Monday, I’ll admit, wasn’t the whimsical last day of summer that I anticipated…it was miserable…for all of us! Now, my kids whine, but who were the kids in my care on Monday? I had never, in my 7 years of motherhood, said, “STOP WHINING!” and “STOP ARGUING!” so many times. I’m sure that the busy weekend at the beach had something to do with it. I’m sure that the many errands we had to run during the day had something to do with it. We had last minute school supplies to purchase, we were on the hunt for shoes for Gabe, Adrianna had a doctors appointment, I hadn’t been to the grocery store in over a month to buy ‘real’ groceries, so that was one of our stops…and those were just a few. Before each exit from the van, I reviewed the rules…
1. NO WHINING
2. NO ARGUING (with each other or me)
3. CHOOSE TO OBEY THE FIRST TIME
It wasn’t until about 5 minutes in the grocery store that I realized Adrianna needed her own rule.
4. NO SCREAMING
We ended the day with a trip to Nate’s school to meet his teacher and drop off his school supplies. I was on my own on this outing because Matt volunteered to sit in on an important meeting at Gabe’s preschool. Wonder why he was so willing to help ease my load for the evening…oh yeah…it was a PARENT ONLY meeting. Upon entering room #8 at East Elementary, Gabe spotted the classroom pet (one of them). It was a large stuffed Curious George sitting in Mrs. Ryan's rocking chair. “Can you take my pictoy with that monkey when we weeve?” Gabe spent the next 20 minutes pulling on my pant leg, Adrianna sat eating goldfish (making her presence known with a loud scream every few minutes), and Nate settled right in to his new desk by working on a coloring project sat out by his new teacher. We ended the evening with baths, a few stories and bed! Tomorrow was going to be interesting.
I love our rental house. I love the openness of it and the beautiful property that surrounds us. The one thing I do not like about it is that it is outside of Nate’s school district, so I must take him to school every morning and pick him up every afternoon. He, of course, loves this. He couldn’t be more thrilled about being a ‘car rider.’ I, on the other hand, don’t get too excited about getting all three kids out of the house before 8am! After the breakfast of choice (Fruit Loops), I reviewed with Nate, what was expected of him while at school.
1. NO WHINING
2. NO ARGUING (with other children or teachers)
3. CHOOSE TO OBEY THE FIRST TIME
The morning was smooth and we successfully dropped Nate off to his first day of 2nd Grade.
We spent the morning at home playing outside, riding bikes, making a sandcastle in the sandbox, and watching what Gabe wanted on TV, “cuz Nate’s not home, I get to pick duh movies,” Gabe reminded me. While Adrianna was napping, he also told me, “I wike spending time wif you, Mom.” They’re so sweet when they want to be. And luckily, words of affirmation are my love language! A sweet little compliment like that and I’m floating!
After Adrianna got up, we went to Gabe’s new school to meet his teacher and drop off his school supplies. While we were there, we also got to see Sammie’s class. He says, “She’s my fwiend fwom Miss Tammy’s house.” He still remembers that from over a year and a half ago! She also goes to our church but he doesn’t refer to her as someone he knows from there. In fact, I don’t know that he talks to her at all on Sundays! I figured it was a good sign when it was time to go and Gabe wanted to stay. Mrs. Rayl assured him that all the toys would still be there tomorrow and he could stay even longer!
After leaving, we drove to Nate’s school to pick him up. Considering the year we had last year, I’ll admit, I was a little scared about what I would soon find out. Luckily, after hopping in the car with much enthusiasm, Nate told me, “It was a great day!” “What was your favorite part?” I said. “Everything,” he finished. Sigh…lets hope this continues. Gabe then told me, “Can we go home now and stop weaving?” My thoughts exactly! I was starting to feel like a chauffeur and the anticipated completion date for our wasn't until after Christmas!
Our settled into our regular school night routine, however, there was one major event...I talked Nate into pulling out his tooth with the tie a string to your tooth, the door, and then shut it, trick! I promised that if it was funny enough, we'd send it in to AFV, which he loves! He was all for it, but after it was over, he said, "I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!"
Today was a new day. Instead of leaving at 7:45 to get Nate to school, we got leave at 7:15! Did I mention how much I don’t like getting all three kids up before 8am? Well, I dislike even more, having to get them up before 7am! The breakfast of choice this morning was Pops and Adrianna reluctantly ate about two bites of a cereal bar. I don’t blame her. I don’t like to eat that early either. In fact, as I was brushing my teeth, I got sick to my stomach. That only happens when I’m pregnant or REALLY tired and I know I’m not pregnant! We dropped Nate off at my sister and brother-in-laws to catch the bus and headed to Gabe’s school so he could officially become a preschooler! We reviewed the rules again…
1. NO WHINING
2. NO ARGUING (with other children or teachers)
3. CHOOSE TO OBEY THE FIRST TIME
I realize this may be a bit monotonous, but if the rules are clear, they can’t say later, that they didn’t know what was expected of them!
We walked in the door, found Gabe’s hook for his backpack and found his room. He smiled at me and walked away. WOW! I knew it would be easy for him, but are you kidding me? I didn’t at least get a hug? No hug from the sweet little snuggler? Nope…not until I asked for one! After a one arm hug from Gabe, Adrianna and I walked out to start our new Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning routine…ALONE!
Just 3 ½ short hours later, we were back to pick up the little guy and he reluctantly walked out of his classroom toward us. That little booger didn’t want to come home! Figures! I got a quick hug and the ride home went something like this…
“I swide down duh foy powl and my teacher hewped me.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, and I went on a nut hunt and find nuts wike a sqwerril.”
“How fun, Gabe.”
“We cowered and sang a song and wearned each overs names and got to walk frew duh big schoo, too.”
“That sounds like a really great day, Gabe.”
“And my teacher don’t wike me to call her Mrs. Amwine. Why not?”
“Because your teacher is Mrs. Rayle, Gabe.”
“Oh, dats why.”
“She said, we can come back in two days to pway again.”
“That’s right. Are you excited about going back to school again?
All of his excitement got me a little teary eyed and when I noticed he was looking at me funny, I explained to him that they were happy tears.
“Dats too funny,” he added.
Back home and after a quick nap and lunch, we’re back on the road to pick up Nate.
Have I mentioned to you how much I love reading your blog posts. :) And this one is the best because Sammie made the blog! :)
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