A Big Week in Little Steps

Last Friday Wallis's school was closed and Wyatt's class had a field trip, so I figured I would take the day off and take Wallis on the field trip. The teacher, however, indicated the siblings weren't really invited because the parents were supposed to help with the class. Okay, so I had Ross take the day off also and take care of Wallis, while I went with Wyatt. But before the field trip there was a parent coffee with the principal (I figure I should go since I haven't made it to any PTA meetings). That was a waste of time. The principal told us about HB 5 (the legislation revamping testing and curriculum, which unfortunately I know all about because of the suit I'm on). She then asked the parents (the four present, three of whom were from Wyatt's class) what their dreams for the school were. My dream was bilingual education and technology (because we are total luddites). The PTA president's dream was chickens and gardening. Wow, yes, this is a total hippy school. Pretty sure chickens are not the key to mastering assessments. AnyWAY, I digress, I then went on the field trip to a botanical garden. The children were wild. Ferral, some might say.  I don't know how the teacher manages these kids. She had mentioned that this was a challenging class, but, oh my. None of the kids listened, even the "good" ones (Wyatt included, but he was mostly petting my hand the whole time). One little girl is quite a handful and I had to hold her in a time out during the trip. Wyatt later told me that the teacher told them they were "the worstest class on a field trip ever." I couldn't dispute that, but what do I know? (Note also, Wyatt's vocabulary has grown tremendously during the past two months, but his grammar has become less impressive. His class is highly diverse so this doesn't surprise or worry me much.) After the field trip I ate lunch with his class, then I went to volunteer for the fundraiser that was going on the next day. Quite exhausting. Wallis got to go on a field trip with her Daddyman who took her to the Austin Zoo where she saw REAL tigers! Saturday was Wyatt's school carnival/fundraiser which was fun but also exhausting.

Sunday I got up and made breakfast. Then went to a service for a little baby who was stillborn (which was hear twrenching). I then took the kids shopping for a few new clothes since it is getting cooler in the mornings. Then I took Wallis grocery shopping. I next came home and got ready to go do photos for our Christmas cards. We spent a couple hours on photos at the park. We stopped at Whole Foods. When I sat down at 6:15, I realized it was the first time had sat down for more than a two minute stop between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. So.very.tired.

Wednesday I went to pick up Wyatt from school to get his flu shot. He somehow ran past the office and out the front door of the school looking for me. He was buzzed back in but had become very scared and started crying even though he found me within a minute. Poor guy. Wyatt also got his very first report card that day. AISD uses a 1-4 scale. There are separate sections for academic skills and another for social and developmental skills. Wyatt got a 3 in english/language arts and music but 4s in all his other academic grades, which I thought was good. He has made crazy fast progress in reading and writing, but I think many kids were more advanced than him to begin. He loves being read to, but it was very hard to get him interested in learning to read himself. He only received 3s in his social/behavorial skills, which honesty irritated me a bit. I mean, the kid can sew and only got a 3 in fine motor skills. And how many little boys are actually better behaved in class than he is? Some, I guess. Ross told me to get off my momma-bear high horse and cut the teacher some slack. She most certainly has her work cut out teaching 19 kids with extremely different skill levels. And, of course, he's right. But all his preschool teachers LOVED Wyatt and also said he was perfect, so I was a little defensive about this perhaps more honest appraisal. All in all, he's doing really well and very happy. Even with homework every night now. He's made a huge leap from a very unstructured program to a pretty  intense school program and he's complained very little. That's a 4 in my book!

Speaking of reading, I have been reading chapter books to Wyatt, much to his delight. We first read the Borrowers, which we loved. Then we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. At first Wyatt didn't think it could possibly rival the Borrowers. Then he couldn't get enough. We were staying up a little too late reading more and more. We finished it on Thursday and Wyatt was begging for his next book. Our little Amazon habit was getting expensive among the four of us, so I decided we should head to the library. This morning Wyatt, Wallis, and I walked into the library that looked much as I remebered it 20 years ago when I used to sit for hours working on my projects in high school. They do have dvds now, which was cool, but the problem with the library was the same problem I have with the used book store: you can't just go get what you want. It's checked out. We found some books, though. Wyatt got his very first library card. Wallis won't be going back for a good long time--she left the library screaming at the top of her lungs. Then she quit crying and said, "Mommy I go back to the libary? I was nice?" Is she kidding? After the library was Wyatt's last swim lesson, then his best buddy's birthday party at the park, then a Halloween party. We put him to  bed at 7:30 (after reading one chapter of the Magician's Nephew). Crashed out. Wallis too, she didn't even try to get me to release her from the crib by yelling,"Mommy, my tummy hurts [you're fine, Wallis], I'm FREEZING! [you're not, you have a blanket on], my RASH, I have a rash!" That one is a character.

She told him this week, "Wy, wy, I like you."  He replied, "Well, I LOVE you, Wallis."  These two are amazingly rewarding little babies.