The First Day of School...But Not for Us!

Today is the first day of school in our school district.  But Travis did not score a lunch bag this weekend during tax-free weekend, he did not "meet the teacher" earlier this month, nor was he outside waiting for the school bus this morning.  Neither was Justin, for that matter, given that he is able to start school because of having DS.  I am not a terrible mother, we just are continuing the adventure of homeschooling.  I have to admit, I had a few "tummy in the throat" moments today as I was battered by doubts and concerns.  And school did not go great this morning as Travis struggled to understand the long "a" sound in its various spellings.  Wiggly does not begin to describe it!  But during nap/rest time I listened to a recording of one of the sessions from the homeschool conference we went to last month and I calmed down.

This was the third year we went to the conference and as one of my friends said, "Every year I get so much more out of it!"  The first year it's like the deer in the headlights look.  The sheer volume of vendors in the resource hall is enough to cause panic.  It's so much better as I recognize names and understand the lingo.  I had a plan of attack and knew what I needed.  Of course, we came out with more than just the "needs" fulfilled, but I think that's how God works.

The event is amazing and I love the fact that this group makes the effort to plan something so encouraging.  The two-and-a-half days are filled with speakers, meetings, shopping, children's and teens' activities, family fun, and the whole experience is infused with encouragement and prayer.  I cannot help but come away feeling excited and renewed.  (I know that's the point....)

Randy and I usually go together to hear the speakers, but if it's difficult to chose we split up and attend two.  Every year it's more difficult to chose so we end up getting the sessions on tape and listening to them later.  Every year there is a session for homeschooling kids with special needs, which we have purposefully avoided because we aren't quite there yet with Justin and there are other sessions we think are more important at the time.  That was our plan again this year, but for some reason I changed my mind and went anyway.  I am so glad I went because my nugget for the conference was in that session.  The speaker (who I ended up running into at the gym later the next week!) recommended working on teaching skills that are age appropriate rather than waiting until you have no choice.  Like not waiting to teach shoe tying until shoe manufacturers no longer make velcro closures in his size!  Even if it takes longer, she recommended putting in the extra effort.  It was the nugget I needed in my struggle with potty training.  Of course, I understand that not everything works within her theory, but I can see the value as children watch their peers and learn from and with them.

I admit that we are not committed to homeschooling forever, but it's the right choice for us right now.  If Travis had been in school, I would have missed him singing this on the way to the grocery store this morning:

(I love recreating moments for blog-post effectiveness!)

 

And since every first day needs a picture, here's Travis' first day of kindergarten.  It's from February!

Progress Report

Here's the updates on a few of our ongoing operations:

• Bike Riding:  I did begin working on this with Travis.  It would have been easier with air in the tires.  Trying this again next week...
• Potty Training:  I have been reminded of the need for patience.  Justin does great when I put him on the potty.  He does his thing nearly every time.  So if I could have the intuition to know when he needs to go, we would be great!  I am, however, not that in tune with Justin's bodily functions.  He is getting better, and we are working on the recognizing when we need to go.  (It is "we" for a while since he can't pull down his pants, or more accurately pull them up!)  He is much more cooperative in going, although we still get the big sigh and shoulder slump occasionally.  He wants to wear underwear, so that's encouraging too.
• Apnea:  I think this is affecting him more and more every day.  The past few days sometime between 10 and 11 am he has a little meltdown if he cannot be held.  When I was trying to pack to leave WI (more coming, I promise) he was nearly beside himself crying and whining.  It took about 11 minutes for him to pass out once we got in the car.  And yesterday at therapy Miss Caroline said that he seemed more tired and he wanted her to hold him.  She loves this and gladly complied.  And again, he fell asleep on the way home.  So, if I can somehow manipulate my schedule to be in the car every day during that magic hour, thus allowing him to get a 20 minute nap, we can make it through lunch to regular nap time.  Either that or put him down for a nap early and then more nap time later in the afternoon.  We go to the ENT next Tuesday.  As soon as we get through that appointment I plan to start calling for another sleep study cancellation as soon as possible.  I am losing my patience and I am snapping at the boys more than I should.  Not liking myself too much, so I am trying to get myself more sleep in a possibly futile attempt to gain a bit more control over my short fuse.  That and some major deep breathing and prayer.
• Air conditioning is finally fixed!  Just three attempts.  Can't wait for the next electric bill....

I have a couple more posts coming about the homeschool conference and our great trip to WI!  I have to work this weekend and it's tax-free weekend in Texas so I will be doing some fall shopping in the little time I am home.   Time to stock up on school supplies and "winter" clothes for Travis!

Bites

I bought foam swords for the boys earlier this year.  I decided to buy them after I took away the boys' plastic baseball bats, flags (on long wooden sticks), and even butterfly nets after they were all used to beat each other one time too often.  I figured they could hit each other and there would be less blood.  It has been successful so far, but there has been one unexpected consequence:

Can you tell which one is Justin's?

A Bad House Day

With working in Travis' new old room yesterday, I didn't get to do the cleaning I usually do on Wednesdays.  I wasn't really excited about doing it today, but I knew that I needed to do it so I wouldn't get too far behind.  It turned out I didn't need to worry because when I walked into the kitchen this morning I stepped into a puddle of water where a pipe had leaked in the ceiling.  Randy quickly shut off the water to the house and I got out of cleaning duty.  I also didn't get the chance to take a shower so I was a bit odiferous today.  But don't worry too much, because with the A/C acting up, it was close to 80 degrees in the house today, so the shower wouldn't have lasted very long anyway!

Since I know God is still in control through all of our home repair issues, here's what makes it all okay:

• My mother is already on her way home so I don't need to worry about her in this situation.
• I didn't have any play dates with extra children in our home today.
• I got extra time to play pirate, indian, cowboys, trucks, and do some wrestling with the boys.
• We found the leak without it doing any extra damage.
• We still was able to do all the things that needed to be done, including therapy, plus a few minutes at the gym.
• I had the opportunity to appreciate my husband for the way he takes such good care of our house.
• My schedule got a little bit out of whack so I ended up at the gym at an off time, and ran into another mother of a daughter with DS and ended up making a great contact!  I am so excited about this one!
• Our neighbors brought us super yummy cake for no reason.

It was one of those days, but I am happy to say that God is so good through it all.

The Bucket

My mom left to begin driving home to Wisconsin yesterday.  One of the saddest days yet for our home.  She managed to fit everything that she brought with her last fall plus all that she acquired since then into her car for the 1200 mile, 20 hour drive.  Did I mention it was horribly sad?  It was a bit of a power struggle for me to agree to let her make the trip solo, but in the end I understood her need for some alone time and let her go.  So why do I feel like a parent sending their child off to college or to their first job?

So yesterday afternoon I spent cleaning out the room and moving all of Travis' clothes, stuffed animals, pictures, etc. back into the room.  All the time I was thinking what a good room that has been for my family.  That room was the first bedroom Randy and I painted together.  My sister spent six months in that room living with us after college/ graduate school.  It was Travis' first "big boy" room when Justin was born.  And now I am considering moving both boys together into that room.  (Thoughts?)  It is overflowing with memories.  They fill the room beyond measure.

And the bucket?  When my mom moved in and she began chemo she wanted something that would be "just in case" she needed it for whatever chemo might do to her.  She kept that bucket by her bed for almost nine months.  It became the elephant in the room.  The reminder that while it was wonderful that she was with us, it was for another reason.  I moved the bucket dozens of times during her stay.  The bucket became cancer for me.


But when she left, the bucket stayed behind.  Its usefulness passed.  She is no longer to be identified with her bucket, nor it with her.  Washing the bucket and putting it away was cathartic.  I relived the past nine months in quick flashes, moving more quickly as time progressed.  I felt a weight removed and joy abounding when the last image flashed of Randy bringing the bucket out of the room.  The bucket is back to being...just a bucket.   

Toy Swap

A couple of years ago I had one of those frustrating moments that maybe only I have where something in my house is kind of bothering me, and then it nudges a little more, and then finally I cannot take it any more and I must do something about it now. I usually pertains to cleaning or organizing.  I have been known to organize so well that I cannot find things.  It's in the perfect spot, I know, I just cannot remember where that spot is!  (Believe me, there are plenty of things that probably bother other people about my house, but they haven't even entered my radar yet!)

So this time, it was about toys.  I struggle big time with toys.  Like most families, we have way more than we could ever play with.  But I hate to discard and pass on when the kids really do play with them.  We are attempting to limit the introduction of toys into our home, but that's another story.  So when the big huge mammoth armoire entered our living room, a light bulb went on in my head and toy swap began.  I bought some bins and separated out the toys into two piles and stored one in the armoire and the other went neatly on the toy shelves.  So now every month I switch toys.  Travis loves it and asks if it's time to switch toys.  (I also take the opportunity to switch CDs in the car so we get some variety there too.)  I had another light bulb moment last month and I made Travis help me gather all the toys in the living room so I could do the swap.  He hauled all the buckets and toys from the play room into the living room in front of the armoire.  It made it go so much faster!  And then this month I tried something else.  I used to do the swap after the kids went to bed, but instead I tried to do it with their help.  I knew it would take a little longer, but I thought it might work anyway.  It did!  The kids were very helpful (Okay, Travis was very helpful, Justin needed a little more direction!)

The scope of swap has expanded since its inception.  At first it was only the smaller toys and a few other things.  Now I even take the play tent down every other month.  A few of the larger things sit in the corner of Justin's room (the basketball hoop, the larger trucks) because the boys don't play in there.  And the games switch out too.  The other day when the kids had their play date and one of the boys ventured into Justin's room and started playing with something, Travis even told him that he couldn't play with that until next month!

We are reading and discussing the book Radical by David Platt in our Bible class.  It's a great book, if for no other reason that it makes you think about what's truly important in life.  How much is too much?  What kind of life does Jesus want for his followers?  It's  really causing me to take a serious look at our lives and our "stuff".  Is it about what makes me comfortable?  It's difficult to teach the children about serving others and sacrificing when our closets are overflowing and there is no need left unmet.  Toys are my biggest struggle (there are others too...one is our pantry) and I am at a loss as to how to handle, control, deal with the mountain that is toys.  If you have any thoughts or great ideas I would love to hear them.

One half of Travis and Justin's toys, ready to be put up

The other half, ready to be put out for the month

One half of the toys, stored

Play Date

Today we had some of our neighbor boys come and spend the afternoon with us.  Last week as I was calling another person to help watch my kids so I could go to the doctor (with Randy this time!) I was thinking that I wish someone would call me and ask me for help.  I think everyone thinks I am too busy, but really there are times that I am free and I would love to return some of the favors I continually solicit.  So yeah!  I was able to help someone today!  And my boys had a great time too.  The boys are both older than Travis but they do great playing together and today was no exception.  I love how all three boys really tried to include Justin and no one had to sit in time out the entire time!

My favorite moment was when Braydon took Justin into his lap and he tried to help Justin play catch.  And then all four boys played hot potato.  It's one of those times that makes a mother's heart all warm and fuzzy.