Brandi with an i

Shear with me

2009-11-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Cali: Mom, I want you cut my hair

me: Ok, let's go take a bath and wash it, and then I'll cut it for you.

And that's what we did, and that's how it went, and I trimmed an inch or two off just like I planned. Except no, I'm lying, that's not what happened.

I did wash her hair and bring her down to the kitchen, stood her up on the chair and got out the scissors. Then I ran to grab the comb from the bathroom.

When I started to comb her hair out, a large chunk fell at my feet. My first thought was "what the hell, her hair is falling out!" then I combed again, and another piece came off in my hand. And then I realized, oh god what did she do!? What did I do!? I left the scissors for 10 seconds while I got the comb is what I did. By the time I got back they were back on the counter where I had left them, but the damage was done. (Thank you preschool for teaching my 3 year old how to use scissors) One snip at the top close to the scalp I could hide, but the ones in the back, the ones that were oh so short, *sob* and her little trim turned into a major haircut.

Here's a before of her long ponytails

And after. It's a little "Suri Cruise-ish" but it's growing on me. She's gotten a ton of compliments and she really likes that it's not getting in her food or stuck in her shirts, and it doesn't take long to brush out.

disclaimer* this actually happened a few weeks ago, but I couldn't bring myself to write about it until now

p.s. A huge thank you to all veterans, past and present

probably won't need to know until 9th grade anyways

2009-11-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

I was lying on the couch last night, vegging out and watching COPS, when my babygirl brought me her shapes and colors flashcards and asked to do them with me. I squished over and she crawled up next to me.
She knows all of her colors and most of her shapes, but a few of them were a little tricky. She called the crescent a moon, and I explained to her how the one that looks like a house is called a pentagon, and the one shaped like a stop sign is an OCTagon, like OCTopus.
It was getting late and she was getting tired and giggly. She started naming the colors wrong on purpose and cracking up. She was laughing, I was laughing. Who knew flashcards could be so fun.

Then we came back to the pentagon.

"Do you remember what this one is?"

"A house?"

"Yes, it looks like a house, but do you remember what it's called?"

"Hmmmm, a Bock-oo-gon?"

I just realized this is only funny if you have small children and actually know what a bakugan is. But Damien totally cracked up when I told him about it this morning.

Quiz time!

2009-11-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Let's take a quiz, shall we? It's Tuesday morning, why the hell not? You don't want to? Come on, I'll even make it multiple choice. Hmmm? You still don't want to take it? What if I only make it one question? What's that? I've already asked you questions. Well, why don't you get all technical. That's it, no more semantics, just let me do my damn quiz already.

Here's your question:

Which of the following happened today to make my morning less than glittery sunny rosy peachy mother fucking rainbow fluffy?

A. I got in a fight with my husband
B. My daughter took a BITE out of her preschool payment, which was not a check, it was a money order, like cash, but now a worthless piece of paper
C. my car overheated, so I had to stop and let it cool down before adding water, that it's just going to leak back out all over the damn place
D. I was late for work, causing everyone to look at me like I slaughtered their fucking cat.

What's that? All of the above? You think my morning was that rough, huh? Relationship problems, money problems, car problems AND work problems?

Well, you would be fucking correct.

Bring on Christmas

2009-11-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, it actually lasted two days for us.

Friday was Halloween day 1.

The plan was to drop Emily at school a little early, then me, Patrick, and Cali would take Damien to his school and stay for his Halloween parade. Then I would take Patrick and Cali to Cali's preschool for her party and I would go to work. Everyone would have fun, everything would go great.

The actuality was like this:

We all got up and got ready, and by all I mean everyone except Caliana, because she doesn't do that. Emily's costume required that I straighten her hair, and do her makeup.
After I did that, I got myself ready in my plain old boring mom clothes and then woke up the Cali monster. She protested loudly that she wanted to stay home, not go to school.
"But you're not going to schooool, you're going to a party AT your school, with daddy!"

She didn't care, she wasn't happy about it.

Instead of early, we left late, dropped Damien and Patrick at Damien's school, then took Em to her school. Then back to Damien's school to "Watch the parade" which really means we stood around staring at a couple hundred kids just standing around. Since Damien's costume wasn't original in the least we couldn't even figure out which one he was most of the time.

After that we headed to Caliana's school where she refused to get out of the car and refused to get her costume on, and then complained all the way inside. Everyone was very happy to see her and some little girls were calling her over to sit by them, but she wasn't budging. She didn't want to party and that was that. We went home, and I went to work.

Kids don't always agree with our plans.

That night I picked Emily up from her friend's Halloween party. She regaled me with tales all the way home of how she won the costume contest and her and her friend won the dance contest. I looked at her in her costume with her dyed hair and eyeliner and had a mini panic attack. I had the sudden urge to rush home and dress her in a ruffled onesie and a bonnet.

Instead she let me take some pictures.

She was feeling pretty full of herself and I had to yell at her to smile already and stop being so old and teenager-ey

Her dad came over for awhile and she tortured him too.
In this picture she's looking at herself in the mirror.

*sigh* It's just going to get worse, isn't it? Wait, don't tell me, I don't really want to know.

Saturday was Halloween day 2, also known as, Halloween.
We started the day with a gymnastics meet. Patrick and I took Emily while the other two stayed home with Dan. It was the last meet of the season and I can safely say it wasn't her best. She did ok, but didn't top any of her scores. She was still tired from staying up late and had pulled a muscle doing the splits again and again at the dance contest.

That evening we got everyone dressed up and went to a Halloween party, carnival-ish thing.
They had jumpies, games, and a cake walk, which Cali thought was the funnest game ever. Although occasionally, the numbers on the ground would slide out of place and she would have to stop and fix them, and the entire procession would be stalled behind her. It was great fun.

After that we went trick or treating.

Highlights:

*Cali kept asking everyone if she could come inside their house

*There was a cat that was following Cali for a little while. She yelled at it to "stop following me cat!" and Damien yelled "she's not a real mouse!"

*When we got home and the kids were counting their loot, Damien found an entire Reeses peanut butter cup candy bar in his bag, got really excited and then said "here mom, you can have it"

And now, pictures

Jerry the mouse

Watch out for Tom!!

Gotcha!

This is Damien. Really it is, I swear. I wouldn't lie.

This stupid store bought costume sprung a leak by the end of the night.

Emily with makeup, again.

The three punkers.

Baby Joey

2009-10-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have a new nephew!! My sister gave birth to a precious baby boy.

Obligitory stats:

Joseph David McBroom
born Oct 26th, 5:47 pm
7lbs, 3 oz
20.5 inches

And I could kiss the hospital because they took pictures and put them online! Otherwise who knows how long it would have been before I would have gotten to see him.

With big sissy Salem

With Dad

Oh gosh, those wrinkly little feet are doing cruel things to my uterus.

Not serious enough for a 12 step program

2009-10-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

I started drinking coffee when I was 23. I was working full time, going to school 3 hours a night, 4 nights a week, and had 2 kids. The only way I was going to get any homework done was with some kind of stimulant. Coffee seemed safer than Meth.
And every day since, I've had my morning coffee, and becoming ever more frequent is the evening coffee.
I didn't give it up during my pregnancy with Caliana. It's ok though, I asked my dr. Her response?

"one cup a day?, yeah that's fine"

um, did I mention that it's a 20 oz cup?

I'm at the point now, where it doesn't stimulate me anymore, I pretty much need it to function period. And of course to stave off the morning caffeine headache.

I think it may also have something to do with my evening crankiness. At least I hope it does. I hope that's not just me. So I thought, in an effort to just be healthier, that I should try and wean myself off of this dependance. Today I had half decaf and half regular. It is now 1:30 and I am nodding off at my desk. Literally. I'm not even exaggerating. My whole body is kind of numb and my lids are drooping. This is going to be harder than I thought.

male types beware

2009-10-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have my annual today. That's what we women call it, the "annual", because it's a tad more classy than "the dr appt where they root around in my hoo-ha", plus we're supposed to go once a year.
Although for me it's been 2 and a half years, so now what should I call it? Annual isn't quite accurate. Dr appointment. Dr appointment works.
You prepare like you would for a date, have to shave, get nice and clean, pretty panties and maybe a spritz of perfume? No that might have unforseen burning consequences later.
And then I berate myself for making my appointment in the afternoon. How am I supposed to stay nice and fresh all damn day? Perhaps I could just not go to the bathroom all day. But no. Damn you coffee and your laxative properties. So then it's the neurotic wipe and check, because nobody wants to gross out the doctor. I prefer to just gross out my blog readers thank you very much.

So then I comfort myself by spending all day looking around at all the other women in the world. THAT woman has to go for her annual sometime, and also THAT woman. What am I so worried about? And what in the world possesses someone to go into that line of work anyways? Yuck.

Vintage me

2009-10-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

This was my family when I was 6. Mom, Dad, sister, brother. Reminds me of the song by Pink....

"In our family portrait we look pretty happy, we look pretty normal......"

This was taken just months before our family split up. It couldn't be avoided. I'm glad there is photographic evidence of what was.

I'm filled with mixed emotions looking at it.

Both the siblings pictured here have taken rough paths. Their adult lives have been riddled with drugs and homelessness, crime and arrests. They've been lost, and I can only hope they have photos in the future where they look as happy as they do here.

Then there's me, standing next to my dad. My dad who I've seen one time in the past 18 years. There's a lot that I could say, but not much that I feel I should say. People are complex, ergo lives are complex and relationships even more so.

But I also think....
-my sister's dress looks like it's made from a towel
-look how light my mom's hair is!
-speaking of hair, I'm glad I escaped the feathering
-And me, I love how frilly and feminine my dress is, and I am wearing my hair exactly like that today! I'd show you, but Cali stuffed my camera cord into a bottle of water
-And my mom, I am almost the same age she is here. I know this was a trying time in her life, but her smile is so bright. Beautiful.

Random pictures on my computer- take 3

2009-10-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Got the mushroom, fireballs, and found the warp zone

2009-10-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

And today I'm better. It's one of those days where yes, I have a lot to do, but I'm handling it. Handling it well. Like when you're playing a really hard level on a video game and you're just flying through it, jumping at exactly the right time, not missing a single coin, rebounding off walls to nail the bad guys, and you feel like "freak yeah, I totally rock at this!"
That's me today. So I couldn't leave that mopey post at the top of my blog. I feel confident and capable, and also a little hungry, but I'll take care of that one soon enough.

Oh and look, I made it a point to get some pictures of the boy.

Such a goofball

And ok, the girls too.

Go time

2009-10-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sad. I'm also moody and stressed and my husband is mad at me. Probably because I'm moody and stressed and then I'm not so nice. Sad.

I think I need a vacation. I took a lot of them last year, Salt Lake City, Vegas, a camping/amusement park vaca with the family, and up to Oregon. This year though, I haven't gone anywhere since Disneyland, and that was like 7 months ago. 7 months is a long time of all obligation, zero vacation, dontcha think?

I'm going to try and think of something. Somewhere.
But in the meantime, it is breaktime, so I'm going to take a mini-vaca over to Target for chapstick and granola bars. And maybe something for my husband so he won't hate me forever.

Wow, what a slacker

2009-10-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

I just realized I've only posted once in the last week. So sorry, it's just, I'm busy, you know? Except this is supposed to be my outlet from my busy-ness, but whatever, no time for outlets.

So here's a new post for you. I can't guarantee that it'll be coherant or interesting or anything, but there will be pictures, so it's a wash.

Emily had another competition last Saturday. Emily's friend and my ex went with me. This is what I looked like after 3 or so hours.

I don't even care anymore.

Emily's team took 2nd though, so yay!

She has another competition tomorrow. Patrick is doing some side work, so I get to bring both Damien and Cali with me! I wish I had a picture of me showing how excited I am.

Here's one of Emily instead

Damien

A. got suspended from the bus for 3 days, for his 3rd bus rule violation. Sigh.
but
B. He's tutoring a boy in the first grade
because
C. "His mathematical skills are so outstanding it won't hurt him to miss a little math time"
D. Is liking cub scouts
E. Is probably going to drive me crazy at Emily's competition tomorrow

I don't really have any pictures of him from the past few weeks, because, I don't know, because he's always busy.

I have this.... not so great one.

Or this one from like a month ago *shrugs*

Then there's Caliana, who's really anal about not leaving things at preschool. Caliana, who wakes her dad up in the middle of the night by kicking him in the face and then says "it's ok, it's me Caliana"
Caliana who is enjoying gymnastics

Practicing for future wins

A quick video

And Caliana who had to go back to the dr's for more shots. She talked about it all day. She kept saying "I got hurt. It sucks."

I have a lot of pictures of her.

And this post was all about them, and no real update on me, but here's another picture of me to help redeem from that first one.....because.....*shudder*

At least they have caramel

2009-09-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Want to buy some popcorn? That's what boy scouts sell you know? You didn't know that? Me neither. It's not as widely discussed as the girl scout cookies. I guess the reason would be popcorn...cookies. There's really no comparison.

But popcorn is what we get, because my son is now a cub scout. A wolf scout to be exact. And my husband is now a scout leader. And I'm like "Yay an activity for the boys!" except I forgot I'm still the money manager and so I have to get Damien his handbook and his uniform and etc....

Problem is I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I waited until today, the day of his pack meeting, which in case you didn't know is kind of a big deal. Totally different thing than the "den" meeting.

So I think "no problem" I'll just go at lunch, so I did. Except they're out of his size shirt, or at least the size that will fit for awhile, and they were out of the number 7 patches....er badges.....no I think patches is correct. And he totally needs the number 7. And they were out of his size belt, but the lady informed me that he doesn't need that until he starts earning belt....badges? Something. I just took her word for it. So now I have most of his uniform, but no time to sew on his..........patches? between work, the girls' gymnastics and his meeting.

What's the boy scout motto? Always be prepared? Screwing that up already. Sorry son. But wait....he's not a "boy scout" yet, he's only a "cub scout" and I think their motto is "Always do your best" so I might slide by on a technicality there.

**To top it off, I had chinese food for lunch and my fortune said "You are the key to your own success" Yes, thank you, rub it in.

This thing we made

2009-09-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

These are my loves. Aren't I blessed? There's no school today, so they're all at home. Without me. I have to work. No fair. You guys suck. But if you do all the laundry, I'll forgive you.
Plus I can't be too mad, because it's Friday. And you know what that means. Pizza and movie night. Pizza and movie night speaks to my very soul. There's nothing like kicking back on the couch with a giant piece of greasy, cheesy pizza, knowing that the work week is over, watching some family friendly flick....preferably a throwback from when you were young and now get to force your kids to watch it and invariably they like it. Because mostly, they like what you like.

And they smile at you, and snuggle up on your lap and try to wipe their pizza fingers in your hair, and all is content.

Face it singles, it's the Friday night of your future. Might not sound as exciting as clubbing and drinking and one night stands, but it's where we end up for a reason. And don't get me wrong, I like to go out. I like to drink and dance. But this thing, this having a family thing. Having them all together in one room, smiling, cuddling, safe and happy....and the pizza, well that's bliss.

Learning to lead

2009-09-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

In case you never could have guessed it, life with 3 children is chaotic. Especially.....yes I'll admit it, especially when the 2 parents running that household are both in their 20's, still a little teenager-ey lazy, not quite organized or disciplined or OCD enough to run a well oiled machine.

But we're learning everyday. We're growing. We're figuring it out. Yesterday was a breakthrough of sorts. The credit goes to the husband on this one. It was his idea for a family meeting. A weekly family meeting. We had it last night at Applebees with dessert. Except me, I had a perfect mixture of coffee and alcohol, because that is dessert my friends.

We didn't have a set agenda for our first meeting, but we found it quickly. Laundry. Ohhhhh the laundry. It's relentless. Up until a couple of years ago, we didn't have our own washer and dryer. I would do laundry twice a month. 12 or 13 loads each time. It would take all day. Alllllllll day. And about thirty dollars in quarters. But it was a system.
Now, we have our own washer and dryer and it's a mixed blessing. We can do laundry whenever we want, but we don't usually want. And if we get lazy and leave the clothes in the dryer, no other tenant is going to take it out and throw it on the table in the laundry room. No one's going to come knocking on our door to demand that we please free up the washers.
The result is that we have piles of laundry. Everywhere. The laundry room has a good stack, so does my room. And there is a pile accumulating on the landing of the stairs. Along with a couple baskets of clean, yet to be put away clothes.

But, thanks to our meeting, we have a plan! We are so productive! Meetings, hooray!

Are you ready for the solution? It's genius I tell you!

Everyone...will do.....their.......own......laundry!!!! Isn't that amazing? We'll each have our own baskets in our own rooms.......ohmygod this so exciting.........and their own laundry day. Andonthatday, they take their own basket, and washdryfoldputaway. Tada!!! Except Cali of course. We're switching off helping her with hers on her day. But still, yes! And no one has to figure out who's socks are whose. And no one has to fold anyone else's underwear. And no one has to figure out if those are Cali's pants or Emily's stretch pants. And I won't have to search 12 places for one shirt ever again. I'm so proud of us. We are the smartest people I know!

Now, we just have to take care of the laundry mess we already have so we can implement our new genius system.....

Random pictures on my computer- take 2

2009-09-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

First competition

2009-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Emily's first gymnastics competition. We went to the park Saturday night to practice. There are a couple of bar tricks that she doesn't have yet, but she's close. She wasn't any closer by the end of our practice. So much for my career as a gymnastics coach.
After bar practice we did some backhandspring practice. I spotted her. She kicked me in the head. "Mom, you're supposed to keep your head back"
"Yeah, thanks for that"

So she was a little nervous about bars, and her beam handstand. But you know what, she did everything she could do on bars and she didn't fall off the beam, and she came in 13th....which wasn't last. Go Em!

I'm going to throw up the video of her floor routine, because that's her favorite. I'm not going to talk about her wobbling or not pointing toes or all the things she wants me to point out for her improvement.

What I want to point out is her confidence and how she didn't fall on her head during her handspring, and her smile when she walks off. She had so much fun.

Sneak peek

2009-09-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's costume time again. I've already finished part of Emily's.

3 kids, 3 schools

2009-09-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

My baby went to school today. My little little baby....went....to....school. So weird.
She's ready for preschool though. I won't bombard you with all of her many accomplishments, just take my word for it, ok?

The morning started out.....hectic I guess would be the optimum word. Caliana is not used to waking up and going through a morning routine with the rest of us. She's used to sleeping in with Daddy and just going along at their own pace. We eventually got out the door, 20 minutes later than I had planned.

There is actually a lot of stuff to bring for the first day of preschool....

-backpack
-lunchbox with lunch that can all be opened by a 3 year old, which means no gogurts or capri-suns.
-folder full of all the requisite paperwork
-2 pictures of her
-change of clothes, because with 3 year olds, you just never know
-a sweater
-a blanket and a sheet for naptime.....side note about that* When I was going through trying to find a sheet for her to bring I came upon this winnie the pooh one that Damien used for all 3 years at that school. Had to use it for Caliana, just had to.

Emily and Damien wanted to go with to drop her off. They both went to that school, and thought it was so cool and cute that Cali was going there. The teachers were excited to see them and hugged and gushed and exclaimed about how big they are. They ate it right up. They showed Cali around while I took care of the paperwork/money part, then it was time to go.

Cali got a little apprehensive at that point and asked me to stay, so I knew it was time to haul butt out of there. I'm sure she's having a great time and I can't wait to hear all about it!

Getting her nails painted

All set!

New backpack (she's recently started watching Emily's old Strawberry shortcake DVD, so yay for liking characters where I can actually find merchandise!)

Matching lunchbox

On her way in (this picture makes her look nervous, but she really wasn't)

Damien bringing her to the back (hard to believe he was ever that little)

Emily and Damien took some pictures of her playing

She doesn't love the camera

The princess and her attendants

Must be sneakier

2009-09-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I've mostly been posting pictures of Caliana. What about the other kids you say? Well I try. This is the photo I got when I pointed the camera at my son today.

Could he look more offended that I'm taking his picture?

And then this one. She photographs well....but it's the same pose and smile every time. She's too aware, and contrary to the boy, loves the camera.

But I'll keep working on them.

Very Cali-esque

2009-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

In Caliana's gymnastics class, they always start by sitting in a circle and doing stretches. The teacher makes up little stories that make it fun for them, for instance making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their legs, and being a seal arching their back and ducking from the shark. Well, one of these stretches is pretending to wash their hands. Every time the teacher says "Ok, let's wash our hands" all the children start pretending.....except Caliana.
She jumps up and says "I'll be right back, I have to go wash my hands" and runs off to the bathroom. The other parents laugh and comment on how cute and tiny she is, and sometimes other kids try and follow her, and the teacher, well, she never learns.

After class, we went to ToysRus to buy her a new lunchbox. After she sat in every one of the power wheels cars, at least 3 times each, I got her over to the lunchboxes. She grabbed a Jonas brothers one first, because it was at her eye level, but after I talked her out of that, she ended up with Strawberry shortcake. I think she was more excited though about the new cups we bought with the flip up straws. Next we had to stop by the train table to play. There was a little boy already there. He was about 4 or 5. Cali kept gently stepping right in front of him and saying "thank you, escuse me"
He was very gracious about it and just kept shifting over slightly to play at a different section of the table, until she would notice and step in front of him again. "Thank you, escuse me" I'm not sure if she just liked what he was playing with, or if she was testing him...seeing how much he would let her get away with....she craves power you see. I have a feeling it is the latter.

After lunch we played a round of her ABC fishing game. I pulled out a lowercase E, and asked her what it is. She threw it right back at me, even though she knows. "what is it mom?"
I say "Hmm, I'm not sure, is it an "O"?
She looked at me like "Give me a break mom" and says "Noooooo, you stinker"

Ha, indeed. Must be where she got it.

When books come alive

2009-09-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

When I was little, 2nd, 3rd grade, one of my favorite books was James and the Giant Peach. I read it so many times. When Tim Burton did the movie some years back, I was SO very excited. Excited and then a little disappointed. I didn't appreciate Tim Burton then as I do now. Sometimes when a movie is made from a book, it's like magic. They pull the story out of your head and put it in front of your eyes. It's a beautiful thing.
Sometimes though, it's just a stunted, crippled version of all that you love. Sometimes they get it all wrong. Sometimes they pervert it, warp it, render it almost unrecognizable. But there's really no way to know until you see it.

There are 3 book movies coming out in the next 3 months, and I am excited for all 3.

This month is Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. We have this book. My kids know it. I remember doing a mural based on this book in 2nd grade. It's a family favorite. The movie looks fun and funny and the kids and I are anxious.

Next month is Where the Wild Things Are. I read this book when I was young. I wasn't particularly attached to it, but Damien was. He wanted this story over and over. And then Cali. They're both a little wild and could probably identify. The movie LOOKS amazing. I really hope it is.

In November.............you know.............right...............don't make me say it............I'd say I was going just because Emily is dying to see it, but that would be a lie. I'm not a fanatic, I don't have any merchandise or t-shirts or anything, but I am going to the midnight showing of New Moon. I just.....yeah.......whatever.......I'm not the only one.

School stuff

2009-09-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Emily:

Forgot her clarinet for the second Tuesday in a row.

I said to her "So, are they going to kick you out of advanced band now?"

Her reply: "WHAT? No way, if I thought they were, I wouldn't go to school today. They can't kick me out if I'm not there."

Damien:

*sigh*
I got an email from his teacher again today. There was an altercation last Friday where Damien may or may not have called another kid a loser, other kid hit him, they fought. Today they both had to miss a recess for it. Something is bugging my boy and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. I will scrape out some of my miniscule spare time for him, with no sisters involved. Just some time to talk and help him get a grip on his emotions. I have to.

Caliana:

We went for a preschool visit this morning. It was the same preschool that Emily and Damien went to, so I was very familiar with it, and they with me. I chatted with the director while Caliana scoped out the place. The director was both Emily and Damien's pre-k teacher and asked about them.
I totally had diarrhea of the mouth. I was a braggert, I could hear it coming out, but not until it was too late, a product I'm sure of my past insecurities as a mother. These people knew me when life was a lot harder, when I made more mistakes, when the state paid for my childcare, when I was unmarried, when my 4 year old would not stop having accidents at school, when I didn't know that I didn't need to have all the answers. So now, today, I was so..... icky.
During our half an hour there, I told her.....

-Emily gets straight A's, is in advanced band and competing in gymnastics
-Damien is doing so well in school (didn't mention his behavior) and is such a good brother to Cali
-Caliana knows all her ABC's and colors, is potty trained and is more than ready for school
-I only have one more car payment till my car is paid off, and we'll probably, you know, buy another one in a few months
-I got a promotion since last time I was there, which is why I, ahem, am paying for childcare on my own now
-We have a 3 bedroom now

As we walked out of there, I wanted to smack myself. Why did I just say all of that? What is the matter with me? I am not usually such an approval seeker. Bleh, I need a shower now.
The good news is, Caliana really liked it, and will be attending 2 days a week starting next Tuesday.

A little late

2009-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late getting Caliana's 3 year pictures taken. It's been almost 2 months since her birthday. But we squeezed it in this morning, just after gymnastics. I never would have done that years ago. Pictures after gymnastics. No. I would have done the child's hair just before we left, and probably covered their clothes with an additional shirt or sweater or something.....just in case. But now, eh, I curled her hair, but if it got a little messed up in gymnastics, big deal. That's what she looks like. And she did great. And the pictures are adorable.

Wanna see?

You know you do.

Well, if not, just go away.

Damn, suspended

2009-09-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Damien got sent home from school today. Patrick said the office was a little vague on the details. Something about an incident in line.
So I emailed his teacher. The response I got indicated he was supended for continuous disruption.

He:

A- rough housed with a boy in line - got a warning
B- continued rough housing at PE - was removed from PE
C- during the pledge he faced the class, gave the peace sign and nodded his head

So then he was taken to the office, where they decided on suspension.

She also mentioned he

-had an incident on the bus Monday (paperwork just says student must sit with feet and body facing forward)

-was playing roughly this week while they had a substitute

-has been disrupting the bus line

This totally sucks. I'm not sure how to get him to follow rules when I'm not around. We talk about it and talk about it and talk about it, he's punished at home....but somehow that doesn't translate to behave at school.

Part of me, the mom part, wants to be like...he's 7, he's a good kid, a smart kid, he just wants attention, he just wants to know that he's liked, he's just insecure.

But the other part of me, the responsible parent part, knows this needs to be nipped in the bud before he's a delinquent teen getting in fights and flipping off his teachers.