So Far, So Good

Tomorrow will mark the kids' official 2 week anniversary of their return to school.  If you had asked me at the beginning of the school year what my "goal" for in-person learning might be, I would have said that I hoped we made it at least 2 weeks before having to switch to remote learning.  Goal met!  Things have been going really well so far.  Eureka cases of COVID remain low.  The kids are adapting to all the changes without much fuss.  (There have been a few complaints about assigned seats at lunch and not getting to play with kids outside their class at recess, but nothing we can't overcome.)  Wearing masks is a non-issue.  They still seem excited about going to school every morning.  Well, we are 2 for 3 on daily excitement.  Briggs is starting to realize that Kindergarten is every day and is not quite the fun-filled play-based learning he was used to in pre-school.  He does not always share his sister's enthusiasm about going to school, although he always seems to enjoy it once he is there.  But overall, I am so pleased with how the start of the school year has been going.

Some days you just don't feel like going to school.

I have also been finding ways to fill my 3 days at home while the kids are learning.  With Briggs getting out of school at 12:15, I have a little less than 4 hours between dropping the kids off and picking up Briggs.  My initial plan had been to spend part of that time volunteering at the school, but the school is not allowing volunteers at this time.  So that gives me 12 hours each week at home of checking things off my list.  Two weeks in, I am having no problem finding ways to fill my time.  Blogging?  Check!  Cleaning?  Check!  Organizing the Tupperware drawer?  Check!  Cleaning out the playroom?  Check!  There are so many more things that I hope to accomplish with these magical 12 hours each week.  Cleaning out the storage room.  More comprehensive meal prep.  Getting caught up on photo books.  Heck, I might even start writing in Briggs' baby book.  My initial goal for in-person learning was 2 weeks, but I need way more than 2 weeks to cross all the things off my at home to-do list.  So my new goal?  Here's hoping we can make it until Christmas!

Family Pictures

We had not taken family pictures with Zach's family since Briggs was an infant.  And since Briggs is now in Kindergarten, it seemed like it was time to make the up-date.  We had hoped to do pictures in the spring, but quarantining pushed us back into early summer.  A fun evening trip to the gardens at ICC yielded some great family picture results.  And although I'm a little behind in posting them, here they are.

Zach's family

We got individual pictures of all the kids, which turned out so nicely.  They all had fun choosing their spots and posing.

Staley

Adelie

Briggs

We also got cousin pictures, grandparent pictures, couples pictures, and individual family pictures.

Uma and Papa

The bookend boys...the big and the little

Zach's sister and her kids

The cousins

The grandparents with the grandkids

Our beautiful family

Struggles

Briggs is my dichotomous little boy.  He can be so sweet and fun.  He loves to cuddle, hold my hand, help around the house, and play together.  He plays so nicely with his friends and his sisters.  He has a great memory and is so smart and observant.  I love his smile and his enthusiasm about spending time together.  I love how Briggs gets excited about practicing his reading or doing his Kindergarten work or helping around the house.  I love his pride about matching his own outfit or learning how to fold his socks or using his tools to help Daddy.  He can truly be such a joy to be around.

Briggs helping Daddy hang a mirror

On the other side of that coin, however, is my sweet, fun, cute little guy who struggles with regulating his emotions and controlling his temper.  Briggs is so sweet and fun and cute until something doesn't go his way.  He then immediately shifts into crying, yelling, screaming, slamming doors, and hurling insults.  And although his insult of choice is to call someone "Rudey" or "Rudey-pants" (which is pretty cute in itself) and he likes to yell "that's so boring" or "it's the boringest" about things he doesn't like, the fact is that we are trying to figure out how to help him respond better in these situations.  He can switch almost instantly from having so much fun doing something to stomping and slamming doors when there is a request that he doesn't like.  He can fall apart instantaneously about being left upstairs by himself or Adelie not wanting to play with him or having to go pick up his sisters from an activity or someone not doing what he wants them to do when he wants them to do it.  He can shift so quickly from one extreme to another that it can be almost comical...if it wasn't so frustrating.

Briggs has also been struggling with some fears and anxieties.  He continues to have fears about storms and strong winds.  He does not like to be on a floor of the house all by himself, even if it is just running upstairs to get socks or getting a train he wants from the basement.  He is a stickler about wearing his mask when he is supposed to, and I often have to tell him that it's okay to take it off when I pick him up from school or we leave an indoor facility.  After the first day of school, he told me that he wore his mask the whole time at recess because his friends were close to him.  I had to tell him that it is okay to take his mask off when he is outside at recess.  Briggs is very safety conscious and asks lots of questions about whether or not something is safe.  He obsessively washes his hands.  He is always asking things like, "I just touched my sock.  Do I need to wash my hands?"  Or "My hand touched the top of the toilet.  Do I need to wash my hands?"  He is my first child that I have to direct to not wash his hands...and sometimes he can't help himself and has to do it anyway.  It pains me to see him struggle with some of these fears and anxieties.  I know some of it is the product of our world right now and some of it is born from my focus on health and safety.  I know some of it is probably just part of his personality.  What I don't know is how to help him make wise and safe choices without having to go to the extremes.

Briggs has always struggled with some of these things, but the frequency and intensity seems to ebb and flow.  The past month or two has definitely been more of an ebb...or a flow?  Whichever one means it has been worse is what I want to convey.  I don't know if it has been the impending return to school and the start of Kindergarten that has heightened his difficulties or just the five months of primarily being at home or the various changes and anxieties that have been surrounding this time in life, but it has been a struggle for both Briggs and the rest of the family dealing with his outbursts.  I know that these childhood phases come and go.  We are trying to help Briggs find better to ways to respond to disappointments and fears while also praying that this phase goes away...and soon.

Hamilton...according to Adelie

 My kids have all been interested in the hit musical "Hamilton" for the past several years, and with the recent release of it on Disney + that interest has turned into more of an obsession.  I have the soundtrack in the van and we have listened to it over and over and over again.  My kids know all their favorite tracks and sing along with all their favorite songs.  Because there are inappropriate words and some adult themes in the musical, I skip over parts of songs or full songs if they contain inappropriate material for my young kids.  The other day we were driving in the car and we had this conversation:

Adelie:  "We can't listen to some songs in Hamilton because they have bad words."

Me:  "That's true.  I skip the songs that have inappropriate things."

Adelie:  "I think I know what the bad words are.  Probably the D-word and the S-word."

Me:  (feeling a little shocked that my 7 year old knows what these words are) "Can you tell me what the D-word and the S-word are?"

Adelie:  "You know what they are.  Dumb and stupid."

I love childhood innocence and want to preserve this in my children for as long as possible.

With the current Hamilton obsession in our house, the kids have been singing Hamilton songs, making Hamilton characters out of perler beads, and drawing pictures and writing stories about Hamilton.  The other day, Adelie wrote a book about the Schuyler sisters, using princess stickers to illustrate her book.  I loved her pretty accurate depiction of this portion of the story and will share it here (with Adelie's phonetic spelling and grammar).

"The Skiler (Schuyler) Sisters by Adelie Cate"

im alasu (Eliza) w'er dancing in a ball then aliksander walcs in.  anjeluka (Angelica) likes Alegsander but he likes me we get marryd.  aledsander has to go to a meeting.  He likes a nother girl I'm sad I bern his love letters he rote me.  He comes home and ses sorry!  the End

Back to School

 It has been 5 months since the kids have been in school.  Two months of e-learning followed by 3 months of summer is a long time to be away from the classroom.  And although I had some anxiety and reservations about the return to school, my kids were so excited and ready to be back with friends and teachers.  

Staley was very ready to return to school.  Fourth grade has so much going for it--drama club, safety patrol, news team, the living museum.  Staley has been looking forward to 4th grade since she started at Davenport.  She was excited to have Mrs. Mickna as her teacher as we have heard really good things about her.  Mrs. Mickna always does a science fair each year with her class which Staley is very excited about.  Like last year, Staley experienced some disappointment when none of her closest friends were in her same class.  This was amplified when her 3 very best friends all ended up in one class together without Staley.  There were some tears, but Staley is confident and adaptable.  I reminded her that each year of school has brought her a new good friend from her class that she hadn't known before.  She was still excited for the school year and was pleased on the first day when she had one friend that she had hoped might be in her class.  Here's hoping for a new good friend and a great school year!

Mrs. Mickna and Staley at Meet the Teacher Night

Not only did Staley have to pick out her first day of school outfit and earrings...

...she also had to pick out her first day of school mask.

Adelie thrives on being with others, so she was most looking forward to getting to spend time with friends.  She had hoped to have Staley's second grade teacher (Mrs. King), but was excited about Mrs. Khattar when she found out a few of her good friends would be in her class with her.

Adelie and Mrs. Khattar

And of course she chose a mermaid shirt for her first day.

Shockingly, instead of her Ariel mask, she went with Moana for the first day of school.

Briggs starting Kindergarten was the most stressful for me during these uncertain times, but he couldn't have been more excited.  And when he found out that he got Mrs. Doty for his teacher, he was THRILLED.  Since both girls also had her, Briggs is very familiar with Mrs. doty, her classroom, and her classroom pets.  That familiarity was so nice for him, as well as for me.  He also has a large number of kids from his preschool in his class, including a couple of his good friends.  I signed him up to start the year doing half-day Kindergarten, but with his enthusiasm, we might have to switch to full days sooner rather than later.

Briggs and Mrs. Doty

My big Kindergartener, ready for his first day of school.

Although Dava is not in his class this year, Keiko is.

This school year may look a little different.  There are masks and social distancing and assigned seats in the cafeteria.  There is earlier dismissal time and closed drinking fountains and new birthday treat rules.  There are smaller class sizes and increased e-learning preparation.  But there are many things that are still the same.  There are great teachers who are excited about the year and ready to love and teach my kids.  There are old friends to see again and new friends to make.  There is an excitement about learning (especially for my big and little), and the anticipation of fun things throughout the school year.  We are so blessed by our school district, and I'm so hopeful that we will have a safe, healthy, and in-person school year.

Haircuts

 As we approach the return to school next week, it was time for our annual school haircut trip.  Adelie decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to donate the hair that she had worked so hard to grow long.  She never wavered, so her hair appointment was extra special as she had 10" cut off to donate.

Before...

...and after, holding the locks of hair she is sending off.

Staley's hair had gotten long too.  She determined that she wanted short hair again for 4th grade, but she'll grow it long for middle school.  (Always my girl with a plan.)  So for her 4th grade haircut, Staley left about 4-5" of hair on the salon floor as well.

Both girls have fresh new hair-dos for a fresh new school year.  Love these cute cuts and these sweet girls!!

Show Stoppers

Most summer activities were cancelled, but my girls were so pleased that Stage Kids was still able to meet.  The girls spent the summer working on a production called 'Show Stoppers', which was a collection of scenes and songs from a variety of different Broadway musicals, ranging from 'Oklahoma' to 'Hamilton.'  The Eureka cast combined with Bloomington and Washington casts to put on this show.

The girls enjoyed spending time with the small group of 14 kids in the Eureka cast all summer, but had a great time meeting new friends when all three casts came together for the final production.

The ticket sales were extremely limited due to decreased capacity in the theater, but the girls were excited that their grandparents could come see them perform.  Both girls were in the ensemble for lots of songs including songs from Hairspray, Oklahoma, Matilda, Hair, Wizard of Oz, Newsies, and High School Musical.

They were most excited about their individual songs.  Staley sang a solo as Baby June from Gypsy called "Let Me Entertain You" and then Adelie and Staley performed a duet from Gypsy called "If Mama was Married."  They both did great and loved their moment(s) in the spotlight.

With so many things cancelled this summer, I loved that my girls had their opportunity to spend time with friends doing something they love.

I sure do love my show stoppers!!