Sign Language

Ezzie style.

With each letter of the alphabet Ezzie learns,
he also learns how to sign that letter.
This is what he showed me this morning:What is this Mommy?
I hate it when he asks that.
What if I answer wrong.

Then he said:
I made it up myself.
Oh boy, heap on the pressure.

Ummm...
I hesitate.
And, if I wait long enough,
he can't wait any longer
and blurts it out.
Cuz he can't hold it in any longer.

M-O-M.
Mom!

I Hope She Still Likes Me

This may come as a surprise to you.
Or maybe not.
I am not the most compassionate mom.
Lara found that out this morning.

We have a rule at our house.
About missing school
You either need to have a fever.
Be throwing up.
Or both (that goes without saying).
To get out of school.

Mom cannot be convinced otherwise.
Don't try.

To her credit,
Lara never asked to not go to school this morning.
But I'm pretty sure she was hoping I would say she didn't have to go.

On a school day, she is always up before me.
When I come in the kitchen in the morning,
she's there eating breakfast.
This morning I walked in.
She was sitting in her usual spot.
Hugging her little leopard.
Crying.
Still in her pj's.

I gave her a hug.
Asked her what was wrong.
She had a headache and her neck hurt.
I gave her a couple ibuprofen.
And then went to wake the other kids.
Came back.
She was still crying
.
I told her I would take her temperature.
But if she didn't have a fever,
she would have to go to school.
She didn't have one.
I told her she should go get ready.
She did.
Then sat down on the couch.
Hugging a pillow.
Crying.
Oh, boy.

Her ride called.
Was having car trouble.
So we dropped Ezra off at school.
Then I took her to the high school.
A few minutes late.
Crying.
I asked her if anything else was wrong.
No.
Asked her if she was a little homesick.
No.
More crying.

Just to show that I'm not totally heartless,
I took her into the office.
Helped her get an admit slip.
Then talked in the hall with her a moment.
Gave her a hug.
Said: I'm sorry hon,
but this is what I would do with my kids.
And you are one of my kids.
She said:
I look terrible.
I said:
Your eyes are a little red.
But you look cute.

She walks down the hall to her 1st hour class.
Opens the door.
And I hear the teacher boom:
Well, good morning!
Way to draw attention to the poor girl.
From another country.
Walking in late.
With red eyes.
I hope she survives the day...

My thought is she was testing me.
She has a test today.
She studied some Saturday.
I thought she was going to study more last night.
But she didn't.
I'm not sure she's ready for it.
This may not be the problem.
I'm just guessing.

I felt bad leaving her there.
I really did.
She will be okay, right?Tell me I'm not a big, bad meany.

Adjustments

The last few weeks have been full of adjustments.Brookelynn is trying to come to terms with not being the oldest.
Sharing a room.
With a girl.
She's used to dealing with boys.
Different smells.
Lara uses hairspray and perfume.
Often.
Both things are completely foreign to Brookie.
And, for the most part, to me as well.Ezra loves kindergarten.
He had one rough morning last week.
Walking to school with Clifford was a must.
But as soon as we got to the school doors,
Clifford was mine.
So, yes.
My neighbors have seen me carrying Clifford.
And wearing a superhero cape.
They are likely beginning to wonder...He brought this home from school today.
Love it.Jakie is still not sure about the new school.
But it's getting better everyday.
And he still has a lot of smiles for me.
So I know he's really doing just fine.Jobe and I are having fun.
We read books.
We play preschool computer games.
We cook.
We run errands.
Taking just one kid places is amazingly easy.
Why did I think it was hard when it was just Brookelynn?
I think his real adjustment will begin when Ezra starts going all day.
Ryan has seen more female tears than he was planning on.
From me on the first day of school.
To Lara having her first breakdown Sunday night.
Then Brookelynn on Monday.

Extra estrogen in the house.
Good times.