Parent Teacher Conferences

I didn't accomplish much this day. My good friend invited me and little C to go along with her while she looked at new bedding for her guest room. She was hoping I would buy new bedding which I really could use but don't exactly 'need'. But need is different to everyone. Need to me is having nothing on my bed. But the bedspread has a growing hole and it most likely needs to be tossed. I went along knowing I would not find anything because most stores don't carry California King bedding. I didn't find any bedding for me but I found the most adorable Laura Ashley monkey bedding that would work on C's bed if she ever gets moved out of her crib.

Anyway... now onto PTC's. DH met me there. D's was first. He is making big improvements. He's not fighting. He's still crying over some things but it's not turning into a massive blowup. The teacher is working on helping him deal with a few things. Have I not mentioned how fabulous his teacher is? She agreed, he's not ADHD (do you like how we think we are psychs?).

Then we went to T's. Academically he's great, super smart, etc. etc. He's also adorable. BUT

....Yep, there is the but which pretty much negates great, super smart, and adorable. He's just kind of wild. I was a little perplexed. Well, it wasn't about the wild thing. I can totally see that. He can't keep still for a minute. I told his cute teacher that I have been asking every day if he got a card pulled and he said he hadn't. That was true I guess. In reality she figured out that card pulling wasn't working for him and so she has been trying other things. From now on I'll be getting emails if he is being a turkey in class and we'll deal with him quickly at home. I can promise it'll take 3 times before he really believes that he has to always be good at school. Right now he is catching on because he doesn't get to go snowboarding tomorrow because he was off task so much. And of course, there was the shoe incident at school this very day. She (the teacher) said he was really pretty funny because he came back from recess with only one shoe one. It was a first in her teaching career. It was retrieved off the roof and he will not be taking his shoes off to run again at school even though he told her he was much faster without his shoes on. (This explains the holes in the socks.) I though his reasoning was pretty funny because DH is training with Vibram Five Fingers now and it's almost like running barefoot.

Then it was off to M's. It was the same as always. She is still funny, nice, well behaved... excels in everything. I asked if there was something in particular she should study this summer as the kids all get some summer work (mainly for structure and because school these days doesn't teach a heck of a whole lot anyway). She gave me a few ideas that might spare M from the Civil War workbook I found for a bargain.

Then today the kids were home. It really wasn't too bad. S had a pretty good day.

Wait, this deserves its own not so indented paragraph. S acted for the most part like a regular 5 year old today. She had a couple of stinker moments but they were normal 5 year old stinker moments. I made sure she overheard me praising her to other people. Maybe, just maybe, she'll jump out of her almost 3 month funk. Tomorrow DH might take her along skiing for a lesson to try to reinforce that it's more fun to be good. I would so love to see her have that glimmer in her eyes for more than one day.

As for the rest of the kiddos...

M had a great violin lesson. The teacher is having me get her Suzuki book 4. The violin player in me is thrilled about that because it's the first Suzuki book with concertos. She should be starting it next month. Along with that book I got a list of other new books she needs. But I don't care even if I pull it out of my 'slush fund' money. I love having her play the violin.

T struggled with doing things the first time I asked him. Maybe he'll figure out you don't have to do nearly as much stuff if you just obey the first time. And yes, dear T, I will make sure that your bed is really made. He did hang out with me and snuggle for a few minutes tonight. He's getting too big to really sit on my lap long but I love snuggling with him.

D had a harder day. He admitted later on that he still thinks he can get his way eventually with a good fit. I asked him if it has ever worked before and he said no. Maybe we need to introduce stats to him earlier than college. This morning he got frustrated and his violin ended up on the ground with a broken bridge. So he didn't have a lesson after all. I didn't even check his violin until tonight because I was worried the sound post would be broken. But it wasn't and I was thrilled that I didn't get super angry at him this morning. It doesn't help and I know it so I have to control my frustrations so his anxiety doesn't skyrocket.

C wanted grandma to curl her hair with hot rollers today. She thought that was pretty spiffy. She was thrilled to have the big kids home today.

I made a picnic for the kids today. It was freezing outside but they wanted to have lunch in the great outdoors. They didn't seem to cold even though it was 45 degrees. I let them enjoy their meals (with friends of course) and then D had one of his breakdowns and I had to go outside myself so he could lose his audience while he tantrumed. I pruned my lavender plants and pulled weeds until it was just too dang cold. By then, D was done with his fit and it was no big deal to go inside.

We played a game from a church magazine tonight. It was one long game. I couldn't believe the kids wanted to keep playing it. I think that games will help bond our family a bit more and told DH we need to play them more even if it's boring for us.

And off to bed I go. Grandma isn't back from the expo center but that's okay. She will be able to get herself settled for the night. I think she is only here for a few more days. The kids look forward to having a little more time with her.