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Making Sure to Take Deep Breaths

Posted on September 13, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As I type this post, I need to remind myself to take deep breaths. Things will be ok. The storm will end and there has to be some sort of rainbow coming. Of course, at the same time, my inner Eeyore does not believe it. I want to sit here and scream. Wednesday has not been a good day. I sent the little kid off to kindergarten in tears again. Once home, I did some work and then called to get blood test results from the ENT for him. Those were a-ok, but the radiologist does not agree with the doctor on his assessment of the x-ray.

I held it together as I waited to hear back about scheduling a follow-up appointment with the ENT. Knowing that surgery for my son may be needed. Then, JSL’s teacher wanted to talk to me. Apparently, they wanted to do further speech testing. JSL had just “graduated” from speech therapy in June after two intensive and amazing years. My sweet little guy is so nervous with all of the changes that he isn’t confident in his speech. All of the hard work has him talking slow and fragmented, which messes up the articulation. Of course, being stuffed up and having a hard time breathing will also make you do those things.

Then, it was a mad dash to get NHL and shuttle him to Hebrew School. Traffic was horrible, but we just got there before class started. Then things happened that blew my mind. I do not have words for what I witnessed. Thank goodness I went with NHL to the classroom and he did not go alone. We left and now wait to see what will happen. Memories of my Hebrew School experiences came flashing back. I will NOT allow this to happen to my child.

There is more that I want to write about, but that will come later. So much to share that may help others, but first I need to make sure we are set with the news and developments that happened over the last few months. For now, I will remind myself that I am blessed with my family, support system, and must just keep swimming.

How do you remind yourself to keep going and look for the rainbow?

It's Me

Categories:
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September 11th for the Next Generation

Posted on September 11, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

TechyDad and I were married in June of 2001. Little did we know that just a few months later the world would forever change. I have written about September 11, 2001 many times before. I wrote about the classroom I was teaching in, the way we told the children, not knowing if my husband’s best friend in NYC was ok, and having trouble getting in touch with my father-in-law.

Eleven years later, my heart still breaks thinking about that day and how the world stopped for so many families who lost loved ones. Trying to wrap your head around that is hard, even if you lived through it. Now imagine the new generation of children like my boys who do not recall this day and only know life with all of the day to day security changes. This is the reality that many of us face today on this remembrance day and beyond. How will we tell future generations about why we pause, stop, and will never forget?

News shows are way too frightening for young children to watch. They are surreal and disturbing even to those that watched it eleven years ago. While out shopping recently, something caught my eye in the children’s book section.

Books on this topic are a great way to introduce the subject matter and can be done for different age levels. The book above is part of a series of historical fiction books by Lauren Tarshis that target events that changed history (Titanic, Hurricane Katrina, Pearl Harbor, and more). We have not read these books, but I hope to check this one out soon to see if it would be a good read aloud to use with my son. You may also read an excerpt of the book on the I Survived page from Scholastic

We definitely need our children to know what happened on that horrific day, but we need to make sure it is developmentally appropriately. With books and lessons plans like the ones featured on Albany Kid, teachers and parents can begin to plan how they will approach this tough topic. I know that this is something TechyDad and I really need to think about with our son in fourth grade.

Of course, I still think back to my post from last year. One of the best things to come out of this tragedy was the renewed American Spirit. Red, White, and Blue Pride was all over the country. Perhaps this is something that younger children can embrace and we can show them until they are old enough to learn more about the other items. One day, they too will see the videos and know just why that day forever changed the United States of America.

If you have talked to your children about September 11, 2001 – please weigh in on how you approached this topic. I think we can use this day as a day of learning and remembrance to help one another.

Categories:
books looking back me moments photos real world news school TechyDad

Mission Nose Diagnosis

Posted on September 8, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Thursday morning, you and I went to a new ENT. Our mission was to see if he can help us to figure out why some things are going on with your nose and voice. The waiting room was really kid friendly, I know you and I were both impressed.

When you were called back, we went into the Mickey Mouse room. It was bright, cheerful, and had lots of your favorites all over the walls. In addition to this, they had a television with Disney Junior on. You were content. The doctor came in and talked with us and decided he wanted you to go for an x-ray. There was an imaging place downstairs. He said if we did it quickly, we could bring the CD back upstairs and have him read it immediately.

Thanks to a chest x-ray at the cardiologist, you are a pro at getting x-rays done. The technician handed us the CD and we went back up to wait to see the doctor again. This time we were put into another room with Winnie the Pooh and friend. You were getting a little bored at this point and wanted to go to kindergarten, but you did well.

Your x-rays did not show anything, so we believe that an allergy is still to blame. The doctor told me he wanted to do some blood tests to check more items. When I picked you up from school, we went to one of the local hospitals. After over an hour, they realized they did not do the test there. At this point, you had been crying and had no idea why we were waiting so long in a strange room. Good thing it never was done. While you were at school on Friday, I found out the script was not right and more items should have been on it.

After school Friday, we took NHL to Nana and Papa and we went to LabCorp. I made an appointment online and noted it was for a child. When we got called and went back to the room, you started to cry. The technician was fantastic. She talked to you and we made a deal to close your eyes until she had the needle in and was getting the blood. Sure enough, she got one of your veins on the first try. On Monday, I am going to call to find out her name to say thank you again. When we left, she handed you a row of stickers almost as tall as you are and we went to the store to pick out a present. After the fiasco with the lab on Thursday, Daddy and I wanted to get you a little something special.

Now here’s to hoping we get some answers and have a much more quiet week of getting used to kindergarten. Thank you for being such a brave little boy and doing so well.

Love,

Categories:
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Fourth Grade and Kindergarten Kids

Posted on September 6, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My house is eerily quiet right now. Both boys started school full time and I have to admit it is strange. We were together all day the entire summer. I got used to the chatter and voices in the house. I actually do better work when there is some background noise around. For now, Pandora Internet Radio and Spotify are my friends.

For five years, I often wondered what it would feel like taking my youngest for his first day of full day kindergarten. I wrote about NHL’s first day years ago, but it seemed less dramatic in my mind. The morning was calm. NHL was excited to see friends and meet the long term substitute that would be in for his teacher. There were no visible nerves, which makes me know we are in the right school now. Then there was JSL. My kindergarten kid was saying his tummy hurt, that he wanted to go back to sleep in my room, and that he was scared. The strings of my heart were starting to tighten.

When we went outside, it was time to do the traditional first day of school photos. The boys cooperated to amuse me.

JSL’s outfit looked vaguely familiar. It really made me wonder why. Since I blogged when NHL started kindergarten, I went back to that post. This is the reason why:

I seriously did not plan that, but it’s kind of funny that I liked the same outfit four years later. Anyway, once we got to school JSL was not smiling as much. Thank goodness NHL was ready to go. We walked him to the back of school and he immediately ran over to say hello to the assistant principal. One kiddo happy and off for his first day of fourth grade.

Then, it was time to take the kindergarten kid to his room. When we arrived in the hall, it was a little confusing. JSL did not want to let go of TechyDad. We were eventually told to head into the room to drop off items into their cubby. When we went back outside of the room, JSL sat next to some other children. The photo below was taken just before one of us ended up in tears.

Yes, JSL started to cry. TechyDad followed him into the classroom as he sobbed. I knew we had to say goodbye and leave. After a bit I walked into the room, nodded to the teacher who was trying to help and told her we would see both of them at the end of the day after he rocked kindergarten.

TechyDad went off to work and when I got to my car my tears started to flow. It hit me that things were going to be different forever. My little guy who had been with me since I left my classroom when he was born was going to school. I knew he was going to be fine, but it still hurt knowing how upset he was.

Thanks to some amazing friends, I was ready with something to greet JSL with after school. This is what was waiting for the little guy when he climbed into my car after his first full day of school.

I knew that JSL was familiar with The Kissing Hand and I wanted to let him know that I had forgotten to do this very important item. I did not kiss his hand or have him kiss mine before day one.

We made sure to do this before going to school for day two. There were less tears, but still an emotional morning. I know things will get better. The smile on JSL’s face when he came out and told me kindergarten was stupendous was all that I needed to hear.

So how do you help your children to adjust to a new school, classroom, teacher, or other item that may be stressful for them?

Categories:
brothers jsl looking back me moments milestone nhl photos school TechyDad

The Day Before School 2012

Posted on September 3, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Labor Day 2012 signifies the end of summer in our area. It is hard to believe that tomorrow both of my boys will be in school. One will be a fourth grader and the other a kindergarten kid. Over the weekend, I pushed passed this and enjoyed the last moments of the summer.

Views like the one below certainly helped to make me forget about a lot of things on my mind.

Seeing smiles on the boys faces in the pool, made my worries melt away.

It was nice to sit in the sun and watch the kids play, explore, and enjoy the time without a care in the world. Just kicking my feet up out of the sand and watching them enjoy the fun in the sun.

Today, we will spend a quiet day at home, enjoying time resting, remembering our special weekend with family, the summer we enjoyed, and gathering supplies for the first day of school.