Do You Get Wrights Law?

Assessment 101: Types of Evaluations couldn't have come at a better time, Patty has a followup appointment next week.  Some of the most helpful information I come across regarding special education is delivered right to my email inbox from Wrights Law.  There's hardly anything better than a free online resource with a lot of suggestions and answers to my questions. 

During this ongoing process of tests and waiting, I have been curious about who does what and why.  I want Patty to have all the appropriate and necessary tests in the correct time frame all the while learning as much from those tests as I can.  I have yet to find a really great guide to all of this, but at least I can stumble upon great articles from time to time that send me in the right directions.  Or send me with a good list of questions to her doctor appointments.  I mean, you can't get the right answers if you can't ask the right questions.

How to Avoid Being Taken Hostage

I am always in the market for news I can use.  I emailed this link to myself a while ago, planning to put it out on the blog.  Better late than never, so they say.

It can't hurt to read 6 Ways to Avoid Being Taken Hostage when you have some down time.

This is something that I'd like to discuss with my kids, but how do you explain something like this to 5 and 6 year olds?  I want my kids to be careful but I don't want them to be terrified.  After a suggestion from a family member, I started asking the kids where I should turn when we drove to our usual places.  They still don't know the names of roads, but at least it's a start!

Fewer Yearly Screenings?

I often wonder if I really need my yearly women's health exam.  I dread that appointment like the plague.  I don't know why.  Seems like I would be used to it, after all these years on birth control and having two kids.  But, I still dread it.

Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I came across an article called Older Americans Over-Screened for Colon Cancer telling me that people are getting screened too often for a lot of things.  If I live to be 65 I can forgo the dreaded yearly checkup!  Hooray!

I'm pretty sure my doctor will recommend yearly checkups, but doesn't one every three years sound much better than one a year?  I'll have to have a discussion with the doc at my next appointment.

Random Observations

Observation No. 1
You know those little plastic dental floss sticks?  It's like a toothpick on one end and a little string of dental floss on the other.  How is it that those end up discarded in parking lots?  I mean, who carries those things with them out of the house and then decides to just toss them down while walking from the car to the store?  That is so gross!

Observation No. 2
Have you noticed that people don't actually look both ways when entering or exiting a store?  I am a little guilty of this too.

Observation No. 3
I saw a car driving the wrong way on a four lane highway yesterday.  It took the driver, and I'm really guessing about distance here, about two city blocks and meeting two cars to realize they were on the wrong side of the road.  Of course, we were the second car and after the initial shock, I flashed my lights like a crazy person.  It's not the first time I've witnessed people going the wrong way on that same stretch of road, but most people catch on faster!

Observation No. 4
Why didn't we have the nausea/vomiting medicine filled after JT had his ER visit last November?  'Cause it would be really nice to have it for him this morning after he started throwing up at 1:30.  Oh, it is going to be a long day.

Observation No. 5
Why does everything have to upgrade?  I woke up to find that my MSN email account has upgraded to Outlook and I am not at all happy about  it. 

Kids Say...

Patty loves chocolate cake.  Or, rather, Patty loves brownies and calls them chocolate cake!  My mom made a pan and brought it over for dessert last Sunday.  Patty had had a slight case of the stomach bug on Saturday and wasn't really bounced back from it when the brownies arrived.

Fast forward to Monday night.  JT and I dug out the old ABC flash cards I had made for Patty years ago.  Trying to encourage JT to get familiar with them, I told him to show them to dad after we'd finished dinner.  When we came across C is for ice cream, Patty remembered she had a pan of brownies waiting for her in the kitchen.  Casey got her a slice and we settled in to watch a little tv.

A few minutes later we could hear the tin foil (do you say aluminum foil?) crinkling as she helped herself to another slice of brownie.  Then, barely audible, we heard her say, "C is for cake." 

Casey and I really got tickled by that. 

So Proud of Patty

Patty and I had to have a blood test to check for allergies.  Who knew there was such a thing?  Sounds so much easier than those skin tests I've heard about.  Still, I wasn't looking forward to the test because Patty hadn't had a blood test since she was one.

I let the tech draw my blood first hoping it would make Patty at ease if she could see what was going to happen.  Not sure it helped, she was pretty upset just at the idea of getting a "shot". 

As a backup, I also brought Grammie (my mom).  All things are better when grandmothers are involved.  I speak from personal experience.  See, when I was a kid, I had to have weekly blood tests to keep a check on my arthritis.  My Grandmomma often went with us and would sit in the chair and hold me on her lap.  It made all the difference.

So imagine my warm and fuzzy when Patty wanted Grammie to sit with her.  I think I could have cried, really.  It just brought back so many memories from my childhood.  Obviously the blood tests were not a good memory, but the thoughts of my grandmother are happy ones.

I was able to hold myself together since Patty is a strong kid and I worried she'd have a fit and make it really difficult to get the needle in her arm.  Thankfully the lab staff was wonderful and I'm guessing they've had many troublesome patients over the years.  One tech had a death grip on her arm while the other carefully wielded the needle.  Another woman kept talking to Patty, trying to distract her.  it was such a team effort.  It was like once Patty started crying everyone came out to help.  They were great.

Once the initial shock was over, Patty was actually really calm.  I am so proud of her.  She got a pink band on her arm and a Cinderella sticker.  Such a champ!  But, I hope we don't have to have any more blood work anytime soon!

Kids Say...

JT and I were sitting on the couch and the conversation went something like this...

"Mom, are you gonna sleep in my bed tonight?" he asked in that all too sweet voice of his.

"I slept in your bed last night," I replied.  And I slept for all of three minutes the whole night, I thought.

"But, I can't sleep in my bed all by myself!"

Seriously, why didn't we just buy a stinking king size bed?  If you've never tired to sleep on a twin sized bed with a five year old, let me just tell you, it is not comfortable.  I feel like I'm an inch away from falling off the edge all night long.  Definitely considering pushing their twin beds together just so I can sleep in the middle!  And don't you know how much I hate to sleep in the middle?

Sequester Me This

I read somewhere that the sequester is going to impact special education.  I didn't read anything specific and I can't recall where I read it.  But, I am definitely frightened by any future that includes a loss in special education teachers.

I fear a tighter budget will cause many kids to miss out on special education services for the sake of saving money.  If that's the case, I know Patty will be okay because I won't let a lack of services affect her performance.  Patty will be college ready at graduation if it kills me getting her there.  But, I do worry about the other kids who don't have me to come home to at the end of the day.

Do you have any sequestration fears, or is it just me?

Bicycles for Easter

I think I'll put first aid kits in the kiddos Easter Baskets this year.  Nestled right next to a giant box of band aids.

Why?

Because the Easter Bunny is bringing them new bicycles.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but JT has never had a bicycle.  I know, it's horrible!  At least Patty received a tricycle for her second birthday.  My poor kids.  That should tell you how much time we spend outside. 

Well, that wrong will be righted in a little more than a week and my nerves will most certainly be shattered.  Now I just have to sneak to Walmart for helmets and all the other edible goodies to fill their baskets. 

I did learn a few important things this morning, though.  First, never start shopping for something for the kids when they are home.  It's like they have radar telling them "mom's looking at toys!".  Second, I don't  know my kids as well as I thought.  And third, there seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason for the pricing of kids bicycles.

I was all set to order a Toy Story bike for JT this morning when he woke up and found me at the computer.  He very quickly informed me that he did not like Toy Story anymore.  So glad I didn't buy that Toy Story bedding for the bed he won't sleep in!  He picked out a bike with brakes, he could see the wire in the picture.  And that's the only thing he was concerned about.  Not really the color, just the breaks.  Boys!  Go figure.

Patty got in on the action too, and fell head over heals for the blue Cinderella bike.  I had been eyeing a pink Barbie one for her.  She loves most things Barbie and really hasn't gotten into Cinderella so I am very surprised at her choice.

Let's hope they haven't changed their minds by Easter morning!

It's World Down Sydrome Day, So Change Your Socks

Kerri has the most amazing post about World Down Syndrome Day.  Head over and take a look!  Then, go change your socks and your shirt!

My House Stinks

Yes, you read that right.  My house stinks.  Like spoiled milk.  About now you're probably wondering why does my house smell like spoiled milk, right?  As JT would say, "Duh, someone spilled the milk."  I get "duh-ed" a lot lately.  Anyhoo.  We have several plastic cups with the plastic straws that Patty drinks out of.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  Walmart has a new variety for every season lately.  All but one of our cups came from Walmart.  The troublesome one came from the Dollar Tree.

I think it's probably just a coincidence, but that one cup has gotten tipped over twice after I've gone to bed for the night.  It's the only pink cup, but I can't see how that would make any difference.  Both times the cup was sitting on the coffee table.  You'd think I'd learn not to leave the cup on the coffee table since the house smelled of spoiled milk the first time it was tipped over.  Who is tipping the cup?  I haven't caught her in the act, but my money is on Daddy Kitty.  She is our playful, mischievous cat.  And, yes, she is a she.  That's a story for another day.

So, our house smells terrible right now.  And I am so glad that we haven't invested in new carpet yet!

International Samoas

I don't know if the title of this post is fitting, but I did ship a box of Samoas from right here in Kentucky to a blogging friend in Germany!  I was so tickled to pull up Joy's website this morning and read her post about the cookies!  Joy had mentioned there are no Girl Scout cookies in Germany, so I knew I had to send her a box.  The world wide web really does make it a small world, doesn't it?

I kind of worried about sending these highly addictive cookies to Joy in case she really loved them.  I mean, is there anything worse than a craving for something you just can not get?  But, like it was fate or something, Patty's troop got to see photos of Girl Scouts from around the world as part of World Thinking Day.  A German troop was featured in the presentation so I did a quick search and found that there are overseas Girl Scout troops!  Not sure how far Joy is from a US Military installation, but next January, that would be the place to look for more cookies!

I'm so happy to know the cookies made the trip, that Joy liked them, and that hopefully she won't have to go without cookies any longer!  Joy, if you find a troop with cookies over there, you have to try the Tagalongs!

Tagged by Finding Ninee

A while ago, while we were all sick, Kristi from Finding Ninee asked if she could tag me.  I said yes and then kind of forgot all about it.  So, here's my attempt at getting into the tagging game!  Wow, that's a lot of questions!

1. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Hopkins County, Kentucky, USA

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE?
No.  My parents actually thought I was going to be a boy; guess I was born in the days prior to ultrasound.  So, they had already chosen a boys name and everything.  In fact, I was going to be a Patrick.

3. HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE?
Two.

4. HOW MANY PETS DO YOU HAVE?
Two.

5. WHAT’S YOUR WORST BOO-BOO?
Hmmm.  I fell last spring in the drive way and scrapped my elbow.  That is my most recent boo-boo, anyway.

6. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO BAKE?
Probably Secret Kiss Cookies.  Although it's like a love-hate thing.  I love to eat them, but I'm not so crazy about chilling the dough and unwrapping all of the Hershey Kisses!

8. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
Oh this is a tough one.  But, for the sake of choosing, I guess a burger is my favorite fast food.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely not!

10. WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Hmmm.  I have no idea!

11. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Yesterday!  JT and I have been watching Men in Black 3 on the Kindle as we wait for Patty to get out of school.  And the ending totally made me cry!

12. ANY CURRENT WORRIES?
Oh, goodness, too many to count!

13. THREE DRINKS YOU DRINK REGULARLY?
Sprite, Milk, Water.  I've never liked the taste of alcohol.

14. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B Cooney, I've always loved that one!

15. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A PIRATE?
Weird question!  But, no.  Not even with Johnny Depp.

18. WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Stubborn Love by The Lumineers

19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY?
I love the digi-scrap our photos.  I am so behind in that!

20. WHAT FUN THINGS DO YOU DO?
Seriously, I would never accuse myself of being fun.  But, I do enjoy having the family over for dinner and just chatting and catching up.

21. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Everything.  The dumber the better.

22. DO YOU HAVE A GUN?
No.  I respect a person's right to own weapons, but I do not own one.

23. DO YOU HAVE A.D.D?
No.

24. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Turkey.

25. DO YOU LIKE BLUE CHEESE?
Ewe, no.  I didn't eat cheese of any kind until about nine years ago.  Unless you count cheetos!

26. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HOT DOGS?
Love them.  Don't want to know what they are made of!

27. WHAT’S THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I am watching one called Martha Marcy May Marlene, it recorded on the DVR because I have it set to record anything with Hugh Dancy, I'm looking forward to the Hannibal series.  This movie, though, not so crazy about, it's a weird one.

28. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Definitely summer.  Hate the cold.

29. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Invisible Man by HG Wells.

30. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SHOE?
Tennis shoes.  I can not wear dress shoes, they kill my feet.  If you have to suffer for fashion, I will always be unfashionable!

31. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?
England.

32. DO YOU OWN SLIPPERS?
No.

33. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
French Vanilla.  Seriously, I am plain jane.

34. CAN YOU WHISTLE?
Yes, but I think it barely qualifies as a whistle.

35. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE GIRL’S NAME?
I always liked the name Darby, but it was vetoed.

36. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TREAT?
Right now, Rollos.

37. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SOUND?
My kids laughing.

38. WHAT’S THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
South Korea.

39. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Hmmmm.  I  know my way around Photoshop, which comes in pretty handy.  I'm not too bad with the camera, I guess.

40. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS?
Yes.  This made my ordinary day a little less mundane.

41. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOE LACES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No.

42. WHAT DO YOU LIKE BETTER, RED OR PINK?
Red, I think.

43. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Pringles, the regular kind, good and plain!

44. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
There's no one I miss most, I miss them all.

45. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Gray.  Seriously, am I boring or what?

46. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SONG?
No favorite really.

47. MOUNTAIN OR BEACH?
Hmmm.  Beach, I guess.

48. DO YOU LIKE SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY MOVIES?
I like them both, but happy movies most.
 
49. WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?
Right now I'm wearing sweat pants, no pockets!

50. WHO IS YOUR LOUDEST FRIEND?
Hmmm.  That's a good one.

51. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CANDY?
Rollos, if that counts as candy.  Cherry Lifesavers, if Rollos don't count.

52. DO YOU LIKE YOUR SHEETS?
I love them!

53. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

54. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Life, but i only eat it dry.  I used to love Honey Comb, but I think they changed the recipe over the years.  Or maybe my palate evolved?

54. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Yes, I think we're all strong in our own way.

Are They Trying To Poison Me?

Here's a fun fact about me.  I love holiday Reese Cups.  They are hands down better than the regular old Reese Cup.  But, last spring something strange happened when I indulged in one of my favorite treats.  I think I had an allergic reaction.  I kind of felt like my face was swelling and I got really itchy.  This had never happened in the past and I was pretty worried that I'd developed a peanut allergy.  Is that even possible?  Even though I can eat Jif by the spoonfuls and apparently Tagalongs have no adverse affect on me, I decided that I should stay away from Reese Cups.

So, imagine my somewhat puzzled surprise at Christmas when Casey gave me a tin filled with Christmas Tree Reese Cups.  And then, just the other day, my mom gave me a package of Easter Reese Cups.  Seriously?  If I were paranoid, I'd believe my family is trying to poison me!

Too Early For Summer School?

Would you send your child to school during the summer if your district offered a program? 

I do worry about the summer back slide, but I don't know if I'd want to send Patty or JT to school during the summer months.  

So, I'm getting a jump start and ordering a couple Summer Bridge Workbooks for the Kiddos.  A Kindergarten to First Grade for Patty, and Prek to Kindergarten for JT.

I looked at several workbooks last summer while we were trying to decide if Patty should have a second go at Kindergarten and I gotta tell you I was very intimidated by the First Grade work.

I'm really hoping the workbook will keep her interested in learning over the summer.

JT, on the other hand, needs all the help he can get.  Getting that kid to learn his ABCs is proving to be one of the most difficult things I have ever done!

He's really good at writing the letters just by looking at them but he has zero interest in learning the names of each letter. 

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Bed

Did you totally get that I'm mocking the famous line from jaws with the title of this post?  No?  Oh, well, I tried.

I can't remember exactly when it happened, but sometime over the past few years our sleep habits got totally messed up.  Patty and I would sleep in my bed.  Casey would sleep on the couch.  JT would sleep on the love seat.  See, totally messed up.  I mainly blame this on Casey's last deployment during which I let both kiddos sleep with me....for safe keeping.  It made sense at the time, but now, not so much.

A couple months ago I had the brilliant idea to rearrange our bedroom so that we could bring both of their toddler beds in and situate them next to our bed.  I'm not going to lie, there were a lot of tear filled nights as the kids began to transition to this new arrangement.  It wasn't perfect, but it worked.  Except, Patty was now just a little too big for her toddler bed and she often complained about that.  And her bed had to be close enough to my side of the bed that I could reach over and touch her.  And that meant getting in and out of the bed was not easy for me.  I have a bad hip and let's just say this arrangement was a beotch to deal with.  But, still, it worked better than the previous setup.

When we moved into this house a little over four years ago, both kids were in cribs.  The cribs fit side by side on the wall between their room and our room.  Every night, my babies were just a few inches of sheet rock away from me.  It was peace of mind, really it was.  But, since both of the kids are much bigger now, we started talking about getting twin beds and happily moving them back into the bedroom they shared as babies.  No one had slept in that room for a very long time and it was completely overrun by toys.  Something had to give. 

I knew this plan was destined to fail from the minute we began discussing it.  I wanted to buy a king sized bed for our room and move our queen bed into their room.  At least that way some of us would get a good nights sleep each night.  And everyone would get to sleep in a real bed.  Casey, on the other hand, wanted to buy bunk beds for the kids room.  After looking closely at several bunk beds, I put a stop to that idea.  Somehow we landed on the twin bed plan.  Really, I don't know what I was thinking.  Of course, all of this went down in February when we were all sick.  Guess I will blame it on the crud I had last month. 

I ordered twin size platform beds, the kind with drawers underneath.  The kids love the drawers.  They have toys in them.  Go figure.  They even like their new sheets.  Magenta for Patty.  Electric blue for JT.  I love the sheets, too.  I picked them out and they remind me of bright Easter egg colors.  The kids could care less about the color of their sheets.  We even had a new satellite receiver installed in their room so they would have the comfort of Disney JR at all hours of the day and night.  JT is not fond of this because he can no longer watch DVDs on that tv.  But, he'd been watching Wall-E on repeat so I don't consider it too terrible a loss.

After all the planning and attempts to make them love it, you know what?  They hate it.  They absolutely hate sleeping in their beds all alone.  Just to get them to fall asleep in their beds requires us to lay down with them.  And I must be spoiled because my whole body aches after I've spent any time in those twin beds.  Or maybe I'm just getting old.

We're really no better off than we started.

Right now, Patty is stretched out next to me on the couch where she is bound to fall asleep any minute.  JT is piled up in his bed playing games or watching a movie on his Kindle while the Disney channel blares loudly.  I have tried to get him into his bed and wait him out.  I keep thinking he'll eventually fall asleep on his own and it hasn't happened yet.  Casey is snoring happily in Patty's bed, wonder if I should wake him.  Maybe, just maybe I'll get to sleep in my bed all alone tonight!  Well, I might be able to sleep for a few hours, then one of them is bound to wake up, realize they are all alone and then come barrelling into our room and onto the bed. 

What I'm Reading Now, an Update

Although I've barely cracked the cover of The Invisible Man, I'm already loving it.  Why couldn't we read classics like this back in high school?  Plus, I snagged the Dover Thrift Edition for a great low price (search Dover Thrift Editions Classics on Amazon). 

I seriously love getting books for bucks these days.  Have I mentioned my serious Scholastic Book Club addiction?  Love those dollar books!

Anyhoo, I really liked The Time Machine, my favorite HG Wells so far, War of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau so I'm looking forward to getting deeper into this story as well.  Now I just have to find the time to get into it!

Recently, the Iron Fey series was recommended to me by one of my favorite middle schoolers.  I find it absolutely hilarious that this is a Harlequin Teen series.  I mean, who would have guessed Harlequin had a teen line of books?  Not me!  Don't you think that's funny, or is it just me?

You know I like a good book series and this one looks promising.  But, it also looks like there are several books to read, so I'm not sure I want to take the plunge.  It's been hard to find any extra time for reading lately.  Suffice it to say, I am way behind in my "one book a week" goal I made at the beginning of the year!  And if I fall in love with this author, it looks like she has two other series that I would want to read. 

Oy, I gotta find a better way to manage my time!

And I just added a new page to the blog called My Book Club so I can keep up with how far behind I am on my 52 books this year goal!

Didn't Know I'm A Kristen Bell Fan

I had no idea that I am in fact a Kristen Bell fan.  I somehow missed her tv series Veronica Mars and then apparently missed out on some really great movies, too!  Thankfully two of those movies were on ABC Family this past weekend and I got the chance to catchup.  Oh and didn't you know she's expecting a baby by none other than Parenthood's Dax Shepard.  Those two are my new favorite Hollywood couple.  Ok, onto the movies.

First up, When in Rome. 

Seriously, I have no idea how I missed this one. 

It co-stars Josh Duhamel.  I love him. 

This movie is an absolutely fabulous chick flick.

I just can't believe I hadn't watched it before now.

And then there's You Again.

OMG.  This one is great, too! 

Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Betty White, Kristin Chenoweth. 

You've got to watch it.  It gives a whole new meaning to "mean girls".

Boy am I glad I didn't have a similar high school experience!


I may have to upgrade our satellite package for Showtime so I can catch House of Lies, too.  Bonus, it looks like all of the episodes are available on demand so I can get caught up!

Feeling the Burn....Out That Is

On the way to Patty's last OT session she told me "that's not playing, that's work."  See, instead of calling it therapy, we call it "play".  In fact, the whole department is called Thera-Play and it's all about kids.  But, for a kid who doesn't like to color, there's only so much you can do to make it fun week after week.  I could see Patty was having a serious case of burn out.  And wouldn't you know it, her OT confirmed that even kids need a vacay from therapy.

Now, on one hand, I hate for her to miss her therapy appointments.  We were blessed with after school appointments and I know those are coveted so I don't want to risk losing those prime slots.  Not to mention that therapy has done wonders for her.  But, on the other hand, I'm a little tired of therapy, too.  It's hard to witness how tired she is week after week and we've had a lot of cold, yucky weather lately.  I think we'd all be a little more content if we'd just have a week of non-stop sunshine for a change.

So, today, I made an executive decision and cancelled speech therapy.  Missing one visit here and there can't be much harm, right?  Plus, I'm really hoping the mini-break will have her ready to get back to work next week!  And me, too.

Report Card Time

Last year, I had a really hard time with report cards.  It was our very first experience with the report card and I dreaded finding it in Patty's backpack each trimester.  First, I couldn't decide what the report card was telling me...other than she was "below level" in nearly everything.  Then, she would be "on level" one semester and fall "below level" the next.  It was utterly confusing and heart breaking and frustrating all rolled into one.

At some point I came to terms with the report card situation.  I mean, we have thirteen years of those things in our future, they weren't going to go away no matter how badly I wanted them to.  You see, I was of the mindset that the only good grade is an A and it took months for me to get past that belief. 

Now, I spend more time looking at her daily work and less time worrying about the measurements on her report cards.  It's so easy to see the progress she's making each and every night as we sit down to work on her homework.  She's reading to me!  She's learning to spell!  She's doing addition!  It's amazing to see how far she's come.  That report card, which comes only three times a year, is just a vague snap shot of the things she has accomplished.  It's really not fair to judge her by that piece of paper.

I hope all of this progress means the "gap" is starting to close and that one day we will be able to shed her diagnosis of developmental delay.  I don't believe there is such a thing as "normal" just like everyone else.  But, I do believe there is such a thing as "able" just like everyone else. 

Reaching a New Milestone

Patty can get out of the car all by herself now! 

For the past three mornings, Patty has carefully opened her door and climbed out of the car at school.  With no incident, I'm happy to add.  I even got a thumbs up from Mr. W this morning.  And for the past three mornings I have pulled away from the school bursting with pride with a gigantic smile on my face. 

This milestone probably won't be on any list you'll find, but maybe it should be.  For me, it ranks right up there with first steps and first words. It's monumental. It's completely changing the way we do things. This milestone has been a really big deal for me. 

You see, we had an experience, way back when JT was a baby that frightened me nearly to death.  He opened his door in traffic one day, on a four lane high way.  He was barely one at the time, but I remember it like it happened yesterday.  All of a sudden the interior light was on and the ding sounded and I had one of those "what the...." moments as I  looked into my side mirror seeing his door opening.  I was scared to death.  I was able to pull over into a turning lane, thanks very much to the folks behind me who no doubt saw what was happening and slowed down to accommodate me.  And obviously he was safely buckled into his car seat and wasn't in a huge amount of danger.  I mean, his arms were short, he wasn't going to be able to get the door open very far.  But, that experience was scary enough to keep the child locks firmly in place for all the time since.

And for all these years, Patty has never bothered with the child lock on her door.  JT, on the other hand, learned months ago what that little switch is for and proceeded to flip it whenever he could.  Go figure.  Eventually, I gave up trying to keep his door on child lock.  We haven't had any incidents with doors opening in traffic, but I've had to scold him many times in parking lots.  It was definitely time to give Patty the same freedom.  I guess this is just one of the many fears I'll have to "let go" as the kids get older and more independent.  It's not easy.  It's really not easy.  But, if I didn't worry, what kind of parent would I be?

A Goodbye to Cursive Writing

I recently heard that cursive writing is no longer a requirement here in Kentucky.  As in, my kids may not be taught to write in cursive by our public school system. 

So.  Okay.  Wait.  What? 

The logic that was to be the end of cursive hand writing had something to do with a notion that no other countries learn to write in two forms like we do: print and cursive.  So, is that true?  Are we (the USA) the only folks on Earth who learn to write in two formats?  Apparently not.  According to Wikipedia, many countries have a cursive form of their written language. 

Hmmm, I find that fact very interesting, don't you?

Another argument for the demise of cursive writing is that everything is created in print.  But, that's simply not true.  Some of the most important documents in the United States are written in cursive.  If we no longer teach our children to write and read cursive, who will be left to read the Constitution and other documents created by the founders of our country?  What a sad future we have ahead of us.

Here are a few other interesting things I read as I researched this topic:

• Cursive is often believed to be faster than printing
• Cursive may be required to make legal documents official
• In many countries, children are FIRST taught to write and read in cursive

So, how many countries use the Roman Alphabet? According to the map on Wiki, most of the world uses the Roman Alphabet.  I'm going to make an educated guess that most countries learn, teach, and use both the print and cursive versions of the Roman Alphabet. Why would the USA want to be the only one to eliminate cursive?  It just makes zero sense. 

I think it's fair to say that we will be short-changing our children when cursive is fully eliminated from our classrooms.  Parents, we need to start paying attention to these things.  I can't speak for everyone, but I don't want my kids to be partially illiterate.  Eliminating cursive from our curriculum is a huge mistake.

Return to the Land of the Living Pt 2

Oy, February was a particularly sick month for us.  All four of us had a cold or ailment at some point or other.  Thankfully, we all seem to be relatively healthy for the beginning of March.  Fingers crossed I haven't jinxed us and I'll find plenty of time, energy, and topics to blog about soon!