Ordinary time goes past pretty fast, both on the Church calendar and in life. We're two months and a half months into the school year--far enough in to have set routines and find familiar footing, but not far enough for boredom and restlessness. Canadian thanksgiving and Halloween are behind us, we've marked Remembrance Day, and Advent waits ahead, but not quite close enough to be stressful.
Gui and Pascal are already thinking about Christmas, of course. They have both asked for Lego. Pascal wants a remote controlled car (again...he broke the one he received last year), and Gui has been begging me for a Wii for months. I've warned him that the Christmas budget might not stretch that far, but he says there's no harm in asking, is there? He also wants a Kindle, a digital camera (to make Lego stop-motion movies), and books.
Next Monday the boys bring home interim report cards/progress reports. Gui's teacher seems to have a pretty good handle on him, and I think he's doing pretty well academically. We have a formal IEP for the ADHD diagnoses, which mostly just means that the small accommodations his teacher makes already are on record, so that he can have similar accommodations (like separate seating) when they do the provincial standards testing later this year. It's hard to know how Pascal is doing, as his teachers are not terribly communicative, and neither is he. He brings home crafts on a weekly basis, and if I'm sneaky I can sometimes catch him reading to himself, so I know he's making progress there. There will be parent-teacher interviews Monday evening, so we'll see what his teacher has to say.
Aetheline is home with me, which is a mixed blessing. I'm grateful that we have time together, but I struggle with juggling workflow and a two year old. She's only at her sitter's once a week now, both because I can't afford more, and because her sitter is getting ready to go back to the workforce herself, once her youngest starts Kindergarten. Sometimes it feels like a Catch-22...I can't put the kind of focus needed to progress professionally unless I put Aetheline in full time childcare, but I can't afford full-time childcare unless I progress enough professionally to pull in more income. I could apply for a childcare subsidy, but I'd have to find a daycare that qualifies, and I don't think there are any close by. Besides, I like the atmosphere of a small home-based childcare...and so does Aetheline.
It always strikes me how different every child is. Aetheline has been potty-training, and it's a completely different experience than attempting to potty train the boys was. She's self-motivated--I give stickers out, but most of the time both she and I forget about them. She just enjoys the accomplishment of going on the potty instead of in a diaper or in her pants. She's much more body-aware than either of my boys were. Of course, now that she has the whole process figured out--right down to emptying the pot herself--she's become a bit more lax about it and we've had a few puddle incidents. Still, it's been enjoyably low-stress and pressure-free.
She's talking more and more each day, too. The boys still get very excited when they hear her speak in identifiable phrases. I wonder how long it will take before it is old hat to them?
Aetheline is home with me, which is a mixed blessing. I'm grateful that we have time together, but I struggle with juggling workflow and a two year old. She's only at her sitter's once a week now, both because I can't afford more, and because her sitter is getting ready to go back to the workforce herself, once her youngest starts Kindergarten. Sometimes it feels like a Catch-22...I can't put the kind of focus needed to progress professionally unless I put Aetheline in full time childcare, but I can't afford full-time childcare unless I progress enough professionally to pull in more income. I could apply for a childcare subsidy, but I'd have to find a daycare that qualifies, and I don't think there are any close by. Besides, I like the atmosphere of a small home-based childcare...and so does Aetheline.
It always strikes me how different every child is. Aetheline has been potty-training, and it's a completely different experience than attempting to potty train the boys was. She's self-motivated--I give stickers out, but most of the time both she and I forget about them. She just enjoys the accomplishment of going on the potty instead of in a diaper or in her pants. She's much more body-aware than either of my boys were. Of course, now that she has the whole process figured out--right down to emptying the pot herself--she's become a bit more lax about it and we've had a few puddle incidents. Still, it's been enjoyably low-stress and pressure-free.
She's talking more and more each day, too. The boys still get very excited when they hear her speak in identifiable phrases. I wonder how long it will take before it is old hat to them?
