Tag: toddler

Of Book Fairs and Class Rewards

So tomorrow is the school Book Fair for #1 Son.

As far as I can tell we give him money ($20) and he and his classmates toddle off to somewhere presumably in the school building I can’t imagine they let them out and spend the money on books. Apparently for every dollar spent some additional funds go somewhere that allow the school to purchase additional books for the school library. Which in my opinion is actually pretty epic. Kids don’t seem to enjoy reading quite so much as well I did when I was little but perhaps I am an anomaly.

What me? Odd? Never!!

In addition #1 Son’s kindergarten class have won a class reward which involves wearing their pyjamas to school tomorrow. I was a tad sceptical until I received an email from his class teacher confirming it. It is also apparently National American teddy bear day or some such fiddle-faddle so he can also take in a soft toy of some description for the day. He has chosen Happy.

Who is a plushie snowman gifted to him by my cousin Jenny just before our big trip.

He’s been pretty much inseparable from that snowman since we got on the plane. And he has been named Happy because apparently that “is how he made him feel”.

Nenny you rocked that!

I’m not crying you’re crying.

He also has a “bedtime stories and hot cocoa” evening on Thursday this week from 17:30-19:00 and pjs are the requirement then too so both kiddies will look insanely cute.

On the TT front, she has discovered the joys of the phrase “no, not yet <thing which I want her to do>”

This is me:

She did also spontaneously count from 1-5 tonight and jumped for joy after (I may have been making a huge fuss 🤣)

I’ve also gotten her to accept Moana (which is “BURD” because of that damn crazy chicken)

In addition she will now occasionally allow one of the Ice Age franchise.

Which is saving my sanity a bit.

As for me, I’m not in the best place mentally today. I’ve attacked my fingers and my scalp a bit. I don’t consciously do it, but it’s not a great stress reaction.

Thinking of going to the doctor after the holiday and seeing if anti-anxiety medication might help. Should probably track my blood pressure a bit first.

I did some knitting though so yay. Need to finish my non sock project.

Happy Veterans’ Day

Or otherwise entitled happy enforced bring your children into work day.

At least as far as the hus-creature’s colleagues are concerned.

For you see, there is no school today. And actually there was no school on Tuesday either as it was an election day. Don’t ask me why, no idea, couldn’t vote anyway but the kids had a day off school.

We declared it a pyjama day today as it’s suddenly really cold, and the electrician is in the middle of digging a trench to run cables to allow us to plug in the car – and it has to be done quick before this cold snap turns more permanent.

And also because neither child wanted to get dressed and I couldn’t be bothered to have an argument when we didn’t need to – it’s not like we had to go anywhere.

Today’s attempt at feeding children part the first:

TT ate barely anything, but #1 Son ate everything apart from the banana (and he at least bit that).

This was dinner:

#1 Son has decided this is evil, but TT cleared her plate.

I give up.

So #1 Son has only had a three day week. Surprisingly he has handled it far better than I expected. I choose to infer nothing from this as it could mean absolutely anything. So yesterday we had to walk home from school as our lovely J had another appointment. So we went and got our usual ice creams.

The irony of buying ice cream when the temperature has dropped significantly is not lost on me but a mile and a half walk is tiring for him and it’s a nice little treat and it’s something that both children eat and enjoy.

Actually as we were walking to school we walked past our usual ice cream shop and the Tiny Tyrant pointed at it and said “Hello ice cream yay bye-bye” as I had told her we were getting ice cream after picking up #1 Son.

Her comprehension and vocabulary appear to be expanding by the day. I’m doomed!!!!

On Wednesday (yes I know I’m jumping around a bit) I had my (now becoming usual) “Sit ‘N Knit” class and as this one is from 7 to 9 PM I miss children bedtime so I make sure that I say goodnight to them before I leave. When I said goodbye to TT she said “no mummy no out not yet. Cuddle”

Which is a bloody good sentence, shows incredible comprehension and is manipulative as all get out.

Yep doomed.

So I sat and knitted my sock I have managed to start on the heel! Huzzah! Yes yes I am very well aware that a sock needs a friend but let’s just go one at a time shall we?

And the long-memoried in the audience may recall that last week I was obsessing over a certain skein of yarn…

Well the precious is mine:

Wonder. Woman. Socks.

I think it might have been the final skein from the current batch. I had to rummage to find it.

I will knit them. I will stroke them. I will love them. I will wear them.

I so rarely make things for me.

Oh and I got my first knitting friend cell number 😊😊😊

Yesterday I popped downstairs to give H another bag of outgrown TT clothes (thankfully she seems happy to have them – I always worry in case it’s seen negatively somehow) and we finally managed to exchange numbers.

I also met her twin grandsons – very sweet boys 😊

It also seems she’s as keen on Christmas as she is on Halloween – so I’ve happily handed over outside decorating to her.

I can handle a tree (and finally a real tree – the cat will be a bastard with whatever we get, and after all, she is a forest cat) and maybe some indoor decorations, but I’m not ready to tackle outside yet…

Health Update

So, I’ve had another Zoladex stabbing today.

Going to a specific gynaecology practice made the experience marginally more pleasant.

It still hurt like a bastard, but much less bleeding and (so far) no bruising.

Hysterectomy is still not booked, but I do have a colposcopy booked for 29th November, which happens to be the same day as #1 Son’s Parent-Teacher conference, but thankfully the appointments do not overlap.

It just means that the hus-creature will need to work from home that day.

I earned geek cred with a lovely RN at the clinic for wearing this t-shirt:

She is a fellow GoT geek and we chatted a lot about Season 7 twists and turns.

NO SPOILERS!!!!

I was also wearing Hufflepuff socks, but I didn’t need to show ankles today…

Today was a hard day for #1 Son and we are awaiting an email from his teacher to explain why.

But he did come home sporting this:

So it clearly wasn’t all bad.

TT has spent the last 4+ hours inconsolable for random reasons and I am now counting down the minutes until bedtime.

Our week

But not in pictures.

It was pretty normal up until Thursday.

On Wednesday I went up to my yarn shop to their “Sit ‘N Knit” class – which is $7 per session and you can pay in blocks but as the current block finishes in three weeks, I’m paying the instalments until then, then I will buy the block.

It’s been lovely to hang out with like-minded ladies. I’m hoping they will teach me the Continental style.

Now, on to Thursday.

#1 Son has been pretty stable at school for the last few weeks. His days average around 50:50 with some escapes out of the classroom but usually only into another kindergarten classroom.

Which does make me feel a little sorry for the other teachers. But they don’t seem to mind too much.

The overall actual classwork amount he completes varies day to day. But he is at least managing some per day. Although I can’t shake the feeling that he is starting to lose the advantage he had from a year in reception class.

However I think I got cocky. I was starting to feel that just maybe he was settling down. Thursday put the kibosh on that one a bit.

I missed a phone call from the school at roughly 11 o’clock. That will teach me to change the Tiny Tyrant’s nappies!!!

They then rang the husband creature who texted me in a bit of a flap. Actually that is unkind of me, as he was really very calm and controlled. (This normally doesn’t herald anything good).

The school were ringing to tell us that #1 Son had escaped out of his classroom and actually managed to escape out of the school. This has been something they have feared since he started playing this particular little trick.

They didn’t have a choice and this time had to call the police to go and find him. They apparently allowed one of the paras (which seems to be the equivalent of a teaching assistant) go with the police so that he had a familiar face. Which was a good thing as the whole “stranger danger” conversation is not one we had really been focusing on because of his tendency to focus on the exact opposite point of the conversation.

This has now been rectified.

With some urgency!!!

It was all hands on deck. Daddy raced home from work and I called the lovely J for a lift to school to collect him.

Gave TT a chance to model her new coat which is for three year olds:

So we got him home. School were apologetic and we would “start again tomorrow”

I rained hell fire on him without shouting. I never thought I could do that but it is possible.

I also docked his allowance. Which he was more upset about than losing screen privileges. (Which also happened)

It’s not been a fun day, and I am then dreading parent-teacher conference but onwards and upwards.

Friday was much better. I had to pick him up from school so as he had a very good day, we went for ice cream.

After ice cream we went to the park.

TT decided that swinging for an extended period (rather than < 30 seconds) was fun and #1 Son was playing appropriately!!!

I did find myself saying “I don’t care what the other little boy is doing, he is not my son” when I caught #1 Son trying to climb up onto the roof of a playhouse to copy one of his new little friends, and was outraged that I wouldn’t let him follow suit.

And, perhaps most importantly, we met another little boy and his older brother, who is also on the spectrum. There was only a day’s difference in their ages too.

Although he seemed further along the spectrum, they played together so nicely. Both boys played with both #1 Son and TT, and I had a lovely chat with a mom who “got it” and could advise me on Stateside services.

I’m hoping that we might catch up with them this Friday too.

Pray excuse my absence

Gentle readers, for it has been a hectic week.

First, we come to you live from what appears to be the Tiny Tyrant’s first night terror:

We have been curled up together since about 21:00. She has been crying pitifully since 20:00.

She’s woken up enough to demand “tabbit” (her tablet – which I had foolishly left upon the duvet) and then pathetically “more fish”

I am not sure if she meant Skin Wars or Finding Dory.

ÂżPorque no los dos?!?!?

Neither of which is she allowed at over two hours past her bedtime.

Man she’s wriggly though. And currently snoring, so I write a post and lie here.

The landlord came two weekends ago and helped us install our former Bennos (IKEA* storage units) and so I have been able to make dents in the remaining boxes. Not literally (though both TT and #1 Son are making a spirited attempt at this!) and we think we are down to the last seven!!!!

W00t w00t. Dear god, I might be able to begin sorting and finalising next month.

I am bloody well not doing this again, I can tell you that for free.

Now, as you know dear readers, our hose sale concluded on Friday 13 October.

However. Due to the vagaries of international money transfer, it was not available to us until last Friday. 20 October.

So yesterday a new shiny thing of wondrousness was purchased:

Now the observant amongst you may notice something fundamental.

THIS IS NOT A TESLA

 

No, it is not.

It is a brand new, all mod cons Chevy** Bolt. In blue. Because goddammit. If I had to give up (at least temporarily) my dream of owning a Tesla, I was bloody well getting the car I wanted in the colour I wanted.

I have sat in it. It is lovely. It has new car smell. It has swishy blue lights in the dashboard trim. It has heated seats. Front and back. But it is not my Model 3 😐

But, you see, Tesla cocked up. They cocked up big time and if you piss me off enough, well, let us just say, I hold grudges. For a long, long time.

I feel that The Tesla Saga ™ should be covered in its own post.

À bientôt mes amies.

*This post is not sponsored in any way by IKEA 😂🤣🙃

**This post is also not sponsored in any way by Chevy

International Girl’s Day

Is a thing.

While I understand the reason for it, the concept saddens me in a way, as it proves that as a race we still aren’t equal.

Which quite frankly boggles the mind.

How did TT celebrate this auspicious day?

By demanding “fish” whilst I was watching Skin Wars:

FISH

And by taking off her pull up and not doing a #2 in the potty 🤢🤢🤢🤢

Toddlers are gross.

The remainder of our week

So, it didn’t start out very well. But, #1 son improved tremendously by the end.

This was his journal entry from his teacher I was ecstatic.

He has actively engaged with school work which is a miracle!!!

Today is a public holiday (Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day) and we were going to go to the zoo, but the weather is awful for that, so after TT wakes up from her nap, we will head off to Lego Land instead.

It’s a fun couple of hours for both kids.

TT? Meh, not so good. She managed to destroy a treasured memory from our very first trip to Paris, but the hus-creature believes he can arrange for a restoration.

She also trapped her foot in a tight metal space, is hitting a lot, and just generally working my last nerves.

Her speech has come on amazingly, and she can get her own trousers on, so it’s probably a leap, coupled with boundary pushing Terrible Two-ness.

Butter wouldn’t melt right?

I have signed up for a two-day class on learning magic loop and sock knitting which I am so looking forward to.

$65 bucks for 4 hours 1:1 with other local yarny folks? Bargain!