Somedays I feel like I must be the world’s best second guesser. I catch myself doing this all the time. Notice that at least now I know to catch myself! That’s got to be worth some brownie points doesn’t it? Anyway, in school I was always told never to second guess myself on testing, to go with my first reaction/answer. I have to admit I never really mastered that even though I tried. I always have such a desire to be certain that I had great difficulty leaving an answer alone if I wasn’t positive. And most of the time the teachers were right, my first answer was correct.

The good news is that I’ve found this easier as a mom than I ever did as a student. Don’t get me wrong, I still have many moments of beating myself up for things I wished I done better, etc. But by in large I’ve learned to listen to my mother instincts. I had one experience when my daughter was entering first grade when I didn’t listen to my gut and it proved to be a situation where I really should have. I knew from the moment I met my daughter’s teacher that the combination was not going to work. Mid year I asked if we could consider changing a teacher but the principal wasn’t ready to do that I wasn’t as bold as I needed to be to make it happen. That is one thing I regret and if I could go back I’d have made a necessary change the moment my gut sent up a warning flag. But from that I learned to act on my mothering instincts with great confidence and determination. Today it paid off for my son.

I recently shared the experience of having my son tested to qualify for a Kindergarten program. And heaven knows I’ve vented more than a few times about school related frustrations. So this morning’s call telling me my son qualified for one of our district’s Kindergarten integration programs was truly a mini victory for me.

As I visited with the lady on the phone I told her that he tested right where I thought he would and that my desire has never been to push him, but to make sure the opportunities for learning and growth were available to him. She said that’s the whole purpose for the program he qualified for. (And on a mother’s bragging right card the program only accepted 40 of the kids tested for the entire district! Way to go Taylor!)

So today I’m enjoying that taste of victory for being right. That’s such a good feeling. I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I am learning with greater confidence and conviction to listen to my gut as a mom.

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Family Parenting School Emotions Motherhood Success

I only have a few minutes this morning but had to comment on the quirky aspects of summer schedules. There are times when I feel totally pressured like right now because in order to make that morning movie with the kids (the one I already committed to when I purchased the summer movie pack from school) I have to get moving or we won’t make it. But then there are days/moments/times like yesterday that even when we throw in a little bit of everything the entire day just seems to drag on forever. I sure wish I knew how to get the two to balance out a little more. The crazy thing is that it’s not a later or variation of wake up times that’s to blame. We’re all up about the same time every morning. It’s just….quirky.

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Family Sharing Emotions Wordless Wednesday

Life gets tough, don’t give up.

My son has recently become smitten with the XBox game of StarWars BattleFront. At first he couldn’t talk mom or dad into playing it because it was too darn complicated. But he didn’t give up and now all three of us will play with some enthusiasm. It amazes me that even though he’s only 4 he just stays with it until he figures it out. He can drive speeders and spacecraft far better than I can and although he gets frustrated, he never seems to get discouraged because he never quits. There’s a lesson in there somewhere, I’m sure of it.

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What is it about mornings that seem to hold a certain amount of magic in regards to productivity? Maybe it’s the fresh start or recharged batteries that helps, I’m not sure but I’m grateful for any extra help.

This morning was great. My kids weren’t totally convinced at first but as the morning wore on they decided it was all good. The house took a total hit over the weekend and was a royal mess this morning. I told the kids they couldn’t do anything they wanted until the house was back in order. We also set up some new motivation techniques to help us with the summer hours, chores and learning. The motivation was enough to keep my 9 year old going strong until the entire house had been found. The 4 year old needed a little more help along the way but they both stuck it out and helped mom regain the house. They’re good kids. It also never ceases to amaze me how much fun they have playing with old toys that seem new when mom’s helping organize and put items back together.

Even my husband is back on the morning track. He rose at 4 AM this morning to add a few more hours to his work day before the rest of the office gets in. He’s hoping it will give him the extra time he needs to finish up so many extra projects and tasks before the trip to shore next month. I’m such a baby with my sleep. I couldn’t do a 4 AM morning unless I knew I was asleep by 7 PM each night - yeah right. Do you think he can go on less sleep than me or do you think I’m just a pansie? Don’t answer that unless you think guys don’t need as much beauty sleep. *wink*

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Homemaker Sharing Organizing Housework

Earlier today I responded in a discussion about raising high spirited children. It took place between a group of adoptive moms, which incidentally is a group that is no newbie to the high spirited child. As I looked over what I wrote I decided much of it was worthy of being repeated here.

There’s something about a mother’s heart that helps us understand our children. I believe it is a gift that helps us be prepared for them as well a powerful resource that can help us know how to help them as they grow. I think it can help speak peace to our hearts when we come across things that just feel right. That mother’s intuition was something I’d heard about before I was a mother - the times and examples when a mother just knew something about her child. But it took experience as mother to truly comprehend and appreciate it.
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Here’s to Mimi and her peace globes today!

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Isn’t it interesting how no matter where you go you can find stereotypes? I just returned from a testing event at a local elementary school. I’d like to find out if my son, who misses the Kindergarten cut off by a few weeks, could still go to Kindergarten this fall. The only surprise was how many kids it appears they’re testing. I was originally thinking about 100 or so but after today I’ll bet it’s at or over the 500 mark.

As I sat there it was impossible not to take in some of the personalities of the room. They told us in many workshops for my daughter’s acting that the best advice for any mother is to avoid other mothers at an audition. Women are generally caddy anyway but in these competitive settings the stories of what takes place were down right brutal with many moms trying to intimidate and eliminate as much of the competition as possible on their own. I’ve met a few of those “stage moms” and it’s not hard to picture those scenarios they warned us about. Today was no different watching some mothers interact. I suppose there’s one in every batch, but in the third wave a new mom entered the scene which fit the “barracuda” bill most perfectly. She dressed in intimidating and professional black attire, wore smart looking glasses and was extremely confrontational and loud. She immediately started asking the staff for percentages in front of the entire room. She wanted to know how many kids are tested and of those what percentage qualify, etc. A sweet woman (who obviously has dealt with this type before) simply told her none of them have that information as it is handled at district office and they simply help with the testing. She promptly sat down a little agitated, but not before making a big scene about her son telling her the colors of several markers in a box and giving him a paper to trace his name on. Then she proceeded to initiate discussion with a woman next her about how much better things were done in New York when she lived there. The conversation remained dominated by her sharing how brilliant and gifted her son is and how much better he is than all his other classmates combined. I had to suppress a giggle or two at the flashy show and self importance of it all.

And it makes me question the motivation of those present. It’s small of me I know, but I doubt that there are as many parents there for the best well-being of their child as there were for their own agendas and personal conveniences. How many have primed and pushed their kids to avoid another year of arranging and paying for day care or to have them reflect well on themselves and how many are really in touch with their children and have their best interests at heart? I know it only matters what I am there for and the needs of my child, but it was so in the face for me that I couldn’t resist the wondering about others.

It’s sad to see so many adults making education a competition. Isn’t the world full of enough competitive reality already? Barracuda’s breeding future barracudas….yikes.

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Yes, I’m still on the search to find it. I don’t know where I placed it or where it keeps getting moved to.

I have these moments when I think I’ve found it, when I feel like I even got my hands around it and then it magically disappears. Sadly, the disappearance time far outweighs the fleeting moments of catching it.

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like when I have enough time to sit and blog the way I’d really like. Then I wonder if blogging will still be around then or what the new wave will be and if such a time for me will ever really come. I’m the master at filling my plate with tasks and projects so perhaps it’s all an illusion? It’s all about balance, times and seasons. So for now I just have to buck up knowing I get some time here to make time for everything else.

And there’s the Orkin man at my front door reminding me that I lost time again and am still sitting here in my morning attire. *sigh - giggle*

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