About this time, for the past two years, I have been filling out school registration paperwork. St Annes opens registration to all current students February 28th. By now I would have all of my forms filled out and checks written to get the boys set for next year. This year is different. The boys will be moving to public school next year and it feels very strange to not be part of the rush to get things in and get two spots.

Jake and Sam can’t stay at St Annes because they would be in the same classroom. Since the school is so small, the 2nd/3rd grade room is a combo room with one teacher. Jake will be in 3rd grade next year and Sam will be in 2nd. I don’t think it would work well to have them together all the time at home AND school so we will be enrolling them in Onslow County Schools. I know some parents would keep them at St Annes if they were in the same situation but it just does not sit right with me.

It will be very new for the boys next year (and me) to go from a class sizes of 10-12 to more like 25, but it is something we need to do. Their days will be longer, the campus much bigger and it won’t feel the same, but I know they will be just fine. Even knowing that, it makes me a little sad to hear all of the other moms at St Annes talk about signing up. To top it off, I will most likely not be teaching there next year either (time to explain that in another post:)). It will be a year of adjustments for all of us, but it is an exciting time too. We’ll see how it goes…..

Did you ever transition from one type of school to another? How did it go?

My parents and my husband’s parents all live in Ohio. Ever since I got married and moved away, I have called my mom and dad once a week, on Sunday, to check in and catch up. Sometimes when there was news or something to share we would talk more often, but always on Sundays. When we had the kids, that did not change, but something has changed in the past couple of years. My dad calls more….a lot more…and it is backfiring a bit on him.

We have used Skype on Sundays with the boys for years now to make sure my parents got to “see” Jake and Sam weekly (my mother in law has yet to join the internet world:)) For awhile, that was enough but something happened during Kerry’s last deployment. All of the sudden my dad felt the need to call 5-7 times per week…in addition to the Sunday call. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad, but all of this calling meant to bring him closer to the boys had the opposite effect.

The boys are only 6 and 8 and well, they are boys. They don’t have that much to say or share on the phone. When you ask how their day was you get “fine.” When you ask if anything exciting happened you get “no.” All of this just frustrates my dad and no matter how I have tried to tell him that maybe fewer calls would be more meaningful. Now that my dad has an iPhone and facetime…well let’s just say..it opens a whole new world of calls to make I try to tell the boys it is just because he loves them but they are just not up for a call every night….they have nothing to share.  For now we will just keep answering when he calls and making our call on Sundays.  I know it is all out of love and I suppose the boys just need to accept that and love that he cares that much about them.

What would you do? Would you continue to point out that fewer calls may be better or just let it go?

Here we go again….limbo one more time. As you may know from previous posts, my husband’s career was up in the air for sometime last year. We thought we had things settled…two year orders to keep us here in Jacksonville. Our house went up for sale and we contracted to buy a larger place once this one sold. Our plan was to transition the boys from St Annes to public school next year and we are all content with our decisions. Well…….time to scratch all that and back to square one.

Part of my husband’s career search involved the FBI. He completed phase I and passed. We were told to sit tight so we did….for 8 months. We finally had to move on so we could have some stability and a certain paycheck. Of course, as soon as we had done this the FBI called late in January to ask him to come in for phase II. Luckily for him, he will be able to continue to work where hes is on orders, go interview and then keep working until he hears about the next step. Our issue is that this whole process from phase I to academy can take 2-3 years. We are right in the middle of it now with a house for sale and two school age kids. With no clear direction in site about where we will be next fall…that poses a real problem.

The boys will be making a big change next year from a small, private school (where mom works) to a public school. That will be enough stress…we really don’t need to throw in not knowing where that will be or whether or not we will face a move halfway through the school year. For now, we are just telling the boys things are a bit up in the air but they will be settled soon. I wish I had that confidence deep down. Sadly, for the FBI, I think soon will be months from now.

What would you do in this situation? Would you move the kids halfway through the school year if need be?

Well, it finally happened. After years of waiting and feeling like a failure….Sam has lost his first tooth! It was really starting to get to him..at age 6 he had expected to have already lost a few. He felt like everyone around him..younger than him..was moving on with gaps in their mouths and money from the tooth fairy. He has finally joined that elite club and he is super excited to put that tooth under his pillow.

Proud as can be

The sad thing is that he lost it earlier than he should have. A recent collision this week between his chin and our kitchen island moved things along a bit faster than nature would have had it. That does not matter to Sam…the bruise on his chin was well worth it. I know that now he will be checking weekly to see if any others are ready to come out too….especially after he gets that big $1 under his pillow.

I remember when Jake lost his first tooth and those big, grown up teeth started moving in. Something about him changed. He no longer looked like a little boy and now, with a mouthful of them, he has really lost all of that child like appearance and looks much older to me. Now I know Sam is on that same road and it makes me a little sad even while I am excited for him. I told him we’ll just have to get a baby to start all over to which he replied “NO!” Good thing it was just a joke

With his tooth already in his little blue tooth case, he will head to bead eagerly tonight and I need to run out and get some cash…..

When did your tween lose their first tooth? Did you think of it as a milestone?

I have been lucky to this point. The friends Jake and Sam have had in school or in sports have all been pretty good kids. For the most part they have had manners and were kind to those around them. This year I can’t say the same for one of the kids Jake has be-friended. I don’t know the child very well but I do know he has problems in school and his behavior is not anything I want Jake to emulate.

I never want to be a parent who tells their child who to be friends with. My hope is that the values, ideals and character I build in Jake and Sam will lead them to be surround themselves with the right kind of people. We work hard to talk about behaving in school, respecting adults and working hard to reach their goals. Since the boys are only 6 and 8, I just wonder if they are too young to realize when someone around them is not good for them.

We often watch Super Nanny on TV and the boys are horrified by what they see. There are kids hitting their parents…talking back to them…they are out of control. The boys love to talk about how crazy those kids are and how they can’t believe what they are doing. I see it as a chance to teach the kids what NOT to do, but I know that the boys will meet kids just like that and they just might like them.

I don’t plan to tell Jake he can’t be friends with this boy, but as I have done to this point, I will continue to point out that his behavior is not alright and never will be…for him OR Jake.

Have your kids had friends you did not approve of? What did you do?