10/1/11 Notes to the principal

I can't believe I spent any time writing this message tonight, but I had to.

Our usually sensible principal, who had several conversations with Julian last week, said that Julian himself had come up with a consequence for being sent out of his classroom too many times. If he gets sent out of the class 4 times in a week, the principal would -- ready for this? -- call us out of work and send him home! Home! Now that's a punishment all kids fear. And it was all Julian's idea!

And I thought Gabriel was frustrating. We just can't seem to get it into Julian's head that he has to stop this horrible behavior. He's getting close to getting kicked out of the CDC, in fact. Friday he threw something at a CDC teacher (a clay rock or something), and it hit her in the forehead. When she scolded him, he said, "Well, it didn't knock you unconscious!" THE NERVE!!! I made him apologize to her and say "yes ma'am." That was after ignoring another CDC teacher's instruction to go outside with the rest of his group and so much disobedience that the CDC director took the rare step of calling Dave at work and almost asking him to take Julian home -- and this is without his even knowing about the throwing incident, and without the additional incentive of Gabriel there.

This weekend, I turned down a second playdate for Julian because he's grounded. Any visit to the principal's office is an immediate week of grounding, and Julian was there more times than I can count this week -- four I think, if you include a continued conversation so he could think about "strategies" overnight. Everyone at school and CDC are increasingly frustrated with him. His teacher is requesting an "IST" for him now, which is the start of a formal process to evaluate him and review strategies. At the CDC, they're instituting a behavior plan, something we have to sign and agree to, and which could include us getting called out of work.

We rarely drive at night, but we had on Friday to pick up Dave's car, so I got to hear Julian and Katrina chatting. I was really struck by how Julian embraced the role of teacher. "Did you know that the moon does not produce its own light?" he quizzed Katrina. He told her so many things about stars and the sun that when he stopped, she'd say, "Julian, teach me more about the sky!" He has a keen interest and a clear mind for science -- how do we harness that and turn him around in school?

Katrina has no problem writing and creating, she does it all the time now. This was particularly amusing today.

One more day before I start my new job! And my closet is nowhere closer to being done!

10/1/11

9/30/2011 The Closet

Look at my closet!

Empty, clean, and soon, slightly reconfigured. I'm moving some shelves, removing drawers and adding a few baskets.

Here's the flip side to that., however.

I'm determined that only half those clothes go back IN to the closet!

Major, major trouble with Julian again today. Principal's office at school, huge trouble at the CDC. We're at a loss.

9/30/2011

09/29/2011 School Photos

Finally got my scanner working!

Dave took one look at the photo of Katrina and said, "Did we pay for that?" She's not exactly cooperative for cameras these days.

This year, I didn't do my usual dork thing of insisting they wear their "Class Of..." varsity T-shirts, and I regret that! The colors in these photos are crazy. Still, I'm totally enjoying having this consistent set of photos every year.

9/29/2011

9/27/2011 Bye Bonne Maman

Sniff! Said goodbye to Bonne Maman today, then went for a strangely bad run. I was tired and dragging all the way through, and the 2nd wind never kicked in. Ah well, some days are like that. It reminds me that as much as I'm liking my time off, I'm really looking forward to getting back to work.

Julian has some news!

9/27/2011

9/26/2011 Bonne Maman

Bonne Maman is going home tomorrow! We've had a terrific visit. Despite school getting in the way today, we've gotten to do a lot of things together.

The photos are all from the first day, but this is the sort of thing we occupy our time with.

Making strawberry lemonade.

Playing Gabriel's "Falling Fireballs" game.

Opening gifts. Real hits: Katrina got a dancing purple horse, Julian a book that has split flip-pages that make silly animals, and Gabriel a puzzle game.

Of course, I got my fair share of play too, especially when we cleaned out Los Gatos on our shopping spree.

Today I let Gabriel walk home from school by himself for the first time. He was pretty happy about that.

And with the promise of a bribe, I managed to get a willing shot of all 3 kids with their marvelous grandmother.

I've been enjoying my exodus from reality, but it's going to start coming back tomorrow after I take Bonne Maman to the airport!

9/26/11

9/25/2011 Shopping spree!

It wasn't until we already had a bag packed full of pants from Banana Republic and a stack of shirts and dressings hanging in a fitting room at Title Nine that my Mom put her finger on it: "I haven't been on a shopping spree like this in years!" Sure enough, that's what we were on -- a full-blown haul. It's sort of necessary; I do need non-jean pants to wear to work, but it's also something of an indulgence because now I'm sure I'll be working for a while and won't have a whole lot of time, or desire, to shop. And what fun to do with your mom! Funny, when you have your own daughter, the thing heard most often from other people is what fun it will be to shop with her. Not for me, mother-daughter shopping was the last thing I thought of. But after today, I'm rethinking that! 9/25/2011