Sick kid

JC is home sick today. It was a frustrating morning because she never mentioned anything to me. The school had called asking if I could work, and then JR mentions to me 40 minutes later that JC's throat hurts and she can't swallow. She has temp of about 99.5 so she definitely needs to stay home. I feel badly for her, but at the same time was upset because if she had mentioned this when I first got her out of bed, I could have told the school no. Instead, it was 40 minutes later and I was going to have the school scrambling. They were very understanding about it, but I hate having to do that to them!

I think this might also explain some of her emotions and poor decisions this week. It hasn't been an awful week, but it hasn't been a great one either. I have a doctor appointment for her at 10:30 this morning because we have a big family celebration for our last Christmas and Grandma's 80th birthday Sunday. I would hate for us to have to miss it!

Emotions of a mom

I had several experiences, just today, that made me experience the emotional joy that is being a mother. Yesterday, I had been asked to be a sub for today, and it was supposed to be in JC's class. I was really excited because she is the one child that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to teach. This morning I received an early morning call asking if I would be willing to work all day in a preschool classroom instead of just the morning in JC's room. I explained that I was available and willing to do whatever the principal thought was best. It was settled then, I was going to pre-k. I went in and broke the news to JC, and she was absolutely devastated. She broke my heart...she was trying so hard to be brave and not show her disappointment but the tears were starting to flow. I was disappointed as well, but explained that this was what I had been asked to do, it wasn't my decision, and it gave us a few extra "fun dollars". I promised her that we would spend those few extra "fun dollars" on dinner at McDonalds this evening, and even that didn't seem to lessen her pain. I felt awful about it, and when I told the school about it, they assured me that they would try to get me into her classroom before the end of the year.

The second situation happened at lunch. I had the misfortune of buying a school lunch (just as awful as I remembered it from my school days) and happened to be passing through the lunch room just as HT was getting in line. He asked me if I could sit and eat lunch with him. Oh, I love having a little guy who still adores his mom! I could only stay for about ten minutes, but I loved that my little guy wanted me to eat with him, and I love that I got to hang out with his friends for a few minutes. Being able to see my kids during the day is my favorite part of being a substitute teacher.

And finally, JR had an awesome evening at karate. It was his first success at breaking a board and he was so excited. I love the fact that he loves karate. I think it's truly a great experience for him and I'm so excited for him. These three amazing kids make me so happy and proud to be their mom!

Another one fights the dust

HT has informed me that, apparently, for my entire life I've been wrong. Isn't it great when a child lets you know, with great certainty, that you are wrong? Yeah, anyway...I was singing the other day and found myself singing the words, "Another one bites the dust." HT looked at me and said, "mom, that's not right." I asked what he meant and he said that the correct words are, "No one fights the dust." I couldn't help but laugh at the perspective of my youngest. Hopefully that isn't an indictment of my cleaning...I am trying to fight the dust that accumulates!

Happy Birthday!

I have to take a second to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Birthday! It always stinks when his birthday happens to coincide with the first day back after the holidays, and unfortunately that is often the case. Regardless, we had a nice evening with a family dinner (including dessert!) at Applebee's. We gave him his present last week because I wanted him to have it for yesterday's Steelers' game. He is now the proud owner of his own black Troy Polamalu jersey!

Although he's currently working on school work, we are looking forward to a glass of wine and the Orange Bowl later this evening!

Seriously? Some people think this is the same?

For the very first time in my life, I am drinking Coke Zero. We happen to have it in the house from our New Year's Eve eve gathering we hosted last week. I have a little bit of a headache and caffeine always tends to help my headaches, so I thought I'd give it a taste. I'm a Pepsi girl generally speaking, but will drink Coke when the need occurs...NEVER diet Coke. I can't stand the taste of it. But, I'd seen the commercials about how great Coke Zero tastes and how it's just like Coke. Uhm, NOT. EVEN. CLOSE. I think it has the same after taste I find with most diet sodas. I can't believe they haven't been sued for false advertising...it's awful!

Back at it

Everyone is back in school today, and I must admit I'm pretty grateful, albeit very tired. It definitely felt rough getting up at school time again, but I am, without a doubt, enjoying the peace and quiet. I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be working today, and in fact at this point I'm not scheduled at all this week. I'll be surprised if I don't work at least once, but for today I'm very grateful. I noticed that the kids were none to chipper about getting up this morning either. I'm a little concerned about their ability to hold it together today, but we'll see how it goes.

I've relaxed and enjoyed the quiet, now it's time to go be productive!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We enjoyed visiting friends last night for a few hours, but wanted the kids to be in bed shortly after Midnight so we came home around 11. It was fun to watch the kids be excited about the ball dropping, and our evening's host had graciously sent home noisemakers so there was lots of happy noise in the house at Midnight.

Today we are all hanging out in our pajamas all day and enjoying all of the college games that are on TV, as well as playing some games and just relaxing. Tomorrow we begin to phase back into reality, but for today, we have no guilt in just hanging out and doing nothing. It's pretty much my favorite day of the year.

Hope everyone has a very blessed 2011!