Parent Night x Two

I had stayed up late Monday night for no good reason, so I was a sleepy, sleepy girl Tuesday. I napped all morning instead of getting the things done I needed to do, waking up just in time to go do my drug test at Harris Teeter. This whole getting-hired process is taking an annoyingly long time; I thought I would start working last Friday!  I didn't have to go pee in a cup for the test; instead, I had to stick a thing under my tongue for, like, 10 minutes until it turned blue.

And C., who was now in charge of hiring me, finally mentioned the nose ring. It had to go come out; I couldn't even cover it with a band-aid. I was worried about that. I mean, I really tried to get it out, but it wasn't budging. Eep. I was afraid I'd have to cut my nose!

Aaaaand, she told me that my availability basically sucked, and she was going to have a hard time giving me hours. I want to work during school hours, pretty much leaving nights and weekends for my family. In her words, HT is "a nights-and-weekends business," so there wasn't a lot she can do for me. I'm starting to re-think this whole working crap. Bah.

Back at home, I spent a half-hour trying to get that nose ring out. It was a major struggle, which I wasn't winning. It's a short post with an attached ball on either end, and they don't unscrew. So I had to shove one ball through the hole in my nose, which since closed up to be much smaller than the ball. Eventually, I worked it halfway through (I seem to have thick nostrils!), but it wouldn't budge the rest of the way. I grabbed my small sewing shears and tried to yank it, but that wasn't happening and just made my eyes water. Finally, I was able to snip right through the post with those dinky little shears! But then, I couldn't get the inside half out, so that was another fun challenge. Finally I pushed on it with the tip of the scissors and out it popped! I was so relieved. But now, I miss my little nosey bling. I liked it, man.

When the kids came home from school, I sent the Littles down for naps, because they were beyond tired and cranky. I had Chloë work on her homework until it was time to get ready for soccer. Daddy came home in time for me to get her to S***c for a dinner mystery shop to feed her little belly before soccer practice. She ate a ton, and then we realized that we never brought her a water bottle for soccer! Gah, that's not good. But the practice field is waaay far from home, so it was pointless to think about going home for one. She'd have to do without.

Other than that, soccer went splendidly, and they learned the "diamond formation," and practice lots of scoring goals using passing techniques. She's starting to pick up on things and spent an awful lot of time shouting, "I'm open! I'm open!" She even made two goals, and I could tell she was elated about that!

Meanwhile, Rob had woken up the kids and taken them to school for Jack and Chloë's Open House. They sat through the opening PTA meeting - which I was glad to miss, as it's always boring and disorganized as hell - and then waited for us to meet them in C's class. Mrs. B. was already in the middle of talking about their daily schedules, which is a hectic one for those gifted students! They are go-go-go, all day, every day. I hope she can keep up. She seems to be doing all right so far. Mrs. B teaches the language arts, and Mrs W. teaches science, social studies and math. The students switch classrooms halfway through the day.

So during the second session, Rob went with her to Mrs. W's spiel, while the Littles and I walked to Jack's first grade class. Only one other family was in there for the second session, so Mrs. J quickly ran through her little presentation and then I had a chance to talk to her personally, since the other family had already done so beforehand. I guess Jack is having a LOT of trouble catching up and staying focused, which is news to me. He's been doing SO well on his homework, not only with most comprehension but with sitting down and getting it done in a timely manner. Also, I thought he was getting pull-out services (for his IEP), but apparently they're only doing inclusion. Mrs. J is going to talk to his Special Ed teacher about the need for more services, especially if his attention problem continues and/or worsens.

On the way home, I discussed this with Jack, and he admitted he wasn't paying attention in class. What I can do about it from afar, I don't know, other than continually reminding him that he's got to pay attention and focus on his classroom. First grade just ain't like kindergarten, pally!

At home, I gave the kids a quick dinner and sent them to bed before I crashed myself - at 2130!  But if you saw today's Wordless Wednesday post, then you'll see the pictures Rob took of Sophie "playing" the violin at Open House, with the 5th grade music teacher. They don't start chorus/orchestra/band until 5th grade at this school. Seems absurd to me, but what do I know?

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After a good, long sleep, I was raring to go this morning at 0630. The kids got up on time, so we had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and preparation for Picture Day. This was a nice switch from my usual let's-go-let's-go-let's-go chant every other morning!

Of course, I didn't think to get pictures of the kids, but you'll see them when the pictures come back. I only hope they looked half as decent by picture time as they did when they got on the bus! Chloë looked especially nice, with her hair in a pretty barrette and a Fall dress on. Jack chose a green shirt and green camo pants, and he insisted that's what he wanted to wear, so... we went with it. Why the hell not?

I spent the whole day unpacking and rearranging the office, since it has been full of boxes since the downstairs floor was installed. It's been driving me crazy not having my yarn and patterns and craft table accessible so I can work! Plus I just hate a mess. It took me the whole day, and a lot of sweat, but I got it done. It looks good; I'm happy!

And no, HT didn't call me with the results of the drug test like they said they would, so yet another day passed without working. Frustrating!

Right after school, the kids had their usual snacktime, then the Littles and I did a little clean-up while Chloë got ready for Jazz class. She couldn't find her ballet shoes and was in absolute tears. She still hasn't found the new ones, which is driving me mad.

Just in time, she found the pair of shoes, and we zipped off to class. Both Littles fell asleep in the car, so after I dropped her off and found myself starving from busting my hump all day, I decided to go to Sonic for my new favorite, the egg and cheese Croissandwich, or whatever the thing is called. Good stuff, aye. Only, I ate too much of it and, on the way back to dance class, ended up yakking it all up. Nice. Fun. Good thing I had the Sonic bag to use!

We drove straight to school after dance, this time for Sophie's Parent Night at preschool. Rob met us there. It was his first time at the preschool, so he didn't know where to go and parked way far away. Oh, well.

After a short discussion about the rules, regs and routines of the preschool, the children each took their parents around the different "centers" to show us what they do during the day. Sophie wanted to visit the "Library" first. She sat down to "read" us a story, which was absolutely the cutest thing ever. I wanted to cry, she was so adorable. Wish I could've taped it! I guess I could have, but I keep forgetting my iPhone has video!

She didn't want to go to the next center just yet, so she "read" us another book, which was just as sweet. After she finished that, she went back and "read" us the first book again! It was definitely her favorite.

The next center we visited was "Art." Here, the kids each colored a little wooden hand and put stickers on it, and then we put magnet tape on the back. Chloë did one, too, but Jack didn't want to. He wanted to skip ahead to the apple-tasting center with Daddy. There, the kids could choose to eat their apple slices plain, or with sugar, caramel or peanut butter, and then the class made a chart with everyone's choices. Peanut butter was the clear winner!

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The next center was "Legos." That was Jack's favorite; after he discovered that, he did not want to leave, even when the whole shabang was over. He pitched a small fit about having to put down that airplane!

We visited "Manipulatives" next. Basically, they had to do puzzles. They were really simple puzzles, so I challenged Sophie to do them as fast as she could. She was super-fast! And proud of it, too. :)

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The last center we had time to visit was "Easel." We missed "Blocks," which was on our little passport to the classroom, although there are several more available centers that weren't on our little tour. Sophie painted a picture with watercolors - see? She's our little Southpaw!

This was her finished work. She was so proud of that sun! So was I. Now the picture is on our fridge, of course.

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At the very end, all the kids, along with Mrs. P and Mrs. S, got up and recited the little grace that they say before breakfast and lunch. (Sophie eats breakfast at home, so, I found out, when she gets to school, she eats half her lunch at breakfast time with the other kids! I have since started packing her bigger lunches, and she eats every last thing, unlike her older siblings.) It was really cute, and they all knew every word. I can't remember it, or I'd share it with you. Maybe I'll ask her for tomorrow.

When it was over, we had to run and do another S***c dinner shop, but we can only get one meal, so everyone was still hungry after that little appetizer. We drove home, where I got the kids started on homework while Rob cleaned up the kitchen a little so I could cook. Jack had mac & cheese (I had gotten a few free Easy Macs this past week for when I knew he wouldn't eat the main meal), and everyone else had a Schwan's chicken/rice/broccoli meal from Schwan's. I have not been sticking to our menu plan as much this week! But it's good for a guide...

After dinner, I helped Jack with his math homework. They're learning tally marks. He had a lot of difficulty with this, wanting to make the "slash" its own thing, and then do the five for the next set, and so on. I went over and over and over it with him, before Rob pulled me aside and said he thinks Jack has a math learning disability, like we think Chloë has. I don't know, I think he just wasn't paying attention! Once he really paid attention, he got it pretty quickly. He has a very hard time recognizing numbers greater than 10, so I had him write the numbers 1-30, and then I tested them on the numbers. And then we tallied some more. We'll need to review that a lot more to get him back to where he was at the end of kindergarten and catch him up to first grade level!

And that, my friends, is the end.

Fin.