Putting the Pressure on at Five

I got a bit upset today when Jack didn't get an award at his first grading period awards ceremony (yes, there is such a thing). He got such a rave review from his kindergarten teacher Mrs C. last week that I really thought he'd be up there with his friends getting something for accomplishment or effort but no, he didn't. He got a certificate for 100% attendance which he was very proud of, bless him.

All the worries have now flooded back that I've sent him to kindergarten too soon. He's 9 and 10 months younger than his friends who got those awards today. Is he going to spend all of his school life always trying to catch up and not grasping concepts that older kids can grasp? When we got home I was probably a bit hard on him while he did his homework and I've told him he needs to buckle down a bit more. Sounds a bit harsh doesn't it, for a 5-year-old, but the standard testing at these schools is rigorous to say the least.

One bright spot of the ceremony was sitting next to a wonderful woman who lived miles away in another school district and her son travelled on the school bus to this school at 6.30am every morning. He has cerebral palsy and when he started at school couldn't talk and he sat in a chair and now he's walking unaided and speaking and taking grade-level math and science. When he got his award his mum was clapping and crying and she set me off, of course. Her son was such a bright and happy lad I felt uplifted just watching him. She kept telling me how wonderful the school and the teachers were and how she hopes her son can always attend it (she has to put her name in the lottery every year because she lives so far away). Anyway, she was an amazing lady and I've been thinking about her a lot tonight.

As for Jack, well we'll just have to help him more. Try and integrate school work into all the fun things we do and also limit telly, as that has got a bit obnoxious the last few months. I want him to be happy and to love school but I'm also going to have to make myself be more of a hard-ass when it comes to the academics. It seems so wrong somehow - to be putting that kind of pressure on a five year old. Shouldn't he just be catching frogs and saving the universe?

Wishing I had a Theme but Oh Well.....

Today's post is a bit broken biscuits, sorry.

I've been thinking all day about a "theme" for my blog - you know, about cooking or having liposuction or giving up alcohol or having a boob job. That kind of thing. I'm also reading a book written by a blogger (The Happiness Project) and thought about plagiarising her stuff but I'm too honest (ha ha ha). As it turns out, I have no themes in my life - just bonkers stuff most of the time. So there you are.

And here's my bonkers stuff ...

Last week I posted about having sniffles and starting to take zinc supplements. A professor at work told me to take them and when I acted like I didn't know about zinc and the onset of a cold he was really surprised as he thought it was common knowledge that it stops a cold, based on sound research. And that made me feel like an uneducated moron (professors do that to you) but then a colleague of mine said they didn't work. Well I'm here to tell you that they are AWESOME!!! I've been taking zinc for a week and my cold did not materialise at all. I swear. Cost about $6 for a week's worth and worth their weight in gold.

Next up, our lad Jack has been taking swimming lessons and has graduated from levels 1-3 and now they've advanced him to school level 2 - which basically means he's a fish and it's not my doing. This summer in Michigan he swam in that lake every day with his dad and that's what did it. Hurrah for dads because they are fabulous when it comes to raising a son.

Hey! I finally captured his favourite zombie pose!

And lastly, it's XFactor tomorrow night and I'm having guests over who love it like I do. We are going to howl for Josh Krajcik and Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene like a pack of coyotes ( and drink and eat fabulous food of course). Craig and I have always tried to enjoy this with a party - we may not do much adult partying these days but we do try with this one. I hope one day that Josh Krajcik does "Try a Little Tenderness"...

Tongue Twisters

Jack recently had hold of a fly swatter and exclaimed "look mum! I have a fly flopper! and no matter how many times I corrected him he just couldn't get it. Not that I tried too hard as it was very cute. The lady with us, Susan, said that for the longest time one of her nieces couldn't say magazines, but pronounced it "mazagines" which is something I can really see myself doing.

As a kid I couldn't say "car park" (the term for parking lots in England). To this day I still say par cark 90% of the time and have to stop and think about it before I open my mouth. Thankfully my gaffe it's not as rude as poor Bridget Jones when she keeps pronouncing her bosses name tits pervert instead of Fitzherbert. Jack also can't pronounce ravioli (laviloli) and think (stink - as in "do you know what I stink moma?"). And Danny can't say caterpiller so asks me in the most ridiculously sweet voice if I can read the hungry paterpiller book to him. How cute! I hope he's still doing that when he's 40, as long as he's left the house and is with someone and happy. If he's saying paterpiller and living in my basement and watching porn all day then I'll be worried.

Well that was a short post for today. I'm a bit buggered to be honest. But I would like to hear if any of you have a particular tongue-twister you just can't master.

My Little Zombie

We are home! Woo hoo! There's nothing like pulling up outside of your house after a major road trip, knowing you're going to walk into a nice clean home. We had a fabulous trip with friends that we should have made the effort to see sooner but time just whizzes by.

I laughed when I saw this picture close-up. Jack is being a Zombie and was practicing his zombie faces in the car on the way home. I told him I'd take some pictures of his different zombie faces so we could choose his best look.

A couple of things Susan and Leonard said has resonated with me. Mostly about taking time to enjoy family and friends, no matter how busy you are. They have reconnected with family after many many years and feel strongly that all those silent years were wasted. I couldn't agree more - nothings more important than family, not matter how wacky they are!

Both boys are zonked out in bed and we are watching Walking Dead before bed as we are knackered too - we had to sleep with a kid each last night because Danny refused to sleep with Jack. Both Craig and I were kept awake most of the night by the running, jumping and crazy dance moves they do in their sleep. At one point Jack told Craig he was walking on stilts while he was sleep talking!

So a great weekend was had and now back to reality. As I tucked Jack in bed tonight he whispered "Mommy, you forget to take pictures of my zombie faces". Awwww.

Nashville's General Jackson

Today has been marvelous but now I'm cream-crackered.

Due to the time change, the boys got up at SIX FIFTEEN, but then we got going and met our friends and had a smashing time in Nashville, Tennessee!

The reason for our visit: Craig's friend Leonard (& his girlfriend Susan who wasn't on this pic). They were such fantastic hosts and I can listen to the Tennessee accent all day. I can definitely get used to being called honey all the time.

They had booked us onto the General Jackson paddleboat ship for the afternoon for a lunch cruise and show.

The lunch and show were fabulous - full of southern charm and the music was awesome. The band was a music comedy groups that did impressions of famous country singers and they had a fiddle player that brought down the house.

My boy Danny. He was 110% from 6.15am until he crashed about 4pm in the car.

Once again I feel bad for saying this but these kinds of trip would be so much more enjoyable without worrying about your energetic toddler throwing himself overboard, running away and throwing his fork into someone's soup. Jack made firm friends with Susan's niece Bethany and they played all day.

Me and mine.

After the boat trip we toured around General Jackson's Hermitage and then Broadway Street downtown, The Parthenon and the Grand ol Oprey Hotel and the Ryman Auditorium.

I love this city!

Store Your Cones Somewhere Else Cincinnati!

We finally got to our hotel in Nashville after 7.5 hours of what should have been a six hour drive.

We hit horrendous traffic all the way through Cincinnati and crawled for what seemed like 50 miles. At one point we drove past 15 miles of big orange cones sat out FOR NO REASON. At which point Danny was kicking the back of my driver's seat and Jack was singing nonsense songs so I turned the radio up full-blast (hey, if you can't beat them, join them) and "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC was on, which just about summed up the moment. Next was "Shake it up" by The Cars but by this point Danny was mad about the loud music and shouted "I don't wanna shake it up!" and we all burst out laughing. Family crisis averted thanks to the Big D.

The good thing about travelling from Ohio to Tennessee is that you gain an hour so while my body says it's 11.30pm right now, my phone tells me it's only 10.30pm. Bonus!

Seriously, a couple of ciders and then bed. Boys are already zonked out. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We are here visiting friends and looking forward to some fun. Cody got left behind with our new dog-sitter that we found on Craigslist. It felt odd handing the keys of my house over to a complete stranger & I am so paranoid that I told all my neighbours to watch her like a hawk and take the b**ch down if she makes a wrong move. Ha ha ha..

Who Needs Plastic Crappy Toys?

I've been asking a man at my work to keep an eye out for great big boxes that will entertain my kids and today he came up trumps. When I dragged it in the house both boys were so excited they resorted to their evolutionary roots and ran around like monkeys for 10 minutes, clapping their hands and shrieking.

After Danny boy had gone to bed, our lad Jack pleaded to be allowed to fall asleep in the box in our bedroom and then "take me to bed when I'm sleeping, pleeeease"

How can you not let a little boy of five go to sleep in his camp, deep in the woods, while he fights off bears and only has a small LED candle for comfort? Craig and I sat in the front room and heard of his escapades until all went quiet and our little boy fell asleep.

Bless.

A Proud Day for This Mama

I knew it was going to be a good day when my first conversation at 7.15am was a discussion with Daniel that while I understood he was in fact Darth Vader he still wasn't allowed to run in the house.

Then this afternoon Craig and I had our first parent-teacher conference with Jack's kindergarten teacher and it was fabulous. To sit and hear a teacher rave about your child is a marvelous experience that actually gave me a big lump in my throat. She said that he's so cheery and keen to get involved that he helps her sort things out in the classroom (she called him her secret boss) and she kept chuckling and saying "he cracks me up!" Now, he's one of the youngest in his class and he's got some work to do to keep up but she has set us some tasks over the next few weeks to help him and he has to practice his numbers more. I asked her if I made the right decision letting him start rather than holding him back a year and she said absolutely yes - he's doing great. What a relief!

And as an update from last night. The phantom polling station nose-biter has been found and arrested and our carrot & orange soup was a bit hit! And late tonight the Penn State coach and President of the University have been fired. I know that some fans are really unhappy about that but I read the 23-page indictment and I don't think there could be any other conclusion.

Bad Guys & Soup

I was going to do a post tonight about my carrot and orange soup. You know, post the recipe and then show photos of Craig cooking it (come on, you know that I wouldn't cook). It turned out marvelous and I hope those teachers tomorrow are very grateful and give Jack an "A" or there'll be trouble at t'mill as we say in Lancashire.

So what could possible be stopping me from blogging about soup? Well more important things actually.

It was mid-term election day today in Ohio and I can't vote but obviously have a vested interest since I've lived here for 12 years and pay taxes (rather ironic wouldn't you say that the Boston Tea Party was started because of "no taxation without representation" and yet that is where I find myself). Anyway, Issue 2 was a "no" and I'm mostly happy about that. The Governor was trying to take away Union rights which I think might have been a popular subject had he not lumped in the firemen and policemen. But it looks like some school Levy's didn't pass and I'm not happy about that. The failing of a school levy (tax) means that teachers, buses and programs like sports and art could get cut. The one kind-of funny story from the polls today was the man that got his nose bitten by a poll-booth employee who was mad at him & then ran off. It takes all sorts!

The other big story of the day here is that the football program at Pennsylvania State University has imploded with charges of child abuse by a retired assistant coach called Sandusky. To give an English equivalent - this would be like finding out that an assistant coach at Man United had been abusing kids for years (college football is huge in the USA and this is one of the best and most revered teams). The coach (think Ferguson) said he was told about the abuse of a 10-year old in 2002 and that he did what was legally necessary by informing his two bosses. Another assistant coach who walked into the shower block to witness a 10-year old being anally raped was the one that told him. Now, I have thought about this a lot today. If I walked into a shower block and saw a grown man raping a 10-year old I would jump on his back, beat him senseless and cause such a fuss that everyone in a 50-yard radius would call the police. Wouldn't you? But none of them did anything to stop it and the abuse went on for another 7 years, until 2009. Several boys from 8-14 years old were abused during that time and there are probably more. So at this point the assistant coach, the coach, two big bosses and a janitor have seen all this go down. The two big bosses were arrested today. The big question of the day is if the revered and much-loved coach, who's 84 and an icon, should "retire". I'm baffled tonight by the swell of support and the chant of "we are Penn State!" when he emerged from a car, smiling, on the news. I want to barf.

And lastly who could ignore Herman Cain, the GOP candidate that is refusing to acknowledge the FOUR woman that have accused him of sexual harassment. It reminds me of that Iraqi Minister of MisInformation that stood defiant in front of a bank of TV cameras, denying that international troops were in Iraq, as the American soldiers danced behind him.

Fighting the Sniffles

Last night I started to feel like a cold was on the way and today the weariness and heavy head has started. I am taking zinc supplements and drinking tea with honey and drinking tons of water and hoping I can make it through quick and painless! I don't have time to get a cold right now, much as I'd like to lay in bed for a few days sipping tomato soup and reading (good grief that sounds like heaven doesn't it!)

We've got a lot coming up - school conferences, swimming lessons, Veteran's Day, a trip to Nashville, Thanksgiving, Craig's birthday and then Christmas! Only 47 Days 3 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to go at posting time! Jack has already started to get a little buzz about it and I have too if I'm honest. It's funny how I've gone from somewhat blase to completely fanatical about it now that I have kids. The Target toy catalogue arrived today so I gave Jack a pen and let him go at it - circling the toys on each page that his heart desires. I remember me & my sister doing that as kids and spending hours poring over it. Of course we never got the toys but that's not the point.

But first things first. We've got Jack's first parent-teacher conference this week and I volunteered to make soup for the PTA. I'll be making cream of carrot and orange soup and hoping I don't botch it. As you know, cooking is not my forte!

Hold that Garbage Man Thought Jack!

Good grief I'm tired tonight - probably because the clocks wet back last night huh. The boys were up fairly early and then I took them to a 6-year old's birthday party. I'm not sure what it is about kid's birthday parties but they completely bugger me up. That's the 2nd 6 year-old I know of now in Jack's class which means they have a good 9-10 months on him age-wise. I do hope he's not struggling to keep up with these older kids.

I met a mum today that I really liked. She's actually the Nana but raising the little girl as her own since she told me that the real mum (her daughter) isn't ready to be a parent. This woman was so interesting and funny. She's a professional career woman but also a musician and a psychic reader, and got the most beautiful and piercing eyes I have ever seen. She told me some people are afraid of her, that they think she's a witch and I laughed but silently agreed. She gave me her card and I'm itching to go and get a reading! She asked me a few questions about Jack & Danny and then gave me a few snippets on what she believes they will be like in life, based mainly on their birth signs. It's really interesting to have someone tell you what path they think your kids will take and what their adult personalities will be like. I'm especially glad that she told me Jack would be a carer, like a veterinarian, since he told me recently that he wants to be a garbage man.

Craig think it's all twaddle of course but I've always loved this stuff. My last reading was in New Orleans in 2004 when a lady on the street in Jackson Square told me I'd have 2 kids and I said no way I wanted kids! and then went partying in the French Quarter with Craig and we both laughed at the suggestion.