preschool – Muddling Momma

Tag: preschool

20
Feb
2017

Dear Mikey: February 2017

Dear Mikey –

As I write this, you are laying next to me watching really annoying videos on YouTube kids on my iPad while I read and catch up on emails and Daddy and Charlie sleep. It is the perfect holiday weekend! Every so often you grab my attention and want to show me something and I am so impressed by what you know. And I’m not talking multiplication tables, but who characters are on shows you’ve never seen – like R2D2 from Star Wars. Granted, you call him Two-Two, but we get the idea. It’s clear you are building friendships at preschool and learning from your new friends.

I feel like I always start your blog posts with ‘it’s been a long time since I’ve written’ and this time is no different. But here are a few tidbits about you now, at 3 years and 8 months old.

{Opinions} Opinions – you have them. And not just about little things like TV shows and bed time. You had a hair cut yesterday and the stylist gave you a faux hawk and you were NOT happy. Of course you were polite until we got in the car and then you spent the rest of the morning asking me to fix it. And when we ask if you want a cheese stick for a snack you rarely say no – but immediately follow up with ‘not the spiky kind’ referring to the pepper jack cheese stick I accidentally packed you for lunch one day.

{Potty Time} I never want to embarrass you too much on social media or the internet since I am not sure what the internet will look like by the time you are an adult and you didn’t ask for a blogger mom, but I am thrilled to announce you are 100% daytime potty trained and have been for some time now. It was a relatively simple process and you were happy to pee for Reese Peanut Butter Cup (which you call cake) or go ‘big potty’ for a sticker or temporary tattoo. We are not really focusing on night time training, but happy we can leave the house without 100 diapers ‘just in case’.

{Manners} Daddy and I are a stickler for manners and you are picking up on that quickly. I love that when we sit down for dinner together you ask if you can start eating (I think school is teaching you that) and if you can be excused when you are done. You are quick to bless people after a sneeze and excuse yourself if you ‘toot’. I love that your days are filled with ‘yes pleases’ and ‘no thank yous’. (Now if we can get you to forget you know the word damn we would be in luck)

{Play} You are still super hero obsessed citing Batman and Ironman as your favorites. You also are a fan of gel clings which you like to use to decorate our car windows. You’ve been taking swimming lessons again, and even though you didn’t pass the county’s Parent and Me class this go-around, you had a hell of a lot of fun doing it. You saw your first movie in the theatre a few weeks ago and LOVED the experience. Sing was a great first movie. You like to randomly say, ‘today was a great day’ or ‘we had a fun day’!

{Bedtime} The biggest challenge for us as your parents is bedtime. Kid. You need to go to bed. I know you don’t want to the party to stop and you claim you aren’t tired, but you are and you need to go to bed. And more recently you’ve been getting in bed with me around 5am which I don’t mind. But bedtime should not take over an hour to happen. You are going to have a rude awakening (ha, pun intended) when we address this issue. I know in 10 years I won’t be able to get you OUT of bed!

{Hospital} We did have a quick trip to the ER when you had a really high fever. You charmed every nurse and perked up a bit when you got some medicine.

Well my lovie, we have a busy day hanging out with your cousin Mollie and feeding the ducks. We should probably get moving!

I’ll eat you up, I love you so,

Momma xoxo

18
Jan
2017

Dear Mike: Parent Teacher Conference

categories: Dear Mike

Dear Mikey –

Daddy and I were so worried about finding you a good preschool where you would make friends and start your educational journey. We knew right away that the school we chose would be a good fit for you and we weren’t wrong!

It took a little bit for you to share your day, but now you come home and share things about your day like what you learned (T-Rex dinosaurs eat meat!), what happened on the playground (someone threw sand in your eyes) and what your ‘job’ was (your current favorite is either Flag Holder or Line Leader). It has certainly made dinner time more interesting.

You’ve been there six months so Daddy and I were invited to our first PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE (dun, dun, dun). We have a pretty good relationship with your teachers so we knew there wasn’t going to be any surprises, but we liked hearing more about your day and interests. Here are the highlights of you at 3 and a half from your teacher:

You are a genuinely good kid who wants to do well. You never do anything out of malice – which makes Momma’s heart happy.

You love reading and often will bring a book to your teacher and ask her to read it. Most of the time she can, but when she can’t you happily read it to yourself or with your best friend, B.

You have a growing interest in science like your Daddy. You are very focused on the details, so that makes sense!

Speaking of details, you always seem to know when something in your classroom is different or if someone comes in. You are always the first one to welcome them with a good morning or good afternoon.

Bug, like I said, we are not surprised, but we are so proud of the kid you are becoming.

I’ll eat you up, I love you so,

Momma xoxo

13
Dec
2016

Mini Picasso

categories: Being Mom

I went back and forth with what this post could be called. I debated between ‘The Time I Called My Son a Liar‘ or ‘My Entry for Mother of the Year‘.

For about three weeks I’ve been picking Mike up from Preschool and his ‘take home’ folder has had a drawing of an obvious person. The first day I found it, I asked his teacher if it accidently was placed in his folder. I’ve only seen Mike scribble and these pictures were much more advanced. His teacher asked him if he drew it and he said yes. She then asked around to the other kids and no one claimed it. She agreed – no way he drew that. So I brought it home and tossed it in the recycle pile.

The next few days I continued to find pictures of people in Mike’s take home folder. His teacher and I ultimately decided that someone was sticking them in there by accident. All I could imagine was some poor parent whose kid was coming home without these drawings.

Then yesterday I grabbed yet ANOTHER picture of a person with a note from Mike’s teacher – “Yes! Mike did draw this. I watched!!”

Well shit.

Apparently my child can do something other than scribble and for the past month I rolled my eyes when I asked if these were his drawings and he replied yes. I wonder what other skills he has that he is telling me about and that I am ignoring.

24
Oct
2016

Dear Mike: IOU

categories: Dear Mike

My dearest Mike –

I owe you a bunch of back letters don’t I? Things have been BUSY. I feel like I say that in every letter, but this time it’s for real. It’s BUSY. So this letter is going to be just a snapshot of you right now. My achingly sweet, compassionate, stubborn 3 year old.

{Preschool} Man. If you got superlatives in Preschool, you would be most likely to be a Cruise Director. I was able to go with you on your FIRST field trip – Papa John’s Pumpkin Farm. It was such a treat to see you interact with your friends and teachers. You serenaded everyone and basically talked non-stop. You had Miss Amy and Miss Theresa in stitches! Out of everything on that farm – animals, pumpkins, and gourds – you were most taken with the cotton plant. You carried that tuft of cotton around for days. You said it felt like magic! I didn’t have the heart to tell you I have a bag of 100 tufts of cotton in the linen closet.

But in all seriousness Bug, you are thriving in preschool. You really have taken to singing and music and according to your teachers you are sweet and polite.

{Polite} Speaking of manners – good grief. I am not sure we can take credit for it, but someone is raising you up right! You talk to strangers all the time telling them to ‘have a nice day’ and that is ‘nice to see them’. You invite people to sit down, ask how they are doing and are such a little gentleman. I am SO proud of you in public when you say please and thank you without prompting.

{Favorite Things} Right now you are obsessed with:

Halloween
Skeletons (you are going to be one for Halloween)
Cat in the Hat
Space
Peppa Pig
Riding your balance bike
Super Heroes (Batman specifically)
Watching videos on Momma’s iPad

{Compassion} I can’t think of a better word to describe you – COMPASSIONATE. Daddy had his heart surgery and you have been so gentle with him while his ‘boo boo’ heals. Even when it is covered up you ask if it is still there. If someone indicates they are hurt you are the first one to ask if they are okay and give them a kiss. You accidently poked me in the eye with a toy and I got kisses, face pats, side hugs and numerous apologies. There is no better quality for you to have and I will do what I have to do to make sure you keep your compassion for others.

Well my love, I write for days about how things have been going the past few months, but at the end of the day all you need to know about this time in your life is you are stubborn, independent, sweet and active. On those days when I can’t wait for you to go to bed I still love you so much my heart might burst.

I’ll eat you up I love you so,

Momma xoxo

05
Oct
2016

Where Are They Now?

categories: Being Mom

Each night I lay in bed and think about what I need to do the next day and blogging is always on the top of the list. Then as the day goes on blogging falls closer to the bottom of the list. Life has gone a little sideways recently, but we are meeting those challenges head on. So where are we now?

{S} I have mentioned a few times recently that S. was recently diagnosed with a genetic heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which impacts 1 to 500 people. Most people don’t even KNOW they have it but there are a handful that have symptoms like chest pains, shortness of breath and general exhaustion – S. was one of those people. A few weeks ago S. finally had his open heart surgery at Johns Hopkins and they ‘shaved’ down the extra heart muscle that was blocking his oxygen intake.

The surgery went well, but ultimately a few days later it was determined he needed a pacemaker extending our hospital stay and then a lung infection that followed. At the end of the day we were at the hospital of 8 days. Now he is home and recovering for the next few weeks, but is on major restrictions like lifting, driving and movement. He’s being SUCH a trooper, but understandably getting restless. I am going to have some upcoming posts about this soon!

surgery

{Mike} My little preschooler is becoming SUCH a little old man in the cutest way. He is overly polite to everyone we meet by greeting them and being his charming self. He knows Daddy has an owie and he has to be gentle. His favorite thing right now is riding his balance bike and watching Peppa Pig.

He has taken to his new ‘school’ like … Peppa Pig in muddy puddles. He loves his teachers and they seem to be very taken with him as well. His language has EXPLODED. He is asking what things mean, singing nursery rhymes and remember things. It really is like waking up each morning and finding out a new part of his personality has developed overnight.

Speaking of nights – someone is sleeping in a bed now! That transition has been pretty seamless except for naptime. But bed time might take a little longer, but he has stayed in bed all night and actually slept. I see that as a big win.

mike

{Muddling Momma} This Muddling Momma is just trying to keep up these days. A week after S. came home from surgery I was relieved of my duties at work which means spending my days at home job hunting. While I won’t ever lie, it stings and was a surprise, I firmly believe it was probably for the best though the timing could not have been worse. However, the silver lining is I can spend time with S. and help with his recovery (which usually means telling him to go take a nap).

On the positive side, I was FINALLY approved to be on the Chick Fil A Mom Panel this year so that was a bit of good news! I am still learning about my ‘duties’, but I am excited to eat some chicken and share some feedback.

There you have it! Like I said, life is a little sideways but I think we are going to come out on the other side and wonder how we survived. But we did and that’s the important part.

jackie

22
Aug
2016

Off to School!

categories: Toddler

Well friends, I am officially the proud parent of a preschooler. Remember how I didn’t realize he actually needed to go to preschool? And how we missed the mad registration rush? Well, we locked that sh*t down and it was no fuss, no muss. But then it came time to actually GO to preschool.

Mikey picked out a Batman lunchbox with a cape, but as much as we were talking up ‘going to school’ – I am not sure he got that he was going to preschool. My biggest fear was he would be standing in the corner with his backpack and lunchbox crying while all the other kids threw rocks and teased him. And of course, the teacher would be egging them on while making him feel bad for not being 100% potty trained. Totally realistic, right? Obviously that wasn’t the case. His teacher was exactly what you picture a preschool teacher to be … but even MORE friendly.

We just started our second week and our first week was ROUGH. It was really hard to remember he was in a new environment with a new schedule and new people and new rules. He was coming home bouncing off the walls, being not nice and not listening. At all. I was exhausted and stressed out. AND second guessing if he was ready for preschool. But we decided to give it a few months knowing good and well that he would adjust quickly. And we were right!

As the week went on he was having less accidents, eating more of his lunch and not crying at drop off. Or picking fights at home. We are slowly discovering a new routine that works for everyone and figuring out what life with a preschooler looks like.

14
Aug
2016

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

categories: Being Mom

Or rather, What Mikey Did on his Summer Vacation.

We lucked out big time with the timing of our current daycare going on 2 week break and when preschool starts. It gave Mike a great little break to (hopefully) ease the transition. It was a little less of a ‘break’ for Momma and Daddy, but we made it work. And on Monday Mikey starts preschool! That is another post for another time when I work out my weird feelings about the whole thing (and I can get the picture of him standing in the corner crying while the other kids point and laugh at him and the teacher stands by doing nothing).

Mikey had a lot of adventures while on break. Including spending a few nights with Geema and Geepa – which was a win-win for all involved. How excited we were to hear he slept on the futon by himself AND swam unassisted in the pool! Of course a visit to Geepa at work, time with Mollie and plenty of movies were included. For the first time three years, we slept with the baby monitor off. It was glorious.

After an eventful few days in Denton, we picked Mike up for the ‘official’ family trip to Rehoboth Beach where we stay with my in-laws. Last year was fun, but this year was even more fun because Mike was old enough to actually spend time in the waves and ride the rides.

FUNLAND

I was a little hesitant with the rides because we all rode the carousel and he refused to sit on the horse. I mean, I am scared of horses, so I get it, but I didn’t think it bode well for the $15 we spent on ride tickets. But as usual – I was surprised. I kept trying to steer him to the low pressure rides, but he was literally BEGGING to ride the helicopters. So Dad took him on the helicopters and he was hooked. We went to the fire trucks next and he decided he wanted to watch before getting on, but once he realized he could ring the bell he was all in. It was a lot of fun!

beach

The next day we ventured out to the actual beach. We’ve been to Sandy Point numerous times, but this was a ‘real’ beach and it was hotter than hell. I didn’t expect to be out wake boarding, but he LOVED sitting in the surf and being splashed with the waves. After about 15 minutes he loosened his death grip and we even got pushed over a few times. It was so so so cool to see him experience something like that for the first time. Especially since S. spent many summers at the beach growing up and has great memories. This is the start of our summer memories!

The highlight for us was leaving our expensive stroller on a sidewalk at the beach. It was SO hot we packed everything in the car and drove off … only to discover the next day that we left the stroller. A few calls and social media postings didn’t result in it being ‘found’, so we are chalking it up to heat and toddler exhaustion.

intern

I am thankful for my work that is a family friendly. I was able to bring Mike, my intern, a few mornings, then come home to work some more while he had rest time. While I worked Mike basically sat under my desk and watched Peppa Pig. Oh, and since we are pushing forward with the potty training – taking him the bathroom every 15 minutes. He charmed my coworkers – all parents of adult children (and some grandparents) by coloring pictures and asking about 2000 questions. He loved going to ‘mommy’s office’.

He also spent a random day with Great Aunt Phyllis who he loves and she got him to nap. I don’t know how – I didn’t ask questions. I don’t really care. He napped. I like him so much more when he is well rested. I hope preschool will encourage him to nap again.

So all in all Mikey had a great summer vacation! Now we are looking forward to Summerfest, the Baysox game, cooler weather and S.’s surgery on September 12th. I’ll probably be a little quiet between now and then. Of course I say that and who knows, I might end up being a daily poster as we go through all these changes.

How did you spend YOUR summer vacation?

09
Feb
2016

Preschool Woes

categories: Being Mom

I was thinking yesterday about my a ‘parenting style’. Am I a Helicopter Parent? A Free Range Parent? An Unconditional Parent? No folks. I am don’t fit into those neat little boxes. I fit into my own parenting style which I call the ‘It Didn’t Occur to Me Parent’. Signing Mike up for preschool really confirmed that parenting style.

It’s a damn good thing my niece is a few months older than Mike, and my brother and sister-in-law are on top of things. If we weren’t following the path they made, poor Mike would still be drinking formula in a bottle because, well, it just didn’t occur to me to ween him off. My ADHD tends to put me on auto-pilot which isn’t always a good thing.

It didn’t occur to me that Mike probably should go to preschool this year. There was no email from the department of preschool or a knock on the door from preschool police. But then again, how hard could it be? As it turns out pretty complicated. When I went to preschool, there was only one in my hometown. No application process or required tours. There weren’t options like Montessori, co-op, or religious affiliation. And there certainly wasn’t a waiting list.

I had heard there were a couple of preschool expos where they all set up display tables and we could get all the information in one shot, so I decided to ask my local mom’s Facebook group how it all works. Here’s how THAT went:

“Not to make you feel worse, but most places have done their open houses and some of the more popular ones will probably be full soon.” Yes. I do feel worse. And thanks for a non-solution.

“There was a fair scheduled last weekend at the college.” Great! Thanks! But that does nothing to help ME.

“We elected to keep our kids in a home daycare until they are 4.” I am glad you made a decision that works for your family! I am not sure if you are mom-shaming me or not, so I will just move on. Also, another non-solution.

“Registration for many schools started in January. Call NOW!!” I should also note, this response currently has 5 likes. I also currently have a stomach ulcer.

By the time I read through these, I was pretty sure Mike was not going to preschool this year and will never, ever reach his full potential. Although I will say, that there were a few helpful responses that didn’t make me feel like the world’s worst parent.

So S. and I took to Google and have narrowed a long list down to three options to check out. It seems they all have rolling registration so we can set up a time to tour them next month when life calms down a bit. Perhaps Mike won’t grow up and live in our basement because it didn’t occur to me early enough to register him for preschool.