Back to School This Week

Well, I can finally breath a sigh of relief. After a whirlwind week, I have eased the boys back into the school schedule. It was eventful as usual and very entertaining.

This year Gavin started 2ND grade. We missed the open house because we had basketball games so I was super nervous bringing him on his first day. We were quite a scene. Gavin isn't old enough to be embarrassed by us, but it's coming. We randomly checked 2ND grade classrooms until we found his. He has a great teacher. Gavin hid behind my leg as we walked in. Tommy was pushing Finn in the stroller. Scott had been at the beach with the boys recently, so the stroller left a trail of sand everywhere we went. As I held the door for Tommy he shoved the stroller as hard as he could and let go of the handle zooming Finn up to the front of the class. Finn cruised up to the front of the classroom and quickly exited the stroller. In hindsight, I probably should have put the seat belt on. Anyway, I was struggling to help Gavin with his backpack, introduce myself to the teacher and feed Petey who was starting to fuss in the sling. When I looked up, Finn was cruising around the classroom. He was doing laps as fast as he could and squealing as all the students pointed and giggled. Tommy was yelling over the squeals trying to introduce himself and Finn to each and every student. After getting Gavin settled in, I bent over and gave him a kiss like I always do. I was mid kiss when I realized all the other kids where watching and maybe I was embarrassing him. Too late. Poor Gavin. To my relief, he wasn't embarrassed and just yelled, "Bye Mom." I got the little boys wrangled up and we exited. As we were walking down the hall I realized Tommy was pushing an empty stroller. No Finn. I quickly opened the classroom door and found him doing more laps. Once again to my relief, Gavin wasn't embarrassed, he was laughing and pointing right along with the other kids. I apologized to Ms Blust and shooed him out the door. Great first impression. On the positive side, I we ever forget to do a piece of homework or lose the student planner maybe she will have pity on Gavin for having to live in such a crazy house with such a crazy mother. That was day one, after that, things went smoother for Gavin. Again this year we have mastered the parent drop off line. Gavin was a little embarrassed one day this week when the teacher opened the van door and a box of wipes and a sippy cup flew out onto the pavement. The teacher had to crawl half way under the van to pick them up. Now he clears a path before we get up to the parent drop off area. He is doing well adjusting to his glasses. I was pleased to find out that he has even started a club for the other kids with glasses. He's named the club, "The Glass Buddies", he tells me he's the leader. I really feel like this is going to be a great year for Gavin and am excited that we have made it through the first week without any major problems.

Tommy on the other hand is a different story. He started Pre K this year at a local preschool. He came home the first day and told me he got to pick out of the treasure box. How exciting, I thought until two days later he admitted that he really took the little Lego man from the classroom Lego box not the treasure box. Gavin explained to Tommy that "no stealing" was one of the ten commandments. I was proud of Gavin for knowing the ten commandments until he mentioned the next commandment. "Though shall not make sex." What? Where did that come from. I was speechless. Now that I'm replaying it, I realize that I never corrected or questioned him. I'll need to do that before religion starts next week. Don't really want that to come up. Anyway, back to Tommy. I have his backpack all packed for Monday complete with the illegally obtained Lego man. On Monday I have to bring my little criminal in and we have to come clean to Miss Zani. We also have little wardrobe debates everyday. I got smarter by the end of the week. I let him pick out whatever underwear and whatever t shirt he wants. Then I pick out the polo shirt and shorts to cover up his selections. He has not done as well with his glasses. The first day, he told me he loves his new glasses and so do his friends. He explained how he let one of his friends wear his glasses at recess. "Aren't I a good sharer Mom?" I also was under the impression that the school was serving lunch everyday. After two days of him coming home starving and begging for an early dinner, I found out his school doesn't feed him lunch. Whoops. Now I pack him a lunch to eat in the car every day. He tells me he loves holding the classroom turtle and is also excited that he gets to try on high heels in the dress up area. He has been much easier at home because he has been so worn out and tired. Not tired enough to stay out of trouble though, he has just announced to me that he swallowed a button. I gave him a quick lesson on the GI tract and he is now in the bathroom trying to "poop it out."

Finn and Petey are happy to see the boys off to school everyday. Timing is bad for picking up Tommy though. I usually have to walk into his daycare with Petey in his car seat in my right hand and Finn on my left arm fast asleep. Pick up time happens to fall directly in the middle of nap time. So each day, I have to strategize and time things just right so that I arrive at the front door as another parent in hopes that they will have pity on me and hold the door. Luckily there seems to be an abundance of stay home dads that pick up at the same time.

I am not adjusting as well as the boys are. Drop off at 8:00, drop off at 9:00, pick up at 12:00, pick up at 2:30. I long for my summer naps and sleeping in each morning and eating lunch together at the table and watching movies and working in the garden with the boys and spraying them with the hose, going on spur of the moment craigslist pick ups and living for the moment. Now we are back to schedules, deadlines, homework and constant commuting. I am making sure all of our time in the van is productive though. Every morning we have a family meeting and a morning brainstorm. Yesterday morning our topic was how to keep our glasses safe. I let Gavin hold the clipboard and write down all of the ideas. Even the really unreasonable ones like their idea to hire a "glass master" to come to the house every night to clean, inventory and make sure the glasses are ready to go for the next day. After morning brainstorm, we go over the daily itinerary. I have also recently added flossing at stoplights. Tommy did almost lose a finger on Thursday when he wrapped the floss super tight around his pinky. It's the weekend now and I am back to work. We will start over next week with the weekday routine. So my leisurely summer lifestyle is gone and dearly missed but we can't live in a constant state of July now can we?

We got the new glasses

Eye doctor, round two

So today was Gavin's eye doctor appointment. No where near as exciting as Tommy's but entertaining none the less. This time I was prepared. I dressed up in very nice clothes and dressed the boys in their new school clothes. Who dresses up for their eye doctor? We do now. I refused to leave the driveway until everyone showed me their shoes. I left an hour early. I even accounted for the time warp although I still haven't reset the slow kitchen clock. We got the little boys safely dropped off at Miss Tammie's and had time to spare. We found a parking spot very close. I pulled in and parked. As Tommy was about to whip the door open and hit the car next to us, I decided we should move. We were parked in between a BMW and a Lexus. We were trying our best to be sophisticated today but we certainly weren't ready to park this close to expensive cars. We reverted to our old parking spot across the lot and walked. I lectured and threatened the boys all the way across the parking lot. No talking, no fighting, no limping, no asking questions, no coffee etc... Gavin quietly opened the office door for us and we approached the counter like a perfect little family.

Me: I realize I'm 20 minutes early, I always make it a habit to be punctual.

I hoped she didn't remember me from last week. As she handed me the paperwork on a clipboard I handed her the pre printed, completed paperwork that I had already filled out. She beamed at me and made a comment on how well prepared I was. Feeling justified, we took our seat to wait. She then offered me a cup of tea again. This time I was prepared.

Me: Is is imported organic?

Receptionist: Ummmmm I really don't think so.

Me: I think I'll pass, but thank you.

While waiting with my "little angels" the door swung open and hit the wall. A hurried women busted into the waiting room. I could see the familiar frazzled look on her face. She was as under dressed as I had been last week. She tried her best to compose herself as she ushered her teenage daughter into the office. Her daughter was dressed in black from head to toe. She had her nose pierced and more black eyeliner than I've ever seen anyone wear. The mother, obviously annoyed and embarrassed by her daughter, rushed up to the counter as the goth girl slammed the door shut. Are we too late for our appointment she asked the receptionist. The receptionist looked irritated as she looked through the appointment book. But she seemed quite smug when she announced to the mom, and the entire office, "your appointment isn't until tomorrow." The mom let out a long sigh and shook her head leaving the office without another word. The goth girl grabbed three cookies next to the tea pot and walked out. Gavin behaved perfectly throughout his exam. He tried his best, but failed like the rest of us. So it's one more pair of glasses for me to keep track of. He had already picked out his glasses so it didn't take long to order them. He was a little disappointed when the women explained that his glasses wouldn't have the big XGames sticker on the lens like the pair he was trying on. We paid our co pays and headed for the door. Gavin even held the door without being prompted. Victory for us. We may have faked it but I think we pulled it off. No feeling like the outcasts or being embarrassed by something the boys said. We probably weren't even the talk of the office staff today. I was smiling and feeling like I had the best little gentlemen in the world when I noticed the boys weren't walking by my side anymore. They were wrestling in the wet grass directly in front of the office window. I hopped through the wet grass and tried to untangle them. Gavin was squealing while Tommy sat on his chest pulling his hair. I finally separated them and held onto their little hands tightly as we tromped back toward the sidewalk. Mom, I think I stepped in dog poop. Back to my world again. Good bye gentlemen, welcome back rambunctious little boys!

Lets get Glasses

So we've had vision insurance for over three years and haven't used it. With the economy in the state it's in I have taken a long hard look at all the resources I currently have and have been making sure I am taking full advantage of all of them. So I decided to finally use the insurance. It was quite a process picking an office from the endless list of accepted doctors. A friend recommended a local office so I called to make four appointments. I figured Finn and Petey were still too young to be screened. I wanted to make all four appointments on the same day. Of course this was against office policy. When I asked the receptionist why she explained that if we failed to show up for our appointment, the entire office would have nothing to do for those four hours. After some thought and a look at our history I realized she had a good point. I settled for two at a time. Tommy and I would go first and then Scott and Gavin later. The receptionist did give me one really good idea. She suggested I go to the website and print out all the new patient paperwork so that I could have it filled out ahead of time. I think I still have a blister from filling out four health history sheets on each person. Tommy could hardly wait. The day finally came and I thought I was really prepared. I woke up early and packed the little boys up to go to Miss Tammie's. I actually left the house 15 minutes earlier that required. I put everyone in the van, took roll call and then glanced at the clock. What? There must have been a time warp between the kitchen and van clocks. I glanced at my cell phone and confirmed, we were late again. I called Miss Tammie to let her know it was going to be a "drive by" drop off. She confirms and says, I'll meet you with my truck so you don't have to drive all the way to my house (this is why a real daycare won't work for me). We agree on a location. I arrive a minute early than she does so I get the kids out of their seats. Finn is playing with the big boys shoes, trying them all on. Miss Tammie pulls up, I throw her the back pack and the little boys (along with Gavin's right shoe on Finn's foot, I'll notice this later). We peel out of the driveway not slowing down for the speed bumps (this could be why I have a bent rim). Anyway, we're off to the eye doctor. I call ahead to let them know we're running late. I explain that got caught up in some construction traffic. This is a great excuse, we had good intentions and it wasn't our fault. I take the back way thinking it's a short cut, come around the corner and run directly into some road construction. As the man holds up his little red stop sign, I realize this is exactly what I deserve for lying. He changes his sign from stop to slow and I think yeah right and race past him. I fly into the parking lot and start to circle the plaza. On my second circle I start to think, I can't find this place and I have 20/20 vision. What if I had a cataract or was blind in one eye, I would definitely need a seeing eye dog just to find this place. On the third circle I actually see it. There's a microscopic sign over the door. It's busy. We park and I whip open the van doors. I snap at the boys to grab their shoes and run. I wait and wait and wait. What's going on in there. Tommy appears with his shoes on but Gavin remains in the van with his head under the back seat. He can't find his shoe. I start ripping the van apart looking for shoes. We manage to find three left shoes but no pairs. We are now 15 minutes late for our appointment. I instruct Gavin to pick one of the left shoes, put it on and follow me. He's very concerned that he only has one shoe on. I tell him to be discreet. He is even more concerned that he doesn't know what discreet means. I give him a ten second explanation and show him different body positions to use to cover up the fact that he is missing one shoe. He doesn't seem convinced but we have no choice. I fling open the front door and we bust through into the waiting room. Gavin is side stepping to hide his sock foot. I'm out of breath and Tommy is loudly asking questions x-ray vision. I quickly realize that this is a very upscale office. I'm under dressed and the boys have never been to an etiquette class. I try to blend in (not possible) as we walk to the front desk. We wait behind a mother and son. The son's name is Benjamin Carrington the third. I'm not joking. After a very uncomfortable few minutes it's our turn. I tell her our names but call Tommy, Thomas ,middle and last name, the seventh. She doesn't get the joke and announces to the rest of the office that the lady that was late is here. In hopes of redeeming myself for putting the entire office 20 minutes behind, I hand her my paperwork already filled out. I'm hoping she's impressed; she isn't. With an annoyed look, she tells us to sit down. I survey the room, we either have to sit next to the woman with the patch over her eye or Benjamin Carrington the third and his mother's Coach purse. I decide to throw caution to the wind and sit next to the patch lady, after all she's probably answered lots of pirate questions before. Gavin sits next to her and carefully crosses his legs so that his shoe foot is in the front. I wink at him. Tommy selects a TIME magazine and climbs up next to Gavin all the while keeping an eye on the patch. To my relief, we are quickly called back. First we have some pictures of our eyes taken. This is fairly uneventful. After this we are escorted to our examine room. I notice the woman glance at Gavin's sock foot . She doesn't comment, so I offer no explanation. In the room Tommy sits in the examine chair first. Gavin and I share the chair in the corner. It's about 60 degrees in the office, conveniently they have a blanket laying over the back of the of the chair. Gavin sees this as a perfect opportunity, he takes the blanket and wraps it around his sock foot. Good cover up, I'm sure this won't draw any extra attention. I try to keep Gavin from calling out all the correct answers as Tommy bombs the vision test. I make sure to praise Tommy at the end of each test. It's so sad to see him get all the answers wrong. I'm worried about his self esteem but then it gets worse. The doctor asks, "how long has he had that droopy eyelid? Me: Droopy eyelid, what droopy eyelid? Doctor: His right one. Me: I never noticed it, I still don't see it. Doctor: It won't affect anything medically, but we can do surgery to correct it cosmetically. Me: OK, I'll keep an eye on it. Now it's my turn. I instruct both boys to share the waiting chair while I sit in the examine chair. I always had great vision but over the last two years it has started declining. The doctor explained that pregnancy and nursing can affect vision temporarily and possible permanently. He asks if I have recently been breast feeding or pregnant. I laugh. Only the last seven years. The boys laugh and laugh as I miserably fail the vision test. I want to point out to droopy eye that he didn't do so hot himself but I let him enjoy the laugh. Lord knows he won't have many happy moments in his life living with the droopy eye. I look at him across the room again to asses the drooping. I swear I don't notice it. I decide if they ask again if I'm interested in surgery I'll tell them I'm just going to buy a patch. Do they sell them? What colors are they available in? The doctor is very kind and writes us out two prescriptions. H doesn't mention the cosmetic surgery again but we both need glasses. Tommy is thrilled, he can't wait to pick out a pair. Next we are escorted back out into the waiting area, this time Gavin limps. His cover ups are getting worse and worse. Back in the snooty waiting area I am offered a cup of tea. I've never had tea and don't really want to try any today so I decline. Tommy lets the receptionist know he'll take a cup of coffee. I'm humiliated. I smile and try to distract him. Gavin has now forgotten about his shoe issue and is laughing hysterically as he tries on the women's glasses. Tommy makes a beeline for the sports goggles. I quickly round them up and sit down to wait for the glasses fitter lady. She starts with Tommy. She has him try on several pairs commenting on all of them, too large for his face, wrong color for his eyes, too strong for his features etc... Thankfully she does not comment on his droopy eye. She finally finds the perfect pair for him. She has him show me and then asks my opinion. I approve. She turns her back to Tommy and motions for me. I look her way and she bends the glasses in half. She lets go and they immediately spring back into their original position. Then she says to me. These are good for the more rambunctious ones. I like to show the parents this feature, but I never show the kids. I like her. Next she fits Gavin for glasses. The entire time, Gavin is standing on one foot, the shoe foot. Again, not really very effective, but he's really putting a lot of effort into it. I explained to her that Gavin was coming in next week for his appointment. She thought Tommy and Gavin were getting glasses, not Tommy and I. Gavin was very disappointed as I corrected her. She filled out the paperwork for Tommy and then turned to me. What style do you have in mind for yourself? I think to myself, something slightly frumpy, loud and preferably a trend or two behind. I smile and say I'd like to stick with something "smart casual". Heard this on a wedding invitation not long ago and liked the sound of it. The lady nods and gathers up a few frames. She tries several on me and stands back to analyze. She grimaces at a few and then claims to have picked out the perfect pair. She seems satisfied and I actually do like them. They're copper colored and have a little bit of sparkle. I agree these are the perfect pair and we move on to the paper work to order them. She offers me about 14 different upgrades. I look over toward the front desk and see droopy eye and the one legged boy talking to the receptionist. Tommy is requesting coffee again. Where did this come from? I quickly let the glasses lady know that I'll stick with whatever upgrades my insurance covers. I quickly walk across the waiting room as Tommy helps himself to two cookies sitting next to the tea pot. I make our co pays and we are given our disposable "I've just been dilated" sunglasses. I breath a sigh of relief, we've made it. I open the front door and step out into the blazing sun, I immediately start digging for the ridiculous glasses. I feel like a vampire as the sun burns my eyes. Tommy has already figured his out. I fumble to open mine. Gavin is very interested and wants to wear some. I decide he was such a good sport about the one shoe so he deserves them. We cross the parking lot back to our car me squinting but relieved to have made it through the appointment, Gavin hopping on one foot to avoid burning his sock foot on the blacktop and Tommy proudly prancing and sporting his new disposable glasses.

A little update, the appointment was two days ago and he is still wearing the disposable glasses. He has also figured out that they fit the cat. When he is not wearing them on his face he has been clipping them to his shorts.

Flower Children

Several weeks ago, in an effort to spend more quality time together, I planted sunflower seeds with the boys. I like my garden to have neat tidy rows, but with the boys helping me I had to relax a little. They dug the trench , while trampling my strawberry plants and scattered in the sunflower seeds. Scatter isn't really the right word. Gavin gently placed, Tommy flicked and Finn mashed the seeds into the soil. After covering our trench with more soil, I picked up all the extra seeds that were thrown all over the garden. We probably planted 20 or 30 seeds in a trench that was only three feet long. The spacing on the package suggested 12 inches apart. I pointed out to Gavin that there is a difference between a suggestion and an order. A week later the sunflowers had actually popped up. I know this is the usual process, but it is always such a pleasant surprise when it actually happens. We have been really busy over the last week, so I haven't monitored their progress very much. I glanced out the window this morning and was pleased to see some smiling yellow sun flower faces. I threw on one blue and one khaki colored crock and went out for a closer look. I was surprised to see that the sunflowers were all different heights. We planted them all at the same time all of them were the same type. As I was examining them, I noticed there were six. That's funny, one for each family member I thought. But as I looked closer I noticed they really symbolized our family, there were two really tall ones for Scott and I, and then four others descending in height. This was really neat. I started to analyze them more closely. Scott's had bloomed already while mine hadn't. Maybe that was supposed to mean he was where he wanted to be in his life career, spiritually, health etc... and I still had some growing to do (finish nursing school among other things). Yes, this was all making perfect sense. I examined Gavin's flower, it was straight and thinner than the rest (Gavin always "walks the straight and narrow"). Petey's flower must have pushed out of the earth just days ago. It was still so small and fragile. This is really incredible, I thought. Then I got to Tommy's flower, it was beautiful from behind. But as I turned the face to look at me, I was horrified to find two big beetles eating all the yellow fluff out of the middle. I was all distraught trying to interpret what this could possibly mean for his future when I realized I had taken my Sunflower Reading way too far. So I back tracked a bit. I smiled as I remembered us on planting day, like bulls in a china shop the little boys trampled through the garden pulling up my marker stakes, cracking off a cabbage head and leaning into the cucumber fence until it tipped over. It was just one more family memory I like to think they will cherish forever. Planting day was wild but the end result was beautiful and pretty ironic that we ended up with a perfect sunflower family.