Pre-K and K Moms - Week of Feb. 5

[JoanneOR]

Not sure if I got that title right, but hi everyone!

Somewhat quiet weekend, except for dissappointing Super Bowl! Colin and Jameson had soccer games. Jameson's team lost again. I went to Colin's and DH went to Jameson's since Ian was home sick. Jameson also got sick. I felt so bad. He was sick Friday, but Saturday seemed OK and his temperature was normal. I didn't want him to play the game, but he wanted to. Well, he comes home from the game just looking and feeling terrible and his fever was up to 102 again. Poor guy. He was OK yesterday and today, though, so I think he's over it. Ian got it Saturday. The poor kid always seems to get hit the hardest and takes the longest to fight it off. He was still sick yesterday and this morning woke up with 104.4 fever. So, he's home today. Supposedly, there's a virus going around with just a fever, so I'm figuring that's what they all had. But, if Ian's not better tomorrow, I may take him to the doctor. He has a pretty bad cough, too. A couple years ago he had pneumonia, so I want to make sure it's nothing serious. So far (crossing fingers) Caitlyn's escaped it. And, I have to say, this confirms my Nutella theory. Colin was sick for maybe 24 hours - if that, Jameson two days, Ian three and counting.

I need to run a quick errand but don't want to go outside! It was -9 this morning and I don't think it's gotten much warmer. It's days like this I wonder why do we live here???

[TLee4]

De-lurking..yes, YES, WHY do we live here???!!!! Ugh.

Terri

[cchhbb]

Joanne, I remember those really cold days from when I lived in Wisconsin. Once I flew into 4 feet of snow and had a really difficult time finding my car at O'Hare. When it's below 0 with a serious wind chill I hated going outside. Unfortuantely, my office never seemed to close. I probably have the only engine block heater in Atlanta for my Explorer.

Sorry to hear about all the illness. Poor kids and poor you. Garrett had the croup this weekend so I didn't sleep much.

We went to the model train show yesterday. The boys had a great time looking at all the Big Boy Trains as Garrett calls them. They all different types of gauges including a ride on one. We were there about 2.5 hours and they had a blast. Garrett did a terrific job transitioning to differnt booths ect. BTW, I bought some track clips that keep your track together and they have changed my life. I used to spend a lot of time rebuilding track, especially the elevated areas. Now, these clips hold things together. I'll get the info for anyone that is interested. We also bought some Thomas knockoff track. It was really cheap. I got two Thomas catalogs also. Garrett calls them his Thomas magazines and loves them. I picked up a lot of the promotional materials so the boys could look at them. They just love trains.

I bought my Thomas tickets last week. It's not until April 28, but I didn't get my first choice of times. I was really surprised as they haven't even begun advertising it yet.

Today Griffin and I ran a lot of errands. Kohl's had their pj's on clearance so I stocked up. Old Navy just put a ton of stuff on clearance too so I got Garrett a bunch of shirts. Unfortunately, no one had any size 5 slim pants on sale.

My kids are bouncing off the walls today. Garrett's friends the twins are coming over tomorrow while their mother attends a funeral so hopefully everyone will play nice. Garrett has wanted to have a snow day party so we'll have cupcakes with marshmallow snowmen on top.

I need to go checkout what is going on downstairs.

Cheryl

[MrsReber]

Hello- sort of quiet, but busy weekend. Casey rode on Saturday and Sunday. It was COLD but I can't stop her. She insisted she was fine. She joined karate on Saturday with Brenden. They both really like it. We invited our NJ friends over for Superbowl. We didn't really watch the game, we just talked and ate a lot. They're so nice, I hope things work out for them in NJ. One good thing- they love our kids so they said they'd be happy to baby sit if me and Kyle want to go out! Now we have 2 sitters that we can call, which is great (Casey's riding instructor is the other one). They also all say they'd dog sit if we need help with that. I'm so happy- I know we can trust them, which is a huge thing for me.

Anyway, today it is quite chilly, but at least we're on the plus side of the thermometer! Me and Brenden went to have lunch with Casey today. I think Brenden enjoyed it. After lunch, they had about 15 minutes of recess in the gymnasium. I got to talk to Casey's teacher for a few minutes. She said she has a very bright group of kids this year. She also told me that in all her years of teaching, she has only come across about 5 kids that are as bright and thirsty for learning as Casey. I felt pretty good about that! I asked about the gifted program. She told me that Casey is definitely headed in that direction and she hopes her teacher next year keeps challenging her. I left school feeling very proud of my little girl- and also like someone has solidly validated what I was thinking. She said she was wondering what kind of program the school in NJ had. I told her I give all the credit to the Goddard school. She was only in kindergarten for 2 months in NJ and she knew most of the stuff they were teaching her. I think the teacher here is much more in tune with the kids' capabilities. She really seems to know about each of them. She said she's taught many of their parents! She sure doesn't look that old.

Yesterday I took Brenden to story time at the library. It's a very small library (in the old grade school) but they had so many great books for the kids. The selection was better than our local library in NJ! Story time was cute, but Brenden was getting angry with the other 2 boys there- they were making noise and he wanted to hear the story. My kids are all about "rules."

Oh, we went to the circus on Saturday night at the civic center. The kids loved it. It was their first circus. It started at 7:30 and wasn't over until almost 10:30!! Good thing it was Saturday. Me and DH were tired! The kids were watching the acrobats on ropes and stars hanging from the ceiling and commenting on how it was not safe for them to be up so high. Casey said "I bet her mommy and daddy don't let her do that at home!"

I have to drive Casey to Chucky Cheese later today for a birthday party. Brrrr!!!! Maybe I'll check out the mall while we're over that way or go to Target for a bit.

Cheryl, that's amazing that Thomas tickets are selling already! Seems so early. I have to see if there are any stops around our area. I know he's in PA and it was nice both times we went. I'm surprised Brenden is still so into Thomas.

I better get back to work- I can't believe how much stuff I've been working on! It's all good. I like getting paid on the NJ pay scale.

[LaraW]

Hi Everyone

I was in Iowa this weekend with Colin to visit my sister and BIL and their new baby. Brr, it was cold - Joanne it was probably the same system that you're having. My sister said it was still really cold there. It is 66 degrees here today - maybe some of this snow will melt off!

It was a nice trip, but my luggage and Colin's carseat got lost on the way out there, and the carseat got lost on the way home. :mad: I also lost my cell phone and my sunglasses in the airport in Denver, so the trip started out bad. My BIL had to go out and buy pajamas for Colin to wear to bed since my suitcase wasn't delivered until long after he had gone to bed. I got a loaner carseat from the airport both times. We are going to Ann Arbor in June, and I think we're going to just gate-check the carseats since it was such a hassle to have to do that.

I took Natalie and Colin to the park yesterday. We haven't been there forever. That was fun, but it did get a bit chilly.

Joanne, hope Ian is feeling better. Hopefully you and DH will dodge it. Or maybe you should start eating Nutella Sorry about the Super Bowl.

My IL's were supposed to come visit this coming weekend, but MIL ended up having some heart surgery last week and now they are not coming. I am not sure how they thought she would be up for traveling just a week after having this surgery, but whatever. They put in some kind of pacemaker, I think. It sounded like it took about 4 hours to install, which is at the long end of the range.

Cheryl, the train thing sounds fun.

Susan, we go to storytime too. Do you go into the room with Brenden? The pre-school storytime we go to, Natalie just goes in by herself and Colin and I hang out in the library part. She calls it "big kid storytime"

Well, better go- hope everyone is having a nice week.

[cchhbb]

Lara, sounds like a tough trip. I didn't know that the airport had loaner carseats. That's good to know. I generally take the carseats on the airplane if possible. I have had to check Griffin's once. We did rent a carseat for Garrett when we went on a trip once. I think it was $5 per day from the car rental place.

I'm looking forward to 66 degree weather today. It was 26 when I put Garrett on the bus, but there was no wind so it was pretty nice. My bootcamp class went outside for 30 minutes and I just wore a heavy sweatshirt and I thought it was pretty comfortable. On Sunday, it was about 30 when I worked out outside and windy so I got pretty cold.

Susan, sounds like you got good feedback about Casey. That's really great. At Garrett's school, they don't test for gifted until the end of 1st grade although they have identified Garrett as a candidate. I don't really know what that means though.

Poor Garrett has had accidents at school the last two days. He hasn't had an accident at home or at school for a really long time so I'm a little surprised. He did drink about 16 ounces of liquid before school. He had a really hoarse throat when he woke up.

I am working on cleaning out Garrett's closet. We've been trying on clothes like crazy. You'd all laugh at his different combinations. I think he has only 2 pairs of shorts and 5 shirts that he will be able to wear this summer. I'm really going to have to stock up at the consignment sale this year.

Well back to work on the closet. I need to get it finished so Garrett will have someplace to sleep tonight.

[MrsReber]

Lara, Brenden asked me to stay in the room. I was going to just wander around the library, but I stayed. I was surprised that most of the kids there were 5! I wasn't surprised that he asked me to stay. It was our first time at that library. On the way home, he actually thanked me for helping him with his craft. They made a vine- the letter for the week was V and they read books about vegetables. He said he needed some help and then he said "thank you for helping me." It was too cute. Many of the other moms went to the "lap-sit" story time in another room with younger siblings. Then at craft time, 2 of the moms came in to help their kids. We'll see if I make it back this coming Monday. They were so nice and kept saying how happy they were that we joined the group! People are way too nice around here. It get my NJ radar going- why are they being nice to me?? What do they want?? I have to get over that.....

[JoanneOR]

Hi Terri (if you're lurking again!). Yesterday was brutal, wasn't it?

Cheryl, how did your day with the twins go? Sometimes I find it easier when the kids do have friends over. A lot of times I don't even see them - they'll play in their rooms. Of course, I can hear them , but that's OK. I need to work on cleaning out the kids' closets. They're all growing like crazy, but particularly Jameson and Ian. Ian came downstairs all sad the other night. I asked him what was wrong and he said all of my shirts are small and I only have a couple pants that fit. Well, he actually has more clothes that fit, but I haven't been quick enough with the laundry. I promised him we'd go shopping soon.

Lara, 66 degrees sounds wonderful! I can't wait till spring. Or at least, for the temperature to hit 10! Sorry you had such a hard time with traveling.

Susan, that's so nice to hear those things about Casey from her teacher. Our library has storytime, but we've never gone. It would be fun to check it out sometime.

Well, Ian stayed home again yesterday and I took him to the doctor. He woke up with a 100 temperature and his cough didn't sound good to me. Well, after I called into school for him I took his temp again and it was normal and didn't go back up all day. But, I still took him to the doctor for the cough. Well, he didn't seem at all sick by the time we got there. He's joking around with the doctor. She thought he was hilarious. I felt kind of silly bringing him in since he seemed so much better, but she was fine with it. Checked him out, said it was probably the flu and the cough wasn't in his chest. She did say he had pink eye, though and gave us some drops. His eyes looked fine to me, but we're giving him the drops. So, he was back at school today.

We had a late night last night. Colin comes out of his room at 9:45 all panicky and told me his valentine box was due the next day. Nothing like the last minute!! Actually I knew about the box, but totally forgot yesterday and figured it wasn't really an assignment and he could turn it in the next day. Well, he was adamant on doing it last night.

[TLee4]

Hi Terri (if you're lurking again!). Yesterday was brutal, wasn't it?

YES! Is it almost spring yet?!

(Back to my lurking. Or I could call it "research" for when Joey and Baby #2 are Pre-K's! I learn a lot here! )

Terri

[tbb113]

Cheryl and Susan
They test here for gifted in 2nd grade. Every district seems to do something different for gifted kids. In my school district, they group the gifted kids all into one classroom (usually 4 or 5 kids per grade level) and then the teacher is supposed to have 'differential teaching'. IMHO, it is the NON-GIFTED kids that are in that class room that win. The gifted kids are still not really challenged. Then in 4 and 5th grade, you can take a test and be placed in a district wide ATP (Academically Talented Program) classroom. Alex did that and it was WONDERFUL. It gave him a group of 30 (I think) gifted kids to spend his entire day with. His 4th grade teacher was excellent, 5th grade left lots to be desired. Middle school they go back to grouping for CORE (English/Social Studies) and math is based on ability. HS...gifted is a name only, but they are eligible for AP classes and some other advanced classes.

For example, this is Alex's schedule this year

World Geography/Health (one semester of each)
Biology (usually taken sophmore year. He chose not to take advanced biology since it required a science fair project and the grade was not weighted)
Advanced Algebra 2 (he took Algebra and Geometry in middle school)
Drama (elective)
Latin (his choice of language, we found out later that the grade is weighted)
Freshman English
PE

Other school districts have 'enrichment' classes where they pull the gifted kids out of regular class once a week. If you are interested, your school district should be able to tell you what they do with the gifted kids (sometimes called GATE, gifted and talented education).

[MrsReber]

Tyra, I was talking to a mom from Lynchburg. She said the program there is wonderful- they group the kids together full time. I wish that's what they had here. She said that there are other parents who would like a better gifted and talented program in our county. If it comes to it later, I'd let Casey skip a grade rather than be bored. I know it's a huge adjustment, but I think overall it would pay off. Here in our county, they have a program where they pull the kids out of their regular classes. Thinking back, I agree with you. I was in such a program and I'm not sure what I really learned. It was a different atmosphere, but the projects were sort of out there and didn't seem relevant. We only met once a week. I will ask Casey's teacher about the program next chance I get.

Yesterday was nice. DH stayed home and Casey had a snow day. It started snowing when we were driving to Chuck E Cheese on Tuesday night. I debated turning back, but figured it woulnd't be too bad. Oh, and let me tell you- the Chuck E. Cheese here has changed my opinion of the place! I hated the one in NJ. It was dingy, dirty and completely out of control. Well, the one here was smaller, cleaner, all the games worked. It was really nice! Not that I want to hang out there on a regular basis, but my opinion went up a few notches. Casey hung out with the big girls. They love her and treat her as an equal. And she plays the part well, though she's 5 years younger than the others! Brenden didn't want anything to do with the girl party, even though we were invited to sit with them, so I hung out with him and played games. My only complaint is that we had a ton of points, but couldn't redeem them for much.

The ride home was a little slippery. However, I was amazed that people here actually stay off the roads in bad weather. There was no one out there on the way home- not even the plows. Guess they don't have a whole lot of snow removal equipment here?? I actually passed people on the way home. They were driving 20 mph with their high beams on (???) on the main road. They were more of a hazard than the snow- hitting the brakes every 5 seconds. I passed them so I could do 35. This is on a road where people routinely drive 60-70 in clear conditions. Anyway, the worst part was the 2 roads leading to our house. It's about a 5 mile stretch. Brenden kept asking if we were home yet. He said he was afraid I was going to crash! I had to laugh. I was more relaxed than he was.

Casey has a 2 hour delay today. I guess the 100 day celebration will be pushed back to Monday! They had a lot of fun yesterday. DH was sledding out back with them. I joined them a lunch time, then everyone came in. After lunch, DH went over the neighbor's house with the kids. There were 3 other kids there and the sled run was much longer. And- the best part- I got to get on a conference call and do some work for a couple of hours with absolutely no interruption!

Speaking of work, I must start my day!

[HRJ]

Hi all -- I do want to respond to everyone, but while I have a minute, I want to ask everyone for an opinion on something.

Last night was kindergarten registration for Victor -- they do one reg. during the day, and another at night to accommodate working parents, which made me happy. After we registered, we met with the principal, kindergarten teachers, school secretary, school nurse, PTO president and the woman who runs the after-school program, and then got a tour of the K classrooms and building. It was very nice.

Anyway, among the registration materials was a "voluntary student information form," that asked questions like, "what do you consider our child's greatest strengths? Greatest challenges? Describe your child's personality and interests. Does your child interact well with other children his/her age?" It said the purpose of the sheet was to help determine class placement. (Our school is pretty small -- there are only 2 kindergarten classes).

Would you complete such a form? My first impulse was to say, sure, I guess it will help them determine which of the two kindergarten classes he's in. Then I thought about it some more, and became more hesitant. My concern is that something I say on the form -- particularly in regard to "strengths and challenges" will be interpreted in some way by the techers/principal that I didn't intend, and could influence the way they see Victor even before they meet him. I'm thinking I'd rather they meet him "fresh" and form their own opinions of his strengths/challenges/abilities, etc.

After all, there are only 2 classes they could put him in, so it's not like they have a whole load of teachers with varying styles, or anything like that. From what I've heard from other parents, both of the teachers are considered "good" -- one is a fairly new teacher; the other much more experienced, and both of those situations have their plusses and minuses, I think.

I didn't hand in the form last night, but can still bring it over to the school. What would you do? (BTW, DH thinks we should fill it out, but is willing to defer to my feelings on this -- probably because I'll end up being the one who ends up completing it. )

Back later,

Helene

[tbb113]

Susan - when my mother first moved to the LA area, she was amazed that people pulled over to the shoulder and waited for the RAIN to stop. And up here, people don't slow down at all (it could be pouring and they are still doing 70+ on the freeway).

Helene - I would answer the questions that you feel comfortable with answering and leave the others blank. I use to put very vague answers on that type of form myself. I know that some teachers look at 'your permananet record' and others don't, so I wouldn't put anything there that you don't want people reading 10 years from now

[JoanneOR]

Helene, I remember filling out those forms for preschool and kindergarten. I can understand your hesitancy. I never quite knew what to write, and like Tyra said, I kept it really vague and skipped some of the questions I didn't feel comfortable answering. Like strengths and weaknesses. Something that you think is a weakness might change in a couple months, and there it is in writing for the teacher to look at in six months and maybe say, oh, he/she has a problem with xyz, and at that point it might not even be an issue. Then again, the teachers might just look at the forms before the kids start class to get to know a little about them, and then never look at them again. So, I'd just answer the questions that seem straightforward and skip any others.

I'm not real happy with the programs they have for advanced kids in our school. They used to have a program where they pulled kids out. Now they put them on different tracks if they are advanced, or gifted. But, it's not at all structured, it's basically just giving them extra work. But, they do have a teacher who comes into the classroom and works with them on the work. So, I guess maybe it is the same as pulling them out, but the teacher comes to them. For things like reading and math, they are put into different groups based on their levels. But, I figure once they get to high school, they have more opportunities. Probably even middle school, where Jameson will be next year.

The kids got report cards yesterday. Ian couldn't find his when he got home and DH was joking with him that he was hiding it from him. But, both he and Jameson got high honor roll and Colin got meets or exceeds grade levels in everything, so we took them all out to dinner.

Jameson told us last night that he wants to play football. The catholic school does have a team and they let the kids from religious education play on it, so he'd be able to play. I'm not sure when the season starts, I think they start practice in the spring. I just worry because he's average height for his age, but really, really thin. I'm sure he'll do fine and they certainly won't make him a defensive end, but it's a mother's job to worry! Actually, I don't even think they play tackle. Colin's going to start playing basketball in the spring - I think he'd be good at it. Ian said he just wants to keep doing gymnastics, so I think he's gotten over worrying about what the other kids think, which is good.

[Laura]

Jameson told us last night that he wants to play football. The catholic school does have a team and they let the kids from religious education play on it, so he'd be able to play. I'm not sure when the season starts, I think they start practice in the spring. I just worry because he's average height for his age, but really, really thin. I'm sure he'll do fine and they certainly won't make him a defensive end, but it's a mother's job to worry! Actually, I don't even think they play tackle. Colin's going to start playing basketball in the spring - I think he'd be good at it. Ian said he just wants to keep doing gymnastics, so I think he's gotten over worrying about what the other kids think, which is good.

Joanne,

When DS played football in 7th and 8th grade he was on the lightweight team. It was comforting to know that he wasn't going to be tackled by someone who was 170 pounds when he only weighed 120.

[JoanneOR]

Laura, Jameson only weighs about 65 pounds! But, he's 10.

[MrsReber]

Joanne, you must be awfully proud of your boys! What great report cards. I'm with you- football scares me. I remember 3 guys in HS who had broken legs at the same time due to football injuries. Ouch! So far, Brenden is dying to play baseball and he recently mentioned basketball, which would be good since he's tall. As for baseball, I'm afraid it'll be a while. I think the leagues that take young kids only have t-ball. He wants someone to pitch to him. He can hit, too. Casey is really good as well.

Helene, I've never seen a form like that, but I don't blame you for being hesitant. It doesn't exactly seem fair to make statements about personality when these kids are developing so rapidly. Also, kindergarten is a whole new experience so who knows what traits will come out and which ones will go away? For instance, Casey is shy, but she's very chatty at home. I have no idea if she'll chat away once she's comfortable at school or if she'll just be quiet all the time for fear of getting in trouble. Then one day she hit a boy in the chest! That kind of behavior is way out of the ordinary for her. She'll hit her brother, but she has never hit another child. You just don't know and I agree, if you put down one thing, they may somehow label him. Or, then again, they may not give it much thought. I don't understand how they could group kids differently, though, if there's only 2 classes! It also doesn't seem productive to group the kids together by social ability because they will learn from each other if they're on different levels. I don't really see what the form accomplishes at all???

[JoanneOR]

Susan, in our area, pretty much all the kids start out with t-ball for a year or two, then play regular baseball, with the only difference being they don't use the tee at all in regular. If yours is anything like ours, Brenden might like it. In our league they played actual games against other teams after practicing for about a month, once or twice a week. And, the kids would first get some pitches (thrown by coaches) to try to hit. After a certain number, they'd give them the tee and let them hit from there. It's the cutest thing to see all the players on the field run after the ball at the same time. I think the games were only three innings.

[HRJ]

Thanks for the responses. Glad to hear fellow moms who understand my concerns. I think I'm going to hold off on sending in the form at all, since it does say "Voluntary" on the top. If the school calls and asks about it, I'll deal with it then. As I said, from what I've heard talking to other parents, it doesn't seem like either K teacher is particularly "superior" to the other -- and, anyway, how would I know how my answers would affect which teacher he'll get, anyway? I'm just planning to be open-minded, regardless of which class he ends up in.

Joanne, great report cards!! I'd be pretty skittish about football, too -- and even more so, about hockey. Our town is known as a big hockey powerhouse, and there are kids who start playing at 3 and 4! I'm really hoping Victor shows no interest in that sport.

Susan, around here, too, they only have t-ball for the young kids. The league here is part of national Little League -- not sure if the Little League rules are the same all over the country, but here you have to be 5 by April 30 to play t-ball for the spring season. We were considering signing Victor up for this spring, but they play *both* Saturday and Sunday afternoons -- that just seems like a little much to me, asking families to "give up" both weekend afternoons, and, also, having the kids play 2 days in a row, at this age -- at least for Victor, I think it would be too intense. We figured we'd wait until next year, at least. The t-ball program is for 5- and 6-year-olds -- they can't play real baseball until 7.

Sorry -- I had to laugh at the picture of sweet little Casey punching a boy in the chest!! I'm sure he must have done something to really annoy her.

Helene

[MrsReber]

Sorry -- I had to laugh at the picture of sweet little Casey punching a boy in the chest!! I'm sure he must have done something to really annoy her.

Helene

It was pretty funny- I was shocked at the note that was in her folder that day. She refused to talk about it at all, but she at least told me the boy's name. But then I met the boy at a birthday party. I think perhaps I can understand now!

DH came home and said T-ball sign ups are soon. I don't know how old Brenden would have to be. Joanne, it'd be nice if they pitched a couple of balls to Brenden first. He'd like that.

Somehow or other, we had a house full of kids here about an hour ago- four additional kids! It's weird. I always wanted to be the house that the kids hung out at. I just thought I'd have a few more years before that happened!

[tbb113]

Sports -
Baseball out here is little league. In the beginning they go off the tee. As they get older it progresses to coach-pitched (your coach pitches to your team) and then finally player pitched. I don't remember when each happens any more. When they switch to coach pitched, I think they got 7 strikes before they had to go hit it off the t.

Football - if it is Pop Warner, there are age/weight maximums. When Michael was younger, he was too big to play football (age 10) and I don't know if he ever would have fit into the weight limitation. Most 13 year old boys aren't already 6 feet tall and big Surprisingly, there are very few injuries at the HS level. Mostly muscle strains. We have a trainer at all games and practices, the boys are taped if necessary and they also have an orthopedic doctor affilated with the team.

Joanne - great report cards.

[MrsReber]

Ugh- I feel just awful! For the second day in a row, Casey had a delayed school opening. I remembered about 2 minutes before the bus showed up that she had some homework that had to be handed in! We got it started and I was helping. It was words, so I knew she could breeze through it. But we ran out of time and only finished about 1/3 of it. I sent her with paper and glue, hoping she could finish it before school started. Poor kid- it was partly my fault. On Monday, she comes in the door and hands me all her homework and school work for the past week. I put this particular worksheet to the side and completely forgot about it! I feel bad because she'll get a bad mark and then, at the end of the month, she won't have a perfect "score." It seems ridiculous to me that they do this in kindergarten, but I guess it's better to start earlier and get them into good habits- but of course, most of it falls to the parents because a 5 year old doesn't have the discipline for that! I feel so bad- she tries so hard to get a good mark each day.

It's monster trucks for the family tonight! DH wanted us all to go and the kids tickets are only $5 a piece, too. We've been to three shows already at the civic centers. They're so easy to get to and there's so much going on there all the time. It's great! I just got notice that a Thomas stage show is coming here. I'm debating that one. The tickets are a bit more expensivt- over $30 each, with all the taxes and "convenience" charge. We'll see if we go to that one or not.

Well, it's Friday! I have to make bread (DH promised the neighbor because he saw my sourdough starter out on the counter!), go to the post office, and try to get some work done on these contracts that my co-worker left for me. She's on vacation on a beach somewhere! Lucky woman.