Still catching up mentally and physically 5 weeks in now (which sounds like nothing when you say it like that) and I'm still just struggling to get my days back on track. Feeding a baby 4 times a night does put a kink in the long part of the day. I'll admit. Though I don't think I've slept through a night for easily 15 years. You think I'd be well conditioned.
Anyway, there is not a lot new or moving quickly amongst us, it's off to a slow start for a school year, but that is simply a left-over from my forced calm during the summer. If I wanted it to move quickly it would, too quickly. My calendar has things on it 3 out of 5 days for the next 2 months. However, it feels slow because I've not given into the chaos.
It's easy to give into chaos for those of you who've never tried it. Easier than becoming addicted to a drug, because you don't actually have to go through the step of ingesting or inhaling anything. Chaos is already there, all around you.
The kids are in another year of school. Celia has chosen to homeschool this year for a combination of reasons. I could list them all here, and I might yet, but she is being pressured into starting her own blog and maybe she could consider that as a post.
Leif is with the same teacher in a loop. Luckily, we adore his teacher and she's a good match for him. He has announced that 3rd grade is nothing like 2nd grade and is very hard core learning.
Ash is in a six-of-one holding pattern. He can't decide if he's happy and most days he's half happy and half fretful. He feels he's not good enough and not smart enough to hack his class. Funnily enough the thing I thought that would have stressed him, being in a 50/50 dual language class, doesn't bother him at all. He's at a great age for language. What bothers him is that some of the kids are smarter than he is, and it makes him feel stupid. His teacher is not contributing to this at all and has told him he's not holding himself up fairly to his peers. Some kids are just early readers or have parents who spend hours a day teaching them to work through chapter books etc.. Most kids, his age, are actually not that clever or far along. He is actually doing very well she tells him, and he needs to realize he's in the actual majority - not with kids who freakishly could read at 2. However kind - and accurate - her words are, he is still finding himself crying before school and miserable after school due to his lowered self-esteem. I'm not sure how to handle this yet, I work with him but he acts very discouraged and working at home just increases his depression.
Buttercup is mouthier and mouthier by the day. On the one hand - I remember my oldest daughter (when she was Buttercup's age) who was incredibly sweet natured shouting at a stuffed rabbit.
We were at an Asda and the easter displays were out. She saw the giant stuffed bunnies in a basket and wanted one. She wanted one so badly but I wasn't prepared to get one that night. I told Brian about it when he got home and he said she had to have one. So he went back to the Asda, bought the sweetest one he could find - a big pink bunny, very girlish and sweet. He snuck it home, and put in the bed with her. When she woke up she looked at the bunny, perplexed.
I told her - "He knew you wanted a bunny, he saw you in the store and he followed you home." She processed that and then shouted "YOU STUPID BUNNY! I WANTED THE GREEN ONE!" My husband was a bit heartbroken and I was bemused at best. However, to this day he's her Ducky MoMo and she sleeps with him and threatens to take him to college.
So, I try and convince myself that my 4th child's sweetness will overcome her mouth at some point. That she'll find some balance. Today when I threatened to return her to the families store and either find a new daughter or find her a new mother she lost her grip and began grabbing at me and sobbing. So I guess she loves me despite the fact that she's absolutely not afraid of me, or afraid of telling me off at length. I'm guessing having 3 older siblings makes for an excellent vocabulary, a thick skin and a defensive New York style verbal delivery.
As for Ms. 5 (wks) her current caption is "I'm sterved - very sterved. I find this whole thing hugely sterving."(Leif circa 2006)
We have learned to push ourselves up on our arms - we have learned to make small noises in response to noises made by other people. We have learned to take in our surroundings. We have learned to smile, even when we're pretty sure the person smiling at us is doing so because they're making fun of us. Note to self: do not outgrow clothes in public. Note to self: "it's like stuffing an overgrown grub in a sock" is probably not a compliment.
In the meantime - I leave you with this. I'd caption it, but really it doesn't need one...
Anyway, there is not a lot new or moving quickly amongst us, it's off to a slow start for a school year, but that is simply a left-over from my forced calm during the summer. If I wanted it to move quickly it would, too quickly. My calendar has things on it 3 out of 5 days for the next 2 months. However, it feels slow because I've not given into the chaos.
It's easy to give into chaos for those of you who've never tried it. Easier than becoming addicted to a drug, because you don't actually have to go through the step of ingesting or inhaling anything. Chaos is already there, all around you.
The kids are in another year of school. Celia has chosen to homeschool this year for a combination of reasons. I could list them all here, and I might yet, but she is being pressured into starting her own blog and maybe she could consider that as a post.
Leif is with the same teacher in a loop. Luckily, we adore his teacher and she's a good match for him. He has announced that 3rd grade is nothing like 2nd grade and is very hard core learning.
Ash is in a six-of-one holding pattern. He can't decide if he's happy and most days he's half happy and half fretful. He feels he's not good enough and not smart enough to hack his class. Funnily enough the thing I thought that would have stressed him, being in a 50/50 dual language class, doesn't bother him at all. He's at a great age for language. What bothers him is that some of the kids are smarter than he is, and it makes him feel stupid. His teacher is not contributing to this at all and has told him he's not holding himself up fairly to his peers. Some kids are just early readers or have parents who spend hours a day teaching them to work through chapter books etc.. Most kids, his age, are actually not that clever or far along. He is actually doing very well she tells him, and he needs to realize he's in the actual majority - not with kids who freakishly could read at 2. However kind - and accurate - her words are, he is still finding himself crying before school and miserable after school due to his lowered self-esteem. I'm not sure how to handle this yet, I work with him but he acts very discouraged and working at home just increases his depression.
Buttercup is mouthier and mouthier by the day. On the one hand - I remember my oldest daughter (when she was Buttercup's age) who was incredibly sweet natured shouting at a stuffed rabbit.
We were at an Asda and the easter displays were out. She saw the giant stuffed bunnies in a basket and wanted one. She wanted one so badly but I wasn't prepared to get one that night. I told Brian about it when he got home and he said she had to have one. So he went back to the Asda, bought the sweetest one he could find - a big pink bunny, very girlish and sweet. He snuck it home, and put in the bed with her. When she woke up she looked at the bunny, perplexed.
I told her - "He knew you wanted a bunny, he saw you in the store and he followed you home." She processed that and then shouted "YOU STUPID BUNNY! I WANTED THE GREEN ONE!" My husband was a bit heartbroken and I was bemused at best. However, to this day he's her Ducky MoMo and she sleeps with him and threatens to take him to college.
So, I try and convince myself that my 4th child's sweetness will overcome her mouth at some point. That she'll find some balance. Today when I threatened to return her to the families store and either find a new daughter or find her a new mother she lost her grip and began grabbing at me and sobbing. So I guess she loves me despite the fact that she's absolutely not afraid of me, or afraid of telling me off at length. I'm guessing having 3 older siblings makes for an excellent vocabulary, a thick skin and a defensive New York style verbal delivery.
As for Ms. 5 (wks) her current caption is "I'm sterved - very sterved. I find this whole thing hugely sterving."(Leif circa 2006)
We have learned to push ourselves up on our arms - we have learned to make small noises in response to noises made by other people. We have learned to take in our surroundings. We have learned to smile, even when we're pretty sure the person smiling at us is doing so because they're making fun of us. Note to self: do not outgrow clothes in public. Note to self: "it's like stuffing an overgrown grub in a sock" is probably not a compliment.
In the meantime - I leave you with this. I'd caption it, but really it doesn't need one...
