Doctor Poop, Arm & Hammer Mafia, & Crabs Don't Wear Shoes Anymore: A Day in The Life of A SAHM

Wow, that title is probably as long as the whole post will be...

Today Annie had her 2-month doctor appointment. She has this amazing ability: as soon as doctor enters room, poop big poop. At her first appointment, I forgot to take in diapers (it'd been a few years since I'd been in the habit of taking diapers everywhere), so we had to get one from the nurse. This time, I came prepared with one diaper and a few wipes. As soon as we got in the room, I changed her diaper. Now, my playgroup gave me these diapers at my baby shower that they wrote things on. Things like, "Poop happens," "Girls rule," etc. It seems silly, but trust me, it's very fun to read those diapers in the middle of the night. The one I put on her today happened to say, "See you again in 10 minutes."

I curse whoever wrote that. Guess what? Ten minutes after changing that diaper, she had a BIG one, just as Dr. Sumner walked in. We're talking SMELLY even, which is unusual for a breastfed baby. So big that I think Dr. S even cut her check up a little short...maybe because he stuck his finger in it...

Next time I'll know: go in armed with a PACK of diapers. Anyway, she's now 11 lbs, 3 oz, so she's three ounces shy of my 11 and a half pound prediction. She's 22 inches long. That puts her at 50% height, 75% weight. She got FOUR shots today. When we stopped at Walgreens after the appointment to get Infant Tylenol and vitamin D drops (which the doctor recommended, since she won't get vitamin D through breastmilk), the cashier said, "Ohhh, those shots are even worse for mommy than they are for baby." I have to disagree. I wasn't the one having to be stuck in the legs four times, with no idea why. Poor baby girl. :(

Speaking of our trip to Walgreens...like a good housewife, yesterday I looked through all the coupons and specials in the newspaper, trying to save us money. Arm & Hammer detergent was on sale: 2 for $5. Hey, good deal. So I head from the baby aisle to the cleaning aisle...to find two shelves empty. I asked the store manager about the Arm & Hammer, and he was suddenly flabbergasted. "You wouldn't believe it. They sent me 8 cases and I thought I'd never sell it, but it all sold yesterday and this morning." Now keep in mind that I was there at 9:30 this morning. How early do I have to get to the store to get some laundry detergent??? I believe this is a conspiracy: somewhere in this city there is a gang of elderly women sitting around chuckling...while they wash their clothes in Arm & Hammer laundry detergent.

And finally, a sad note for crabs. The Charleston Crab House here in town is officially out of business. Ike and I ate there three times. The first time it was great, the second it was fair, and the third time we were one of only three families there at 7:30 on a Saturday night. And they were cutting back on things like butter. So we knew it was just a matter of time. It's a little sad, though, since everytime we passed the restaurant with its big tap dancing crab sign, Jake would say, "Hey! Crabs don't wear shoes!"

They certainly don't anymore, son.

Do Not Disturb

Because Annie did not sleep last night (and still isn't asleep) and because Jake was up three times, finally waking up for the day at 5:30 (Who is this child??), I will not be getting back on the computer today. I will not be answering the phone or calling people back. I'm keeping Jake home from school because I can't imagine him getting through a whole school day after his night.

And I'm sleeping. This might mean I have to put the kids outside, but I have to sleep.

Aren't there children out there who like to sleep at night??

Finally--I'm Popular!

This morning I walked Jake to his classroom so I could carry our project for him. As I left, several kids waved to me. I went to the cafeteria to check Jake's lunch account (he's still got money in it...in fact, he has more than my weekly grocery budget, so I'm thinking the whole family's going to start eating at school...). When I walked in, three kids I've never seen before said, "Hey, it's Jake's mom, it's Jake's mom!" One little girl came up to shake my hand.

Oh. Wait. That means Jake is popular.

I'm just his mom.

What Every Mom Wants To Hear...

Tonight Jake stopped what he was doing to say excitedly, "Hey, Mrs. Inman said today was PINK EYE DAY!"

Swell. I suspect we won't be going to playgroup Friday, guys.

By the way, our project looks great. It took me almost 31 years, but finally I've done a project that I'm proud of. With Jake's help, of course...

Hmm, my eye is itching...

My Dad Makes the News

No, my dad's not in the Police Blotter, I promise. ;) This picture is of Dad in the Davie County Enterprise Record with his book for an upcoming Mocksville Frontier Family Festival. Anyone want to go with me? Let me know, we've got some time.

OUR School Project plus Guilford County Schools: Tying the Hands of Parents Everywhere

Jake and I have a school project due tomorrow. That's right, my child has a project due in preK. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE it. I've always loved doing the research part of any school project...which is why I have a million Louis Armstrong web pages bookmarked, but we haven't started the actual poster. In fact, I don't know for sure that we're doing a poster yet...

Which is why Jake is now at school, blissfully unaware that his mom is panicking, just like in college the night before every paper was due. You know, I was a women's studies major. Why didn't I steer him toward a woman for his Black History Month project?? And maybe they'll do a project in March for Women's History Month... Susan B. Anthony, here we come.

Actually, Ike and I did quite a bit of steering this time to make up Jake's mind. I first gave him a choice of three: an Arctic explorer, Jackie Robinson, or Colin Powell. Okay, really, I was trying to get him to pick Robinson. What child wouldn't pick the baseball player? Mine, of course. "Colin Powell was a soldier and is a politician?? Oh boy, let's pick him!" (No, he didn't say all of that.)

Powell is not very interesting when you're trying to do a preK-level project on him. And as a certain Anonymous pointed out, "I thought he was supposed to pick someone Black?" So we tried a new approach:

"Hey Jake, Colin Powell is boring. If you do your project on Louis Armstrong, you can take Daddy's trumpet to school." (By the way, if anyone has a trumpet they can loan us next Wednesday for Jake's presentation, please let me know. We can't find Ike's.) That did it, of course. So Satchmo wins...which means Mommy wins.

Now the Guilford County Schools thing. We will not be able to let Jake repeat preK after all. This is not the fault of Jake's teacher or the school's principal, both of whom thought it would be no problem. According to Doyle Craven of the School Assignment Office,

Once a child reaches the age of kindergarten eligibility,
(5 years old on or before October 16), the child would no
longer be eligible for pre-k. If a student is old enough
to start kindergarten, we will not accept them into a pre-k
program, therefore, it would not be appropriate to retain
a pre-k student.

That's right, Guilford County Schools will not, as a policy, be flexible or look at the individual child's needs. I sound bitter, but I'm really not. Jake will be fine. We love his school, his teacher, the staff, everything about it. We'll keep working with him to build his confidence and to help him stand up for himself. He's going to be okay, but I wonder about any kid who really cannot keep up with the other kids. Any kid who is showing signs of being behind academically and emotionally. Will that child also be pushed forward? The answer is obviously yes.

Okay, on to that project...

Science Center Fun & Other Stuff

The pictures are from Jake's trip to the Natural Science Center with Nana and Granddaddy this past weekend. I'm a little concerned about just how much Jake likes snakes...

So, "Jake said" stories to share from yesterday on our way to playgroup. First, I told him that we'd be spending Tuesday afternoon with a new friend from our neighborhood. Okay, in case her family ever reads this, he really does like her. But here's what he said. "She talks so much it makes my ears hurt, Mommy. She freaks me out."

Yes, honey, she's a girl. Welcome to the rest of your life.

And then, also on our way to playgroup, I told him about the job I almost applied for yesterday. The details aren't interesting enough to share here, it's just enough to know that we thought it'd be a part-time work from home position, but it turned out to be a full-time call center position. Yuck. Anyway, I told Jake I looked into a job, but decided that being Mommy was enough of a job. He said, "So you didn't get a job?"

When I said no, he said, "Whew! I was worried."

Good to know he's looking out for me.

One more thing before I get Jake to bed. A friend called today to say that she's pregnant. I don't know if she's told other people who may read this blog yet, so I won't share her name, BUT I know she checks in here from time to time. Just want to say I'm SO EXCITED! I can't stop thinking about it and about the possibility of you staying home with baby. At lunch with Ike, he had to stop me because I was ready to pack all of Annie's stuff and go ahead and give it to you. I suppose she'll still need things like her crib and carseat by October... I've been thinking about you since our conversation and I can't wait to throw you that baby shower! Free stuff...take the offer.

This is Jake at Annie's age. Other than his goofy expression, they really do look just alike. Amazing... 

Bad Mommy Award

Okay, I should get an award for making my son cry on the way home from school on Valentine's Day. I feel like the worst mom ever...

Jake got in the car this afternoon, very excited about his bag of Valentines and candy. I just happened to glance into his bookbag...where I noticed the big box of Valentines he was supposed to hand out to his classmates.

"Jake, why didn't you hand out your Valentines?"

I got 3 different answers. All at once. "I don't know." "We ran out of time." "The teacher didn't call my name." But he said everyone else got to give out their cards.

Ok, the problem here isn't with the fact that he didn't hand out his Valentines. Although that is a little upsetting, since he spent a lot of time writing out each name this weekend, and he seemed proud of them. Well, okay, that is part of the problem. But the bigger problem is why he won't just tell me what happened. Or just stick with "I don't know," instead of making up other answers. I feel like he's afraid he'll get in trouble if he tells me the truth.

So. Instead, he got in trouble for not telling me the truth. This isn't the first time he's come home with a story that isn't true (like the day he said he punched a kid in the face on the playground). From what I've heard from friends, this is an age thing: "I'm 4-6, so I lie." But with the issues we've had at school, I need to know what's really going on.

Was he nervous about handing out his cards? Was he embarrassed because the other kids gave out candy too (and he didn't)? What exactly happened?

I hounded him with these questions on the way home, until he finally said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore." Then...and this is what gets me the award...he said...

"I still think it's the greatest Valentine's Day ever." And he started crying.

I suck.

Annie's First Day at Granny & Papa's

Annie and I spent several hours apart for the first time Sunday. I went to a baby shower for my friend Katy (whom I've mentioned in previous posts). Annie and Jake went to Granny and Papa's for the day. Annie did very well, apparently, taking the bottle from both Papa and Granny like a champ. She knows to get on the good side of her grandparents--Jake has told her the good presents never come from Mom and Dad. :)

Aunt Jane took the above pictures while the kids were there. You can tell their ages by the pictures: Annie is sleeping like a baby while Jake is...shooting people like a four-year-old...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Jake asked on our way out the door this morning, "What's so special about Valentine's Day?"

Duh. Chocolate.

(And love and all that junk.)

Have a good chocolate day!

Stealing Pictures of My Baby

Thank you to Dawn for posting these pictures so I could steal them... :) These are pictures of Annie at a playgroup birthday party on Friday. There are a few more really good ones, but I only stole these. I promise the party was a lot more fun than Annie's expression makes it seem. After all, the rest of us got cake...

Parent-Teacher Conference

Yesterday Ike and I had our parent-teacher conference with Jake's teacher. This is standard for all kids: don't worry, Jake's not in trouble. :)

The biggest thing I think we both came away from the meeting with was this: we have a great boy. She said that if she had a classroom full of Jakes, she wouldn't worry about a thing (Jake spent the ride home from the meeting trying to figure out where all those Jakes would sleep at our house...). She said he stays on task, finishes his work, and follows the rules. He's an all-around nice boy, and the aides she's had in the room all like him.

Well, of course. We knew that. But it sure is good to hear from his teacher.

She is concerned, like we are, about the fact that Jake won't stand up for himself. Apparently he's told her that if another child bothers him, "his daddy said to punch him." And she (quietly) encouraged him to do just that. He's very introverted and seems unsure about himself around the other children.

We talked about the possibility of "holding him back" and keeping him in pre-K one more year. She has also considered this for Jake and is going to talk to the principal about it. It has nothing to do with academics, but we think another year will give him a chance to build up his self-esteem and not feel behind socially. Ike asked what would happen if he got bored with school later, and she said skipping him up to the next grade would not be a problem, that "they do it all the time."

I've been worried for awhile now that we may have put Jake in school too young. If he were to start Kindergarten in the fall, he'd only have been 5 for a month. In contrast, one of his good friends in his class just turned 5 in January--so he'll be 5 for seven months before starting Kindergarten. The nice thing about Montessori is that Jake will still be in the same classroom for both pre-K and Kindergarten, so I don't think he'll feel "left behind" when some of his friends move on to first grade. Plus, with Montessori, he's learning at his own pace, so if he does get bored, he can move on to the next thing, or even visit the first/second grade classroom.

I feel like a weight has been lifted after talking to his teacher yesterday. I'm looking forward to next year and am so grateful he's got a great teacher to start his school experience.

Sleeping Beauty

Warm Liquid Crack

Oh, that title sounds kinda gross, huh? Here's what it means: I stopped by the new beautiful Starbucks this morning on my way home from taking Jake to school. The people working there were handing out WARM LIQUID CRACK in pretty cups with holders to keep from burning your hands. The people were peppy and happy to see me (probably because they drink crack in the mornings...). The drive thru was perfect, with only two cars in front of me.

Annie and I now have a ritual: each Friday morning, we stop at Starbucks for more (decaf) crack.