Day 6 & 7: 30 Days of Gratitude

Day 6: I don't want to jinx it by speaking too soon, but I'm grateful for the chore chart website I discovered. Isaac has been reading and then not recording it in his reading log and taking 0's for his reading grade and other nonsense like that this year. I've told him repeatedly that it just doesn't count if you don't document it properly.

Welcome to the real world, kiddo. Here's your time clock. Aside from that issue, it takes me out of the equation enough that it's not personal if he misses a chore and loses points and motivates him to be more independent. It's paperless and self updating once you set the parameters. They have a setting for saving your points as if each point is a penny. You can save for toys, give to charity or request your balance be deposited in a savings account. For now I have Isaac's rewards set to computer time, dad time, mom time, park trip, ice cream cone, skip a chore, etc. Thus far he accumulates enough for an hour of computer, spends it and repeats the process.

Day 7: Smart kids! Not to brag, but I have some smart cookies around here. We started the day by attending a parent teacher conference at Riley's charter preschool. It was Mike and I, Riley's teacher and the director of the preschool. The director started by explaining that these kids are held to charter standards which are higher than other schools. After that Riley's teacher took over and explained she was performing above those standards in all areas! She went on to give us some ideas for how to challenge Riley at home because she knows "how much Riley loves a challenge". Lovely meeting.

The only down side to that conference was that it made me sad that Isaac's teachers no longer appreciated him the way Riley's teachers do. Believe me once upon a time I had a similar meeting with Isaac's teacher, but it all came to a halt in first grade when an over taxed and pregnant teacher saw Isaac's abilities as more work and our offers to send extra work for him as judgement of her. He's had a few great teachers since then, but it changed his perception (and ours.).

Tonight we went a meeting about applying for magnet schools. It was a blanket meeting for emerging kindergarten age, sixth graders and 9th graders that focused on the application process. It turns out he has more options than we initially thought (yay!). There's even a new middle school program starting next year very near our house that's engineering and technology based. It would be so nice to keep him close to home. I'm getting a head of myself here, though. We have a leg up on the application process from this meeting the next event is an information fair where we can check out all the programs in one night. After that there are individual programs at each school to attend before the application deadline. Phew, I'm tired already. We'll know where he's been accepted by my birthday though. I'm so excited that we have information and options. I hope we can find him a great fit!

My Little Communicator

Riley has always been very communicative. Not just whether she was happy or sad, she really tried to find ways to tell us what she needed. She always fusses in a certain way when she's gonna spit up and if I don't understand she'll sometimes gesture as if she's wiping her face. It's true. Just a little while ago she took an afternoon nap and when Mike went in to get her I heard him say "What have you done?" Apparently, she kicked her pants completely off. Turns out she had a very full diaper and was just getting things started for him. Clever little girl.

She loves hair and it was the first carefully and clearly articulated thing she ever said. Mike was shaking his head and she was smiling. So I let mine down and brushed her face with it and she looked at us and said "hair." Weird, I know, but that was the first word. She makes an "Ah" sound that means daddy and sometimes looks to his side of the couch when she says it. She sometimes does an M sound I'm guessing is an attempt at Mama. She has a sound for milk that's pretty close to the last syllable of the word. She also "says" Help and Now. Mike insists it's because those are two words I use a lot.

The other day there was a new one. She kept saying, "Ho". Over and over throughout the day. I joked she was doing a Santa impression or reading her Christmas socks, but it was clear that this was going to be a regular sound and it would be in my best interest to figure out what it meant. I'd have her on the changing table and she'd look up and say "Ho." It, like most of her "words", was absolutely a request. I guessed at it for two days before I realized she never said it when I was holding her only on the changing table, the crib or the swing. She was asking me to hold her! "Ho" for hold what a smart girl.