Wish List

Either I'll live to regret it or I'll have great fun, but this past weekend I told N I want my own (small/light) leaf blower.

Drives me nuts when the little leaves blow into the garage and when the pups track in leaves from the deck. I wonder if it offers the same thinking time as vacuuming?

Fran has a new doctor. I have no idea if he'll actually do anything new, since I rarely hear anything from the girl. Oh, and she'll soon have a new pain doctor. Though, he's in Beaverton. At this point, we don't care. It was such a sock in the gut to have one pain doctor come totally undone when he learned she kept a personal blog (and didn't name names) and another pain doctor turn her down. Who knew it could be such pain to be in pain.

I have a questionnaire sitting on the counter, from the clinic she just left, wanting to know why she left. I don't know if I want to bother filling it out. I doubt if it would change how they do business. I suppose I could be short and sweet and say, "maybe because you made it impossible to switch doctors"? (sigh) Her doctor, bless her heart, was fine when the girls were young, but (for whatever reason) didn't hand her off to someone better qualified to handle things when it was obviously out of her league.

Okay, enough whinging. Don't feel like crying yet again.
I'd rather have a leaf blower.

First week done and I'm exhausted

I spent the last half of my Friday treating N to my usual verbal regurgitation of the first week of school. I have to talk it out, poor guy. Thank goodness I'm fortunate to be married to a good listener with a good sense of humor.

My first thought was wondering if the majority of this year's children are less prepared for school or if teacher L did the first week differently than past years. I have this vague memory of training them to do multiple jobs with stations of blocks, puzzles and playdough--not cutting, gluing and writing. I felt like a participant in a circus act.

Thursday, I took all of them into the computer lab for the first time (solo). It's normal to have 2 or 3 kids, in each class, unfamiliar with using a computer, but this year about a third of each class was trying to use the mouse without pressing the button. Made me wonder what type of technology they were accustomed to using. One little guy kept pushing the monitor screen--I understand that!

We have a couple of little guys who are happy to let us (but we won't) take care of their every need. Gives me an urge to send home some literature on what a 5 year old should be expected to do on their own. Yes, I know it seems easier to dress them, hang up their coats and manage their backpacks for them, but not in the long run. Plus, you're taking all the fun out of growing up!

I like this article (click here to read entire article):

The responsible child: How to teach responsibility
"Choose age-appropriate tasks. Your 5-year-old is ready to handle some jobs that require self-reliance and dependability. She can feed the dog every evening (not just when you ask her to), for example, and put her dirty clothes in the hamper every night at bedtime. She can also start learning to plan ahead if you ask her questions like, "What will you need in your backpack tomorrow at school?" and "What equipment will you need to have at your swim class this afternoon?"
Teach first things first. Your kindergartner probably knows by now that work usually comes before play, but you still need to reinforce this basic rule. "Sure I want to take you to the park!" you can tell her. "But remember, first we need to clean up after lunch." Be friendly and matter-of-fact about it, and admit that you prefer the fun, too — then she'll understand that you're not just being bossy, but are simply expecting her to behave responsibly."

Not as alarming?

I'm going to be obsessing over how to add Stephen Fry's voice to my current alarm clock. I wonder if he'd actually wake me up?


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