rough start

The Kiddo has been sick off and on for the better part of the school year. It was mostly just a stuffy/runny nose but every now and then he’d develop a cough and every couple weeks he’d spend the weekend with a fever. It was odd but I didn't worry to much because my friends told me that he probably had allergies.

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A few weeks ago Thursday he woke up with yet another fever. I kept him home from school and spent the day alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen to keep his temperature down. The next day he woke up still feverish so we kept him out of school again and set an appointment with his pediatrician. Turns out he had a sinus infection, poor little guy. It’s all cleared up now (thank goodness) but the allergies are persisting so we give him a daily Allegra to help keep things under control.

Even with being sick that weekend was a pretty good one for the Kiddo, his grampie had randomly send him a new toy (a Lego kit of Mario Cart). So when he was feeling a bit better we gave it to him to see what he could do.

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I’m impressed, he build it by himself!! He loves the thing, he lugged it to and from school for a week (it waited in the car while he was in class).

So that’s the good news so far for the month. The bad news is that the Kiddo’s teacher this year has mentioned that he is (still) very unfocused in class. Mrs. H says she knows he’s smart but that he has a lot of trouble following multi step directions and/or finishing his work without constant reminding. She mentioned that he is smart enough that he can probably continue to go through class and learn even with the attention problem but that it might be beneficial to look into it. We were thinking the same thing already because even though his mid term report card was great, all A’s, the ‘social skills’ section was not (all “needs improvement). So we set up an appointment with a attention deficit clinic. We had our initial consult earlier this week, and next Tuesday we’re going to go in and have the Kiddo tested.

(in this picture he is working on learning to type at home)

The first test will be a Quantitative EEG. They will stick a dozen or so electrodes onto his head while he’s watching a movie. Then they will ask him questions with his eyes open, and with his eyes closed. The electrodes will measure his brain activity during the whole process. The results are mapped and the doctor can compare them to the level of activity that a ‘normal’ 6 year old brain exhibits.

The second test he will be taking will be to assess his level of working memory. As I mentioned above he has a lot of trouble remembering multi step instructions. Sometimes we will ask him to go wash his hands and get his pajamas on and by the time he gets to his room he’ll forget what he is supposed to do. This year is different from last in that he recognizes that he is forgetting, you can hear the frustration in his voice when he asks us to remind him what it was we had asked him to do. Mrs. H says it is the same in school, she can see the frustration when he realizes he has forgotten what to do next with activities. She tries to help by laying out his work in ‘order’ so he knows, and she watches him so she can step in and remind him when he needs it.

The tests are scheduled for Tuesday next week. I am excited to have them done because this sounds to me like an actual quantitative way of testing for attention issues (v.s. the questionnaire we did last year that was more subjective).

Rocket Man

The Kiddo wants rocket feet like Iron Man. I thought about it and thought about it and just couldn’t wrap my mind around how to make something to strap to his legs/feet that would look great and not get thrashed. So I scrapped the idea and went with jet packs, one for him and one for his friend.

Cheap and easy, all you need are two 2L soda bottles (we don’t drink soda so it forever to get four empty ones), some shiny silver poster board, and red and yellow crape paper streamers. That, tape, and some glue - - - - voila rocket packs!!

I used elastic to make arm bands, problem is I can’t get the stuff to stick permanently to the silver paper, the glue sticks to the elastic but slides off the paper, and tape peals off… the Kiddo can still play in it but it requires constant fixing. I’m spending a few days thinking hard on a solution, if I cut the bottom off the bottle I could staple it but then it would lose a bit of it’s solid feel. Ideas?

Grading

Every school morning when I drop the Kiddo off at school I stand around and wait until he goes INTO the classroom. I like to be sure he’s safely in his teachers hands before I go home, it’s the only way I can avoid worrying about him while he’s there. Usually there are a couple other moms that wait with me. The other day one of the mothers mentioned that she had a problem with our kids teacher, she said that she doesn’t think it’s okay that Mrs. H actually grads the kids with a letter and percentage grade.

She turned to me and said “of course you probably don’t really care because your Kiddo is so smart and doesn’t have problems spelling or reading.”

First thing I wanted to say is… I beg to differ

He HAS been doing very well with his spelling tests, 100% up until last week. That’s when he bombed big time. Bonus words in the wrong spot, and one wrong word in the ‘real list’. The missed points on the sentence (non capital first word and no period) are a bit my fault I think, I had NO idea she graded on stuff like that so I hadn’t been drilling him on it.

Second thing I wanted to say is… if first grade is to “early” to grade kids work, when is it the right time? I am of the opinion that grading like this is fine. I feel like it gives me direction on what to work with him on. It’s hard because he doesn’t always focus and will lose points on things that he KNOWS but I feel like it’s a lesson he needs to learn; you don’t get to slide past just because you know it, you also have to do the work correctly and prove that you know it.

What do you think??

girl .... friends

There is the Kiddo, in the middle with his brown shirt and kaki pants. Right behind him in a pink dress is his friend Brooklyn. Every morning she runs up to him to say hi, then she stands next to him in line and talks to him until they go in. This morning she put her arm around his shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair. I think she has a little crush…

The funny part about all this is that the Kiddo doesn’t have a clue, he chats with her or not, he’ll turn to talk to the other kids, he’ll stand there oblivious playing with his backpack strap (like today in this picture). He’s just a kid with way more important things to do .. I’m glad he’s easy going enough to take it in stride, her feelings don’t get hurt and he happily figures he just has one more extra needy touchy feely friend.

Rainbows

The start of school has been pretty cool for the Kiddo. These past two weeks they’ve had “color days” where they all get to wear a specific color each day.

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The greatest thing about it is that so far the Kiddo has had a shirt for every single day. The kids also get to take an object of that color for each day, he’s gets to show his toy to the class and then take it out to play with during recess. Fun!

The ghost cape is coming right alone, I’ve got the thing sewn together but still need to figure out what type of clasp to use. I’m thinking the easiest thing is if I do a magnetic closure (I’ve got a few magnet buttons on hand from last year). After that it’s a matter of making the utility belt and figuring out if I make a black body suit or if I just buy him jeans and a black shirt (which he could wear for the rest of the year).

spirited

The Kiddo has really been into superhero’s lately, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, pretty much every superhero I can think of has been in one of those groups at some point or other. Between that and Transformers his reading lately has been filled with fights to save humanity.

Considering all of that it really came as no surprise when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween and he said he wanted to be a superhero. He wanted to be Iron Man, or maybe Wolverine, or maybe… Finally I stopped him and asked why he didn’t just be his own superhero. He gave me an odd look, but I explained that if he had his own superhero team (he does, he calls them the Naturals and has recruited most of his extended family along with a few friends) then he should probably pick his “own” power and name.

He thought about that for a few minutes, and then decided he would be Ghost Man. His power is to turn invisible so that the bad guys can’t seem him or hurt him. He also throws ghost bombs (of course) because you have to have weapons in order to beat the baddies.

So I have no idea what the final costume will look like, I do know it will have a cape though, and the cape will be covered in spirits.

I’ve got the fabric already and hopefully I can get the cape done quickly, I’m starting now so I will be sure to have plenty of time to work on it around my classes. I am thinking that the body suit will just be a blank turtle neck and black sweats, then I can add a little bit of design to them and not spend to much time working on it, we’ll see. Somewhere along the way I also have to figure out a superhero utility belt, with a ghost buckle.

Lunchtime

The Man and I talked quite a bit about school lunch vs home lunch, we couldn’t decide what would be easier for the Kiddo. Eventually we decided that home lunch was better, and probably cheaper but that we would open a school lunch account so that the Kiddo could have one non home lunch per week. To help him be excited about his home lunches we bought him the very cool bento box mentioned in my previous blog. I pack his lunch with all the usual snacks he eats at home (peanut butter sandwich, fruit snacks, dried prunes, carrots… etc) and I put a cookie in there, or a mini chocolate chip zucchini muffin…

Yesterday when I went to pick the kiddo up from school I asked him what he drank with lunch (his water bottle was still full). He said milk, I thought okay maybe he got milk to go with his home lunch, I’d be okay with that. I dug into his back pack and saw that he hadn’t eaten anything, I asked him why and he said that he forgot that he brought a lunch from home. I was frustrated and yelled at him a little but then realized that I should have expected it. In the end I realized that I can’t and don’t really blame him, it was his first time in all day school and he’s never really experienced an away from home ‘lunchtime’ before. I asked the Kiddo what he thought we should do to help him remember what days he gets to eat school lunch and what days he has home lunch and he said he thought we should ask his teacher to help. I told him that she has a lot of other responsibilities but that we could try it as long as HE was trying to remember himself and she was his help (vs. just remembering for him and letting him off the hook). Here is the letter he helped me write for him to take to school today:

Dear Mrs. H

The Kiddo had trouble remembering that he brought a lunch from home yesterday. His idea to help with this was for me to write you to ask for you to help him remember. I will include a note in his folder that says if he is eating a home lunch or a school lunch that day. He will do his best to remember on his own but will have you as his backup in case he forgets. Would this be okay?

Thank you for your help,

G

Hopefully when I go pick him up he’ll tell me how cool it was to get to eat oreos at lunchtime (two in his lunchbox) and I’ll get a chance to confirm with Mrs. H that she doesn’t mind helping me help him learn to remember lunch.

Winding Up

This past week has been filled with school prep. I didn’t go through the normal parent routine of getting the Kiddo ready for earlier days. I admit to be a little to selfish with my sleep, why get him up at seven if there’s no reason to?

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We did a little last minute pre-school year fun though. We went to a splash park with his friend T (the Kiddo is in the orange shirt in the first picture, and in the jean shorts in the second). He loved it!! For a kid that isn’t fond of getting his face and head wet he really did seem to enjoy playing in the water spray.

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We also had soccer practice and a game last week. The kids worked hard on the mechanics of kicking the ball, and the Kiddo wasn’t afraid to get into the mix of things. Team pictures were taken following the game, I’m not sure when we get the pictures so I took my own while the photographer was setting them up.

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Back to school shopping was done last week as well. We bought the Kiddo a bento style lunch box so that he could have just the right portion size container and keep things from getting squished. There’s a bigger bin that holds a half sandwich, and then the three compartment bin that holds fruit and cracker or other little snacks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn’t lose the thing (each piece is labeled with his name just in case).

Yesterday was the day we finally got to go in and meet his teacher. I was pleasantly blown away by Mrs. H’s focus on everything I told her. She has two kids with diabetes so she understands a little about what to look for if he isn’t feeling right (the symptoms can be similar). In a week or so we will have his medical meeting with all five first grade teachers, the school nurse, and the principle. Everyone gets educated on what he has and how it effects him in order to ensure he has the best possible care at school. The best part? The school has agreed that his emergency shot is essential and are training their office personnel to give it to him!! If something happens they will give him the shot AS they are calling 911, and then calling me. I no longer have to worry about staying close to his school while he is there, the relief is beyond explanation.

I hope he does well in class, last years constant barrage of “the Kiddo didn’t focus today” has me on edge about how this year will go.. I think it’ll take me a week or two of interaction with his teacher to lose the worry about how he will handle this year. I am hopeful though, she seems fairly sharp and able to handle his distracted nature (she experienced it full scale yesterday so she knows what she’s in for).

He was ready for his first day of school this morning, pumped up and ready to go. Lunch box, water bottle, and a full back pack. I’m scared and optimistic about what he’ll tell me when we pick him up in two hours; here’s to hoping it was a good day!

Vacation

My mom gave me a vacation. She flew the Kiddo and myself out to Arizona to hang out with the family. It was timed perfectly, my little brother was back in town, my other brother was able to visit for three full days, my twin took five days off, my sister took three… and of course my parents were there every day :)

Uncle T spent the entire last year in Korea, which sounds like the coolest adventure ever! He got back to the states a couple days before we flew down and he spent almost every day playing with the Kiddo and hanging out.

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He very trustingly let the Kiddo play a few games on his iPad, he showed him how to do quite a few things with it and the two of them spent a lot of time together.

Grampie (my dad) had the pool nice and clean and the Kiddo went swimming several times. I didn’t expect him to jump off the diving board, usually he is too concerned with getting his head wet to want to jump in.

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Something about grannie and grampies house gave him motivation though and he jumped in several times.

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Uncle P drove up from Tucson and spent three days hanging out with us. I really enjoy his company and am so glad he was able to visit. The Kiddo adores him, he is so patient and fun with kids.

Auntie D was able to arrange her days off to take an extra long weekend and spent a ton of time with us. She loves the Kiddo and he loves her, she’s his “mommy number 2” and he says she is more fun then I am because she plays with him more and yells at him less. Silly kid, that is an aunts JOB *chuckle*

He got sick, of course. It seems like he always gets sick when we fly down to Arizona. Uncle T had brought some souvenir masks from Korea for him though so it worked out well.

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Because of the mask he was able to help Auntie D make double chocolate marshmallow brownies!

All in all it was a really great visit. It felt like it lasted far longer then the two weeks that it was. I managed to work on my school while I was there. I even received full points for the assignments I turned in that week (no slacker here!). My dad told me he was proud of my ability to focus… I got the warm and fuzzies :)

Now that we’re back it is time to get back into the grind of things. I spent the weekend finishing up a few more school assignments and making lists for what needs to be done before the Kiddo’s first day of school. Tonight we have soccer practice and Saturday is the Kiddo’s second soccer game of the season. Monday is “meet the teacher” day, and Tuesday is his first day of school.