Friday, September 12, 2008

I'll catch my breath right after this

I'm so glad it's Friday. We can take a break from the daily grind of homework and signing and returning papers to school and looking for dance outfits and making lunches to take to school. Pant, pant, pant. Anyone else tired?
Today is Bobby's first full day at preschool. On Monday, I had to go with him for an hour. Wednesday, he was by himself for an hour. Today (finally!) he goes the whole time. Which means I can finally relax a little and get some errands done without having to watch the clock quite so closely. The poor dog is hungry because we ran out of dog food yesterday, so Target is high on my list of stops this afternoon.

I also need to spend some time doing a little menu planning. I have fallen out of the habit, and we're all paying the price for that. I can't tell you how many times in the last few weeks I find myself wondering "what's for dinner?" at five thirty--with no vegetables in the house. We've been eating a lot of pasta. Somehow I'm okay with just serving pasta with sauce. It feels more like a meal than say, just a grilled chicken breast...So back to menu planning we go!

Here's the apron I made yesterday. It's supposed to make you think of Holland (Rob guessed Germany--close enough, I figure). If I'd had more time (or been less lazy), I was thinking about appliqueing (is that even a word?) a windmill or some tulips to really make it scream "Dutch!". This will have to do. And I think it turned out pretty cute.
With the return of the school year comes the return of the weekly birthday party. Caroline has one on Sunday. This is the bag. I love this fabric!

Caitlin's eye appointment on Wednesday went pretty much as I expected. We had to wait for at least an hour before we saw the doctor, and he did dilate her pupils. He said that her eye is crossing inward at close range (like when she's reading), but her vision is still 20/20 in each eye. He wants her to wear a patch on her stronger eye for three hours a day and he'll see her again in a month. Easier said than done. Patching has never gone smoothly around here. I'm hoping she's old enough to understand the reason now--I made her wear it for an hour yesterday and she asked constantly, "can I take it off now?" Baby steps, right? We'll get to three hours eventually.

And Caroline has me tied in knots. As usual. I'm beginning to wonder if I've programmed myself to get this stressed out about her--when maybe the stress is uncalled for. She's having a tough time adjusting to the responsiblities of third grade. Maybe my nightly harping on the importance of homework isn't helping. She just doesn't seem to care whether her work is neat or spelled correctly. She doesn't want to do the daily reading. This child is the one who keeps me in the parenting section of the library...looking for the magic book that will unlock the mystery and make her magically want to do all her homework. It's possible that I wasn't this Type A at eight years old, maybe I should give the kid a break.

I'm hoping this weekend will bring us a little relaxation and a little perspective. Maybe with some ice cream on the side...now I'll go catch my breath.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Third grade is a big fat adjustment... It took us a while to feel comfortable with the routine and work load last year. So just imagine the adjustment for the kids. I was pulling my hair out! And Aron was trying hard but soooo burnt out.

Aron totally lost interest in reading too. And he is avid reader. We have struggled with this still...his brain was worn out by the end of the day.

Hang in there...it is still early in the year...

Have a good weekend and yes, do relax!! Ice cream always helps.