Ms. X called shortly after school let out today, to report that Sophie had a great day. One “time out,” but otherwise pretty darn good. “And she wrote her name today,” she added. “She what???” At all the meetings we had last winter and spring, to determine Sophie’s next step, the one face at the […]
Four days in, and Sophie hasn’t been kicked out yet. The first week of kindergarten is full of growing pains for all the kids, and for Sophie I think it’s been especially hard because of the heat (you try going back to school — and onto the playground — when it’s 111 degrees out, and […]
Last weekend, we painted Annabelle’s room. It was part of her 7th birthday present. Here’s the before. (Warning, the colors in these photos are much brighter than the actual paint! Maybe.): Now that I have a 7-year-old, it occurs to me that most of my childhood memories begin at 7. I have a few, from […]
I really did feel guilty, asking Ray to take Sophie to her dental appointment this morning. “No way!” he said. “You need to take her so you can hear the dentist complain about her thumbsucking!” It’s true. While Ray reprimands Sophie constantly for it, I just never could get too upset about thumbsucking. I sucked […]
It was a good day. Not unlike most school days, from our household’s perspective. Despite my best efforts to be in the car by 8:15, it was more like 8:35, and the first bell rings at 8:45. (Well, it’s not like I could skip writing the girls notes for their lunch boxes, or not take […]
Just hours now, til the first day of school. The girls are asleep — in bed, anyway. Sophie assured me she wasn’t at all scared. “A little bit?” I asked. She held two fingers as close together as they’d get with out touching. “A tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit,” she said, giggling. I’m not sure she knew what […]
In February, Sophie’s “team” at her pre-school broke the news that they weren’t so sure she was mentally retarded. They sent me home with a copy of my parental rights and a pink paper heart that Sophie had cut herself, with minimal assistance. This was huge. She might be relatively smart, but no one can […]
Just the weekend, then it’s kindergarten. Today was the last day of pre-school. Actually, it wasn’t, because Sophie ditched. Annabelle’s camp was done so I had a sitter anyway, and when I asked, Annabelle said she’d prefer to have Sophie stay home with her. (INSERT AUDIENCE TRACK: “AHHHHHHH”.) So we didn’t really say goodbye. That’s […]
I thought I was the only one who was nervous. This morning I had a quick meeting with Gordon, Sophie’s pre-school Gordon. He has a very long beard and a very short window of time to talk — his priority is the kids, which I love. But he wanted to meet this morning to tell […]
Have you ever had a teacher crush? I didn’t know there was such a thing til I met Ms. X. Correction: The first time I met her, it was hardly love at first sight. She terrified me. I was at our neighborhood elementary school (for the first time, that was scary enough), for an evening […]
