Protecting Your Child

These past couple of weeks have been crazy.  Not only am I now enrolled in school 4 days a week, an hour from home (which makes for a long night of driving with sleepy kids), but I have had to go to battle with my middle child's school.  I never thought I would ever have to battle for my child in this way and it makes me sick to think that this kind of thing can happen.  My mom always told me growing up that I like to see the good in people too much and that I need to wake up to the reality that not everyone is good and to think the worst before the best.  I never took her advice because seriously, who wants to walk around all the time thinking the worst in the human race, isn't it better to think the best in people and then if the worst happens, you deal with it as such?  These last 2 weeks have truly tested me.

Without going into too much detail, my middle child was put in a first grade class with a teacher that I was warned about from the beginning.  She is tough, most kids and parents don't like her and she is "an acquired taste".  I decided to try it out without worrying too much, maybe I would be the 1% who actually liked her.  Little did I know how wrong I would be.  It started out with notes every single day explaining my child's bad behavior and how she was not "good".  It then went to threats if work was not done, to her denying her snack, keeping her in from recess, it just kept getting worse.  I got a call one day from the Vice Principal saying that she had her in the office because she had "hit 2 kids".  She said "she hit 2 kids, well, not hit, she was actually just swinging her arms and accidentally hit two kids while doing that".  I get that hitting kids no matter how it is done is wrong but they had her escorted from the playground and yelled at her in the office.  For accidentally swinging her arms into 2 kids??  I told them I appreciate them telling her that is wrong but shouldn't the lesson be that you need to be more aware of your surroundings and not punishment for "fighting" (fighting was the word they used on the slip they sent home that I refused to sign until it was fixed).  They said they agree it is not fighting but had to deal with her in such.  And who was at the center of it all?  Her lovely teacher.  After speaking to the principal I was told I need to make another conference (this would be the second one) with the teacher to talk.  When I went to her classroom she was so rude and disrespectful toward me.  I decided that was enough.  I would not be getting anywhere with this lady.  I promptly waked to the office, explained my feelings and asked that she be transferred to another class.  I was met with such hostility, refusal to help me or my child and then it got worse.  I had been on my facebook page (which is private) and had told of the situation to ask my friends how to deal with this.  Little did I know that one of my "friends" loved this teacher and decided to call her to let her know I was bullying her online and saying horrible things about her.  The funny thing is, I was only explaining what had happened to my 6 year old child and if that is taken as "saying horrible things", then maybe the teacher should not be doing these horrible things.  The school was upset that I would do such a thing to this teacher.  Are you kidding me?  She is bullying my child, not the other way around.  After a week of absence and numerous talks with the super intendant, we finally got her transferred to another class.  It was not without them letting me know how cruel I am and how it is the child, not the teacher who has done wrong and that will be proven when she starts her new class and nothing changes.  Well, it has been a week and I feel like pointing out that her week has been fabulous.  Her teacher is amazing, she absolutely loves my child and vice versa.  She has had nothing but nice things to say and one time she said them in the presence of the other teacher who stood arms crossed with a pissed off look on her face. 

I think ti is ridiculous that schools are supposed to be a safe place for kids to go and yet hey allow people like this women to bully them and hurt them emotionally.  They were so quick to defend this woman even hen I had written statements from other parents who had gone through the same thing.  Shouldn't they be protecting the child and making sure they are in a safe learning environment?  It is truly heart breaking because I am sure this is not the only school this is happening in.  And why is it that the parent is made to feel like crap when they decide to stand up for their child?  Isn't that my job?  I think we should have more parents standing up and not sitting on the side lines, maybe then people will realize this is not ok.

My rant is over and there has been a lot of stress taken off of my heavy shoulders.  I would like to thank all of my friends who took the time to call or write me and let me know that what I was doing was great and to keep my head up and push forward.  This was starting to break me and your kind words, prayers and love sent my way was definitely felt and accepted.  A good friend of mine write to me after I mentioned how "life sucks", she said "life does not suck, it is beautiful, situations suck", that has stuck in my head and even though I did it before, I now like to drive and look around at the beauty of this life and be thankful for all that I have.

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday my middle girl turned 6.

 I could go into the typical "how did it go by this fast? I don't understand how she is 6 already!", we all have that thought, my main thought was "how have I not had a kid party for her in all of her 6 years?"  I have never had a kid party for her and I feel like a lame mom.  Granted, we have had kids at our parties, but they were mainly family and some friends with their kids parties.  This year she asked specifically to have kids from her class for her party.  We normally do parties here at the house too and while they are not cheap, I feel like I have gotten off easy.  I looked at these other places, the fun bouncy house places, arcade places, anything and holy cow, they are pricey!!!  One place even had the nerve to have a letter before entering their website that said something along the lines of "how much do you care for your child?  Do you want to have a cheap party somewhere else and make them feel inadequate or do you want to pay the $ and do it with us? Show them how much you really care, click the link to enter our site"  WHAT?  This is just ludicrous!  I realize parties are not cheap but to spend almost $1,000 on just the place seems ridiculous to me.  That being said, we eventually found our place......Farrell's.  I am not sure if you are familiar with Farrell's or not but it is a restaurant that specializes in ice cream, huge ice cream sundaes and it is loud and kid friendly.  They set up balloons and banners, kids play games and win prizes and the birthday songs are loud, obnoxious..........and I couldn't help but want to get down to each and every one of them (yes, my kids have THAT mom, some are too young to be embarrassed just yet but they will get there).  While the place was a little disorganized (they didn't realize we were a party after seating us, even though we had checked in as a party and reserved the place weeks in advance), the kids still had a great time. 

(See these girls?  Only one is mine and the other 2, not related!  Proof a "real kid party" went down)

 

 

This sundae was called the "birthday sundae", it looks like a mini sundae compared to the other sundaes they make, this could be a topping to their other sundaes!  All in all, it was loud and obnoxious but it was fun and my girl is still talking about how fun her birthday was.  She ended the night sleeping in her new play house she received from a friend, she said it was her own little apartment in the living room.  And with that, our birthdays are all done for the year, no more planning and stressing........until Christmas that is (yikes!).

 

 

Wedding and the dreaded back to school ickies

Last weekend I had the honor of being my friends Maid Of Honor in her wedding.  The wedding took place in Santa Barbara, CA which is just unbelievably gorgeous!  Butterfly Beach is a long strip of sand and rock but in one small area, there is this beautiful old tree with a little patch of grass.  It all looks out over the ocean and is just breathtaking.  Add the setting sun and the night was just perfect!

I have know the beautiful bride since we were in high school.  It has been so much fun to be by her side as she planned her wedding.  And I must say, we still look good 12 years later :)

 

After coming back, one of my kiddos got sick.  Hers was not so bad and I thought we had escaped the dreaded back to school cold until this weekend when my oldest caught it and it is 100 times worse than the other ones was.  I don't think it helps that my oldests immune system is not as strong as others.  But, with some rest and homemade soup (I don't care if it was 95 outside, soup always helps when you are sick :/) we are pulling through.  We better all be nice and healthy, a little birdie told me that in less than a week, this one will be turning a year older :)

 

 

Aaaaannnnddddd I'm Back!!!!!!

Life seems to get crazy and when you don't have a working computer, blogging really is not a priority.  I tried to blog from my iPhone but as you can see, the pictures really are crazy huge and editing on the iPhone is limited.  After getting another computer and not blogging for so long, I completely forgot about it until a friend of mine mentioned catching up and reading my blog :/  So, memory of my blog has been triggered and I am officially back.  A lot has happened in a short amount of time so I guess I will give quick updates.

 

 

Cassidy is doing really well.  She just started 5th grade, I still don't feel old enough to have a child in 5th grade (my wrinkles are starting to make me feel old enough though).  Her seizures are under control and we are currently in talks with her neurologist to possibly start taking her off of her meds.  We are taking her off of one now as we speak because it is not needed since she is taking the other and if she stays seizure free, she may be growing out of them.  This sends up huge warning flags for me and I have tons of questions but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it.  Other than that she is just your typical 10 year old girl and by that I mean completely sassy and wanting nothing to do with her completely embarrassing mother :)

 

 

This one is beyond sassy (not much has changed really) and keeps me on my toes.  She started 1st grade and loves being back in school and playing with friends.  She now has an Ipod and you can catch her rockin out as much as possible, she is turning 6 soon and wants to donate clothes and toys to kids who don't have any.  Her heart is amazing, she recently donated her hair to Locks Of Love (obviously the picture above is older), I sat in the chair blubbering as it was cut off but I have to say, short hair suits her sassy attitude!!!!!  We shall see what year 6 brings with her but I am sure it just adds a bit more sass.

 

 

And then we have her (sigh), moms don't have favorites because each kid is special and unique in their own way but this one just gets me all the time.  I know it is because she is my youngest and I am trying like hell to hold on to anything baby she may still have about her.  I don't know what i will do when she goes to school, except maybe cry into my tub of bon bons while I watch home movies.  She is just the epitome of a little girl and wants to be anywhere I am, it truly melts my heart!!!!

 

 

 

You didn't think you were getting away without looking at this ugly mug we you?  Here is an update on where I am at.  I had a fantastic job, I was signing a lease soon on an apartment for the girls and I am planning my new future as a single mom.  Then my boss let me know he was closing his business, which left me jobless, unable to sign the lease and having to stay here.  I have been completely miserable, I think having a future and having it all pulled out from under you can definitely throw you off but I also know it is a huge sign that that is not where I was supposed to be.  So, I have had to suck it up and live under the same roof with my soon to be ex husband (huge eye roll, sorry, I may be a little bitter and try real hard to put my fake smile one when I say that).  I am going to be enrolling in a phlebotomy program that starts in October and by mid November I should be certified and able to apply for work.  It is not my dream job but it will get me out of my current situation and I can provide for my girls.  Not to say I don't like it, I think it will be a good job and I will like interacting with others.  I am pretty excited.  The only thing I am nervous about is being the old lady in the class, I definitely do not want to be the old lady!!!!!

 

So, that is a quick check up with all of us.  I hope to keep this thing updated and have some fun stuff on here soon.  Thank you for being patient with me as I try to get my life back on track!!!!!!

 



Fit For A Princess

My little one turns 3 this week and to distract me from my sorrows that my kids will not stop growing, we had a party. Not just any party, a Pink Princess Party. Pink pom-poms and streamers hung from the ceiling and jars of candy lined the bar. Friends and family gathered and I think that was best if all. I always feel like I need to be everywhere at once and hope everyone is having a good time and I live the moments when I can stand back and see everyone who came because they love my girl. She told me this was the best party ever and was quickly off to dreamland as soon as her head hit the pillow, a true sign that it was indeed the best party ever!! Thanks to everyone for coming out, we loved having you here and I hope the day was just as good as ours was!!

These Days Are Numbered

I am actively seeking employment but until I do land that job, I am enjoying these days because they are indeed numbered! Today I took my youngest to the mall, we had to get a birthday present and were looking for her perfect Princess dress for her upcoming Princess party. We had a fantastic time, I tried on some clothes and she told me I was pretty, we ate lunch at a Cafe and shared a cookie for desert. My little one saw the Easter bunny from the upstairs balcony and screamed "hi Easter Bunny!!!!!!", he looked right at her, waved and blew a kiss, this blew her mind!! She squealed and yelled that this was indeed the best day ever. But she didn't want to keep it all to herself, she decided that she wanted to get some chocolates for her sisters, how could I say no to such generosity. I watched her walk all proud with a Disney bag in one hand and chocolates in the other and was on awe. I have an amazing little girl and have felt blessed that I have had this time up spend with her. It will be hard going back to work and not having my days with just her, so for now I am completely enjoying them!

Planning A Princess Party

I have always said I would be one of those parents who kept their kids birthdays low key so they don't get too spoiled. I feel I have done that so far, the girls choose what they want to do and we do it but it has never been over the top. My youngest turns 3 in a couple of weeks and today I asked what she wanted, it was simple....a pink princess party. Easy enough right? Easy enough until you start searching for ideas on Pinterest!!!! So many adorable, fun things, how on earth do I choose? She would be fine with it being simple but I want to rock this party!!! I am slowly turning into the mom who throws mega parties, either that or I am bored and need to get out more :) Look how cute this stuff is though!!