What's going on lately with each kid:
Hailey did really well in school on her report card. Mostly A's, I think one B+. She was really upset about the B+ (the perfectionist in her working overtime). She seems to like school most of the time, says her teacher is "too nice" - seriously, I don't think I ever had this problem. I think she may be comparing her teacher to me, and in that case, I guess she is too nice. She started piano in February and has been doing quite well. She's picking it up fast! However, practicing has been a struggle. Some days it goes well, others, it turns into a full blown tantrum, crying, screaming fighting match. It's not just me either, it happens with Jim too so I know that I'm not the one who's causing them! I really hope she sticks it out and wants to keep taking. It's something I've always wished I would've done. I guess there's still time. A girl at school has been kind of bullying her lately. It's kind of a long story but the girl has thrown a snowball (hard) at her head, teased her and been fairly rude to her. I'm not sure why, it's hard to get the whole story out of Hailey. Today as I was going into the school to volunteer in her class she was coming in from recess and ran up to me crying. She told me this little girl had been snotty to her. The girl happened to be coming up just after that. The mother bear took over and I stopped this girl and asked her what was going on with her and Hailey. I asked her if she had thrown a snowball at her. She denied it. I told her I thought she was lying and that she had better knock it off. She ran off crying with another little girl who happens to be in my primary class (not the best example, whoops). I felt bad afterward, I hadn't wanted her to cry. It's been going on for a couple weeks and I was waiting for Hailey to take care of it on her own but it seemed that this girl was getting some sort of satisfaction out of taunting her. Who knows whether it was the right thing to do or not. I tried to call the school and explain the situation and try to get the student's phone number so I could call the mom and talk about it with her but they said they couldn't give out that information. So, we'll see what happens!
Paige did well on her report card. I have to say, she is the best reader in her class. I would love to have her tested and see where she really falls on the reading scale. Her teacher says that she can often be sloppy and has a hard time listening. She said she wonders if she could possibly have ADD. At first I was a little worried but the more I think about it, the more I think she is probably bored and not challenged enough in kindergarten. Even though she is in all day, they still do really basic worksheets that she is WAY beyond. She likes the social interaction, she has friends and enjoys PE, Music and recess. I think she's just sick of cutting out letters and matching them to dumb little pictures. I don't blame her! She continues to amaze me with some of the stuff she comes up with. Tonight we were trying to have family home evening and we were trying to get her to listen and sit still. Jim read a scripture and I asked her what it meant. She responded in a monotone, sing-song voice, "It means to be good, go to church and say your prayers." She's already figured out that you can get away with these canned answers for most church questions. She does not enjoy church and is always asking if we can skip sacrament or if I can pick her up early. I hope it's a phase but I have a feeling it's not. But honestly, no one
really likes church, do they? (see, I would've never said this when I knew certain people were going to be reading this). I mean 1, even 2 hours is doable but 3 hours is a long time, especially for kids. Anyway, back to Paige. The other morning she was arguing with me about something, I can't remember what it was but I had my back turned and I was giving her a little lecture and turned around to find her flipping me the bird. "Paige! Where did you learn that?!?" I screamed. "I don't know," she said. I picked her up, marched her over to the time-out corner and told her if she EVER did that again she would be grounded for a week! No friends, no TV, no computer, nothing! She hasn't done it since but every now in then she'll put her fist up and ever so slightly raise that middle finger like it's going to flip up on it's own will. Jim says she's taken to putting up her ring finger instead. We still don't know exactly where she learned it. It could've been on the bus, it could've been from someone at school, it could've been Jim's mom - she's been known to flip Red off occasionally. Hopefully, another phase.
Crew has developed a phobia of bees and being outside ever since a bee stung him on the head about 10 days ago. Sometimes you can distract him a little and he'll go outside but then if he sees any kind of bug, he freaks out and runs screaming inside. I was beginning to wonder if this was going to last the entire spring into summer but tonight he played outside for quite a while. Hopefully a phase (am I saying this a lot?). He's no longer taking a nap and therefore, falls asleep in random places sometimes in the afternoon. At the kitchen counter, on the couch, in the car. It's really hard to wake him up when this happens. When he does get a nap in, he can't fall asleep until 10 or 11 at night. It's really hard to make him go back to bed because he'll come stand at our bedroom door looking so cute telling us he can't sleep or he had a bad dream. We'll let him come in and snuggle and he's amazingly mellow and will just lie there and watch the news or whatever is on at the moment. The girls were never this calm and mellow at night so it was harder to let them hang out with us. He's a fun buddy to have around during the day too. I take him with me when I volunteer in Hailey's classroom and he usually plays quietly in the corner for the entire time!
So that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll feel less inhibited knowing that this is for a very limited audience.
