Mommy's Blog: Weekend

Two days is not nearly long enough.

It is Sunday evening and I am beginning to feel recuperated from the first week back... but not nearly ready for it to be Monday yet. I've spent the weekend striving to find a balance between the all-consuming nature of the beginning of the school year-- schoolwork calling to me, mind racing with plans and schedules and to-do lists of every sort-- and relaxation, clinging to those last few moments of summer sun. And on the hinge point in between is laundry and cleaning and shopping and cooking and cleaning up from cooking, making cardboard crowns and pushing swings and racing Batman helicopters around the house. Life, going on, on the weekend too...

Its all pretty wonderful, really. Its been a good weekend, full but easy, slow-paced but never dull. I'd just like it to be a bit longer, that's all.

My first week back was a whirlwind. It has been lovely to see my students, old friends one and all, and they have all been little lambs for me so far. I've had a few moments of actual teaching already, in between locker crises and binder arranging and rewriting the 8th grade schedule again and again. There's a lot to do. Two new grade levels of curriculum, in 4 subject areas. I've spent several hours this weekend immersed in Science and Social Studies tests, modifying away. Not to mention setting up for IEP data collection and team meetings and re-evals and... I've certainly had moments of being overwhelmed, of wondering why in the world I thought I needed a change, thinking wistfully of my binders full of already-done tests and curriculum units sitting back in my old room at Orchard.

But I think this will be good. It is good to use my brain this way, good to stretch my boundaries, good to meet new people. I like my room and the kids seem happy there. My assistant is cheerful and hard working. I am dreaming big and trying to take small steps to get there. I am reminding myself that the beginning of the year is always insanity, that I am always this tired, that I always wonder if I'll ever get anything done. It will get done. It will....

In the meantime, the kids have still been on summer vacation. In my absence this week they've gone to the Botanical Gardens, the History Museum, a birthday party, and the zoo. Life is full and rich for them, to the point that Jack spent much of this weekend asking to stay home. We tried to oblige, balancing our summer-sun outings to the pool and the lake with time for videos, pretend play, crafts, and his new obsession-- playing Dungeonkeeper with daddy. (What is it about boys and videogames???)

The boy continues to be at a trying age. Two days from his 5th birthday and he's been pushing the limits of respect and compliance in sch purposeful and deliberate ways that it would be funny if it wasn't so infuriating...

And yet-- he and Ivy have been playing together so well these days! And he is so astute and observant and can be so funny and so kind. I wish I could tell you all the funny and wise and perfect things he says all day but my memory is a poor tape recorder.. I listen to him and search his face for signs of the baby that used to live there, and feel such wonder about him and so many questions and so much love...

And Ivy girl? Well, I hesitate to say it (type it?) aloud, but I think she may be almost potty-trained. She's been wearing panties for the past few days, and even wakes dry in the morning most of the time... Its kind of unreal after our late-to-train, bribery-required boy, to have this done so easily, with nary an M&M in sight.

Her little bummie, in panties? Too cute to handle. She's a funny and dramatic little dancer of a girl, easy to love and quick to scream. She's more verbal every second, begins all her questions with "Who", and threatens to bite her brother at the least provocation. She loves animals and gently kisses any dog or cat that will hold still for it. She loves babies and Batman and emulating Jack, and she's more excited about Kindergarten than he is...

I'll close tonight with a slew of pictures for you--the kids on their jaunts this week, our weekend together-- before I head to bed. A momentous week lies ahead: my boy turns 5 in two days, then starts Kindergarten on the 30th, and then we are throwing an activity-filled dinosaur party on Saturday. In the midst of it I have 5 days of teaching to get through just as Nat's classes at Lakeland start up. Let the onslaught of life begin...

Retrospective to last weekend: A wonderful walk at Forest Hills park...