Kicking and Hitting and Spitting...oh my

Sigh...that was my morning. (Clarification: that was Bug's morning...I was the recipient of the kicking and hitting and spitting.) Why the big to do? I wanted him to get dressed--you know--for school because it's TUESDAY.

cooking oil = oil spill

Bug was helping me cook this weekend. I had a measuring cup with oil and asked him to pour the oil in the bowl. He made sure all the oil got in the bowl and said:

"Oil...just like the oil spill in the water."

So that explained why he was so careful while pouring.

He heard about the oil spill at preschool. Hmmmm, guess we should start talking about current events at home instead of watching Curious George.

Dear Someone

Dear Summer,

For as much as I’ve complained about the high heat both outside AND inside (damn A/C), I can’t believe we’ll be saying good-bye to you soon.

Okay, I realize just because kids are returning to school doesn’t mean fall’s arrival with crisp football-watching weather is here but it is around the calendar corner. Just knowing that school supply shopping is being done makes me long for a new box of crayons, pencils with full erasers and unmarked notebooks. There’s no list for supplies for Bug yet so this year I’ll settle for a new pair of sneakers for the little man who’s currently wearing sneakers with a summer sweaty smell that might linger from here to New Hampshire.

Signed,
Not yet a kindergarten mommy


PS. Now that I think of it Mommy could use a new pair of shoes, too.

Dear Bug,

You’re going back to preschool next week. I’m excited for you--and excited for me--because I get to spend more time with you this year! I’m sorry I’ll miss your (second) first day of school but I’ll be helping move Grandma’s belongings to storage and think I’ll be shedding tears of another sort at the same time.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Bookshelf,

Let’s work together to find something fabulous to read during my flight time tomorrow. (Any suggestions?)

Signed,
Booklover


Dear Dairy Queen,


Here I come!


Forever yours,
xoxoxoxo


Check out Amanda for more Dear Someone letters.

Random Tuesday Thoughts (and a call for help)

Bug wore big boy underwear for the first time yesterday. I was so happy to find out that there were no accidents during the day and that he was still wearing the same dry undies when I returned from work. Of course, after my arrival he was playing with his buddy in our backyard and had an accident…but all in all a good first day. (Today he specifically requested “Cowboy and Rope” pull-ups…)

Vacation is one month from today!

Last week a neighbor sent an email to the neighborhood offering a free 42” TV (her sister is moving and not taking it with her)…and we got it! I’m so excited because we’ve been talking about getting a TV for our living room but were procrastinating--and it somehow paid off this time. We rearranged the furniture and bought a TV stand over the weekend. Both the cable guy and the TV stand are coming on Friday so we should be able to become couch potatoes in a new room soon!

Why does spellcheck in blogger think that contractions are wrong? I'm I am not as formal as blogger thinks I should be.

Since this is Bug’s first year at preschool, I’m new to teacher gifts. What is the price range? What do you usually give? There’s one aide in his class and an administrative assistant for the school that I think should also receive gifts. I’m guessing the head of the school doesn’t receive a gift…or am I wrong about that? Any tips or ideas are very welcome/needed. Thanks!

Check out The Un Mom for more.

Party Time

Today is Bug's Valentine's Day party...late because of the snow storms last week. It's his first school party and he had to make a Valentine's Day box. I put construction paper on a shoe box and let him decorate it. He made a couple of lines with a marker, used lots of glue with a few decorations attached (but more glue than decorations). I wrote his name on the box and he decorated that, too.


He was SO proud of his Valentine's Day box. While he was gluing things he paused, looked at me and said, "the kids at school are gonna love this." It was so cute to see him strut around because HE made the box. I know that if I were at the party I would see several boxes made by parents that are beautiful and creative but my favorite would still be the one made by my little boy.


I decided not to make cookies last night for his party which gave me more time to eat chocolate before lent started today so this morning I was working double time to get them done. As Donnie was heading off to work, I was in the kitchen with a mixing bowl in my arms and cookies cooling on the counter. He kissed me goodbye and said, "Bye, June, have a good day, dear." We're far from the Cleaver family but for just a moment it felt like Ward, June and the Beaver (there's no way Bug could be Wally).


Then Donnie was out the door and Bug refused to get dressed, I nearly burned the last batch of cookies, our babysitter was late...and clearly I was no longer June.


I can't wait to ask Bug about the party but I'm sure I'll get the answer that I usually get when I ask about school: a little boy has the same shirt as me.

hugs & chocolate...in your my face

Our babysitter is on vacation for two-plus weeks so things are a little all over the place at our house right now. I stayed home yesterday. Bug cried and screamed and cried some more when I dropped him off at preschool (he later told me he didn't think I was coming back).


Today at drop off he told me I gave him one too many hugs and asked me to wipe one off and gave me a serving of Mommy B Gone. Sigh...


On my way to work I decided it was a perfect day for hot chocolate. I stopped at a lovely little coffee place around the corner from my office. It's not a big chain and their hot chocolate is capital T--Terrific. I placed my order and the woman behind the counter asked if I wanted whipped cream. "Yes," I said. Then the conversation went like this:


Coffee Lady: You like whipped cream?
Me: Yes, of course.
CL: You like ice cream?
Me: Sure.
CL: You like all sweets?
Me: Yep.
CL: You're not so fat.


(Sigh...correction heavy sigh...)

don't hate me because I'm organized (bwhahahaha)

Oh, how I struggle trying to be organized. I should have reserved a copy of One Year to an Organized Life for me but I would rather live vicariously. However, today I'm feeling pretty good because: I folded the multiple loads of clean clothes that had become a fixture on our couch and made tonight's dinner yesterday. That should count for something, right? Please? Pretty please?


Here's the winner of the book: B at The Nabors Baby. Lemme know where I should send it and I'll get right on it, I swear!


Bug is at preschool! Highlights for Bug: seeing two trash trucks, six (really, six) school buses, two police cars and saying hello to one police officer and two city workers on the walk to school. Quite a bit of action in those few blocks this morning. Highlight for me: I mentioned to Bug's teacher that I had his EpiPen and Benadryl and without missing a beat she recited Bug's allergies to me and went through the procedures if he has a reaction. Whew, that almost made me cry.


Now I'm patiently waiting for the mail to arrive. My order from amazon should be here today and I would love to start my new book True Confections now that the clothes are folded and dinner is made.

School Daze

Tomorrow is Bug's first day of preschool. He could have started in September (2 1/2 is the minimum age) but we decided he would start in January. He started the school year at the little school and we intended he would be there until the end of the calendar year. (It's a free neighborhood school through the Dept of Parks & Rec where the parents/babysitters stay with the kids and the teacher--a former kindergarten teacher--makes everyone feel special.)


Bug loved the little school...he came home each day with an art project, sang songs to us and taught us to play Alphabet Soup. We loved the school, too, and were considering keeping Bug there until the end of the school year but it closed on October 30. We found out on October 31 when the teacher called to tell us she had just been notified that the school was closed. Just another round of budget cuts in the city.

Now it's two months later and Bug's big day is just a few hours away. I don't know what I expected...I guess I thought it would feel like a bigger day (or maybe I just wanted it to feel that way), a new beginning of sorts but it's a typical Sunday night (oh, but the tantrum tonight was extra special because Donnie put Bug in the wrong jammies and the world fell apart...sigh).

Maybe I want this to feel like a big thing for Bug because this is solo time with other kids in a structured/somewhat structured environment. Maybe I want to have this really feel like a new step in his development. Maybe I want Bug to be as excited about school tonight as he was last week. Maybe I'm feeling abnormal/bad because I don't think I'll cry when I drop him off at school tomorrow morning. (Aren't moms supposed to cry on first days anywhere?) Maybe I'm thinking I should have dropped off his forms earlier instead of carrying them with me on day 1. Maybe I'm nervous because Bug isn't potty trained (we were told it's okay, but um, y'know). Maybe I should just have a glass of wine and go to bed--tomorrow's a big day...

It's Summer

Bug attends a little neighborhood school for a few hours each day that's free--I know, FREE, crazy, huh? It's a one-room building near the elementary school in our neighborhood and it's affectionately and appropriately called the Little School. Today is the last day and they're celebrating with a picnic (fingers crossed that the rain stops).

It's been so great to watch his progress this year. He now knows his numbers and the alphabet. He sings the ABCs and loves to "spell" by pointing out letters on signs, books, TV or pretty much anywhere he can see a letter. (As I'm typing this he's reminding me he doesn't get the idea of colors at all by handing me a brown crayon and confidently stating it's purple or holding up a blue one and saying orange.)

I'm going to miss Bug showing me his daily art projects with a proud, "I made at school that!"

I'm going to miss hearing new songs the teacher taught him.

I'm going to miss Bug's responses when we ask who was at school. "Hi Noah, Hi Michael, etc."

I'm going to miss his school stories (even if we seldom understand them).

I'm going to miss his excitement of carrying a lunch box each day (he doesn't have lunch at school but it's the perfect size for his EPI-pen and snacks).

I'm going to miss the honesty of his answer to "How was school?" "I did time out...no listen."

I'm going to miss the anticipation in his voice when he would ask, "is school today?"

At the same time I'm looking forward to summer and all the fun things to do together. I'm sure before I know it he'll be back at the Little School in the fall...and sooner than I want it will be January and he'll start preschool and then, among many other things, we're going to miss the tuition at the Little School.