- First ever school pictures! Not crazy about how the photographer combed the Dynamo's hair but otherwise I am hugely impressed. I'm lucky to get them both looking at me at the same time let alone also smiling!
- Local zoo trip. It gets better for the twins every time we go.
- A full week of Jury Duty. Meaning I was picked to sit on an actual jury. I had it in my head I would be excused the first day for some reason. I have to say as much as I was dreading the process - driving into the city during rush hour, parking, paying for parking, etc - I really found it to be quite interesting. Fortunately (fortunately?) it was an attempted robbery and sexual assault case as opposed to the THREE murder trials going on at the same time. OH and they were filming the new Spiderman movie in my city the same week. Streets were closed and traffic altered but I got a few peeks of film making. And how cool is it that a big movie was filmed in our city? They changed it up to make it appear to be NYC with car chases and crashes.
- Mother's Day - The boys made these for me:
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| Love! |
- Day Out with Thomas and His Friends event. The Dynamo wouldn't ride the train once we were seated but it was still a fun time.
- This happened:
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| Our own jungle! |
Just after a storm passed through, I and a lot of my neighbors heard and felt these trees come down. I was sure something hit the house! Nothing did but it scared the shit out of me. It happened at about 9:30 PM and the boys were asleep. Neighbors came from across the street to see my entire back yard encompassed with fallen trees. Turns out a rotted Poplar tree fell at the base and took out part of my big Sugar Maple. These trees outline the border of my back yard as do all the ones in the back. One of my neighbors cut up the trees, took some of the good wood for his fireplace and he and his kids dragged the remains to the curb for our Village to pick up. I'm so lucky to have such great neighbors. Of course, now every time it rains and/or is windy, I wonder what's going to fall next.
- Memorial Day - I took the boys solo to the Memorial Day Parade. This was a little victory for me as they are at the point where they don't want to sit in a stroller (or most any other place) for long periods of time. I managed to get their wagon in the trunk of my car with the handle pushed through the pass-through opening in the back seat (between their car seats). A bungee cord held the trunk down enough for me to see out the back window. It worked well. I wish I had tried it sooner - there were lots of trips where that wagon would have come in handy! But now I know for future.
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| Waiting for the parade. |
- Parent/Teacher conference at Daycare. Let me start by saying how much I love the boys' teacher. The boys adore him and I think he is an excellent male influence where the boys are lacking men in their lives. That being said, he told me in so many words that I am lazy (in regards to potty training), that my boys should be drinking out of regular cups (they do when seated at the table, otherwise they use sippy or straw cups), and that they need more work on eating with spoons and forks (using one hand). He's not wrong, but, as is true with many of my blog readers I imagine, being told I'm lazy stung a bit. I'm exhausted and trying to stay afloat on my own with them as my first priority and maintaining my household next.
He also told me that he has witnessed the Dynamo get winded and have labored breathing when playing. I've seen this too and we have a doctor's appointment on Friday to see what's up. Hopefully it's not a big deal. Asthma and food allergies are related but it's Sweet Potato who has the allergies. More on this to follow.
- Garage Sale (Technically June 1st but including with May because the prep time involved took days before the sale.) What a PAIN garage sales are! I did sell some things and made some money and got rid of some stuff (which, yes, is the point), but geesh. And I parted with some momentos of infanthood which was a little difficult but necessary.
So far June appears to be much calmer. And I'm happy for that! Job is still going great - I wonder how I ever managed not working from home after doing it for nearly three months.
I'm dealing with some internal struggles, too, right now. I need to get them out and write about them because I know you all can relate and always provide so much support. I think I'm a little bit in denial but I'll share soon. Putting it here is my reminder and this will make sure I do talk about it.
hat being said, he told me in so many words that I am lazy (in regards to potty training)
ReplyDeleteThat teacher is an ass. Does he even know you are a single mom?
I have three boys and swear by the rule, which was given to me as wisdom by several sets of daycare teachers, that with boys you needn't bother trying to potty train before they turn 3. My oldest was fully trained in 2 weeks; my middle one was unbelievably stubborn, it took a year for No 2, he wasn't fully trained until he was 4 (I have stories of stubbornness-induced constipation because he just would not use the potty, sneaking Miralax into his water so he would go...) What worked was bribing him with candy. Potty training is not a walk in the park and the teacher should know better than to lay the guilt on thick.
Nobody grew up without learning to use the potty or a spoon and a fork. The teacher would get a piece of my mind. (Unfortunately, I have found male daycare and elementary school teachers to be quite condescending in general.)
Hang in there!
Those first school pictures - so cute! Also loved your Mother's Day gift :-).
ReplyDeleteJury duty sounds so interesting! (yet I understand how it is also a big nuisance)
As for the teacher telling you you are lazy, that is not only insensitive, but also stupid!
Love the school pictures too! To me, the first ones seemed like a milestone as much as first tooth and first word.
ReplyDeleteDid the teacher actually call you lazy? That's unprofessional and ineffective. Shame on him.
Lazy? What an ass. Seriously. That is not conducive to a good parent-teacher relationship. You all are a team, and he should be pushing them on the potty-training thing at school. The way my daughter's teachers seem to approach it, is that M has so much structure at school, and peer-pressure from the older kids that are potty-trained, that she'll be trained at school first, and home will follow. M's main teacher suggested that I try M&Ms for motivation, and that works wonderfully for pee. But M honestly doesn't know when she's going to poop. So the best thing we can do for her, and her teachers and I seem to totally agree on this, is to not make her feel bad or self-conscious about it, and give her time to mature a bit more. She will figure out the signs at some point. And when she does, she knows she can avoid the dreaded diaper change AND get three M&Ms. But in the meantime, she seems not to be sweating it too much. And so, I'm not either. You are doing a great job. Sippy cups and straws save you a HUGE amount of clean up time. The teacher is a jerk not to realize the larger context and implications.
ReplyDeleteWas Thomas worth the money? I'm thinking about taking my kids.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, when did the boys get so big??? It sounds like you've had a crazy May, love getting so much of an update. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that the teacher thinks you're lazy for not having the boys potty trained or using regular cups. Seriously????