A Long and Overdue Update

This update is WAY overdue.  I’ve had only one post since the New Year (bad blogger) and to say a lot has happened since Jan 1 would be an understatement.

Besides our normal work schedule and holidays, over the past six months we’ve celebrated our birthdays (mine and hubs); Anthony turned six!! (omg); I trained for and finished another Spartan race – beating my previous time;  Anthony came to my job for his first Take our Daughters & Sons to Work Day; Anthony was chosen to have his artwork displayed in a district wide art show;  Mother’s Day;  Father’s Day;  and on June 13th Anthony graduated from Kindergarten (omg again!)  We’ve been quite the busy family that it’s left me barely any time to catch my breath, let alone time to blog about it all.

But probably our biggest news of all is that we moved!!  You may have caught it at the end of my 2013 recap post (if you read the whole thing LOL) where I mentioned that we were packing up the old house and were closing on the new house.  We sold our townhouse on December 27^th and on January 6^th closed on a gorgeous 4 bedroom home a couple towns over.  We are beyond excited and are in love with our new space.  We truly lucked out finding our dream home. 

taken the day our offer was accepted (November 2013)

Moving was one of the most stressful experiences of my life and to do it in the middle of snowpocalypse 2013/14 made it all the more challenging.   We were scheduled to move out of our townhouse on the day a blizzard decided to descend upon New York.  Luckily I was able to get the movers to come a day early and they kept our things stored on the truck for the weekend until we closed on the new house.   It was a good thing we were able to do that because the day after the blizzard all of the moving company’s trucks were frozen solid because the diesel fuel in the trucks had frozen!!  You seriously couldn’t have made this stuff up.  It was just insanity.  Certainly not the time to be moving, but we had no choice.  We had to go.  The day we moved into the new house it was minus 5 degrees outside.  I felt so awful for the moving guys.  I bought a few boxes of coffee and some doughnuts and that helped make for happy workers (and a faster move).  Although I’m sure the cold certainly helped them work a little faster.

So as you can imagine, a lot of whatever free time I’ve had over the past 6 months has been spent focusing on the house and doing projects.  We were lucky that the house didn’t need any renovations, but of course there were cosmetic changes we wanted to do to make it our own.  Slowly each room is coming together and it’s starting to feel like home vs a rental vacation home.  More to come on the house as we finish off rooms (and more pics too!)

For now, I’ll leave you with some picture highlights from the last 6 months and the promise that I really will come back to blogging, even if only for short quick updates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

My Kindergartner – 3 Months Later

We successfully made it through the first week of Kindergarten.  And the 13 more that followed after.  There were no tears, not (much) of a fuss, and after a few funny stories later he is quite comfortable in his new surroundings and acting like he has been going to school for years. 

After completing a quarter of the year, he is excelling in his school work and it doesn’t appear that the common core curriculum has had a negative impact on him (at least not yet).  I’m still quite nervous about all the work that is and will be thrown at him between now and June, but he’s been a trooper thus far and is absorbing everything in stride.  We had our very first parent teacher conference last month and he got a glowing report.  He is (thankfully) minding his manners and listening very well, which I was both happy & slightly surprised about considering he has been completely the opposite at home recently.

Since school began in September we’ve noticed a negative behavioral change in Anthony.  He’s become much more defiant than his usual five-year-old self and no matter what we ask of him (even simple questions like “please get dressed”) are answered with “I don’t wanna” or simply “no” which ultimately leads to an argument.  In talking to some of the other Kindergarten moms who are experiencing the same situation with their kids, we’ve attributed this new attitude change to the constant listening that he is doing all day combined with the stressfulness of all the work that is being asked of him as part of the common core.  Between school and his after school program, he is following someone else’s rules from 9 am to 5 pm.  By the time he comes home he’s just had enough and is taking out his frustrations on us.

In the last 3 months we’ve seen a slight improvement in his grumpiness, but we’re hoping that it will just take a little more time for him to adjust and for our sweet boy to return.  I’m honestly on the fence on how to reprimand him for this behavior because part of me feels like it’s not his fault that he’s being overworked but at the same time I need to address it so that he knows his behavior it’s not acceptable.   Who knew Kindergarten was going to bring with it such challenges!

Kindergarten School Picture

A Letter to my Son on Kindergarten Eve

To my number one man,

Only five short years ago we brought you home from the hospital and tomorrow you will embark on a whole new journey. While maybe it shouldn’t be that big of a deal since you’ve been attending an all day program since you were 17 months old, tomorrow morning marks a different kind of a milestone.  You will start your academic career which (I hope) will last for the next 14+ years.  I am such a mixed ball of emotions tonight as I sit here and listen to you sleep.

Excited:  I’m excited for all of the new things you are going to see, hear and learn.

Sad:  Truth is, it makes me a little sad to see my baby boy growing up so fast.  Tomorrow may only be the first day of kindergarten but it snuck up on me so quickly that I can only imagine how fast your elementary school years will fly by.

Nervous:  I know what a caring & gentle soul you are and I am nervous that others won’t treat you right and that bullies will try to take advantage of you.  I know that you need to learn for yourself who to listen to and how to stick up for yourself but the protective mother in me wants to shield you from all of that.

Proud:  Our hearts are just bursting with pride when we think of just how successful you will be.  You are growing up to be a sensitive, strong, independent, talented little man, who spreads joy to everyone who spends time with you.

I know we can’t protect you from everything.  You will have good days, and bad days.  You will get tempted to make bad decisions.  Not everyone will want to be your friend and there will be times when your feelings will get hurt.  I will help to soothe your broken heart and do my best to arm you with the tools you need to make your own decisions.

Always do your very best and treat others with respect.  Remember your manners but don’t forget to come home and hug me tight every day after school (until you graduate from college).

I love you to the moon & back.

 

 

Countdown to K has begun!

Look what showed up in my mailbox yesterday...

 

 

 

My first reaction was “WHAT????  already?!?”  Then I looked at the calendar and realized it was almost August.  My big man starts Kindergarten in 46 days.   OMG!!  I guess I have been in a little bit of denial that this is really happening, but it’s COMING. and coming FAST!  He sat at our dining room table last night flipping through it picking out the backpack he wants (transformers) and new markers, lunchbox, etc. 

 

We may still be waiting for his teacher assignment, but we’ve got the supplies list and he said he’s ready to get on the bus and head off to the “big kid school” (as he calls it).  He might be ready but I don’t know how ready I am….  Even though he’s been going to “school” since he was 17 months old this is going to be different.  Taking the bus…having homework…making new friends…being in a bigger class environment.  I’m both excited and a little nervous for him at the same time. 

 

For now though, I'm not thinking about that.  We’ll just stick to some back to school shopping and try to hit the stores a bit early before everything gets sold out.

The K Word

It brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it….kindergarten.  How did this sneak up on me so fast?!?!  Wasn’t he just crawling and sleeping in a crib??  School applications are available starting today and I have no idea how I’m going to fill it out without it getting tear stained.  I know he has to grow up at some point but I’m just not ready to have my baby get on a bus and head off to school.  You’d think that it would be easier considering he’s been in full time daycare (and now preschool) since he was 17 months old but somehow the K word is hitting me differently than I expected.  It’s the new teachers, new surroundings and a school of 625 kids.  Yes, our district is THAT big – and this school is just pre-K and K!!  Oh and of course the bus ride to/from school. 

 

Educational wise, he's ready and has been for a while.  He's an extremely bright kid so on one hand I'm excited for him to go and start learning new things.  On the other hand, the "mom" side of my brain is worried for him.  Will he easily make new friends?  Will he get picked on?  I have so many thoughts floating through my head already and I know it will only get more intense over the next 9 months.  I’m trying not to psych myself out just yet (since I have plenty of time for that) but now that the process has begun I’m already dreading that day in September.