Another Unofficial Chatterbox Thread- Everyone is Welcome!

[dizzyami]

Diz, what activities are the kids involved in these days? I think you had Alec in soccer in the fall? And Alecia, too?

Right now, not much. There are not too many outdoor activities this time of the year. Both kids did play soccer in the fall, and really enjoyed it. In the spring they will both do t-ball, probably swimming in the summer and then soccer again.

They do all right with it for now. Alecia has a ton of homework every night - and even Alec has a bunch too. They still run around a ton outside - but now that you mention it I probably need to get them a bit more active (Alec is no longer a "slim" )

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Is he still happy and doing well in kindergarten? He had such an awesome start, I was so excited for you guys!

 

[dizzyami]

I haven't figured out what to have yet. I have some hamburger I could cook up... Bought it Sunday, is it still OK?

Otherwise we have a ton of leftovers; my neighbor-friend and I went to a Lebanese restaurant yesterday, and DH had me pick up extra stuff to bring home. So we have leftover grilled chicken and rice, leftover garlic chicken wings and rice, some babajanoush and hummus and pita. Tons, actually! But the boys only like the pita and saffron rice, nothing else.

It would be nice to get all that stuff eaten up, because the heavy garlic smell gets pretty strong in the fridge.

Oh, and a few other (small servings) of dinners from earlier in the week...

I actually went to the store to buy hamburger - had this wild idea to cook dinner for the kids . It was kind of weird - I am usually out of the house at least 3 nights if not 4. We had sloppy joes - and I think I underestimated how much my nephew liked them

 

[dizzyami]

Is he still happy and doing well in kindergarten? He had such an awesome start, I was so excited for you guys!

He is!!! Still making excellent grades - and improving every day on his writing and speech. They have a board outside the classroom and every month they write a sentence (themed to the month). The first couple of months, oh my, I had to look at the other kids to decipher what he was writing (it was ok, he was still learning). Today - I think his writing was one of the best in the class!!!

He is still getting speech every day (that never would have happened in Gilbert) and his teachers love him in class.

Even stranger - he constantly has kids coming up to him at school to say hi and talk to him - so even the social skills exist.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Next week I sign DS4 up for kindergarten. All along I've planned to sign him up for full-day, but now I'm second-guessing myself. I really like the half-day teacher, the full-day teacher I just don't click with. I think that teacher is probably fine, but nothing really stands out, you know? The half-day teacher just exudes warmth and kindness and humor.

But the neighbor-kid I've talked about before who is like "DS4 on steroids"? He'll be in the half-day program, and I definitely wouldn't want them in the same class, that would be a nightmare!

I think DS would do well in the all-day, as he's doing well in the half-day preschool right now. So maybe I should just stick with the original plan? I was sooo ready to get him into the all-day program, and now that it's actually coming up I'm missing him already.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I actually went to the store to buy hamburger - had this wild idea to cook dinner for the kids . It was kind of weird - I am usually out of the house at least 3 nights if not 4. We had sloppy joes - and I think I underestimated how much my nephew liked them

Oh man, when I was a kid Sloppy Joes was my favorite meal! On our birthday my mom let us pick the menu for dinner, and I always chose Sloppy Joes. She probably LOVED that.

 

[dizzyami]

Next week I sign DS4 up for kindergarten. All along I've planned to sign him up for full-day, but now I'm second-guessing myself. I really like the half-day teacher, the full-day teacher I just don't click with. I think that teacher is probably fine, but nothing really stands out, you know? The half-day teacher just exudes warmth and kindness and humor.

But the neighbor-kid I've talked about before who is like "DS4 on steroids"? He'll be in the half-day program, and I definitely wouldn't want them in the same class, that would be a nightmare!

I think DS would do well in the all-day, as he's doing well in the half-day preschool right now. So maybe I should just stick with the original plan? I was sooo ready to get him into the all-day program, and now that it's actually coming up I'm missing him already.

That is a tough one. I know we changed our mind over the summer. We had Alec enrolled in 1/2 day (we actually did this to guarantee he would get the teacher that he did), but then he did so good over the summer we went with full day (still the same teacher). I definitely am glad we did what we did - as the extra reinforcement has been great for him. Really that is all that it is - all the curriculum is in the beginning of the day, but for us we wanted Alec to get the extra reinforcement, as well as more chances to work on his social skills.

The crazy thing is I think this might be the last year for full day kindergarten in Arizona (poor Shawna, will all the troubles she went through). We are in a massive budget crisis, and they have figured out if they eliminate it completely they would be a lot better off.

Oh man, when I was a kid Sloppy Joes was my favorite meal! On our birthday my mom let us pick the menu for dinner, and I always chose Sloppy Joes. She probably LOVED that.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

He is!!! Still making excellent grades - and improving every day on his writing and speech. They have a board outside the classroom and every month they write a sentence (themed to the month). The first couple of months, oh my, I had to look at the other kids to decipher what he was writing (it was ok, he was still learning). Today - I think his writing was one of the best in the class!!!

He is still getting speech every day (that never would have happened in Gilbert) and his teachers love him in class.

Even stranger - he constantly has kids coming up to him at school to say hi and talk to him - so even the social skills exist.

That is so awesome!

Has his behavior changed as he's gotten better at communicating? How does he react to the other kids chatting away with him?

DS8 was in an awesome daycare/preschool program, and was very popular and confident. All the little kids used to swarm him when he got to school, it was bizarre and hilarious at the same time!

All that changed when he moved to kindergarten. I'm not sure if it was the new setting, new teacher, new kids, or the fact that there were a couple bullyish kids in class, or what exactly. Suddenly he turned shy and kept saying he hated school, it was heartbreaking. He's still a bit shy, but a bit more confident now.

I honestly think that's part of why I am worried about DS4, it would kill me to see his personality and enthusiasm crushed.

 

[dizzyami]

Oh man, when I was a kid Sloppy Joes was my favorite meal! On our birthday my mom let us pick the menu for dinner, and I always chose Sloppy Joes. She probably LOVED that.

Oops - i quoted this before but forgot to respond But yes - I bet she really did love that!!!

 

[dizzyami]

That is so awesome!

Has his behavior changed as he's gotten better at communicating? How does he react to the other kids chatting away with him?

DS8 was in an awesome daycare/preschool program, and was very popular and confident. All the little kids used to swarm him when he got to school, it was bizarre and hilarious at the same time!

All that changed when he moved to kindergarten. I'm not sure if it was the new setting, new teacher, new kids, or the fact that there were a couple bullyish kids in class, or what exactly. Suddenly he turned shy and kept saying he hated school, it was heartbreaking. He's still a bit shy, but a bit more confident now.

I honestly think that's part of why I am worried about DS4, it would kill me to see his personality and enthusiasm crushed.

His behavior has definitely gotten better - still not stellar, but better.

He does fine with the other kids talking to him - he eats up the attention. I was very shocked - I really didn't know how all the kids would react to him with such a severe speech delay.

That is very sad what happened to your DS8 - what a rough transition. Hopefully your DS4 will have a better time. I really have not seen a mean kid in kindergarten - that is so sad

 

[Alex2kMommy]

The crazy thing is I think this might be the last year for full day kindergarten in Arizona (poor Shawna, will all the troubles she went through). We are in a massive budget crisis, and they have figured out if they eliminate it completely they would be a lot better off.

How ironic! I know Shawna didn't have a choice with her son. We have more interest in the full-day than there are seats for the class, so you sign up and get chosen by lottery. If you get chosen, you have to pay an extra amount to cover the expense of the longer day.

Last winter when I signed DS4 up for the fall preschool, he was still napping, and his teacher said he was definitely tired by the end of the morning session. No brainer to sign up for half days again. But since then he's given up naps, at least most days. (When the snow was here for several weeks and we were out sledding every afternoon, he'd crash in the late afternoon.)

I think he'll be ready for full day. I worry that my reluctance now is because of my own emotions about missing him, or because I don't click with the one teacher. (Those aren't really valid reasons in my mind for making this decision.)

 

[staley7580]

Groceries are put away! Mostly, anyhow.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

So seriously... is the hamburger bought Sunday still good?

 

[staley7580]

So seriously... is the hamburger bought Sunday still good?

Im sure it is. I would use it.

 

[dizzyami]

Groceries are put away! Mostly, anyhow.

Hopefully mostly includes anything frozen!!!

How ironic! I know Shawna didn't have a choice with her son. We have more interest in the full-day than there are seats for the class, so you sign up and get chosen by lottery. If you get chosen, you have to pay an extra amount to cover the expense of the longer day.

Last winter when I signed DS4 up for the fall preschool, he was still napping, and his teacher said he was definitely tired by the end of the morning session. No brainer to sign up for half days again. But since then he's given up naps, at least most days. (When the snow was here for several weeks and we were out sledding every afternoon, he'd crash in the late afternoon.)

I think he'll be ready for full day. I worry that my reluctance now is because of my own emotions about missing him, or because I don't click with the one teacher. (Those aren't really valid reasons in my mind for making this decision.)

It is crazy how different states handle it. The first year that we went to 1 full day class (DD's first year) they had a ton of interest and did a lottery. The really stupid thing though is they had a bunch of kids signed up in an after care program - basically the parents were paying for daycare so that school lasted a full day. Our stupid state (no wonder we are in such a crisis) decided to put all those kids in the full day first - and not charge them the money they were already planning on paying. This left 3 or so spots - with a ton of kids signed up for the lottery.

Alec actually has nap time in full day kindergarten - he takes a towel every Monday and they do a nap/quiet time.

I would definitely do what seems right to you - believe me we struggled with the decision - and went back and forth with it. We were actually lucky that it all worked out like it did.

 

[dizzyami]

So seriously... is the hamburger bought Sunday still good?

I can't smell it from here - so it must be. As long as it is still a bit pink you should be fine

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Cool.

I'm not sure if I'll actually use it for dinner tonight, since we have so many leftovers to eat up. But if I cook it up with the taco seasoning, we can have tacos tomorrow night.

 

[dizzyami]

Alecia wants me to braid her hair - I will be right back





Nevermind....I am back now . Stupid 40 second rule

 

[dizzyami]

Cool.

I'm not sure if I'll actually use it for dinner tonight, since we have so many leftovers to eat up. But if I cook it up with the taco seasoning, we can have tacos tomorrow night.

Yum! I definitely need to buy more hamburger. The sloppy joes were good, I found a recipe for rice oriental that was yummy, tacos, taco salad, too many yummy things with hamburger!!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

We're not supposed to have it that often due to DH's heart. We need to eat more chicken and fish, but DH doesn't like the smell of cooked fish in the house, so we only do fish in the summer on the grill. Therefore that means a LOT of chicken.

So I need lots of good chicken recipes! I got two turkey hams when Safeway had their big meat sale a few weeks ago, thinking it was a great alternative for DH. Then on Oprah one day this week there was a guy who's written a book about making healthier food choices, and one of his comparisons was:

regular bacon and eggs, or turkey bacon and eggs?

I was stunned when they said they both had the same amount of fat and cholesterol, but the sodium in the turkey bacon was through the roof! "And," the author added, "why would you want to turn a turkey into a pig?" Because we morons thought it would be healthier!!!