Feeling relaxed

My husband commented last evening and this morning how relaxed I seem. I can feel it too. I'm so glad that spring break is here. I know it seems selfish, but I now have an entire week of no lunches to pack and just hanging out with my kids. They got to watch a movie last night, and we are all just enjoying a little more of a laid back pace.

Report cards also came home yesterday. They all had a's & b's...nothing less. JR in particular really improved his grades and we are very proud of all of them. One quarter to go, and then another school year is done. It seems so hard to believe!!!!!

Spring break is here!

Spring break officially begins for the kids when they get out of school in 15 minutes. I don't think we've ever anticipated a spring break more than this one (well, probably the year we went to Disney!). With absolutely no snow days or delays, we've been going full time for way too many weeks...and we are TIRED. I see it not only in my kids, but the kids at school and even the adults who work there. Of course as with every year, my husband has to wait another week, but his school is closed next Friday and he's taking Thursday off, so we are able to head to PA for a couple of days. I really wanted to spend Easter at home though, so we'll be home the night before Easter and get to spend it with my dad's side of the family. So grateful for that! I know that we are all looking forward to a few days of sleeping in and just hanging out without worrying about deadlines, due dates and schedules. Baseball practices will begin the week they go back to school, and time is really going to fly at that point! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

I took a nap

I'll be honest, I just woke up from what was about a 30 minute nap. I wish I could tell you that it made me feel completely refreshed, but that is not really the case. We have been very much on the go since (well, let's be honest, when were we not?) about two weeks ago, and my work schedule has added to the craziness. As always, I'm very grateful for the opportunity for some extra money, and I really do enjoy subbing. It's just really worn me out. I've been having some leg pains that make it difficult to sleep at night, and with the kids' activity schedules sleeping on the weekend hasn't really worked out either. Tonight the kids had a two hour karate lesson, and since my wonderful husband was kind enough to take them, I actually allowed myself (not sure I could have fought it if I wanted to) to fall asleep. Tomorrow I am not scheduled to work, and next week is spring break. Oh, how very much it is needed around here!!!!!

We've been schooled

Today my husband was attempting to use the iPad to look up his assignments for his grad class this week. I had noticed when I had picked it up the other day that there didn't seem to be as many apps as before, but since I don't use 95% of them, I didn't particularly care. As my husband was using the iPad today he asks me if I have grouped the apps. I replied that I had not, but noticed they seemed to be gone. Apparently they are not actually gone, but you must now open the "group" of apps in order to get to some of them. When we realized that neither he nor I had done this, we realized that it must have been one of the children. We called them all together and explained that they were not in trouble (although they have been told they are not to be making any changes to the iPad settings, and several of them are "locked" by a user code) but we were wondering who had grouped our apps. HT proudly spoke up, and the proceeded to show us how to do it! With the technological ability of my children these days, I'm starting to really feel my age!!!!!

Drained

I'll be honest...I'm drained. Completely and totally drained. Thank goodness it's Friday, because I'm really not sure I could get through another day. Not that we have a quiet and relaxing weekend (do we ever?), but at least the only children I have to deal with are my own. Don't get me wrong, mine are no angels, especially right now, but at least I don't have to deal with the attitudes of others. Last week when I was subbing in third grade, I had a child who just simply refused to do his work. I reminded him several times to sit and work on his math, and that just wasn't going to happen. Finally, I walked over and moved his clip (on the discipline chart) to yellow. His response? He actually had the nerve to tell me that I couldn't change his clip because I hadn't given him enough warnings. Are you kidding me? Needless to say I walked straight over to the chart and moved it to orange and explained that he was not allowed to speak to me that way. That is NOTHING though, compared to today. I was in fifth grade, and I actually had a child say to me that (and this is a direct quote) "I am allowed to talk back to you because this is a free country." I DON'T THINK SO! I said that might be the case but there are still consequences for actions, and he found that out. At the end of today I was reminding several students that if they couldn't settle down and be quiet, they were going to be following along from the hallway. One (particularly obnoxious) child asked, "Oh, oh, can I go too?" Needless to say her request was honored and out she went with the warning that if I hear from her again, she'll be on her way to the principal's office. And keep in mind, these children are rather young...can you imagine when they get older? What parents allow their children to behave this way?

And the homefront isn't much better right now. JC and JR have decided (again) that homework seems to be optional and only if they get around to it/feel like it. HT is in a phase where he is being sneaky and lying. And I'm talking BIG lies. Of course I'm not just letting any of this be okay, but I'm starting to feel lost. I'm starting to feel like no matter what I do, and I honestly hope that I do the right thing and make the right decisions as a parent, but I'm starting to feel that the forces (i.e. disrespectful, rude, and irresponsible children) that they are around at school everyday are just going to take over. It's an overwhelming and exhausting feeling right now, but I'll just keep at it (and with lots of prayer too)!

It's warm here

I refuse to turn on the a/c in March. Just not gonna do it. It's hard to believe that yesterday was the first day of spring because a) it's been feeling like spring mostly since mid February, and b) it was in the 80's and felt more like summer. I've told my husband that perhaps we will use some calamity days after all, but instead of snow days off in January or February, it'll be heat days in May. It seems ridiculous to think it could be in the 90's in May, but at this point I'm pretty sure anything at all is possible.

Only eight more school days until spring break! We are so looking forward to some time off. I was subbing in a first grade classroom yesterday, and this time of year, coupled with the fact that the classrooms are already becoming uncomfortably hot, makes it challenging to keep behaviors in check. Our own three are no exception. We still have 2-1/2 months of school, but I'm afraid "shut down" mode might come early this year. I was in tears Monday evening, feeling like I was the worst mother ever. I know that we all have rough evenings, but that doesn't make me feel much better about it.

On the upside, we have absolutely nothing on our calendar this evening, so perhaps the entire family will be able to be out and enjoy the gorgeous (albeit warmer than I'd like) weather!

Each phase

Before I had children, I remember a co-worker who has a son several years older than my oldest (and an only child) that she was telling me how there was something to enjoy about each phase of her child's life. I remember at the time wondering what on earth there could possibly be to enjoy about the phases once they were out of the cute and cuddly phase, and especially once they were into the preteen and teenager phase. But my children have definitely taught me the joys of each phase. Of course I enjoyed the cute and cuddly phase, and HT still likes to curl up with me and enjoy a book or watch a little TV, and I love that he does. But now I'm also enjoying their independence. When my husband and I were sick at the end of January, not only did the kids not really need us to take care of them in the evening, they were a huge help in taking care of us. And of course with their additional freedom comes a little bit of freedom for us adults, as we are able to carve out chunks of time where we can run to the grocery store, or even grab a quick bite to eat without taking the kids along. Now, though, my oldest will be 13 this year. I always wondered, mostly with a great deal of trepidation, what this phase was going to bring. And in several conversations with JR in the last month, I am so excited about it! He is definitely going to experience the normal teenage angst, no matter how much I wish none of my children had to deal with that. But in talking to us, he's pretty philosophical about things, and recognizes that some kids just aren't that nice, and he can't control that. Hearing him talk about his perspective and being able to share his feelings, oh, I was just so proud of him. I made sure to tell him that too, because I want him to be able to share these things with us, especially as things may get rougher into the teenage years. He's also developing quite a sense of humor and we've had several laughs over things. I am so loving watching the person that he is becoming, and I know that I'll feel the same way about the other two as they enter this phase. I understand now, how there is something to love about each phase (still not convinced on the starting-to-drive phase though)!