September, 2007 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives September 2007

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Duck, Duck, Goose!!!!

Posted on September 11, 2007 8:00 pm by TheAngelForever

Is "Duck, Duck, Goose" considered PreK cursing????

Just curious since NHL just used it as an explicative as he was getting his clothing off and PJ’s on. One tired monkey. It was so funny JL and I had to bite our tongues trying not to laugh.

I guess it beats his "Ook Gook Sook" that he did quite a while ago. Now if only he would never swear – like daddy life would be good. Unfortunately, I see him being more like me in that regard

What?

Well, I can’t always be an angel ya know! After all I never once slipped while in the classroom.

C’est Moi

Categories:
laughs nhl

6 Years Ago Today 9-11-01 – We will NEVER forget

Posted on September 11, 2007 8:13 am by TheAngelForever

Six years ago today the world changed in an instant. The horror of the day and events in New York City, Washington DC, and Shanksville, PA will always be on the mind of those of us that lived through it . . . and for generations to come. Nothing will ever be the same and we must not forget.

Where were you on 9-11 when you heard about the events?

I had just gotten into a school where I was set to be a substitute for two days – this was day two. I was newly married, going to graduate school at night and working for a teacher that I knew. The teacher was at a wedding in Germany and it was the first days of school for the 1st graders in this building. She was on a flight back to the states that morning. This was complicated greatly due to the events of the day.

Soon after the kids arrived some of the teacher aids came into the room to ask if I had heard. Heard about what? At that point little was known. They simply knew that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. . . so much more was about to happen.

Immediately, my mind went to my father-in-law and JL’s best friend. Both of them work in NYC. Quickly the principal sent around a note to teachers telling us that they would provide coverage for all of us to call any loved ones to check in. Meanwhile we all had to stay calm and NOT let on about anything in front of the kids. A note would be sent home to them telling parents that they should talk to their children and councelors would be around in the morning. By the afternoon we had heard from the teacher I was in for. Her flight was rerouted to Canada and she could not get back to the States. I was asked to stay for the rest of the week. The principal knew me from my student teaching and asked if I would please help him out. He knew that there were no plans for the remaining three days, but was confident I could do something. I said I would do it. The kids needed something stable for them the first full week of school, especially since they knew their teacher was flying back that day.

By lunch time I was on the phone with JL again to see if he had heard anything from his father and friend. At that point we knew that my father-in-law was safe (he didn’t actually work too close to the WTC), but was stuck in the city and could not get back home. His friend was another story. We knew that he had just started working in the WTC. By the evening we knew just how lucky G was to be alive. G worked in a building next to the towers – one that was destroyed when the towers collapsed. That morning G was running late and came out of the subway tunnel just in time to see the plane hit. He turned around immediately and fled to go back home. He was one of the lucky ones, countless others did not have this fate.

The days that followed for very confusing for all of us, including the first graders that I was substitute teaching for. They didn’t know their teacher, they didn’t know what had happened and their little minds processed the events differently.

I know today my mind will partially be thinking about what happened 6 short years ago, the day all of our lives in this country and even the world changed. The day that terrorists came to our country and killed thousands of innocent men, women and children. The day that many families changed. The day that many husbands and wives saw their spouse for the last time. The day that many children lost a parent and will have to rely on photos and movies to help with the memories of their beloved mom or dad. It truly was a day when many of us lost our innocence.

C’est Moi

Categories:
bad news looking back real world news

sigh – Bad start to the week

Posted on September 10, 2007 3:31 pm by TheAngelForever

What else can I say? Right now I am sitting here with tears running down my face. I feel like a failure to my 4 year old. Where did we go wrong? Is it simply what they always say that teachers have kids that challenge their colleagues? All I know if my head was pounding before and now it’s worse.

You know it isn’t a good sign when the teacher pulls you over at dismissal to tell you that she needs to talk to you later. I asked if I could wait to talk to her after school since it may be easier than with everyone at school this evening.

I walked in and NHL’s OT was there. We chatted and I get the vague hint of her saying "I told you so" about sending him to this school. All I wanted was to help NHL and get him out of where he was. He needs structure and to be challenged. He needs people not to take his BS excuses. He is very capable to do things, but says he can’t.

Drop off this morning was beyond a nightmare for JL. NHL was pulling every trick in the book once he left the house. He went without an issue and then the HELL began. He put his foot in the door demanding a toy before they left. JL got him the toy. When they got to school NHL would not go in the building. JL had to drag him out of the car and into the school where he grew roots. His teacher finally gave JL the nod to go.

His teacher said it did not stop once dad left. She looked so frazzled this afternoon it wasn’t funny. She looked the way I felt. Then at nap time they got him to settle on the floor. He was so out of it he had an accident. When they tried to get him to change at the nurse he flipped out and raised his voice to the teacher. *sigh*

I just want to curl up and cry, but I have tons of laundry to do, a baby who is miserable thanks to 4 shots and NHL who is beyond tired thanks to crying all day.

I seriously do not know what to do. I think this is the right school for him, I just think we need a LOT of tough love and rules for him to follow. Hopefully that will work and he will adapt to this major change in his life. Tomorrow I will take him to school to see if we can get him over this hump.

C’est Moi

Categories:
bad news nhl sahm school

4 Year Portrait H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

Posted on September 10, 2007 7:32 am by TheAngelForever

Yesterday was portrait day. NHL was 4 in August so it was time to get this done. We were going to do family ones as well, but opted not to at the last moment. Normally we go to Sears, but this time we figured we would try JC Penney. Thanks to nice coupons and trying to save money we thought this was a good idea. When the sky opened up on our way out of the door I should have known to head back into the house and under the covers. Unfortunately we didn’t acknowledge the sign and continued with our plans.

We now know why it always looks like the studio where we went is busy. If there is more than one customer waiting it is packed. It was a mess even before we tried to take photos. It just got worse from there. We went into the room after waiting a while. The girl set up the area and NHL got all antsy. We could see he was getting tired and he was very clingy with JL. Then as things were almost ready he was asking to leave for lunch. He didn’t want to do the photos. I was ready to scream at that point since he was hysterical and about to cry. I tried to stay calm and gave JSL a bottle I pumped before leaving.

NHL did not want to get up on the platform for the photos. He made a deal to hold JL’s hand. This was not cool since we could not have JL’s arm floating into the photo. No matter what we did he wouldn’t let go. There’s no doubt a lot of this was from the PreK leaving daddy, being hungry, cranky from the gross weather, but give me a break. After what seemed like forever the girl was able to get 6-8 shots. So we went to wait and see them on the computer.

And wait, and wait and wait and wait.

There were two people who must have thought that selecting photos is rocket science. It was ridiculous since their photos were not even taken yesterday. JL was rolling his eyes, NHL was curled up in his arms almost asleep, and JSL was fussing. I wanted to just take off since I darn well knew the photos were not going to be worth the wait.

Finally the people were done and it was our turn. Impressed I was not. There were two shots that were OK, but nothing special. We quickly agreed to leave and think about it. They save the negtives (yes they actually still use film there) for 90 days so we can think about it. JL and I have decided we are going to pass at this point and see if we can get NHL into another location – possibly a different JC Penney or Sears. Perhaps the extra money is worth it if they can get a decent shot.

Thanks to this fun and the weather I had a miserable migraine that would not go away yesterday afternoon and is still kind of lingering this morning. That should make taking JSL for his 4 month visit and immunization even more fun.

*sigh*

C’est Moi

Categories:
losing my mind nhl

Rough days ahead

Posted on September 8, 2007 8:34 am by TheAngelForever

The road to PreK for NHL has been a bumpy one, especially Friday. The little guy is so excited to get ready and go, but when it is time to leave daddy, things go downhill quickly.

Friday I received a call from JL after drop off. NHL was going to go half way to his room alone. This did not happen. He was clingy and eventually went into complete meltdown and crying. The poor little guy did not want to leave JL. This is something that had not happened in months at nursery school. They finally got him into the room and Noah’s teacher helped so JL could leave. Later another mother said she got there just as JL left and NHL was calm and playing before she left.

Unfortunately, more is going on. Yesterday at pick up I wanted to talk with his teacher quickly to make sure she was fine with his therapists coming in when they were. She told me she couldn’t talk, but would call over the weekend, likely Sunday. She also mentioned he had a tough day, especially in the afternoon. Well, I may have fund a reason for that. I’m not making excuses for my kid, but this could honestly be the heart of the problem. All three days NHL has barely eaten his lunch. Friday seemed to be the worst. His juice was gone (who knows if he drank it), but there was only 1-3 bites of sandwich missing and everything else was still there.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be too nice in the afternoon if I had not eaten since 6:45 in the morning. I would have a nasty headache and be snarly to say the least. So we shall see what his teacher has to say and get suggestions from her to assist with drop off.

Here are some additional photos that JL took on day 2 since he forgot the camera the first day.