All in the family

My boys were wrestling around in the floor of our living room while I made supper.
This is normal.
I let them go at it until someone screams...,"Grandpa!"

...WHA??

Yeah...I really do need to discuss with them which male relative you yell out when you give up.

In my corner

I was SO thankful to have someone in my corner this evening.

I have surrogate parents. They adopted me (unofficially) into their family back when I was in high school. Their daughter(EE) and I were inseparable back then. I spent a good portion of my waking hours at their house (when I wasn't required to be at school.) I'm surprise that they didn't ever kick me out...I mean, I was seriously there way too late some nights ...and then way too early other mornings.

Through the years, EE and I aren't always at each other's door step, but we are always there if the other one needs anything. Friends like that are good to have. We don't question when we haven't heard from one another in months...but we are always happy to see each other when we do. And as an added bonus, on top of having such a wonderful friend, I also got her parents.

Like I said... her parents adopted me.
They are wonderful grandparents to my boys!
...And they are wonderful parents to me.

Tonight they came to watch the boys play flag football.
Without knowing any of the nonsense that happened yesterday, they were there... in my corner.
As my ex's whole family cheered on my boys, I didn't feel displaced and unbalanced... because I was represented too. I had family there cheering right along with me.

It was also nice to know that they understood things that I didn't have to express... like when my ex announced to everyone that they were headed to Wendy's to eat... that I didn't want to go.

"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been - a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free." ~Starhawk

Thank you both for being there for me!

Ughhhh!

It wasn't meant to be a fight.
I had no intentions of arguing.
I just wanted my concerns to be voiced...and heard.

My oldest has "bumps." They are similar to warts, but they aren't warts. We have to treat them nightly, in hopes that they won't spread (which they still currently do). We have been to a dermatologist and we have medicine to treat them with.

Recently one of these bumps has appeared on my son's penis. We checked with the doctor to make sure it was okay to treat it. It was.

I found out, last night, that my ex's girlfriend (W.) is the one who puts medicine on the bumps when the boys are with my ex.

Now, I have no problems with her putting medicine on my boys...but when it is on their private parts, I do.

Today, I voiced my concern to my ex(R.). He told me I was being ridiculous - that she would never touch our boys in a sexual nature. I told him I understood and that I wasn't accusing her of such, but that I did not feel comfortable with her applying medicine to our son's penis.

I suggested that she put a dab of medicine on C's finger finger and that he apply it. Again, he told me I was being ridiculous.

I reminded him that we have always taught the boys that NO one is allowed to touch their private areas and that we would be sending mixed messages if we wavered on this. He told me that she is like a mother figure to them, and that the boys view her as such, so there was no problem.

He said, "To prove it to you, we'll ask C." "C, who is okay to touch your penis like to put medicine or wash you?"

C - "You or Mom."

R - "What about W. or S.? (both of our significant others) Is it okay if they touch your penis to put medicine on or wash you?"

C - "Nope."

"See?" I said. "Even our 6 year old knows. It's common sense"

That was somehow me attacking his intelligence, and so he hung up on me.
I am SO frustrated I could just scream!

my poor funny bone

Colby (with his new found freedom of reading) reads jokes from his joke book almost nightly.

Tonight after Colby was done reading, we sat around telling jokes that we knew. I told some oldies, but goodies like:

• What's black and white and red all over? a newspaper...or a penguin falling down the stairs
• Why did the turkey cross the road? because it was the chicken's day off

Colby shared some that he (I guess) heard at school.

Sam (of course) didn't want to be left out. Poor boy thinks his jokes are hilarious....and it takes all of me to muster a snicker, much less a full fledged laugh.

His jokes go something like this:

• Why did the chicken cross the road? because there's ketchup on the light switch. hahahaha
• Why did the ghost say boo? because the fork drove a pineapple car. hahhaaha

Seriously... I know it takes time to master the art of telling (much less, come up with) your own jokes, but I hope it happens soon....for the sake of my funny bone.

Dead Car...new dad

"...so how does that happen?"

That was my question at lunch.

A student told one of my co-workers that his dad was picking him up today. The boy then pauses and says, "But I don't know why he's my dad... Our car broke down and we stopped at his house to ask for his help ...and we started living there...so now he's my dad."


I know to take what kids say with a grain of salt sometimes...but, normally, interlaced in all those grains is a speck of truth.

So how exactly does that happen?

Tricks...or treats?

Today we had our Fall party. Students are allowed to dress up as their favorite book character....actually what always ends up happening is that the kids buy their Halloween costumes ...and we, in turn, help them find a book that matches their costume.

In the classroom next door, a little girl dressed as a witch. Eh. That's pretty normal, right? sure. Her book, however... not so much. Her book was Witchcraft Spells...an actual book of spells! Her grandfather (who had recently passed away) passed it down to her before he died.

This reminded me of a student that I had about four or five years ago. His grandmother (who was his guardian) was a wiccan. She was well know throughout the town for the ceremonies that she performed and for the late night show she had on the local cable channel.
The day after Halloween this student of mine was so tired he couldn't stay awake. When I questioned him on whether or not he was up too late from eating too much Halloween candy, he told me, "No, I was aiding my grandma in her ceremonies." Alrighty then! No more questions from me.

At the end of the year, his present to me was a dinosaur plant. The box read as follows:

"Watch me spring to life and grow right before your eyes! If you look closely, you may even be able to see me move! Listen, and you might hear my fibers expanding. I’ll be fully awake in just three hours. "

I don't know why, but it freaked me out! I'm sure it was just an innocent gift. But knowing that curses or spells could have been put on it...I wasn't taking my chance. Still haven't, in fact. I can't seem to bring myself to throw it out, however. Maybe one day I won't believe in all that mumbo-jumbo...but until then, I won't be causing any dinosaur plant to come alive so I can watch it move.

Man...Now I'm gonna have man-eating plant nightmares. I'll let you know how those go as well...

Teacher Top Secret

Here are some things that before you become a teacher, they don't tell you:

1. You will live for jean day.


2. If you leave it in the teacher's lounge, by accident, it is free game...and it won't be there 20 minutes later. (Vultures...I tell you...vultures!)


3. You will learn to how to go 8 hours without having to pee.


4. There is no end to your stack of papers.


5. You will learn to inhale your food...because there is no time for chewing and enjoying in the 15 minutes that you actually sit down to eat.


6. You will have to deal with pee and poop...peeing children that will sit and pee in their chair to "defy" you. Poop stashed throughout your room till you feel like a crazy person calling all other teachers in to help you sniff to locate the stash.


7. You will (at some point and time) google "Life after teaching"


8. You will joke with your teacher buddies about drinking in your closets...because even though it would never happen...some days you wish it could.


9. You will participate in days like "Pajama Day"...and get complimented repeatedly for your crazy sock monkey pajamas. Who knew kids like to see their teachers in pajamas??