Ready

Yesterday I had Delaney’s last parent/teacher conference at the daycare. Everyone has been telling us both girls are Ready For Kindergarten for a year now so I knew going into it that this would be a very straightforward chat.

She was last tested in October, so it was interesting to see how her handwriting and shape drawing skills had increased. Her R’s and Y’s have much better shape, but oddly her S’s are backwards now. But, she nailed her lowercase letters! And the math portion. The teacher was most amazed by that, but I told her math came very easily to me in my younger years, plus their Leapsters have a lot of math on them, so that part didn’t surprise me. The other thing that surprised the teacher was that she knew her address and phone number. Please, we drilled that in the car as soon as I knew they were going to be tested on it!

I’ve talked before about how Delaney has the friend that she fights with quite a bit. I told her teacher that I hadn’t heard much chatter about the friend lately, were they still playing together? Apparently, Delaney has gotten fed up with this friend and when she’s mean to Delaney, Delaney tells her she doesn’t like it and gets up and walks away. This has caused other friends to realize they don’t have to put up with her bs either, and also get up and walk away! Leading the revolution! So the friend has realized maybe she should be nice, and things have been much better. And when it’s not, Delaney hangs with the boys and dribbles basketballs.

She commented quite a bit on Delaney and her ability to use her words to express her feelings in a nice way. She can tell her friends that they are hurting her feelings, without hurting theirs. What an amazing gift to have, no? I could not be more proud of my girl!

Her teacher said if I wanted, she could think up some things to challenge her this summer but I told her no. She’s more than ready for kindergarten, let her be a kid and enjoy her summer of fun.

Daycare Parents

There have been a flurry of birthday parties from Caden’s class lately. I think we’ve been to four in the last month? She has a really great group of kids in her class, and I get along with all of their parents so it’s nice to actually have a conversation with them rather than just saying hello at pickup. But, it’s interesting to hear the stories their kids come home with because either my two are oblivious, or they just don’t tell me these stories.

From September until February (?) there were only 10 kids in Caden’s class, and two of those (both girls) were part time. Because they were such a small class they became really tight friends. Caden came home talking superheroes and Princess Leia and I loved it. Turns out, the boys think of her as one of ‘their crew’. The other girls they won’t really play with, but Caden is always welcome.

One of the boys thinks Caden is the most beautiful girl in the world! One day he’s going to marry her and then he’s going to kiss her on the lips!

Two of the other boys think Delaney is the most beautiful girl in the world.

A few of them are jealous of Caden’s lunches and go home and ask their parents to make them a home lunch “because Caden’s lunch looks so good!”

We’re all a little bummed that everyone is from different corners of the metro and come September, these kids won’t see each other again. We really are so lucky in that both girls have friends that are good kids, and both classrooms have a good vibe going. I’m hoping they can enjoy the next four months, but September is going to be rough!

Start the Countdown

This is probably going to be a jumbled post and for that I apologize. I’m exhausted tonight as I type this. Worry and emotional breakdowns take a toll on a girl.

Lucy. The emergency vet wanted my regular vet to keep her for the day for supervision. She was eating and drinking, but still very wobbly when walking. We dropped her off, I took the girls to school, and then the vet called and basically said I could pick her up. She was hydrated and there was really nothing they could do. I got a few hours of work in and picked her up. She still can’t walk, but her eyes are still going back and forth quite a bit, so that is to be expected. I feel like her eyes are better than they were in the morning, but she still has a ways to go on recovery. I had really hoped that she would recover quickly, but she’s old and it’s going to take some time. Everything I’ve read tells me she will recover though, so it’s just a matter of time.

I have her in the basement right now. It’s carpet down there, so easier for her to stand up on than hardwood floors. It’s also quieter down there and more confined, both of which should be good for her. She’s clearly exhausted because every time she falls asleep she snores loudly. I’m hoping a night of solid rest will be good for her. eta: She’s doing much better this morning! She walked outside this morning mostly by herself. I think being home and getting good sleep is really helping.

Daycare scheduled all of the field trips for the entire summer (instead of doing it month by month) and sent out the list this week. I maybe wasn’t quite prepared to write out a $350 check, but as I was writing it out I realized that this is the LAST field trip/music class check I’ll be writing! Hallelujah! Start the countdown, my days of spending twice my mortgage on daycare are almost over! Four more months to go.

Also? It’s my birthday month, which my client/friend reminded me of today. I’m still trying to make my peace with turning 40, so I’ve decided to embrace birthday month and see if that turns the tide.

Valentine’s Prep

I’m not a huge fan of store bought Valentines. They are all so similar, how do you pick? And what if you pick the same as three other kids in your class? Luckily for me, Pinterest is full of fun Valentine’s ideas. I dismissed a lot based on how difficult the candy would be to find/buy, and how fancy the cut out was. I loved that this is a glow stick and not candy, and it was an easy printable to cut out.

Everyone kept talking about finding glow sticks in their Target’s dollar section, but I never saw them. I ordered mine off Amazon and hoped they were good quality. They are, but they are also way too long!

I ordered Valentine’s cards with the girls picture on them from Mpix, and thought I would tuck the glow stick inside that envelope (you have to write the recipient’s name on something right?) Of course the glow sticks are too long and don’t fit in the envelope. After much debate I’m going to tape the glow stick to the outside of the envelope. I haven’t assembled everything yet because I’m terrified this is going to be a cluster and the glow sticks will fall off, they will be giant and unwiedly and the girls won’t be able to get them into their classmates boxes, and then no one will see the terribly cute Valentines I put together! I may bribe the teachers to make sure things stay intact.

Speaking of the teachers, I bought small soy candles from Target (on sale!) and then taped the signed glow card around the candle. The sentiment works for both glow sticks and candles don’t you think?

Finding her way

When I picked Delaney up on Tuesday her teacher told me that she had been caught lying three times that day. Delaney has certainly been known to lie to me at home, but at school? Never. I started thinking about how she has been sobbing when I drop her off in the mornings, and I knew something else was behind all of this.

The weird thing for me about their behavior at school is that it seems to be the exact opposite of what they are at home. Delaney has been awesome with me, and an awesome sister to Caden. She bends over backwards to make sure Caden is happy, and is always going above and beyond to be helpful with me. What was going on?

As we talked about it on the ride home, I knew what it was. Her best friend left their daycare about a month ago. I knew she was upset about it at the time, but I think his absence was affecting her more than I thought. She has another friend at school, but the two of them fight a lot. They are both strong willed and like to control things, so it’s a recipe for disaster. This other friend is going through a bit of a mean girl stage, telling other girls not to play with Delaney. Oof, break my heart. (The other girl is a good kid, they just aren’t good together.)

I finally told Delaney that she needs to stop playing with her. Time to move on and find other friends. We talked about the other girls in her class, but there wasn’t really anyone that stood out. So I talked to her teacher about it yesterday morning and asked if she had any suggestions for friendships we should try to encourage. We both agreed on one friend (whom I love!) that we both thought would be perfect for Delaney.

When I picked up the teacher commented on how vastly improved Delaney’s mood had been all day. The teacher had separated her from the friend she fights with, and paired her with the friend we want her to play with. It worked! Those two were bff’s, even coloring their projects exactly the same. And it was clear from her mood that she really needed that connection with someone.

Both of my girls become slightly unmoored when they don’t have a solid best friend in their classroom. I do wonder if it’s a twin thing, that need to always feel a connection with someone? Caden has found her someone (a boy, which didn’t surprise me at all) and she is giggles and smiles and jumping all day now. I’m hopeful with a little more encouragement, Delaney will have found her someone as well. And I’m incredibly thankful for daycare teachers that listen, know my kids, and can turn things around for them so quickly.

Three Things

1. Caden skipped, tripped and landed face first on the table at daycare yesterday. The teacher scooped her up to comfort her, realizing a few seconds later that there was blood everywhere. By the time I got down there it wasn’t bleeding too badly, but it was super swollen and she was clearly in pain. She spent most of the next hour with her face in an ice pack. It bled off and on for four hours? Ugh. The blood is draining towards her eye, so the guess is at least one black eye besides the swollen nose. I’m hopeful she can sleep quietly enough to let things heal.

2. It’s parent/teacher conferences time! I love these, and they’re even better now that the girls have different teachers and we can focus on one child at a time. Also awesome? They also know the other twin, so we can have the “Oh my god they’re so different!” conversations as well. So Caden. Super smart. Aced the 5-year-old test! Knows her letters – uppercase and lowercase, can write them, knows her numbers, knows her letter sounds, knows her stuff! She has great control of her emotions and expresses herself very well. It’s like she uses the example text. “When you {take my toy} it makes me feel {sad}.” We are to work on sight words at home because she’s totally ready to learn how to read. Woo!

3. I’m going to throw this out there in the off chance someone knows what’s going on with me. I feel like my muscles want to jump out of my skin. It’s like I’m on the downside of an adrenaline rush all.the.time. It reminds me of when I used to work out a lot but would skip a few days. My muscles were always jumpy until I ran again. Except now I know it isn’t an exercise thing. Plus I ran and that didn’t do anything. I think this is contributing to the general crankiness and exhaustion I’ve been feeling. It’s been this way for a few weeks? I’d go to the doctor, but I have no idea which one to go to, and I definitely don’t trust my nurse practitioner to deal with this.

First day of new classrooms

This is a picture of Caden from the weekend, but she had a similar look on her face yesterday morning. I have no cute pictures from the actual morning because we were running late and I forgot to print out signs. Bad Mommy.

As we got in the truck Caden started looking really nervous. I asked what was wrong and she said “I don’t know any of the rules in the new classroom!” I love that she can express herself so well these days. When I dropped her off I informed her teacher of her fear, Caden snuggled into her lap and she assured her she wouldn’t get into trouble for not knowing the rules today.

Delaney was all smiles all day! Bouncing off the walls, excited to see old teachers, excited to see new, happy to be there, making new friends everywhere. I’ve been down this path with her before though, and I know to expect some ripples of drama in a few weeks. This is her honeymoon phase when it’s all rainbows and unicorns. Perhaps there will be no adjustment phase? I’ve heard from her teacher that it is a fairly drama free room which bodes well for us, but only time will tell.

Teacher Gifts!

I’ll be honest and tell you that I don’t remember what I’ve done for teacher gifts in the past, but I do give something at the holidays, and then I think I’ve given something when we leave the room. I think. Anyway, this has been a big year for both of the girls, so I wanted to do something cute and fun for their teachers. My first thought was to make a sugar scrub for them. A little pampering is nice right? Except I did not get my ish together in time to order/track down everything I would need. Expect those for Christmas.

I combed Pinterest (although apparently never pinned anything) and found this idea of doing a reusable straw cup and filling it with drink things. I also ordered photo cards from Mpix. Here’s a fun note if you’re not aware, you can order just four (4!) photo cards from them. You don’t have to order them in sets of 25 or anything crazy like that! I did this for Valentine’s Day as well and loved it. Such a nice touch, and all of the teachers said they still had the Valentine’s cards up at home.

I stuffed the cups full of Starbucks Ice VIA’s, Crystal Light pouches, and some cash. The girls were so excited to hand these out! All of the teachers loved them!

Playdate Drama

A few weekends ago it was Caden’s best friend’s birthday party. We missed it because we were up at the lake. She was Devastated, so I emailed the other mom and asked if we could schedule a playdate so at least there was something out there. It worked, everyone was happy, and the girls were beyond excited. It was all they talked about all week at daycare.

I’m in and out of Caden’s room enough that I know this girl fairly well, so I wasn’t concerned about her. But, I was concerned that Caden and this girl (let’s call her Susie) would play together and leave Delaney out. Turns out, I was right to be concerned since about 10 minutes into things, Delaney was sitting on the front steps by herself, while the other two raced into the house.

I get it, they are two peas in the pod while at school and weren’t doing this on purpose, but my heart broke for Delaney. She was so mature about it. She never cried, she just hung her head and said “Mama, they left me. They left me all alone.” I hugged her and told her she was such a good sister, and then I dragged Caden by her ear to remind her to include her sister.

As the morning went on there were ebbs and flows where all three played together awesomely, and then when Laney was left behind. She handled it with grace, but I’m not sure we’ll do another playdate like that soon, without inviting one of Laney’s friends over as well.

Conferences and Crying

I had parent/teacher conferences this week and last for the girls. I so love conferences. It’s just so fun to hear about the girls and what they’re doing. They’re really thriving in their separate rooms, and having separate conferences for them makes it easier to focus on each one individually.

Caden has come leaps and bounds from when she was tested last fall. Everything is better – cutting, writing, drawing, numbers, letters. She absolutely loves circle time and is consistently a five star listener that the teacher points out to the rest of the class. She’s both a leader and a follower, walks away when the kids get rough or mean, and has good control of her emotions. I was a little surprised on the last one because she’s a crier at home these days. She cries at everything. But, I have a feeling her tears are leaking out at home because she holds it in all day. Who knows. I try to honor the fact that [insert random thing] is making her sad, but it’s just so many tears these days.

Delaney has also improved since last fall. She too loves circle time, and is very good at waiting for her turn to talk. We talked about how while initially it looked like Delaney transitioned easily into preschool, it really took her about six months to find her place in the classroom. She has her set of friends now, which has been key for her. She’s also past her bossy phase which is good for everyone.

The day after Labor Day there’s a big old Switch! And the two preschool classrooms basically do a swap. Both girls are excited to be in the other room (and absolutely want to stay separated), but I’m fully expecting September and October will be rough months emotionally for us.