The nurse came to find me at a meeting this morning. She told me Madi had a bloody nose right before school ended and she wanted to let me know, but didn't want to interrupt the meeting. So the nurse came and told me. I thanked her! Thought that was very kind of Madi to not interrupt and was respectful. Just glad she was fine!!
Apparently she was standing in line with all of her things and holding her water bottle in her hand. It was a rather long red plastic straw and it sits up inside of a clear cup. They are required to have clear containers in fifth grade so that they know they are drinking water.
Madi sneezed. And as she sneezed, her head went forward and her arm went up which forced the straw of the water bottle up inside of her nose and deep up inside. It cut her nose and caused it to bleed.
Knowing she was ok, I thought this was sad, painful and hilarious at the same time. Her nose is not that large and her sneezes are usually very tiny and not very powerful. Amazing that the straw would find her nostril and even be able to fit inside it! I'm thankful that she was just fine - it hurt a lot, but I'm very glad she is ok.
I just picture it happening and can't imagine what it'd be like to sneeze and end up with a straw up your nose!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Lunchbox and School Council
Has been a nice, short, four day week at school. Kids are getting more into the swing of things. Madi has three projects assigned and has started two of them. She'll have some time on Saturday morning to get the posters started and possibly look into her third project for Math. She had her first night of homework since school started and it was a simple math worksheet that she needed to just finish up.
Student Council elections are coming up and she's planning to run for it. Would LOVE to see her be on it and think it would be really great for her. There are a ton of kids who want to do it, but I'm glad she's working on her speech and wanting to go for it. Would be very positive for her to have a leadership role I think.
She is loving her teachers!! Her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Von, absolutely loves her! She has made several comments about what a sweetheart she is and how great she is doing. I talked to her LEAP teacher the other day and while they haven't started LEAP yet (starts next week), she did meet with them briefly. We were talking about what a difference this past year has made and she told me that Madi is so different and has come a long way. She said she is more mature this year and more self-assured. I would have to agree. Mrs. Campbell, her teacher last year, has also mentioned how great Madi is doing which is awesome. Madi is very comfortable at the school and it is great that she is not the new kid this year. She has made some new friends as we were rezoned so we have 120+ kids that are new to our school. She's figuring her way around and navigating some good friendships which is awesome.
We measured her in her closet a week or so ago, but I don't think I mentioned it. I had measured how tall she was last August when school had started. She has grown about 5-6 inches since last August. Not to mention what she may have grown between May and August when she first came. That's a lot of height!
On Tuesday, she left her lunchbox in the bin in the classroom. As well as her backpack in her locker. Our rule has always been that we don't do special privileges and we don't do anything that other students wouldn't be able to do. So we talked about responsibility and reminded her to get it the next day. Wednesday came and she still forgot it.
Today she walks into the classroom and the lunchbox is not in the bin. She even talks to Mrs. Von who tells her that she saw it last night and knows it was there, but it is gone. Madi said she was sorry and I told her that I knew she was. And told her I wanted her to think about two things: why she forgot it and what she needed to do to remember it.
She asked me if I was mad. I told her that I was not happy about it and that sometimes the best lessons in life are learned through mistakes. So she asked if I was ok with it. I told her I'm not happy she forgot it and that it was taken when she could have remembered it and brought it home. But that if she could figure out why she kept forgetting it (talking with friends, rushing into line - whatever the case may be) that she could form a new habit. And that evaluating what she would do next time, would help her make better choices. That she will remember how it felt losing an expensive lunchbox with expensive inserts and items inside. And that she won't want this to happen again.
The lunchbox was used for six days. We bought it from Pottery Barn. Actually, we gave my parents money so that she could pick one out there and they picked it up for her. Even had an embroidered M on a patch on the front of it. We're talking a $32 lunchbox. We had bought the girls special containers with ice packs and sections inside of it. They were $7.99 and the large container with two small containers and an ice pack were inside. So $40 of items gone.
We talked to her about how it isn't really the lunchbox that is the issue. It is the source of the problem. Being responsible is a big deal and makes a difference. A lunchbox can be replaced, but it shouldn't have to be as she should have been responsible to take care of it. Especially with several reminders and opportunities to do it. And it wasn't done.
We talked with her about how being responsible with what you have sets you up for making bigger decisions as she gets older and being able to get further in life and make better choices and with that comes great opportunity to do great things. She'll have the consequence of purchasing her own lunchbox now and we'll save up her allowance for her so she can get a new one. Until then, she's taking her lunch in a Walmart sack. Not because we don't want her to have one. But living out the consequence of not taking care of her item will help her remember to be more responsible with what she has. Totally stinks that it has been stolen. But it could have been prevented.
I'm still sending out an all-call at school and as her lunchbox has the embroidered patch and has her name in sharpie on the inside, it'd be hard not to recognize it. And it is a rare print that is on it so it'd be easy to identify.
Student Council elections are coming up and she's planning to run for it. Would LOVE to see her be on it and think it would be really great for her. There are a ton of kids who want to do it, but I'm glad she's working on her speech and wanting to go for it. Would be very positive for her to have a leadership role I think.
She is loving her teachers!! Her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Von, absolutely loves her! She has made several comments about what a sweetheart she is and how great she is doing. I talked to her LEAP teacher the other day and while they haven't started LEAP yet (starts next week), she did meet with them briefly. We were talking about what a difference this past year has made and she told me that Madi is so different and has come a long way. She said she is more mature this year and more self-assured. I would have to agree. Mrs. Campbell, her teacher last year, has also mentioned how great Madi is doing which is awesome. Madi is very comfortable at the school and it is great that she is not the new kid this year. She has made some new friends as we were rezoned so we have 120+ kids that are new to our school. She's figuring her way around and navigating some good friendships which is awesome.
We measured her in her closet a week or so ago, but I don't think I mentioned it. I had measured how tall she was last August when school had started. She has grown about 5-6 inches since last August. Not to mention what she may have grown between May and August when she first came. That's a lot of height!
On Tuesday, she left her lunchbox in the bin in the classroom. As well as her backpack in her locker. Our rule has always been that we don't do special privileges and we don't do anything that other students wouldn't be able to do. So we talked about responsibility and reminded her to get it the next day. Wednesday came and she still forgot it.
Today she walks into the classroom and the lunchbox is not in the bin. She even talks to Mrs. Von who tells her that she saw it last night and knows it was there, but it is gone. Madi said she was sorry and I told her that I knew she was. And told her I wanted her to think about two things: why she forgot it and what she needed to do to remember it.
She asked me if I was mad. I told her that I was not happy about it and that sometimes the best lessons in life are learned through mistakes. So she asked if I was ok with it. I told her I'm not happy she forgot it and that it was taken when she could have remembered it and brought it home. But that if she could figure out why she kept forgetting it (talking with friends, rushing into line - whatever the case may be) that she could form a new habit. And that evaluating what she would do next time, would help her make better choices. That she will remember how it felt losing an expensive lunchbox with expensive inserts and items inside. And that she won't want this to happen again.
The lunchbox was used for six days. We bought it from Pottery Barn. Actually, we gave my parents money so that she could pick one out there and they picked it up for her. Even had an embroidered M on a patch on the front of it. We're talking a $32 lunchbox. We had bought the girls special containers with ice packs and sections inside of it. They were $7.99 and the large container with two small containers and an ice pack were inside. So $40 of items gone.
We talked to her about how it isn't really the lunchbox that is the issue. It is the source of the problem. Being responsible is a big deal and makes a difference. A lunchbox can be replaced, but it shouldn't have to be as she should have been responsible to take care of it. Especially with several reminders and opportunities to do it. And it wasn't done.
We talked with her about how being responsible with what you have sets you up for making bigger decisions as she gets older and being able to get further in life and make better choices and with that comes great opportunity to do great things. She'll have the consequence of purchasing her own lunchbox now and we'll save up her allowance for her so she can get a new one. Until then, she's taking her lunch in a Walmart sack. Not because we don't want her to have one. But living out the consequence of not taking care of her item will help her remember to be more responsible with what she has. Totally stinks that it has been stolen. But it could have been prevented.
I'm still sending out an all-call at school and as her lunchbox has the embroidered patch and has her name in sharpie on the inside, it'd be hard not to recognize it. And it is a rare print that is on it so it'd be easy to identify.
Happy Birthday Monica!
Madi was so happy to chat with you even for just a short while tonight. Was so nice for her to be able to wish you a happy birthday!! Hope it is a great one!!!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Labor Day Weekend
Today was good! We went to church. Riley and Madi learned about respect in their class. Riley said she absolutely loves the worship time and it's her favorite! Madi said she agreed. Glad they are loving it!
We came home and Madi started working on her English project for Language Arts. She has two projects. Both are considered extra credit, but highly advised to do them as they can help boost your grade. When she got them, she said she was going to do them. Definitely can't hurt! Then when it came to doing the work on Saturday morning (we've set aside a no computer, no ipod, no tv time until after lunch to leave time for chores and homework on sat/sun), I asked if she wanted to start on her project. She told me that she wasn't going to do them. I looked at her and said that she is given a chance to boost her grade, to demonstrate going above and beyond what they are doing in the classroom and to do a project that really won't take her very long and she wasn't going to do it? Both Jeremy and I gave her a lecture on working hard, doing your best and taking advantage of every opportunity to get the best grade and learn the most that she can. To not just skate by. We reminded her that she had made two goals for herself for this year:
1 - To get all A's
2 - To work hard and do her best on all projects.
We were frustrated as she was simply wanting to be lazy and didn't want to do work. Totally understand it is the first week of school. The project is due in four weeks so she has plenty of time. But her tendency is to wait last minute and then do lazy work that isn't up to par with what she could do if she applied herself. However, she can turn it in anytime and she has absolutely no homework taking up her time so it's the perfect opportunity to knock it out and do a little each weekend so it can be done well over time rather than waiting until the last minute. We didn't care if she worked for an hour or four or whatever. The point was that she should at least try and do it. We both told her she would be an idiot for not taking advantage of such an easy boost to her grade. And that it would be a good challenge for her and she'd learn new things. We told her she needed to push herself. That she has no limitations or needs that hold her back. She doesn't fight any learning disabilities and things come easy to her so she needs to challenge herself and go for it. And thankfully, she started it.
She chose to learn about Leonardo Da Vinci for the science project. She read on a website that he was involved in sodomy. Jeremy had the job of explaining that one - ha! Though Da Vinci is truly amazing in all that he has invented. Honestly never thought of him as more than a painter! I think she'll have a lot of fun with the project. The other one she has to make a poster board into a movie poster. She's reading one of the Maximum ride books and has to cast her characters with real life people and then create the movie poster. Should be another fun one too!
Tonight my parents came over and the girls had a fabulous time with them! Madi set up a store in the playroom and Riley set up a store. It was cute to see them selling items. Madi had it all figured out and had us signing papers as we paid with credit card. Riley sold everything for free.
Tomorrow we have off for Labor Day and there are no plans. A no-homework, no-project day as it is a holiday! Then we'll jump into a great week of school!! So far, it's been an awesome year!
We came home and Madi started working on her English project for Language Arts. She has two projects. Both are considered extra credit, but highly advised to do them as they can help boost your grade. When she got them, she said she was going to do them. Definitely can't hurt! Then when it came to doing the work on Saturday morning (we've set aside a no computer, no ipod, no tv time until after lunch to leave time for chores and homework on sat/sun), I asked if she wanted to start on her project. She told me that she wasn't going to do them. I looked at her and said that she is given a chance to boost her grade, to demonstrate going above and beyond what they are doing in the classroom and to do a project that really won't take her very long and she wasn't going to do it? Both Jeremy and I gave her a lecture on working hard, doing your best and taking advantage of every opportunity to get the best grade and learn the most that she can. To not just skate by. We reminded her that she had made two goals for herself for this year:
1 - To get all A's
2 - To work hard and do her best on all projects.
We were frustrated as she was simply wanting to be lazy and didn't want to do work. Totally understand it is the first week of school. The project is due in four weeks so she has plenty of time. But her tendency is to wait last minute and then do lazy work that isn't up to par with what she could do if she applied herself. However, she can turn it in anytime and she has absolutely no homework taking up her time so it's the perfect opportunity to knock it out and do a little each weekend so it can be done well over time rather than waiting until the last minute. We didn't care if she worked for an hour or four or whatever. The point was that she should at least try and do it. We both told her she would be an idiot for not taking advantage of such an easy boost to her grade. And that it would be a good challenge for her and she'd learn new things. We told her she needed to push herself. That she has no limitations or needs that hold her back. She doesn't fight any learning disabilities and things come easy to her so she needs to challenge herself and go for it. And thankfully, she started it.
She chose to learn about Leonardo Da Vinci for the science project. She read on a website that he was involved in sodomy. Jeremy had the job of explaining that one - ha! Though Da Vinci is truly amazing in all that he has invented. Honestly never thought of him as more than a painter! I think she'll have a lot of fun with the project. The other one she has to make a poster board into a movie poster. She's reading one of the Maximum ride books and has to cast her characters with real life people and then create the movie poster. Should be another fun one too!
Tonight my parents came over and the girls had a fabulous time with them! Madi set up a store in the playroom and Riley set up a store. It was cute to see them selling items. Madi had it all figured out and had us signing papers as we paid with credit card. Riley sold everything for free.
Tomorrow we have off for Labor Day and there are no plans. A no-homework, no-project day as it is a holiday! Then we'll jump into a great week of school!! So far, it's been an awesome year!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Girl Time
School drop off on Thursday night went good. Madi got to meet all four of her teachers, choose her desk (which is right next to her friend Elizabeth) and drop off her supplies. It was hectic doing it with all three girls and with all the crowds. Madi's room was much easier to deal with than Riley's room. There was much to label in Riley's room and parents/kids everywhere. Took an hour to do both girls and then we went home.
Today my parents had a Julia day so the girls spent quite a bit of time playing games this morning. Then I took Madi to Stonebriar.
Her bras were digging into her on the sides and so I looked up a few stores online to see what they had for tweens. It's a hard age to shop for because either they are marketed great, but not good quality or they are really cheap from a cheap store or they just can't be found in tween sizes. Same goes for shoes - not many good places to get them from where they will work well without breaking.
We got her other bras at Justice until they became uncomfortable. Then found some sale ones at Target and those lasted until recent when she has needed new ones. I looked at Aerie, the American Eagle panty/bra place. It's awesome!! And they have started to carry small tween sizes in their basic lightly lined bras. To top it off, all their bras were 40% this week.
So I put Jules down for her nap and Jeremy stayed home with her and Riley. Madi and I had a ton of fun going to shop for girly stuff. She felt weird at first shopping in such an adult store. Most of the bras are for much larger cup sizes. I just reminded her that they carry very small bras too and that she'd find them soft and super comfortable. She tried on some sports bras and the soft regular bras and loved them! It was cute to see how happy she was about how nice they are. She's so very excited about them. And I think it's great to be able to give her a good self image as her body is changing in this way. She's very comfortable in her own skin and that's definitely a good thing! And there is nothing like a great bra!!
We got her three regular bras and two sports bras since they were on sale. And since we got five, she'll get a coupon for a free one in the mail! (Though I may use that one for myself as it could come in handy!)
We also looked at Justice and Gap Kids and Children's Place for panties. Either they didn't have her size or they were made out of polyester/spandex/rayon and I am a big believer that cotton is the way to go as to comfort and keeping infections away.
Madi and I then did the grocery shopping at Walmart. We found some cotton panties. Got some good snacks for school and lunch box containers with ice in them. The girls will be bringing their lunches this year. Last year, it was more affordable to have Madi buy. This year there are two of them and it is not likely that they will both get full off of the school meals. Even last year, Madi would end up not eating all her lunch and be hungry by the time school ended. We'll still do snacks after school, but we're going to try to keep costs down by doing sandwiches with three sides: a fruit, chips/granola bar and gummies/cookies.
We're also doing lunches from home because we have added about 160 new students to our school. Lunch lines will be very long which means a lot less time to eat. This way the girls will have plenty of time to eat their lunch and won't have to stand in line. We got Madi a new water bottle that should work great as well. And she'll get a new lunchbox tomorrow with my parents - I'll send money for it. Riley has a new lunchbox that will work awesome.
Tomorrow we'll go to church in the morning and then drop Riley and Madi off at my parents' house to have lunch and then go shop for a new outfit for their first day. The girls are really excited about it!
Madi loved seeing all of you and was thrilled to see Micah and how big he is now. He's so cute!
Today my parents had a Julia day so the girls spent quite a bit of time playing games this morning. Then I took Madi to Stonebriar.
Her bras were digging into her on the sides and so I looked up a few stores online to see what they had for tweens. It's a hard age to shop for because either they are marketed great, but not good quality or they are really cheap from a cheap store or they just can't be found in tween sizes. Same goes for shoes - not many good places to get them from where they will work well without breaking.
We got her other bras at Justice until they became uncomfortable. Then found some sale ones at Target and those lasted until recent when she has needed new ones. I looked at Aerie, the American Eagle panty/bra place. It's awesome!! And they have started to carry small tween sizes in their basic lightly lined bras. To top it off, all their bras were 40% this week.
So I put Jules down for her nap and Jeremy stayed home with her and Riley. Madi and I had a ton of fun going to shop for girly stuff. She felt weird at first shopping in such an adult store. Most of the bras are for much larger cup sizes. I just reminded her that they carry very small bras too and that she'd find them soft and super comfortable. She tried on some sports bras and the soft regular bras and loved them! It was cute to see how happy she was about how nice they are. She's so very excited about them. And I think it's great to be able to give her a good self image as her body is changing in this way. She's very comfortable in her own skin and that's definitely a good thing! And there is nothing like a great bra!!
We got her three regular bras and two sports bras since they were on sale. And since we got five, she'll get a coupon for a free one in the mail! (Though I may use that one for myself as it could come in handy!)
We also looked at Justice and Gap Kids and Children's Place for panties. Either they didn't have her size or they were made out of polyester/spandex/rayon and I am a big believer that cotton is the way to go as to comfort and keeping infections away.
Madi and I then did the grocery shopping at Walmart. We found some cotton panties. Got some good snacks for school and lunch box containers with ice in them. The girls will be bringing their lunches this year. Last year, it was more affordable to have Madi buy. This year there are two of them and it is not likely that they will both get full off of the school meals. Even last year, Madi would end up not eating all her lunch and be hungry by the time school ended. We'll still do snacks after school, but we're going to try to keep costs down by doing sandwiches with three sides: a fruit, chips/granola bar and gummies/cookies.
We're also doing lunches from home because we have added about 160 new students to our school. Lunch lines will be very long which means a lot less time to eat. This way the girls will have plenty of time to eat their lunch and won't have to stand in line. We got Madi a new water bottle that should work great as well. And she'll get a new lunchbox tomorrow with my parents - I'll send money for it. Riley has a new lunchbox that will work awesome.
Tomorrow we'll go to church in the morning and then drop Riley and Madi off at my parents' house to have lunch and then go shop for a new outfit for their first day. The girls are really excited about it!
Madi loved seeing all of you and was thrilled to see Micah and how big he is now. He's so cute!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
School Drop Off
Tomorrow night we get to drop off the girls' school supplies, meet their teachers (for them anyway) and meet all their classmates. Should be a very fun night!!
Tween Fun-ness
Madi and I had a slightly funny conversation tonight. Not funny funny but more like 'I totally have been where you are and it's tough but exciting to go from kid to teen. It was more about comaraderie about how everything hits you at once in the tween years: sweat, boobs, smell, pimples, oily hair. All that great fun stuff. You go from being a kid to having to put on deoderant, wear bras, use facial cleanser and moisturizer, using lotion, using dandruff shampoo and trying to remember everything everyone is trying to tell you to do.
I told her I thought she was handling these tween years well. That yes, we definitely get frustrated and it is definitely not an easy transition time to be a 'parent' during. But that we're doing the best we can. Thankfully, it was talked about with ease with her and I. And all came about as a result of me asking if she had used her facial cleanser.
She told me that you had seen pimples and had asked if she was using it. I told her that I had noticed but that we'd had other things to talk about lately and I felt like we would have been hounding her more if we had brought it up. That I felt like we were saying "do this" and "do this" and "oh by the way, you need to..." so I was going to bring it up soon, but just hadn't.
So I showed her how to use the cleanser, how to pat - not rub - with the washcloth on her face, how to scoop water to wash the cleanser off and then how to use moisturizer.
There will definitely be a need soon to show her how to shave her legs. Hoping it can wait til you are here so you can help her with that one. Not that I can't. Because I can if you want! Just thinking there will be some things you'll want to be able to help her with too. Shaving armpits, waxing eyebrows/upper lip - all of that won't be far behind either. Totally comes with the territory!
We gave each other a high five after the talk and giggled a little about how 'fun' it is to grow up and enjoy wearing bras. I told her it gets better and that there are stores that sell more comfortable and softer bras as she gets older. We'll probably go check out Aerie for her next ones as she's needing new ones.
She is self conscious of the pimples and really doesn't like finding new ones. We were really matter of fact when talking about things and I told her that she's normal. That considering all things, she is really handling the tween thing well. So high five, Madi. Things really do get better from here!!
I told her I thought she was handling these tween years well. That yes, we definitely get frustrated and it is definitely not an easy transition time to be a 'parent' during. But that we're doing the best we can. Thankfully, it was talked about with ease with her and I. And all came about as a result of me asking if she had used her facial cleanser.
She told me that you had seen pimples and had asked if she was using it. I told her that I had noticed but that we'd had other things to talk about lately and I felt like we would have been hounding her more if we had brought it up. That I felt like we were saying "do this" and "do this" and "oh by the way, you need to..." so I was going to bring it up soon, but just hadn't.
So I showed her how to use the cleanser, how to pat - not rub - with the washcloth on her face, how to scoop water to wash the cleanser off and then how to use moisturizer.
There will definitely be a need soon to show her how to shave her legs. Hoping it can wait til you are here so you can help her with that one. Not that I can't. Because I can if you want! Just thinking there will be some things you'll want to be able to help her with too. Shaving armpits, waxing eyebrows/upper lip - all of that won't be far behind either. Totally comes with the territory!
We gave each other a high five after the talk and giggled a little about how 'fun' it is to grow up and enjoy wearing bras. I told her it gets better and that there are stores that sell more comfortable and softer bras as she gets older. We'll probably go check out Aerie for her next ones as she's needing new ones.
She is self conscious of the pimples and really doesn't like finding new ones. We were really matter of fact when talking about things and I told her that she's normal. That considering all things, she is really handling the tween thing well. So high five, Madi. Things really do get better from here!!
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