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!