Easter

On Saturday we colored Easter eggs which she enjoyed doing. I don't think she remembers doing this last year (and yes I know the date is wrong on the pictures...I have to figure out how to turn that off).

When we were done, I tried to tell her that if the Easter bunny liked her colored eggs then he'd leave her eggs filled with candy and other surprises. Then I guess i pushed it too far as i went on to tell her that if he REALLY liked her eggs then he'd leave her a basket filled with stuff. Her reply was, "What?!?" The kind of of "what" that's stated with skepticism. It was so funny to hear her say "what" as if I was feeding her a line of rubbish. I laughed and said, "You don't believe me?"

The next day she came down and was excited to see eggs strewn all over the living and dining room. I think I have to cut down on the number of eggs (52) as it's way too much candy and Chris doesn't really hide them as there's too many. She practically just has to walk around and pick them up from obvious spots.

Plus, she seemed to like finding the eggs more than what is inside them. When she got to her grandparents, she only had 13 eggs to find and she kept wanting people to hide them so that she could find them again. It was just to bad that she had to do her hunt for eggs inside as it was a rainy day but she seemed to enjoy it just the same.

I hope that next year I'll take her to an actual Easter egg hunt done by someone else in the community. I'm also thinking of doing a treasure hunt for her basket next year. I figure she'll be reading to some extent and that I can put clues in some of the eggs to find her basket. Chris says that's "my department"...translation...it is up to me to do it...hopefully I'll remember.

I should've taken a picture of her with her basket which was filled with three movies ("Alice in Wonderland," "Bambi," and "Snow White") along with a Wii dance game, coloring stuff, and stickers. She makes out like a bandit on these holidays. The only thing I didn't do was get her an Easter dress this year as this one still fit from last year, surprisingly.

Kindergarten Woes

Go t a bit behind so there will be a couple of posts to catch up.


A week ago Makenna was on this “Woman” kick. She keeps saying that she’s a woman or that daddy sounds like a woman (which I’m sure he’ll love that I’m posting that….and my brothers will laugh hardily and agree with her) or that I’m a woman. On Sunday (April 17th,) I mentioned to Makenna that she’s almost 4.5 years old to which she replied, “So I’m a woman?” I gasped and said, “No…you’re not a woman…yet.”

I’m not sure if this came about from me showing her signs to restroom where she has to look for a “W” for Woman which then clues her in that she can go into that bathroom. Of course it doesn’t help when they have a “G” for girls and then Makenna just decided to use the one that says “M” because her name starts with “M” and I’m frantically trying to figure out where the heck she went. But, at least it was a one-person bathroom so it wasn’t all bad.

We also started the process of school registration. I’m starting to feel sadness about this already. Although I’m so glad to watch her grow and blossom, I look and other kids that are still in the baby stage and long for her to be back there. Then I wonder why when it was so tough to know what she needed at times and I was so tired. I think back to all the cute little things I did with her and all the cute songs I made up and sung to her and how that doesn’t happen anymore.

Well, back to the registration….We went to an informational night on Tuesday (April 19th) at a school in the CV district. We’d have to pay tuition and one of the questions I asked the Superintendent was how much tuition was going to be this coming fall. Before giving me the estimated answer, he explained how they are supposed to be charging around $6,000 but are “stepping” their way to that price. Therefore, he expects the price to be $4200 (more or less,). Then he explained how the High School is at $9,000 for a school year. I can only imagine what tuition will be at that grade level when Makenna is old enough to be in high school. We left there and Chris said, “We need to move before the end of summer.” I felt a wave of anxiety and pressure.

I explained that whether we decide to have her go to this district where we have to pay tuition or to the district that we pay school tax in, we still have a year at least to worry about housing. I feel that after 4th grade you’re starting to solidify some relationships with kids at school. Before then, kids come and go and it’s not too detrimental to move her around.

I still went the next day to get her registered in case we do decide to have her go to this school. I was surprised by Makenna who was either scared or nervous or both. I was sitting at a table going over paperwork with a woman and Makenna went off to a wall and sat down on the ground. I was waving her over to sit with me and she was too nervous and shook her head no. I left her there until I was done and then she came and sat with me.

Another lady came to get Makenna to do some testing but I had to come along in the beginning until I could tell Makenna felt comfortable enough to trust this person. She was having her do some gross motor skills like jumping, hoping, throwing, catching, rolling a ball, etc. Once she got past that and realized she was having fun with this new person, then I was able to walk away while she did some other tests. I guess these are to gauge where she’s at developmentally on different scales so they know if she’ll need help in certain areas before she even starts school.

When they were done and the lady returned, I did tell them about some poor results on her gross motor skills from previous tests at her Pre-K. So they marked that down as something to look at in the Fall…if we go there.

Next Week (4/25) is the informational meeting for Harpursville and we plan on asking some questions like why the test results in English and Language Arts dropped 12% from 2008 – 2009. Do they have IB or Regent Courses in the High School and what time does the bus arrive in our neck of the woods to pick her up?

My belief is that she has to be out by a little after 7am to be picked up by the bus for a 40 minute bus ride one way to school. I think she’ll be exhausted, and I’m a bit scared that there are no other kids her age on the bus right away. Not to mention that if something happens while I’m at work, that it will take me probably close to 50 minutes to get to her.

I also got to thinking about if she does make friends in school, then we’d have to drive her to Harpursville area to play with those friends and what a hassle that would be. Then last night drove the issue home for me in my opinion. Chris and I were discussing (our word for arguing) about getting to this meeting tonight. I was saying how I would run home after work to take care of the dogs, then run back down to get Makenna and take her to swim lessons and then get to the meeting after that.

He wants to meet me at home which means that we’ll be late to the meeting. By the time we get done with swim lessons and get her showered and dressed it’s close to 5pm. Then to get home it’s another 15-20 minutes. Then to get him and get to a place we have yet to find, I say that’s another 20 minutes so we’ll get there probably 15 minutes into the meeting. Plus, I have to hope that he actually is home when we get home.

My argument was that I didn’t want to be late and his argument is that it’s a waste of gas money for us both to drive out there and that’s when I raised my finger and said, “And that’s the problem with going to Harpursville!” Everything that she’ll be a part of as the school year(s) go on means going in a direction from our house that’s away from everything we do. If it was down more into town, (like CV school is,) then at least activities would be on the way home not past our home into an area we typically don’t go.

I guess we’ll see how the meeting goes tonight and then we have at least the Summer to decide what school….or to move…and start this paperwork nightmare all over again.

Sleeping Alone

It's been a "slow" week so to say - as slow as it can be for a four year old with no school due to Spring Break. I don't understand why kids have break early but someone told me that they don't want to have it around Easter any more (they meaning the schools,) as it promotes a religious holiday. My reply was, "What's Christmas to them then?" They still get a break then.

What it means to me, regardless of when it is, is that I have to find day-care. Luckily, I have family that pitches in and I so appreciate it. Since Chris is still sick, he took Monday off and stayed home with Makenna. Then on Tuesday she went over to her Uncle Josh's and Aunt Autumn's and got to play with Katie and Natalie. Then to her grandparents for a couple of days.

I think it's going to be hard to get her to go back to school after all this. At least weather wise it's been nice so she was able to go to the park on Monday for a while.

Back to Chris....I guess he has some viral infection and finally broke down yesterday and went to the doctor's to get something. What it's meant to me is sleep! I've said before that I never knew what a light sleeper I was until I got married and had to sleep next to someone. When most spouses go away on trips and their wives wonder how they're going to be able to sleep without their protector, I'm relishing and planning my night of how I'll be able to sleep (unless Makenna decides to get up multiple times).

Last Friday, Makenna got to go to her grandparents for a sleep-over as Chris and I had tickets to see The Machine with the Binghamton Philharmonic. I enjoyed it thoroughly but Chris was in pain from having a migraine and being up close to a laser show and loud noise did not help.

When we got home he tried to fall asleep but just was coughing up a lung and got up and slept out in the recliner. I actually slept-in...the first time in probably four years. Sleeping in means past 6am for me. I think I got up close to 8am.

Then the next night he slept out in the recliner again and since then in the spare bedroom. He did try coming back to sleep in our bedroom one day and he would snore than wake up coughing, then fall back to sleep snoring, then coughing and this cycle continued for about a half hour. The whole time I was contemplating if smothering him with a pillow could be considered an insanity plea due to lack of sleep?

But he finally got up on his own and went back to the other bedroom and it's been wonderful. I'm almost not looking forward to him coming back as I know that means fitful nights for me. So as bad as I feel for him being sick....I love my opportunity to sleep! I've actually felt quite refreshed this past week.

So if you see me and I'm looking cranky and tired, you'll know why.

Missing Makenna

Well it seems our little talk about telling mommy where she is going hasn't sunk in quite yet. On Monday (April 4th), after swim I usually let her go out and play with the toys for a few minutes while I finish up in the locker room. Okay, so maybe I'm too trusting but I feel she needs to get a little independence and it's only for about 5 minutes, which I know some of you will say, too much time for her to be on her own.

Before she left the locker room I specifically asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom and she said no, and then she went on her way. I went out shortly after and I could not find her. Panic mode. I went back into the locker room even though I was fairly certain she did not come back through. I looked back on the swim deck, I went back to the lobby, I went looking outside, and just as I was about to talk to the front desk staff, out she comes from the bathrooms in the front lobby. I gave her a quick stern talking to and then we went into the car where I really laid it on.

We get home and she disappears again! We were taking out the dogs and she usually does this lap or two around the garage and house. Well after her second or third lap, she didn't return. I'm yelling for her, and she wasn't responding. So now I'm frantically looking around the garage, the woods, and finally find her on the back porch playing with a ball. I again told her that she has to respond to me when I call her so I know she's okay.

That nights discussion was talking about strangers and what strangers mean and how she needs to kick, scream, yell, etc. when someone she doesn't know is trying to take her or making her do something she does not want to do. (I fear that this lesson will be turned around on me at some point).

The next day, she leaves the house to go to the car for school, I come out and she's nowhere to be found. I start yelling, no reply. I then hear the car door automatically open and realize that's where she is. I reiterate to her again the importance of telling me of where she's going. If she tells me she's going to be one place and then decides to go to another place, that she has to come ask and/or tell me.

Have I learned my lesson? Yes...so please don't berate me. Does she still need to learn some life skills...yes but maybe in smaller doses as my heart can't take these "missing" moments.

Breakdown at Barnes & Noble

Last Thursday (March 31st), I decided to take Makenna to Barnes & Noble with me so that I could by her cousin Natalie a gift for her second birthday. NOT A GOOD IDEA.

First of all, my child typically wants to go somewhere every day after school. How do I know this? She repeatedly tells me when I pick her up, "Where are we going?" (my reply...home). Her answer in whining format, "No! I want to go somewhere!"

So today I figured, well at least I have some place to take her after school. When I told her that we weren't going home her reply (again in a whining format,) "I just want to go home." Figures. Not only that but she was of the mindset that I should take her home and she'd stay by herself while I went to the store. All the explanations of how I would be in deep trouble does not register with her.

Well, we got to B&N and I could not get her to leave. I don't blame anyone buy myself as I had a very strong feeling that this was going to be the case. Once she got to the kids section and saw the train set that it set up to play with I was done for.

I gave her the usually five-minute warning that we will be leaving but that didn't work. When the five minutes were up, I went over to get her and she had to do just one more thing, repeatedly. I finally said, "Enough...it's time to go!" So that started the downward spiral that lasted well into the night.

After telling her that if she did not listen she would lose Wii privileges she started coming but then insisted that I zip her coat. This is something that she can now do on her own but I agreed to.....while we were waiting in line. The kids section is in the back of the store and the line I was referring to was up front. Nope, that wasn't an acceptable answer to her.

I was bound and determined to get my way and she was bound and determined that I was not. So she fell to floor crying and whining about zipping her coat. I finally walked away and told her to follow....which she did not. I was in line at the front of the store and I could hear her all the way from the back. I got out of line, went up to her and told her that if she did not get up she was now losing TV time. This really sent her off.

I had to get her up off the floor, get her walking, while simultaneously telling her that she lost TV and Wii privileges (and any movies,) and telling her that I would zip up her coat in line. This just made her more mad and frustrated and she kept saying, "mom I just want to talk to you," or "mom, your not listening to me." I would reassure that I was listening to her and I would reiterate all the things she wanted to repeat to me over and over to show her I was listening.

I finally "won" and got up in line and zipped her coat but the hysterics continued. We finally left and I got her in the car (another big battle) and she was really mad. I don't even remember what she said but I started laughing. Then that made her mad and she said, "Don't laugh at me." I said I was laughing at what she said.

On the way home she was so mad she was yelling at me to turn off the radio to which I did NOT comply as I said the way she was asking me was completely inappropriate and I don't respond to that type of demand. She was really yelling, screaming and now kicking the seat (which was the passenger seat, luckily for her.) I put on my ear buds to my IPod and continued driving home.

She would occasionally yell my name to which I ignored and I told her that until she could calm down enough to talk rationally that I was not entertaining anything she had to say. She finally yelled, "Don't talk to me!" Needless to say at some point she fell asleep on the way home. Which I knew was the problem.

We got home and I was in Super-mommy mode of trying to defrost some chicken for dinner, clean a bathroom while that was happening and talk to a friend who called to chat long-distance. Makenna was barraging me with questions and I finally told her to go to her room and play with something. She complied and as I continued talking and cleaning I heard a SLAM of the door. This gave me great pause as I wondered if Chris came home early.

So then, as I continued talking, I went and looked out the window and saw my little independent, willful child walking down the steps. She had the audacity to leave the house without saying a word...and slamming the door on her way out!~

I quickly said to my friend, "I have to go my daughter just left the house." I ran downstairs and yelled out the door like the country hick I am, "Makenna! Get in here! What do you think you're doing?!?!" She nonchalantly replied, "I wanted to go outside."

I got her back inside and explained to her how she cannot just leave without saying something to me (or her dad if he was here.) I have to also add that a few times while shoveling snow a week or so ago, she'd take off and I'd find her walking down near the pond to which she got a huge scolding for. Her just leaving the house blew my mind. Plus, I have to add, I had the dogs to contend with making a mess in the house - so I was at my wits end.

Chris came home and we as a family had a discussion about what "listening to mommy" means and how complying is mandatory. Chris then went into this whole tiraid of how she embarrassed me in the store with her antics (and at the time he was saying this, I was thinking, I wasn't really embarrassed as I was too tired, just more frustrated). He then explained to her what embarrassed meant and she then blurted out, "Well mommy bare-assed me too." Once it registered in my tired brain what she had just said, I got up and left the table into the kitchen so as to not laugh at her again.

I guess some of this melt down could've been avoided if I had just agreed to zip up her coat at the spot she wanted but when you get two stubborn women and one has the power to wield their wishes more so over another...it's going to get ugly.