Notes on Today

I was a volunteer in Henry's classroom today and school.  It is always so fun to see a room full of four year olds interacting with one another.  They are so weird and delightful.  There are, admittedly, a few that also make me feel, through comparison, that I am doing a bang up job as a parent.

Henry, for the most part, navigates his way through social situations well.  He is usually good at taking turns and playing fair and listening when someone tells him to stop doing something.  He seems to fit in and make people laugh a lot.  Like, today they did an art project and the teacher said they could draw a picture of whatever they wanted.  The kids drew shapes.  And unicorns.  Rainbows.  Squiggles.  That sort of thing.  Henry?  He drew "a boy and a ghost who were in love and getting ready to kiss and who were living in a house together and married."

Sam's school has been taking the TerraNova standardized tests this week.  The school is very intense with the kids about these tests -- practicing with them and even going so far as sending us instructions to get our kids to bed early this week, make sure they use the bathroom before coming to school, give them a large healthy breakfast and send a healthy snack with them but not water.  Why not water you may ask?  Because it could spill on a test.  These tests are essentially a pretty big deal to the school.  So, of course, they are also a big deal to Sam.  He takes his healthy snack seriously and declined pretzels today because he thought the salt might be a tad unhealthy opting instead for raisins.  I will be glad when the testing week is over and the kids get back to their regular scheduled programming, because I am beginning to find the instructional notes on what to feed my kid and when to put him to bed and when to insist he urinate... a touch intrusive and obsessive.  Craig got on board the other day jokingly telling me I was not following instructions because I let Sam stay up til 8:30 reading with me.  He said he was going to report me.  And I said, yes, report me to school for READING TO MY KID.  They should be furious.

Anyway.  I digress.  Sorry.  

Gus is teething pretty hard core.  One of the front teeth poked through, and the other one has his gums swollen and red but still hasn't broken through.  On top of it, he has a wicked cold.  So, I can't imagine what kind of discomfort he is in.  We do lots of snuggles and I just keep changing my shirt every few hours to give him a fresh place to wipe his boogers and spit.  That is true love, man.  True love 4eva.

XO
G