The Griff

There are some things about our Goofy 3.5 year old that must be chronicled.

Do not eat the cookies he decorates. You have been warned.

The child cannot be trusted around frosting. Or sweets of any kind. This holiday season he took to sneaking a candy cane off the tree and disappearing downstairs for a few moments to hastily cram the forbidden fruit into his mouth.

Of course, the moment he came back upstairs his sticky face and hands would betray his crime. Also, he would confess without even being asked a question. Do not tell him your secrets.

Too bad for him I won't actually let him play football while he's on our health insurance plan.

The child is silly. Like, seriously silly. Always. He has an overactive imagination that, on the one hand gives us this great game of Mama & Baby Penguin (explained below), but on the other hand contributes to his frequent nightmares and deep fear of the dark.

Mama & Baby Penguin
In this game (or reenactment, call it what you will), G rushes straight to his bed after his bath and curls up in a ball with his towel covering him. I come in and envelop him until he's ready to "hatch" and then he pops out of his "egg" and says "Hi Mama Penguin!" At which point I can now dry him off and he can put on his pajamas. This happens every night at our house and is partially based off of a book the kids have called A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton.

Mama's Boy, 1,000%

Griffin loves his Daddy, even though Bryan jokes that he's the last man on the totem pole with his son. But Bubby looooooooooooves his Mama. And I used to find that a smidgen frustrating when he was smaller and needier. But I no longer feel that way.

One day the scales will tip back. Mama is no good at throwing baseballs or playing tackle/tickle (his favorite game to play with Bryan), so I will take my dozens of kisses a day now and hopefully save the sweet memory of them until, many many many many many years from now, I get a grandchild who will love me with the same unconditional fervor. (Or a niece/nephew - hint hint Nic).

Speaking of kisses, G has taken to counting our kisses. I usually get 10 at a time. I think it's because he loves counting. LOVES. He counts everything.

I get flowers at least once a week.

If there is a flower on the grass, Griffin will pick it and give it to me. Without fail. Often, on the way home from school with the babysitter, he'll pick a few pretty weeds and have them in a cup of water waiting for me when I get home.

It is adorable. It is heart melting. It is awesome.

Little boys can be messy, dirty, and smelly. They can play rough. They often forget their own strength. They are quickly swayed by their emotions.

They are also sweet. And kind. And loving.

Because really? All kids are those things.

Resolutions 2014

For the last few years, I've written resolutions posts. Here's 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Common themes? Loose weight, go to the beach more often.

We actually did go to the beach a lot in 2013. So check.

The weight thing? Not so much. BUT I did a sigificant amount of stress eating and took up running (the running probably helped keep my weight gain in the single digits).

I do not want - or need - to lose a bunch of weight. I look fine. I don't feel fine though. And that has more to do with me needing to increase the healthy eating and less about me actually needing to use the D-word.

I will be stressed the rest of this semester. I will stress eat. I should stock my classroom (and house) with snacks that will either prevent me from stress eating or will not make me feel like the Pillsbury Dough-Boy after I am finished.

So I resolve to not buy the delicious but salt laden and high caloric bag of spicy crackers at Costco.

I resolve to run at least twice a week.

I resolve to enter in at least 4 races (5 or 10K).

I resolve to go to yoga twice a month.

All of these things make me FEEL better - the running especially. Which is ironic since I absolutely loathed running up until November of this year.

Our family resolution is to eat out less. (Note: I didn't actually consult the entire family on this one, as the kids are asleep and Bryan is working).

My work resolution is to LET IT GO. I cannot (and should not) take on anything else. Less is more.

So there we have it. My 2014 resolutions which I will hopefully remember because the next time I read this post it will be right before (or shortly after) the dawn of 2015.

Harley-Quinn and I getting ready to run on the beach 1/1/14

Birthday Girl Questions - Age 5

Last year I started asking the kids a series of 20 questions on their birthday and will attempt to keep the tradition alive every year.

It was amusing to see what had changed and, perhaps more remarkably, what stayed the same.

Here are Sissy's anwers.

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink (no change)
2. What is your favorite toy?   A doll... my Rapunzel doll, the little one (no change)
3. What is your favorite fruit?   Those cutie things (last year: melon)
4. What is your favorite tv show?   Olivia (last year: My Little Pony)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Turkey and cheese sandwich (last year: macaroni and cheese)
6. What is your favorite outfit?   The cupcake shirt and the long skirt with my leggings (last year: owl shirt. Note: the long skirt I actually made her and she would wear it every day if we let her).
7. What is your favorite game?   Twister and the Olivia LeapPad game (last year: Tangled LeapPad game)
8. What is your favorite snack?  Tortilla chips (last year: apple)
9. What is your favorite animal?  Giraffe (laughs hysterically - no change from last year, she even laughed hysterically last year).
10. What is your favorite song?   The Peter Pan song (the one where they're marching, it's the Lost Boys' song, last year it was A Part of Your World)
11. What is your favorite book?  Green Eggs and Ham (last year: The Little Mermaid)
12. Who is your best friend?  Audrey (the only girl in her class, last year it was Hailey from daycare)
13. What is your favorite cereal?   Cheerios (last year: Life cereal)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?   Playing on the plasma cars (I assume that's something from school, last year it was riding bikes)
15. What is your favorite drink?   Milk (no change)
16. What is your favorite holiday?   Christmas (last year: Spring)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   My pillow (last year: dolls - all the dolls... she really doesn't sleep with anything anymore unless she's sick)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?   Cheerios (last year: cereal)
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?   A sandwich (same as last year, which is weird)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  An artist Princess (last year: Astronaut or Alice from Alice in Wonderland)

We had a nice birthday celebration. Dinner out and then a trip to Starbucks. She had fun.

5 thus far has been rougher than 4. She's much more moody that she was before. I'm not used to a weepy girl-child, that's usually the boy. So we'll all be adjusting... She's still usually very happy and sweet and easy going, she's just starting to assert herself and she's she's entering this new stage where she'd rather play by herself than with her brother (which I totally get because he's rowdy and I have a little bother brother as well.) But even though they do quarrel more often than they used to, they still get along well the vast majority of the time, so we're still very lucky.

So happy birthday to our sweet Amazonian child. We love you!

Then:

Now:

An overdue update

I haven't blogged since September 25th, which blogger promintely dispalyed on my login page, as if to shame me from being away for so long.

In my defense, work has been insane. Which is my fault - 100% - because I agreed to take on an additional class, which means I have no prep period, which means I have 5 academic classes plus Journalism (yearbook and the magazine) AND I was crazy and signed up to advise a few clubs (um, 5).

So I brought this craziness all on myself, and it's kept me busy. Really busy. In fact this weekend I finally finished grading essays that I had the kids turn in October 15th. Eep! I still have a giant stack of grading, but I feel good that at least those essays are done.

Finals are in two weeks. Le Sigh. I will enjoy Winter Break.

The good thing is that all of my students this year are wonderful. I really do mean this. Yeah, some of them are obnoxious at times, but they're teenagers. I do love being a teacher, even if the job is the most stressful job I have ever had.

The real reason of this post wasn't to talk about work, although that happens a lot with me lately. I can't seem to shut up about work... the point of this post was to chronicle what has happened in the lives of the kids since I took my unintentional blog hiatus.

Let's start with the youngest.

Griffin goes to school 3x a week and started to like it mid-September. His behavioral reports are always good and his report card for the 1st trimester (which I think is hilarous and adorable) was exemplary. He does well, he behaves well, he's energetic. Pretty much sums up the moster.

He's lost most of his lisp/stutter and talks up a STORM. Between the two of them it's a miracle B or I ever get to talk. Our dog, Harley-Quinn, is his very best friend, but I'm not 100% sure if she feels the same way.

The tantrums one normally expects of a 3 1/2 year old are becoming less frequent - which is awesome. Looking back, the Terrible Twos and Terrorist Threes were pretty tame compared to the stories I've heard of these ages. Insisting that he use his words to express his frusrtrations has started to bear fruit and he's much better and talking about why he's upset instead of just disolving into tears.

He's grown a lot. In 5T and some of his 5T clothes are starting to get a little short. Which is insane because we just bought him clothes. He's not quite as tall as Sissy, but on occasion people will ask if they're twins.

He's still a big snuggler and asks for snuggles all the time. And while he does spend a few nights a week in his own bed, most nights he crawls in with us anywhere from 3-6am.

Penelope

She is growing up too fast. She'll be 5 on Thursday. She lost one tooth in October and another two are loose. She's in size 7. She reads. READS.

We had her parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago and she knows 34 of the 100 1st grade sight words - the words 1st graders are supposed to know at the end of 1st grade. Thirty four.

She'll sound out words and read signs, books, and my text messages. She would still prefer to sit upstairs and read (or color) rather than go outside and run around. She is defintely my daughter.

Her teacher also said that Penelope is a very enthusiastic learner: "Sometimes very bright children will get bored, but Penelope is always so excited for whatever it is we are doing in class, she loves to learn."

And she's really social - she knows the names of her friend's parents and will greet them when she gets to school or on the way out. She loves everyone, they're all friends she hasn't met yet. And her memory is crazy - she remembers what she wore to Griffin's brithday party in April. She remembers playing with friends she hasn't seen in over a year. She remembers things I promised and forgot (which, boo).

I am planning on having her do the 20 birthday questions - last years are here.

In other news, I ran my first 5K and didn't die. I didn't walk or throw up either. Woot! My time was something like 39 minutes, so I ran the slowest 5K in the history of 5Ks. My next scheduled 5K is in March, running it with my Journalism kids.

The back tattoo is in progress. I have the outline and a little over 1/4 of color done. It hurts, a lot, but I love it.

And I think that's it. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things, but I should probably get to all of that grading I have. The pile is staring at me accusingly right now.

Everything since August 6th...

No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

School started. Was good. Took a 6th period. Am going crazy.

Took up running, sorta (been 5 times). Can run 1.25 miles and have now run more in the last 3 weeks than I ever did in high school PE.

Kids love school, especially Penelope. She has 16 boys and 3 girls in her class. Makes me thankful that I teach high school.

Griffin goes on his first field trip in a few weeks. I get to go (hooray for fortuitous scheduling and random Mondays off!).

Penelope went to my 1.5 hour yoga class with me and did everything except for Triangle pose. Everyone loved her and she's been invited back for other classes. She adores this. She is also surprisingly inflexible, I blame Bryan.

Griffin is now 90% night time potty trained. Huzzah!

I got a full back tattoo (well, the outline is done). It is made of awesome and I will post many pics as color is added.

I'm co-advising the Mock Trail team this year. It's fantastic, but also means Tuesdays I'm on campus from 7am until 7pm. No joke. See note re: "crazy" above.

We've been to a wedding and a birthday party with an Elvis impersonator (those things did not happen in the same weekend).

Bryan's job is going well, he loves it.

His hockey team plays tomorrow for the championship.

I turned 32 and didn't freak out (actually, it was fun. And so far 32 is infinitely better than 22 & 12 combined. Although at 2 I was in New York, so we'll see if 32 makes it to the top of my "years ending in a 2").

And now, goodnight. It is time to sleep. So I will sleep with my pet Zeep. Today was good, today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. Everyday from here to there, funny things are everywhere.

(P.S. if you don't get my two allusions, then I'm not sure we can be friends anymore).

In which some things are resolved...

Today I took Penelope in for her assessment. I met her teacher, she took her away, and I filled out paperwork while I waited only semi-patiently for my daughter to be returned to me.

She came back happy and excited. Said she had fun, and her teacher was very positive (although not very forthcoming). I was told that the principal would be in a 1pm and I should hear something after that.

1pm came... and went. At 4 I called the school. The principal was out for the day and the woman answering the phone said she would call the principal on her cell and someone would get back to me.

That didn't happen. No call. No e-mail. Nadda.

I cannot adequately express how frustrated I am with the whole process. I hope I get a phone call early in the morning - because I have students all day and if she's not in then I have a LOT of work to do to figure out a different placement.

Then we had Griffin's preschool meeting, which means that he's in (hooray!).

Also? I am soooooo not ready for tomorrow.

Some Drama for this Mama

Today was my first day back to school - all meetings and professional development. However the universe, realizing how much I loathe a day full of meetings, decided to throw me a curve-ball.

During my second meeting of the day, I got a text from Bryan that Penelope's school had called and informed him that they just noticed she didn't make the cut off for transitional kinder and she wouldn't be able to attend next week.

Say wha????

I've blogged about the pre-K saga here, here, and here.

The gist? I know she doesn't make the cutoff by 3 days, Salinas Elementary wouldn't take her but after a conversation with the Spreckles principal, they said they would. The registration packet was turned in, enrollment completed, we received our letter home. The principal, during our initial conversation, mentioned the possibility of needing to get her assessed, but we never received any further information about testing (and believe me, I asked multiple people during multiple occasions).

So it was a bit of a shock to learn that they weren't going to take her after all.

I was, to put it lightly, upset. I made some phone calls, left messages, and sent this:

Dear Ms.XXXX,

I left a message at the school today, but also wanted to follow up with an e-mail. During the Spring semester of the 2012-2013 school year, I contacted you regarding my daughter, Penelope Rodgers. Her birthday misses the Transitional Kinder cut off date by 3 days. I told you that Salinas Elementary was unwilling to make an exception and I listed some of Penelope's academic milestones (sight words, writing, math). You agreed with me that she sounds like she's ready for school and told me that as long as there was room in the program, Penelope would have a spot.

You mentioned the possibility of needing to get her assessed since she does miss the cutoff and I agreed that we would be happy to bring her in for that anytime.

The summer came and went - we filled out district transfer paperwork and were approved, registered her for school without incident, and have received letters home confirming her enrollment. I asked the woman at the front desk this summer (when I turned in her registration packet) if Penelope needed to be assessed, and she said that letters would be sent home if we needed to bring her in for assessment. No such letter made it to our house.

I am more than happy to arrange to bring her in this week - today or tomorrow if necessary. Please let me know what I need to do in order to get her to start school next week. She's really excited about starting school and I know she will do well.

I attempted to relay a polite, but urgent tone. 

Short story? She goes in tomorrow at 9 to be assessed.

With that fire extinguished, I turned my attention toward a second problem - Griffin's enrollment. Turns out that even though I had turned in the paperwork months ago and had been told that he had a spot, he was not enrolled. Here's the e-mail we got:

Hello Mr. Rodgers,

Griffin is on the waiting list for M-F am session. He is not currently enrolled for any sessions. I can place him on the waiting list for the first opening, be it 2,3 or 5 days if that is what you prefer. We have limited openings in our pm classes ( 12:15- 3:15). If we are unable to place him in the program by Sept.1, we will refund your $60.00 family fee.
We appreciate your interest in the XXXXX program at XXXX.

I do not think I can adequately convey how upset I was.

After a frantic search online for alternate schools, I sent this e-mail to the district office:

Dear XXX,

My husband, Bryan, forwarded me your message and I have some concerns.

The first concern is that we filled out enrollment paperworkmonths ago. When I turned in the paperwork, I was assured that - at the very least - Griffin would be placed in the AM Tues/Thurs English only program and would be on a wait-list for the dual immersion program.

I have, since the date of initial enrollment, called the District Office on multiple occasions over the summer, called the school site, and e-mailed regarding Griffin's enrollment. It is only now, after my husband sends an e-mail this morning, that we get a response about our son's placement.

As you can imagine, this is incredibly upsetting and leaves us in the very difficult position of having to find alternate placement in a very short time frame. 

I would appreciate some insight as to why we weren't informed earlier that Griffin was not enrolled. 

Please also place him on a wait-list for ANY morning classes and let us know what spot he is on said wait-list and an estimate as to when he might be able to start at Lincoln.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions or to discuss this further.

I was not very optimistic. However, Fortune smiled upon us and I got a phone call about an hour later that someone dropped a M, W, F spot and she could put Griffin in. Praise Zeus!

Also? Polite e-mails work.

G's also on the waiting list for the Spanish program, so hopefully he makes that - but as long as he's in MWF, I'm fine.

While I am incredibly relieved that things resolved, my day was completely derailed.

Tomorrow I need to leave early from a meeting to take Sis to her evaluation/assessment (which she is SUPER excited about, when I told her she was going to take a test, she smiled, hugged me, and said "oh thank you!"). I also need to attend a parent meeting a Griffin's school... and, you know, prep for school.

Best.Week.Ever.