Goodnight

The Man is in the Navy Reserves, which means at least once a year he takes a trip to do training. When he does he’ll be gone for at least two weeks and the Kiddo really misses him. The day before the Man leaves we all go into the Kiddo’s room and look at his calendar, we take a crayon and circle the day the Man will be back home, and the Kiddo crosses off the days as they pass.

Generally we have a couple sleep overs where the Kiddo brings his stuffies and spends the night in my room. He’s always been something of a night owl so we talk and sing lullabies until he’s wound down enough to go to finally sleep. It’s fun for me to see the things he does to entertain himself when the lights are out, hand puppets and having his stuffies talk to each other.

(the flash was so bright he squinched his eyes as I took the picture, he was having a conversation with his giraffe about how it’s okay to be afraid of the dark).

This most recent trip we decided to try something new, Skype chat. We weren’t sure how it would work, the Kiddo loves to video chat but the Mans computer doesn’t have very good sound so they end up doing video with typing instead of speaking.

I can only say that it’s incredibly surreal watching my 5 year old boy having a typing conversation back and forth on a computer. He takes awhile to hunt and peck, and his spelling is awful (I help, spelling the words out loud for him, when he lets me) but he's talking with his Daddy and he loves it.

Times up

The kiddo has a focus problem. When it’s something he doesn’t like doing he easily gets distracted and finds something else to do. Put a book in front of him and he’ll read the whole thing. Put the alphabet in front of him and he goes a bit spacey and it could take over 20 minutes to write the letters.

Mrs S, the Kiddo’s teacher, has commented numerous times on his inability to focus in class. She has requested that we work with him on getting things done in a set amount of time. She said we should put a clock in front of him and tell him when the little hands gets to such and so number your time is up. I understand why she wants us to use a clock (because there’s one on the wall of every classroom he’s ever going to be in) but I’m not sure that’s an active enough countdown to motivate him.

My mom suggested using a kitchen timer. The kind you wind up and it ticks down the seconds till brrrrring you’re times up!

Today we tried it, we did three mini exercises to see how he'd handle it.

He traced the alphabet, time limit was 5 min. He had it done in 3. Reward*: one Hershey's kiss.

He wrote the alphabet, time limit was 5 min. He had it done in 2! Reward: another kiss.

He wrote his numbers 1-30. Time limit was again 5 min. It took the entire 5 minutes to do but he made it (barely). Reward, a great big hug from me and happy dances around the living room.

In less then 15 minutes he had finished his at home work that usually takes him more then an hour. He says he loves his new timer, and he loves using it to work.

We will continue to use this type of motivation and time awareness for different types of activities over the next week and see if it helps any in school. I’m hopeful.

*I thought I'd start with a physical reward that was immediate and easy for him to understand. As we go on with this we'll transform the reward into him earning tv or computer time. I'll make a chart and every time he "wins a game" (beats the timer) he'll get to add a bit more time to the chart. I haven't decided if it will work better for him to be earning time for the day he's on or for the next day.

self serving

The Kiddo was up late this morning. It was just shy of 9 when he came shuffling out of his room. That meant his meds were late and so by the time he was able to eat breakfast he was (according to him) starving:

Him: Mom can I have breakfast? I need food!

Me: sure bud what do you want?

Him: (opening the fridge) I dunno let me see….

Him: (mumbling to himself) oh HEY maybe this, do you think she’ll let me eat it? Maybe if I ask…

(he took the leftover pizza out of the fridge and turned bright hopeful eyes to me)

Him: Mom, can I have pizza for breakfast?

Me: sure, why not…

…

I didn’t realize he’d eat all three pieces. He did. In between bites he told me “I’m a hungry, hungry, kid mom, you should feed me more often”

updates for January

This month has definitely been a whack a mole month. I've said that to a couple people and they always look at me like I'm nuts, but think about it... Up pops a mole, WHACK you smack it on the head and it gets beat back into the hole it belongs in. Not even a full breath later up pops another mole. The good news with that game (and this month) is that if you're quick all the moles get smacked down and you don't lose the game. So far this month I haven't lost the game*

The month started with our 14lb furry pain in the buttness ... ahem I mean Cupcake, getting a bladder infection. Vet was great though, they didn't charge us a visit fee so got out of there with only the cost of the meds and the pee test.

Then the Man had some issues with his training trip and he ended up leaving four days later then planned. Good news there was that the trip wasn't canceled and he did end up getting to, better late then never I say.

Then, while he was waiting to leave his teeth decided to freak out on him. He was in so much pain that he actually filled and took the pain medication scrip the dentist gave him. His mouth is feeling better now and is on the mend.

I pulled the tendons in both ankles. Good news is that my calf muscles have finally lost the extreme tightness and as long as I spend most of the day with my feet up my ankles seem to be getting better.

The Kiddo's health insurance was canceled, the State made a mistake on that one. They gave us until the 24th to get in some paperwork. It was faxed to them on the 20th, but their computer canceled the insurance on the same day. Fortunately I keep an eye on things like that so it was fixed by the 25th, he's got insurance again :)

And yesterday the trucks tire went half flat, I took it into discount tire and they fixed it for free. They told me they were astonished at how old our tires are, and how well they've lasted. But they also told me that it might be a very good idea to replace them all soon. Fixing the flat was my immediate concern, I'll deal with the rest a little further down the road.

And then we come to the note send home by the kiddo's teacher. Dear Parent the Kiddo consistently does not complete his work in class. Oh ugh, I knew that actually. Every day when he comes home we sit down and go through his school papers. Anything not done correctly or not completed we finish... and there is ALWAYS something not completed.

So step one was figuring out how to motivate him to at least TRY in class. I think my relaxed attitude to his not completed work (oh well we'll just do it now) has led him to believe that he doesn't have to even try so we made a rule that if he comes home with work unfinished then he loses his Nintendo and computer privileges for the entire day. To earn them back he has to do better in school the next day.

Step two was to talk to his teacher and let her know that we did notice the problem and that we are having him finish the work at home (ie it IS getting done). When I went to talk to her she surprised me. She said that while she did wish he would try harder to do the work she was more concerned with his 'social learning' then she was his scholastic. She said if she puts a book in front of him he'll read it, and he has a decent grasp of the spelling and the math that she has tried to teach. She wants him to learn the social cues better, and to know how to interact with the other kids more easily. So she said she's treating his schooling differently then most kids in that sort of way. In other words she does care he isn't finishing his work, but not anywhere near the level she would be with most other kids.

I'm very happy that she knows that he knows it, and that she's paying enough attention to know what his needs are and to focus on them. I hope we can help the Kiddo focus a little better anyway, it probably drives her batty when he goes all space cadet on her.


*AW SHOOT I just lost the game!!

Where’s it at? (at)

When the Kiddo went to see Santa early last month he asked for three things. He was given the Astro Boy movie, so check one thing off the list. His cousins gave him a bumblebee toy that walks and talks, close enough to his request for a ‘remote control bumble bee’ that we can check that off the list too. The only thing that left was a “Big Guy” (ie an AT-AT), Santa didn’t bring one and nobody gave him one.

He’s a bright boy though, and not very demanding. He understands that you don’t always get given what you ask for and that sometimes you have to try to make things happen for yourself. The first thing he said when he opened his Christmas cards, the ones that contained money, was “oh boy NOW I can buy my big guy.” Two days after Christmas he very politely asked me if I would drive him to Toys R Us so that he could spend his Christmas money on his toy.

Last weekend we finally took him. He always amazes me with how well he does with shopping. We’ll be in the grocery store and he’ll ask for chips, I’ll tell him that we have to finish getting the things on the list first and then if there’s enough money maybe. We get to the end of the list, and when I’m done adding it all up he will ask if there’s enough… if I say no he says okay and moves on. There’s no whining, complaining or fits.

Spending gift money with him has always been exactly like that. We walked into Toys-R-Us and went strait to the star wars isle. He walked up and down looking trying to find something that would match the mental image of the AT-AT he's been carrying around in his head. He finally found one and practically danced with excitement because it was perfect, the box said it was 2ft tall!! And it looked exactly like the one in the movie.

It was SO perfect, but it was $109 and I explained to him that he didn’t have that much money* I told him to keep looking and that I was sure he’d find something almost as good that he’d like. He sighed, sad, but agreed and kept looking. He finally found a box with the Galactic Heroes version (that’s a ‘new’ kids cartoon of starwars and they have out the same type of action figures and vehicles just in a smaller size and ‘cartoon’ look).

I told him that yes HE could afford that and he grinned, he said “okay mom, we’ll buy this one today and then maybe I’ll get the other one for my birthday to be his friend!”. I told him we’d see and we put it in the cart. Then we walk around the rest of the store and looked at everything else, to make sure he bought what he really wanted. Now and then he’d see something he wanted and ask, and I’d explain that all his money could only buy ONE thing so if he wanted the new toy we’d have to put the AT-AT back on the shelf. He was so funny, he’d jump and say “OH! That’s right, I’m sorry, I’ll put this one back I really want my big guy” and he’d put the new toy back where he got it.

When we got home we pulled it out of the box and he started looking at him. It’s got a side hatch that opens, a couple figures and a speeder bike for them to ride on. The legs are pose able and there’s a button you can press to make laser firing noises for it’s front guns. He loves it so much he asked me to help him make it a house…

………..

We used the pieces of the box it came in to decorate a cardboard box, little bit of glue and some tape and voila his AT-AT has a home. It’s got a handle on the door to help him open it, handles on the top (so he can carry it), an a little rope with a paperclip attached to the back so when he opens the door he can “clip” it to stay open.

* he still talks about the really big one. He says if he gets money for his birthday he’s going to save so he can buy it. It IS a pretty cool looking toy but I can’t decide if letting a (then) six year old spend that much money ($85 on amazon) is a responsible thing to do or not. Understanding that it is his money, we usually put a little in savings, a little into a ‘gifts for others’ bin, and give him a little to spend. I think this teaches him that the gifts he buys for others are from HIM, and that saving is important, and that money doesn’t just appear (note our “not enough for chips grocery store conversations).

What do you think? If (and he probably will) he gets enough cash gifts for his birthday should I let him buy himself something that expensive?

(btw click the picture of the at-at box to take you to the amazon listing if you’re curious)

Week 1–Cto5K

Day One (Monday) –

• Try one, utter fail!!
  • First point, tripping over a dog when you aren’t used to running kinda stinks. Wont take her with me again until I get slightly better at things.
  • Second point, jeans are good for the pockets (where else do I put the house key and cell phone?) but they are awful for running in. Not much to fix that though, I either find some sort of running pack or I learn to deal with it.
• Try two, got it done!! Running for 60 seconds is a lot harder then it sounds. Thank GOD for the 90 seconds of walking in between. (ouch my lungs hurt).

Day Two (Wednesday) -

• Dropped the Kiddo off at school. Snowing off and on and colder… so I hit the work out center (and treadmill) vs being outside. I actually think I prefer the treadmill to outside, I have less to worry about (no hills, traffic, etc) so I can tune out a little more which makes the running part easier. I think the only drawbacks to the treadmill are the creepy guy who kept watching me (while he waited for the office lady to get back from her lunch), changing the speed from walking to running, and stepping off the machine at the end (I had some serious vertigo!).

Day Three (Friday) -

• Ow. And not an ow because the running was hard, but an ow because my heel hurts like a son-of-a… It felt fine after running Wednesday, but yesterday after I took the dogger on a brisk 30 minute walk I noticed a pain on the upper sides of my heel. Sort of like a bruise, and this morning it was still here. To test out whether I should run I took the dog with me to drop the Kiddo off at school. We walked home (about a 15 minute walk) and by the time we were back to the apartment things felt fine so I decided to try it. Running was not a good experience, I made it through the full 20 minutes but only barely and I was really limping afterword.
• After spending several hours searching for “pain in the inside of the heel just below the ankle bone” I’ve determined that I’ve probably got a tendon issue (Posterior tibialis tendonitis) and that being the case I’m quitting Cto5k for a week or so. I’m frustrated but resigned, I hope I can find the motivation to try this program again later on down the road.

This morning things really hurt still, the good news is I have these great green slip on shoes and they support the sides of my feet enough that it helps keep it all stable. I'm still shuffling around like a 100 year old but I see things getting better... now if only the Man hadn't lost our entire stash of Ibuprofen before leaving...

Singing and Reading...

The Kiddo pretends he learns stuff in school but I think all he really does is play and sing...

The stuff he learns at home* is so much more important... Well okay, I suppose that's not really accurate *chuckle* He was reading before the school year started but he has gotten a LOT better at it with what Mrs. S has taught him. The spelling thing, yeah he was doing that on his own too.. if he can sound out a word he can spell it... but he's in bad trouble when they get to words that aren't spelled the way they sound and Mrs. S has helped a lot with that too.

The first four words are from two weeks ago, they tested on them last Monday and he got 100%. The second four words were last week, they tested on them this week and I assume he got 100% (we haven't seen the 'graded' paper yet). The last four are this weeks words that he will test on next Monday. He really rocks spelling.

Almost every day as we head off to school we play a spelling game. I ask him a word, then he asks me one. The words are NOT limited to his spelling test words. He loves the game, and he's really good at it. In the video I should have had him spell smart, he nailed that yesterday (it was my bonus round challenge word for him).

Theologically* speaking

Is chocolate, chocolate? Does all chocolate taste the same?


I don't mean the obvious, the percent of cocoa to sugar, or the flavorings. If you take two chocolate bars from two different countries with the same cocoa ratio would they taste similar (both use the cocoa bean right?).

What if it was made from a "new" cocoa bean... what then? Would the chocolate taste different?

If I had a little more money I think I'd need to buy some and try it just to see. That and I've never actually tried a chocolate covered cocoa bean before, I wonder if it's anything like a chocolate covered coffee bean?


*Can I even use a religious word to reference a debate on chocolate? I say yes, so I did... but that doesn't help me shake the tiny bit of guilt I have that you word'y people will be shaking your heads at yet another instance of me butchering the language.

new blog

A long time ago my little brother started an online journal he didn't write in it very often, I understand that, the habit is hard to form (not to mention the motivation). Recently he started writing more, he said he had a goal to write daily, which he struggled with so changed it to writing at least a few times a week. He wanted to force himself to actually write!! And he thought by telling his journal readers that he'd write such and so number of times he'd actually do it.

I started this blog two years ago, I started with the goal to write daily. I wanted the blog to be a mix of everything that is my life, nothing fancy just me. Peeks inside the corners of life and mind, and my audience is you (friends and family). I don't have any readers who don't fall into one of those categories, which I'm more then okay with as the stuff I write would bore the insanity out of anybody who couldn't relate to it on a personal level.

I have the habit of writing now. I write at least every other day, sometimes twice a day. I skip weekends (for the most part) and am not as good at writing on long holidays.

All of this rambling is my long way of introducing you to a friends new blog, Lucky Coyote Lingo. She's a writer, and started her blog (I think) for the same sort of reasons that my little brother has his journal, to help stretch her writing skills, and share her thoughts on random writing related things. Who knows what her blog will turn into (baby blogs evolve on their own it seems and don't always turn into what they were created to be.. best laid plans and all that).

Today was her second blog post and she wrote about Fairytale heroins, she's always been bugged by the weak 'a man will save me' attitude of some of the more classic fairy tale females. I enjoyed Cinderella and when I watch it that helpless woman isn't what I see (but then I was always looking at the beautiful coach and dress and fancy shoes). My Friend saw a damsel in distress who can't seem to lift a finger to help take care of herself, and jumps at the chance to have a man rescue her. I saw the ultimate love story, with ever after being my life goal (love, marry, till death do us part).

What do you think?