Kindergarten Information Night - Bailey's Elementary

Tonight I went to "information night" at Bailey's Elementary. Bailey's is "the magnet school" that everyone talks about in Fairfax County. So DH got home at 6:25 pm tonight so I could be out the door at 6:30 pm to attend the information session.

The school principal did a brief presentation and then said "anyone interested in full immersion Kindergarten, go over that way" into the corner. There must have been 70 people that were herded towards one of the Kindergarten classes. But they never made it clear that two of the Kindergarten classes are full immersion, and there are another SIX classes that are "plain ol'" Kindergarten classrooms. I think this confused lots of parents. It wasn't clear to me until over two hours later after Q&A with the principal!

We visited the various "labs" of the school. I am particularly interested in science education, as I think science education is getting shortened up right now thanks to Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) and other "mandatory testing" requirements. The science teacher is amazing at Bailey's! What a fortunate school to have someone like her there! But she focuses on older children. So if we were to send Natalie there, I am honestly not sure how much she would gain from the school. Plus she would have to be out of her neighborhood (which is something I absolutely hated about going to a "gifted & talented" program when I was in 4th through 6th grade) and, since we are a household with two working parents, any playdates would be relegated to the weekends. And that is just not fair to Nicholas, either.

I think we are going with our neighborhood elementary school. Our Kindergarten orientation is in April. I think we'll just have to figure out ways to augment science education into "after school" stuff.

2 AM musings

Around 2 am this morning, my daughter was at the side of my bed.

"Mommy? Are you awake?"

"Yes, sweetheart, what's the matter?" I mumbled.

"Mommy, I only want to wear dresses at Walt Disney World and not shorts. Boys can't wear dresses so I want to wear dresses."

"Okay Natalie," I replied.

"Thanks, Mommy. I love you." And she kissed my cheek.

"I love you, too, angel. Go back to bed."

"I will Mommy. I love you." And back to bed she went.

Sparklers

We went to a belated "family-oriented" New Year's Eve party last night -- it was rescheduled from New Year's Eve due to the hostess having a pretty bad cold/flu thing going on for the beginning of 2006. We took Natalie and Nicholas out for a long ride before the party so they would sleep. (Little Man is a nap refuser on the weekend.) We all had a great time.

Natalie had her first experience with sparklers. Initially she was afraid of "fire" but after 10 minutes or so of all the children (including some 2 year-olds) holding sparklers with their parents, Natalie really liked it and was holding two sparklers at a time (with Dad nearby). Nicholas was not really interested in the sparklers -- much more into Thomas the Tank Engine. (No shock there.)

Nick was starting to get a little cranky, so we left around 7:30 pm, and then headed home to watch Herbie Fully Loaded. It was a much better movie then I thought it would be! I was a little hesitant to add it to our queue in NetFlix, but I'm glad we did. Even Nick was laughing hard in parts of it. Jeff Gordon was actually quite good in his cameo, too.

More on Jacob Robida

Thank goodness he has been stopped.

Jacob Robida

Wow -- the whole Jacob Robida thing is way too freaky.

1. His mother is the sister of someone I went to middle school/high school with. (I saw her when visiting my parents a couple of years ago -- I had brought my daughter to the local park and "S" was there with a little girl 2 months older than my daughter -- except it was her GRANDCHILD.)
2. DH went to middle school with a "J" Robida (back in the early 70s), who "got into trouble" because he had a Nazi flag on the end of his pencil. DH thinks that "J" is the dad.

This whole thing is frightening. Doesn't help that the parents are clueless idiots.

All Thomas or cars, all the time

Nicholas is big into Thomas the Tank Engine right now. He sleeps with one train in his right hand and one in his left hand. When he wakes up, he wants to know where Thomas is. If it is not Thomas, he wants to know where his cars are. (He has roughly ten of the small 64 scale cars.) It's all Thomas or cars, all the time.

He's in the toddler classroom and has not moved up into the 2's room yet because there is no spot to go to yet. (The plague of a December birthday.) But today, one of the children in the 2's classroom was out, so Nick could go "visit". He spent the morning all the way through lunch there. He got to serve himself his lunch. He played with all sorts of new toys. He set out his own cups and plates. At nap time, he went back to his classroom for a rest. He told his teacher all about the things he did -- playing with fire trucks, and puzzles, and books, etc. He was all excited!

My little guy is such a big boy now!

Decluttering, continued

On weekends we declutter. We have been trying to do a little bit at a time. It's to the point now where Natalie knows that it's "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere" time on Sunday afternoons and she gets a trash bag to start wading through stuff.

Elizabeth posted about the "excesses" of it all at Half Changed World today. We are living proof of it, especially post-Christmas. With Nicholas' birthday just 12 days before, the toy explosion turned into a true mountain. We have finally unburied ourselves from the toys in the living room and in Natalie's bedroom, so now we only have one bedroom and the dreaded playroom to tackle.

All this decluttering forced me to make some changes in birthday-gift buying -- out of sympathy for friends that are also parents of young children.

Natalie has been invited to a skating party for C's birthday in a couple of weeks. I just LOVE the idea of a skating party -- physical activity is always a great balance to cake and juice. But I was facing the "what do we get for a gift?" dilemma.

Then I decluttered this weekend.

The gift will be books. Two books. Not four. And no, not one. But two.

And I get to put my "we really like these books" list to good use at the same time.

Drop-off madness

Nicholas, my little guy (AKA Mommy's sugarplum), wailed for 20 solid minutes on the ride in today. He kept repeating "No see (insert name of someone in his classroom)" over and over again. When I dropped him off, he was glued to my leg. Much like he has been glued to me at home for the past three days -- no, daddy is not an option -- "Walk away, Daddy" is the order from Mr. Nicholas. He was crying so much that Mommy Guilt set in and I was tearing up.

Thankfully "this too shall pass" and he was fine within a minute of my leaving. But wow -- talk about an emotional start to a Monday.

I'm on several "moms' lists" including a great "working moms" list for the DC area -- DC Working Moms. It seems like everyone that has a 2 year-old is riding this "mommy-centric" wave or has ridden it recently. Oh, just to get to June when he'll be 2.5 years.

Dentist update

Natalie went to the dentist on Wednesday. She had her teeth cleaned, another fluoride treatment (like she had 6 months ago), and she also had x-rays done. (!!!) The dentist looked at her teeth and Natalie was proud to say that she had stopped sucking her thumb during the day -- the only time she sucks her thumb now is at naptime and at night to go to sleep. The dentist gave her a big High Five! The dentist told me that there was no problem with her sucking her thumb now, especially since she had stopped during the day, and that her teeth alignment looked perfect. (YEAH!)

The next day, one of the teachers told me about this cute exchange at naptime. Natalie was lying down on her cot sucking her thumb and then jumped back -- "no" she said. The teacher asked her what was wrong. She said, "The dentist said I can't suck my thumb." So the teacher suggested that she snuggle her blanket way up high so she wouldn't suck her thumb. Natalie tried that and said, "But now I have two hands! Normally I have one hand to twist my hair and the other hand to suck my thumb." So the teacher suggested that Natalie twist her hair as she always does and the teacher would rub her thumb until she fell asleep. So Natalie tried that for a few minutes but that wasn't working either. She started to get a little upset, but the teacher said, "Natalie, I'm sure your dentist would say that you could suck your thumb now because you really tried not to suck it today." So Natalie sucked her thumb and was asleep in 2 minutes.

Update on Mom

Mom went to see the new doctor today -- a neurologist who specializes in dementia/Alzheimer's patients. She's been pretty uneasy about seeing the new doctor, but once she got there, she really liked him. He's trying a new "recipe" of meds with her, small changes/tinkering at a time. When I talked with her today she seemed MUCH more relaxed about things, and I think she is sleeping better, too. I think my dad is also sleeping better. There is NOTHING better than one night of good sleep -- other than several nights in a row of good sleep.

Proof that email advocacy works

Check out today's Washington Post story about the "Home Serenity and Tranquility Act" introduced in the Virginia General Assembly. One of the folks at the Virginia Youth Soccer Association heard about the bill on Thursday and, according to the Post story, over 1,000 emails have already flooded in to the bill's sponsor's office.

And where is the bill now? According to the story:

The bill was assigned to the House Courts of Justice Committee, whose chairman, also a Fairfax delegate, said he plans to kill it first thing Monday.

Nice eadvocacy work, folks!!!

Added to the NetFlix queue: The Smartest Guys in the Room

I just added "the Enron movie" to our NetFlix queue.

No, I did not get to see the movie when it made its way to theaters -- the last time I saw a movie in a theater where the movie did not have animation was in 2001. So I have been waiting for this to come out on DVD. I read a review of it over at The Moderate Voice and it looks great. I loved the Frontline piece that aired before everything collapsed at Enron, so I'm anxious to see Jeff Skilling again. *evil grin*

More on Great Wolf Lodge

Great Wolf Lodge has this deal where you borrow a waterproof digital camera for the length of your stay and they sell you a CD with all your photos in a slide show for $25. Sure beats risking your own digital camera in a water park!

Here is a sampling of some of the photos:

• Natalie on the raft in the wave pool -- if she could have, she would have spent the entire weekend in the wave pool

• Natalie on the raft leaning way back to get her hair wet

• Another picture of her on the raft

• Dad with Nicholas in the wave pool

• Nicholas smooching Mom

• Natalie swimming in the toddler pool -- this is with life vest on; she swam for a good 15 yards!
  

• Natalie sliding down the toddler water slide
  

• Brother and sister enjoying lollipops

Jack Bauer

Yes, we are back to normalcy -- Jack Bauer has returned.

Ran across The World According to Jack Bauer in my travels -- VERY funny stuff!!!

Oh -- and for those with little ones -- Great Wolf Lodge is wonderful! Just be sure to do your own grocery run as the food is -- well, it's not great.

Delurking week

I learned from Half Changed World that this week is Delurking Week (created by Paper Napkin). So please say hi and let me know if you share disdain for how some toy companies wrap their toys in what seems like miles of twist-tie wraps. (Or just say hi.)

Field trip day

Today was field trip day -- we went to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs and see their mammal exhibit. We had a GREAT time! We took the Metro from Virginia to the Smithsonian stop. All of the children were very well behaved with their listening ears on. We arrived a little early so the teachers gave out snacks to the children before we went in to the museum. Then when the museum opened, we went through security ("bag check") and first saw the elephant in the rotunda, then spent time touring the dinosaurs. We made our way over to the mammals after that.

With all the transportation time and the need to be back for lunch, we still managed to hit the highlights. And it was great to be with Natalie as I could add emphasis in areas that I think are important. For example, there was someone working in the Fossil Lab and I could mention what that person was doing and why it was detailed work and such.

The parenting dance

I'm on a couple of parenting lists that recently have had lots of discussion about two "working outside the home" parents managing home life with one or more children. I have to say all the posts have been great to read because I have been fretting a bit about how in the world we are going to manage in the fall when Natalie starts Kindergarten.

Currently I handle both drop-off and pick-up, which does make a little bit of sense since my office is a block away and DH's office is the absolute other way in DC. It doesn't make it easy, though. It's still an additional 40 minutes of "on-the-job duty" of fastening car seats, controlling arms so that a toy doesn't go airborne, keeping peace in the car while we drive, getting children out of the car and keeping them safe until we get into the lobby, get them in classrooms and coats hung up, talk to teachers about the night, etc. Then add a similar 40 minutes at pick-up time. Times 5 days a week. Yes, that's an additional 6 2/3 hours -- or almost an additional WORK DAY -- each week.

DH gets it easy.

Dance class...redux

Dance classes have started again and today is our first class for the winter and spring session. This time the class is for the four and five year-olds. Natalie is THRILLED to be in something for the five year-olds. She keeps asking when her birthday is (August) so she can be five.

I know she will have two friends from pre-school in her dance class, and maybe even three friends. As I type, she is "practicing like Angelina (Ballerina)" by spinning around the floor and trying to do leaps. It is very cute!

I wish parents could stay outside the door to "watch". I'll just have to hear all the great details when her class is done. Thankfully she has the same teacher as her last class -- that way she will be more comfortable in the class.

Stroller wars

The stroller wars have started.

On Tuesday, Nicholas (the oldest child in his toddler room) found two new doll strollers that were brought into his classroom. He spent all day pushing the stroller around! His friend G spent her day pushing the other stroller around. They had such a great time!

Yesterday, Natalie went with me to pick up Nicholas -- and she got to see the new strollers in the classroom. Now SHE wanted to push the stroller around. She tells me, "Mommy, you know the pink stroller that is up in the attic?" (The attic, where we circulate out toys so we don't look like a toy store annex.) "Mommy, I'd like to play with that when we get home."

My mistake was saying "yes". Because I only have one "pink stroller in the attic".

So I brought down the pink stroller from the attic. Natalie ended up watching the clock to see just how long her "turn" would be with the stroller. Nicholas, in the meantime, is nearly hysterical. HE wants the stroller.

So I go down into the playroom and bring up the pink plastic stroller.

Now we have the pink stroller and the pink plastic stroller. The war shifts into who has what baby. Natalie has her Bitty Baby in the pink stroller. Nicholas has the Not Identifiable Baby in the pink plastic stroller. He wants Bitty Baby.

Natalie knows that Bitty Baby has to be taken care of "extra special".

Nicholas tugs at Natalie's dress.

Natalie screams.

I'm ready to move BOTH strollers back to the attic. Instead, I get Red Shopping Cart from the playroom. And two more babies.

This bought me 10 more minutes -- until bathtime. While DH handles baths, all strollers, carts, and babies were put away in the playroom. Except Bitty Baby, who went back to the cradle in Natalie's bedroom.

We'll see what happens from the Stroller Front tonight when we get home.

Happy 2006!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year have not hit on all cylinders on the "healthy" part -- I've been down with a cold all weekend. (And no, it is NOT the flu!)

We were supposed to go to a friend's house for a family-friendly New Year's Eve party, but she had to cancel on Friday because -- you guessed it -- she's down with a whopper of a cold, sore throat, laryngitis, etc. Both of her daughters made it through okay -- it's the moms that are left flat on their backs.

Anyway, we put together a small "just for us" party for home, with lots of munchies and such. I had a fever and just felt yucky. So we welcomed in the New Year (Natalie was asleep by 10 pm and Nicholas was asleep by 11:15 pm -- I followed closely behind at 12:30 am) and got some rest, too.

On Monday, we took down the Christmas decorations (on the 9th day of Christmas -- so much for the 12 Days of Christmas, but out tree was really starting to drop needles) and put everything away. We did some laundry and organized some toys. And we had lots of fun playing with the kids and trying to let me get some rest.

I'm feeling a lot better today than I did on Saturday, but not at 100% yet. I'm not even at 75% yet. But I'm hoping I am better tomorrow -- especially so I can go to work. I have so little paid time off that I need to save every day I can for the inevitable coughs/colds of the children and for the litany of school days off for the County. Yes, my baby girl is going to start Kindergarten this year! *sniff sniff* Have to start planning on hoarding paid time off.

Anyway, happy and healthy New Year's wishes to you!