Month: August 2010

The lass returned home from Day 1 bright and chipper. She was excited to tell Mom about everything she did in school and to show her some of the drawings she had made while there.

The boy returned home from Day 1 out cold on the bus. Just like last year. He has yet to say anything to myself. I think he might have said a couple of things to the Wife, but they were … terse. I suppose it’s possible his day was that bad, but my guess is he’s still waking up. Regardless, we’re giving him a wide berth until his mood lifts.

180 more to go…

The kids are off for their first day of school. Mom took them today since it will be the lass’ first day at her new school with her new teacher. The bus comes by about 7:30, but they don’t actually get to school ’til 45 minutes later, so we’ve opted for dropping them off in the morning.

It had become typical that they would be up at the crack of dawn for the summer. It was actually something of a running joke between the Wife and I that there was no point in getting up early for quiet time because that just meant the kids would be up that much earlier. Meaning they’d be grumpier later during the day. Do the math.

So, of course, today being what it is, they both slept in. Fortunately, other than that, they were trouble free. In fact, they finished the new morning ritual early enough that they got to watch a few minutes of TV prior to departure.

Now, I’ve got 4 hours of quiet time. That may take some getting used to.

Or not.

The kids returned today to the sound of …

Tears.

There own, to be more specific.

There exhaustion from a whirlwind visit with their Grandparents had caught up with them. They had fallen asleep during the ride and were none to pleased with their wakeup call upon arrival. The boy came in the house grumpy and collapsed on the couch while the lass balled because her belly hurt.

Welcome home indeed.

The kid’s are at their Grandparents for the close of their Summer Vacation, making for a quiet house. One of the unusual abilities of the brain is to adjust itself and create a “new normal.” So prolonged time at sea gives one sea legs; prolonged exposure to dark results in increased sensitivity to light; and prolonged exposure to kids results in … accepting certain level of chaos as normal.

They are old enough now that they can be lightly monitored. Usually, silence is an indicator that they’re up to something. Screaming, arguing, laughing and general havoc and running around is the norm. There’s a certain threshold that has to be crossed before parental intervention becomes necessary. Even then, they’re clever enough now that I know the more aggrieved of the two is engineering the intervention. Such is the life of the parent of post-toddlers.

Perhaps a more succinct way of stating it is that, their absence is noticeable.

In resolving the lass’ school situation for the coming year, we reaffirmed the old maxim “It’s worth a shot.” The local public school has a pre-K program which we did not bother to enroll her for. We had no reason- her progress at the pre-K we sent her to was fantastic. Why mess with a good thing?

Well, we know how that turned out. Initially, we were kicking ourselves for not at least entering her in the lottery. Our assumption at this point was that she had no chance for getting in. After all, they hold a lottery to put kids into it in the first place. So with-holding the kids from the lottery and then calling last minute like for a spot just seemed like such an easy way to game the system, that I assumed it couldn’t possibly work.

We called anyway. And, as luck would have it, they had room. So her schooling for this year is all set. As it happens, news of the change does not seem to have bothered her one bit. In fact, the prospect of riding the bus home from school was almost too much for her to take. Despite her seemingly strong feelings for her previous teachers, the prospect of going somewhere else didn’t even register a hiccup.

Glad we asked.

At the end of this past school year, we thought we were in a good situation regarding school for the kids. The boy was no problem- he’s a grade schooler now and established in the local school system. The lass, on the other hand, is not. But, we were very impressed with the Catholic School pre-K program she was in and we enthusiastically reserved her spot for the coming year.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Or at least, not meant to be a sure thing.

The first inkling of trouble was a letter in July that the school’s principal had resigned. After 1 year. The letter introduced a new principal and stated unequivocally that it was steady-as-she-goes for the coming school year.

Then we had the message this Friday past. The K-8 portion of the school was going to be closing. The pre-K was still being offered, but without a secretary or school nurse available. They were investigating moving the class to another Catholic School in the area. Were we interested?

Yes. I could hear you. Yes. I was ignoring you.

Remember, this morning? When I was mowing the lawn, right in front of you while you played on the swing? You kept calling me and calling me and I kept not responding? Yeah, then. I could hear you the whole time. Despite the racket from the mower. And the ear plugs in my ears.

Of course, I couldn’t tell what you were saying, other than “DAD!!” But I was able to infer that it was not terribly important. How? Well, because the entire time you were yelling for me, and I was ignoring you, you guys never left the play gym. And since it was obvious that neither of you was injured, and you’re both toilet trained so it wasn’t a potty emergency, I decided that it was in everyone’s best interest if you waited. So I let the earplugs and the mower noise serve as a pretense for my inability to “not hear you.”

Why was it in everyone’s best interest?

Well, I wanted to get the lawn mowed. If I answered you every time you called for me I’d still be mowing it now, about 2 hours later. Heck, I might still be mowing it tomorrow.

Why was it in your best interest? Well, I think it afforded you the opportunity to learn any one of a number of lessons:

• Courtesy- when someone is working, and your need is not dire, let them complete their task before asking something more of them
• Respect for someone else’s time. I know you think every little thing that pops into your mind needs to be serviced now, Now, NOW! But it’s just not the case.
• Patience- I think we’ve already covered that your “need” could wait.
• Self-Initiative- maybe you could have dealt with the problem yourself.

I’m aware that you can’t read or understand this letter at this time, but soon you will be capable. Perhaps someday you’ll discover this little corner of the world and stumble across this letter. Hopefully, by then, you’ll have absorbed the afore mentioned lessons and get a kick out of the antics of your past selves. Plus, you’ll know for sure how “Dad” dealt with you in this one instance.

You can do with that knowledge as you will.

Love- Dad

PS- Yes. Other people can read this.

PPS- Yes. Grandma and Grandpa and Memere and Grandpa read hear. I can’t say for sure if they’ve read this particular letter. Your Uncles and Aunts as well.

PPPS- No, you can’t play the Wii.