are together.

I picked them up about an hour and a half later and all was well. They had fun, they behaved (so the mom told me) and I am glad I let them go. It was a big milestone for me too.

Moving on...

I am still sad about Finn. I keep looking up to the second floor landing when I come home, expecting to see him there wagging his tail. But I am trying to think about good things so let's post a good thing...

I had Aidan's kindergarten conference last week. Regardless of what Mr. K had to tell me, I knew that I was so proud and happy of where Aidan is right now. He is so far beyond where I thought he would be. Not that I didn't have confidence in my son, but in September he was just not that into letters and numbers. He was all about playtime and I just thought he'd have a tough time getting used to the structure of school. Well, I am proud to say that he is READING!! Never in a million years did I think he would be reading in January. Of course, Mr. K said "What did you expect? He is in my class!". I swear he started off at least three sentences with "I don't want to brag but....". He opened Aidan's journal and pointed to his story. Aidan has begun writing the words himself instead of telling them to his teacher and having them written for him. Mr. K said "I bet your other son is not doing this". To which I replied "Actually, he is." Gavin always was slightly ahead of Aidan in the academic department. He was interested in letters and sounds and putting them together before Aidan was. If Gavin could have withstood Mr. K's intensity and stayed in his class, he would have excelled beyond where he is now. Gavin's teacher is great for him but I feel she doesn't push the kids and take them further. Gavin is writing/reading mostly in part because it interests him and he has taken it upon himself to do it.

So, I may have complained and grumbled about Mr. K's method of teaching. But Aidan is reading and for that I am grateful. I still don't think the ends justifies the means. He could definitely add some fun to his teaching style.

Tribute

To Finn.

The reason we could not leave food unattended.

The reason we had to store food in the microwave.

The reason we needed to put the trashcan up whenever we left the house.

The reason we kept a water bottle nearby for incessant barking when he spied a squirrel.

The reason for my tears.

Goodbye.

Yup, they're my kids all right

Aidan: Asks me at least three times a week if we can "order something and have it brought to our house".

Ciara: Every time I pick her up at preschool she asks me "Can we go out to lunch?"

Gavin: Well, he just loves to eat.

On this historic day...

I am not a political person at all. But today, even I can feel the excitement, hope and patriotism that every American is surely feeling.

And also, the pride.

Something I rarely do

I never wax poetic on how cute my kids are. It is not that I don't think they are cute, of course I do. But I am always reminded of a quote I once saw. Something like, "There is only one beautiful child in the world and every mother has it". So I hardly ever go on about my kids to other people because of course no other adult will think my kids are as cute as I do. But I had to make an exception for these pictures of Gavin. Not Aidan, mind you. These are really not flattering pictures of him. So just focus on Gavin in the red shirt.

Gavin usually does not take great pictures unless I get him in a completely candid moment. He usually does this goofy thing with his mouth where he has a forced, lopsided smile. Or he doesn't look at the camera. Or he closes his eyes on purpose. When I saw how these came out, I was taken aback by how absolutely adorable Gavin looked in them.

People always ask me how I tell them apart. Really?

This is my favorite. Look at that little face. I just want to squeeze him.

Incidentally, this is how it usually goes with picture taking at my house. Whenever one looks great, the other looks goofy. This time it was Aidan's turn.

I will now never be able to use the computer

Heaven help me. Ciara began using the computer full force this weekend. She has been messing around, trying to figure things out, watching her brothers play their games. Then on Saturday, something clicked (haha, "clicked" -- get it??) and she just was clickin' and draggin' all over the place. I set her up on PBS kids and away she went.
What amazes me with Ciara is how much more advanced she seems at this age(3.5) than Aidan and Gavin were. I know that is usually how it goes with younger siblings. They absorb all the things their older siblings do and say. The boys got an alphapbet Go Fish game for Christmas and we played game after game for the duration of winter break. Ciara, not one to be left out of the fun, insisted on playing even though I didn't think she knew her letters. Well, it turns out she did know a few letters but the amazing thing is that by the end of winter break, she knew all her letters. Just from that Go Fish game. Of course we played 175 games of Go Fish but still...I think that was pretty neat.
And now. Now she can use the computer. Gone are the days where I can come home from dropping the boys off at school, put on Backyardigans for Ciara, grab a cup of coffee and sit and check my blogs and emails. Right now she is behind me saying "Are you done, Mom?"....."NOW are you done?"........"Did you check your emails?"...."NOW???"......

Waiting

I like this picture. My boys and my nephew had been playing hard on Christmas Eve at my parents' house. The house was packed and warmer than usual with all the body heat so they all asked to take off their sweaters because they were "soooo sweaty!".

Then it was time for the present! opening! and while we tried to corral all the kids near the tree and open presents with some semblance of calmness and order (yeah, right), I snapped this picture of the three boys. I love the look of anticipation on their faces.

About three seconds after this picture was taken, the frenzy of bows, ribbon, and wrapping paper flying into the air began. So much for calmness and order.

The year of the cookbook

I am not one for making resolutions but this year I decided to try one. I am going to try to actually cook recipes from the multitude of cookbooks sitting in my cabinet shelves.

I love to cook and I am an avid cookbook collector. It all started years ago when Sean and I lived in Ireland. The Naked Chef (aka Jamie Oliver) had a cooking show on television there at the time and he was being touted as the freshest thing to come into the kitchen in recent years. The next time Sean and I went into Dublin, I bought his book at Waterstones and I was hooked. Each recipe had a full page color photo and also a paragraph or two about the dish. How it came to be, why he chose to make it this way,etc. I love history behind recipes.

So now, I have at least 30 cookbooks (not to mention cooking magazines and recipes I have printed off the internet) that I read like novels when I get them. Then I ooh and ahh over several recipes, make a mental note to come back to them and then put them on my bedside night table. There they sit until the stack gets too unbearable to look at and in the cabinet they go. My problem is that lately life has just been too hectic to sit and plan a menu, make a grocery list and then execute the dish on the designated night. I tend to buy the same pieces of meat and staples each week and just cook. No book, no recipe, just whatever I feel like making that night.

Well, all that's about to change! Not today. And maybe not tomorrow. But hopefully this weekend I can sit and look through some books and make a plan.

...Dr. Ciara...paging Dr. Ciara...

Take that, Mr. K

The other night we were watching The Year Without a Santa Claus and there was a part where Santa hops on one of his reindeer and flies off to look for his elves. Aidan said to me "Mr. K says there is no such thing as flying reindeer". Well, I have just about had it with Mr. K and his bits of information he shares with the children. First it was 'if you do not eat healthy foods and take care of your body, you will die'. Now this may be true, but I don't think a five year old can quite grasp that concept and for weeks Aidan was walking around asking me if he was going to die. Then, Mr. K brought the whole race aspect into the presidential election. Now, it was a historic election because of that but again, five year olds have no frame of reference for this. I don't think it needed to be accentuated. Especially when Aidan came home talking about how "many, many people are losing their jobs because of this last, white president" (Aidan's words).

And so now, it is "no such thing" as flying reindeer. I am of the opinion that kids grow up way too fast and how many years will they believe in the magic of Christmas? At five, I am afraid there are very few left for them. So I was a little annoyed that he is putting some doubt in Aidan's head and taking away some of that magic.

Then a friend gave me a link to the Portable North Pole . You can set up a personalized video for your child from Santa. You can even provide a picture so Santa can show the child he/she is on his Good List. You can also choose from a few specific questions that Santa can answer for your child. One option was How Do Your Reindeer Fly? and launches into a little informational video about how elves go into the field and pick a special lichen off the trees that the reindeer like to eat. Then they take it back to the workshop and mix it with some magical potion and voila! flying reindeer. I was so happy he got a little of that magic back even though he didn't really say anything after watching the video. I know he was still amazed.

Wouldn't you know it?

So, my computer has been on the fritz lately. The monitor is completely gone on the laptop so I had been waiting for Sean to bring one home from work. In the meantime, I was trying to get the Christmas card set and started getting nervous as days went by with no monitor. I couldn't upload all the photos I had been taking (see previous post) and so I had to resort to using photos from this summer in Maine. I just hate doing that because I like using Christmasy pictures plus I like to send the most up-to-date photo possible because this is the only time our out of state/country relatives see the kids. But, whatever. The card came out alright, I don't love it but what are you going to do?

Then when I finally got the computer squared away and uploaded my photos, I saw this one. I thought it was so cute except for the bright spot in the corner. I don't know what was going on with my camera that day.

I love how Ciara has her arms aroung the boys and Aidan is kind of leaning in. And, this is a good picture of Gavin for once. He usually does the squinty eyes-cheesy grin when you try to take his picture.

Outtakes

One day. Three locations. Not one picture suitable for the annual Christmas card.

There's always next year.

And so it begins...

Today I am taking the kids to a local garden center that is always beautifully decorated for Christmas. I am hoping to get some ever-elusive pictures of the three of them together for the Christmas card. Stay tuned...

Where did the month go?!

Every day I sit at the computer and try to do a blog post. Inevitably I get interrupted and by the time I get back to the computer I completely forget what I wanted to write about. There has been so much going on with the kids since they started Kindergarten that I have wanted to write about so that it is written somewhere and I can look back in June and see what a hard, amazing journey it has been for the boys. September did not go at all like I planned for them. I had visions of them coming home all excited with tales of all the fun stuff they are doing. As it turns out, I have to pull teeth to get the info. On top of that, Aidan is petrified of his teacher (as was Gavin which is why he is now in a nother classroom). The more time I spend in Aidan's class, the more I see why Gavin could never have survived there. Being a former K teacher myself, I know what it is supposed to be like. Fun, exciting, interesting, and at times, loud. Controlled chaos. Aidan's teacher likes silence. When they enter the classroom, they walk in silently. As they go to their seats for their work centers, they do so silently. When they get their snack, silence. You get the picture. It is a little spooky actually. Like Stepford children. I want to yell something out just to shake things up a bit. One time I said something silly and the kids laughed and Mr. K came around the corner "WHO is talking???" Ooops.

I really think it is a cultural issue. Mr. K is from the Carribean. Things are different there, I am sure. I think Americans, as a whole, tend to coddle their children while other countries strive to make them independent from an early age and treat them as small adults rather than children. Mr. K has certain expectations of the children and he expects those expectations to be met. Period. End of story. And if they are not met, watch out. There is one little boy who always seems to be sitting away from the group when I go in to the classroom. I asked Aidan who he was one time and why he always is sitting by himself. "He makes poor choices." says Aidan.

Don't we all sometimes?

Yearbook Yourself!

Oh, what little things amuse me. Go ahead.....yearbook yourself !

The scariest ballerina-princess-pirate-fairy you'll ever meet

I said, Give me some #$@%* candy!

Caving into peer pressure

I think I may have mentioned before that Ciara is actually a 5 year old boy trapped in a 3 year old girl's body. She longs to be like her brothers and usually refers to herself as a "big boy" as in "I can watch this tv show, Mummy, because I a big boy". Gavin does not help matters in having Ciara realize she is, in fact, a girl. Also, our attempts to girlify Ciara seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Ciara is now in preschool with a class of 5 girls and 1 boy. I was secretly excited there was only one boy because I thought it would be great for Ciara to develop some female friendships. Little did I know the extent to which some little-girl-behavior would rub off on Ciara.

With Halloween coming, Ciara has stated that she was going to be a pirate since the very beginning of September. Never wavered from this. Always a pirate. Which was fine with me because we have all the pirate paraphenalia laying around the house and it meant I didn't have to buy a costume. Yippee! So, one day I pick Ciara up from school and we talk about what she did that day and she tells me that at circle time her teacher asked each child what they would be for Halloween. I said "And did you say you were going to be a pirate?" "No", she says. "I not going to be a pirate. I going to be a ballerina princess!" Say what?! The only thing I can come up with for the mind change is that her teacher went around the circle and each little girl probably said "princess" or "ballerina" or some other girly concoction and when it came time for Ciara to announce her costume choice she fell into the pattern and chose "ballerina princess". I find this hysterical because she received a ballerina tu-tu with sparkles and irridescent fabric for her birthday and it lays in her closet gathering dust. Now, of course, it is part of her costume. I got her to modify it somewhat and now she will be a "fairy princess" so all I had to buy was a pair of sparkly wings and a wand.

Oh, the powers of peer pressure.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming

Holy crap, what an absolute exhausting month September was.

It is too emotionally taxing to recount it all but basically Gavin had a major anxiety attack about starting Kindergarten. He was unable to go for about 5 days while we figured out what to do. It seemed like every day I was either on the phone with the school counselor, my Early Childhood consultant SIL, or the 25 other people who called for an hour by hour report. On top of that I was back and forth to the school for meetings, bringing Gavin to an outside counselor, picking Ciara up from preschool (of which, I missed her very first day due to Gavin's issues) and then back to the school to pick up Aidan. Crazy.

In the end, we switched teachers and the boys are now separated. This is something I never ever thought I would do in Kindergarten but it is turning out to be the best thing. Gavin definitely needed a more maternal, warm, seasoned teacher. He is doing so much better now. Aidan was fine with Mr. K's teaching style and energy and in the end, I think this will be the best thing for him. I am thinking he will grow more confident and independent without his brother there. Plus, it gives them a break from each other. They shared a womb, they share their toys and everything else so it'll be good for them to have their own K experiences.

Looking forward to October and less drama!