Monday, October 19, 2009

Stuff, and some stuff... and some more stuff...

Other possible header? Which one's better??

Reilly has started and quit at everything she's ever tried... I'm getting worried about the kid. I put her in gymnastics, soccer and dance and she's hated all three. I need to know - when is it okay to push and when is it okay to let her give up? There's a fine line between pushing and encouraging and I don't think you find out which one you've done until the child turns 20 and resents the heck out of you.

So, recently she's taken to roller skating. I love it because I can do it with her. The roller skating rink here is pretty expensive ($6 per person plus a rental if you need it), but on Thursdays, it's only a dollar. I'm resolving to make my schedule accommodate that next semester so that we can make it a weekly thing. Cheapest sport - EVER!!! Well, if she decides to quit that one, it's swimming. That's the only other thing I can think of. She hated soccer because it was a team sport; she hated dance because she wasn't flexible enough; and she hated gymnastics because she had to be coordinated enough to stand on her hands for a split second. The kid sure is picky! ... Rollerskating it is!

Sean, on the other hand, has taken to many things lately - video games, staying up late, whining... wait, he was already a whiz at that one... Seriously, though. I don't know what to do with that one either. He's become impossible when meal times come around. Reilly's tastes have broaden through the years and she's started becoming very experimental with her taste. Sean is quite the opposite. He's become more and more picky. I'm not really sure how to reverse it, but forcing him to eat has CLEARLY not been working. I started a rule recently where he has to try everything I cook. If he's still hungry once he's done with that, he can have an apple, or a sandwich. It's not working... he's still horrible. :(

Okay, on the up side, both kids are doing GREAT in school!!! Reilly's ahead of her class in reading by two levels and she's right on track with math. We've neglected that at home, so her counting by 2's isn't the best. On our way to Great Grandma's house yesterday, she realized that counting by 2's is just skipping every other number. She'll figure it out soon. We had parent teacher conferences last week and her teacher kept saying how much she loves having Reilly in her class. She's a great example to her friends on behaving and getting her work done. She's a peacemaker among the kids in her desk group. She's also very willing to help her teacher with extra things in the classroom. I think her teacher just loves that she'll do whatever she's asked and doesn't talk much. I was SHOCKED to hear all that from her teacher because last year went so poorly. She hasn't fought with my ONCE to go to school and she has earlier and longer days this year. I'm so proud of the little monkey! :D :D :D

Sean started reading this year because he did so well learning all of his letters and sounds over the summer. He now knows some sight words that he rewrites on notes to give to me when he's mad at me. For example, last night, he didn't want to go to bed, so he turned on the light in his room (while Reilly slept) and wrote me a hate letter. I know you're not supposed to laugh at them when they're being serious, but you wouldn't believe how hard it was just to keep from busting out. Smiling the whole time, he told me why he wrote the letter (something like, "I didn't want to go to sleep because I already knew I would have a bad dream. And you are mean because you said, 'good-night' before I wanted to go to sleep.") and then he read it out loud. It said, "See Sean. I am Sean. I am me." It had a very scary picture of a blob with spikes coming out of it, too. I'm impressed that he's so into reading, but even more impressed that he's trying to write out his feelings. :D :D :D His teacher says he's doing very well in school and, while he doesn't socialize as much as I want him to, he's doing very well with a couple of the boys. We had a field trip last week and he actually sang the songs. His Halloween program is this week and I'm so excited to get it on video! I think it'll be the first program that he's really looking forward to. :D

Oh, and we did some family pics... they didn't turn out very well, but that's - okay.

4 comments:

Reid Family said...

Lauren, Lauren, your family picture is very cute! I know what you mean about cranky kids and eating habits! Caleb eats everything and Gavin doesn't. He would live on pbj's everyday every meal if I let him! Hang in there! This parenting thing is a lot harder then I ever thought it would be! lol!

Reid Family said...

I like the header that you have up there a little better! So cute! Who did your family pics?

kathbot said...

I think the header in the post has better contrast. They are both cute.

Did you do your pictures at Cascade Springs? We did some there in July, but they turned out bad (a lot worse than yours - I don't really see problems with yours).

That is hilarious about Sean's hate mail. Be sure to save one of them.

I've been meaning to take Alice roller skating soon. I think I might get her some clunky toddler ones for her birthday.

[insert something else I was going to say and forgot]

It was fun to finally see you last week!

nhodge said...

cheerleading didn't last either? was there a sigh of relief? it was hard to imagine anyone in the family actually wanting to be a cheerleader.
oh, and keep the header you've got