1st week of school

Tim made her cute little sign.  

First week of school is done.  Phew.  It was a bumpy start this year.

I loved getting away on a vacation the week right before school, and I wouldn't go back and change a thing,  but .. it turns out that it would have made life a little easier had we gone to the school's open house which took place during that week.  At the open house, parents filled out some important forms, and they also received the teacher's supply list.  At the top of the paper the list is written on, it says to drop the supplies off on the day of the open house.  But that list was not mailed to us before the open house.  It ended up coming home with Delaney on the first day.  That was annoying.  We had used the generic 1st grade list provided on the school's website to do our last minute shopping trip the weekend before.  Her teacher's list was a lot different, and some of the items on it could not be found anywhere.  I've been out and back to several stores looking for things like marble composition books.  And I've experienced a lot of confusion because many of the things I've sent in have been coming back to me in her backpack untouched.  The start of kindergarten seemed to be a lot more organized and less hectic.

It was tough having to get her up at 10 after 6 again.  The bus still picks her up around 7 and drops her off in the afternoon around 3:15.  She already has homework, even though it's review for right now.  We also have to read books together every night.  Delaney is a great reader, but it's hard to get her to do anything when she's in a terrible mood.  She gets plenty of sleep but she's not a morning person, and I think she's just going to need some time to get used to school days again.  I can't blame her for that as we've all been trying to get over our "summer hangover", as Tim put it.  There were times she just collapsed on the floor and cried her eyes out.

Tim didn't go back to work until Wednesday, and I was really glad to have him there to help get Delaney back on track.

Toward the end of last school year, I found it easier to just leave at 7:30 and drive her to school in the morning, and I believe I'll start doing that again.  This way she gets a little more sleep since she doesn't have to get up until around 6:45.  Tim and I disagree a little on this.  He thinks that if I drive her to school, I'm letting her determine the routine since that's what she'd rather do.  Furthermore, if the school provides a bus, why use our own gas to get her there?  Another thing that just occurred to me is that if Delaney gets up later, she'll be missing that time in the morning with Tim before he goes to work, and his days can be very long.  He is also better at dealing with them in those first few minutes, and motivating them to complete their chores (if Delaney's up, Annie is too).  If they sleep until 6:45, Tim will already be out the door and I'll be on my own.  But I did it on my own last year and it was fine.  I also pack her lunch and pick her clothes every night, so that's always done.

On the other hand, her school is a seven-minute drive away, but her morning bus ride is almost an hour.  An hour on the bus to go to a school that's just a few miles away seems excessive to me, and makes her day unnecessarily long.  Once we start extracurriculars, those could be VERY long days.  My neighbor says she's going to start driving her son to school after daylight savings time starts (or ends?), because that's when she starts having a hard time getting him up.  But I see no reason to wait that long if I already know that taking her to school is the better option.  As far as time with Tim in the morning .. hmm.  As long as he's home for dinner most nights, they'll have enough time together.  We gave the morning bus a try this week, and now I think I'll start driving her next week.  I'm still happy with her afternoon bus ride since she's one of the first stops, and because I don't have to interfere with naptime.  The new bus stop is about a stone's throw from our driveway, which is a bonus this year.

Her eczema is starting to flare up again just like I knew it would with increased time spent outdoors in the heat and humidity and less time in the pool.  But she gives me a hard time when I want to put the prescription cream on before school.  I'm trying to help and prevent it from getting as bad as it got in the spring, a scaly mess of broken and red skin on the backs of her knees.  She tries to evade me and half the time the she leaves the house with no moisturizer on her legs.  I put a jar of it in her backpack, but I tried that last year too, and she never remembered to do it.  I made a note about it to her teacher just so she's aware (like if she notices Delaney scratching a ton), but I wouldn't expect the teacher to remind her.  She has enough going on as it is.  How do I get Delaney to take some responsibility for her own skin care?  She starts soccer again in a couple weeks, and I'd hate to watch her have another season of standing on the field itching and barely participating.

Yesterday she got off the bus and started running with a big smile on her face.  It was so nice to see.  She told me that they'd celebrated her birthday at school that day.  She'd gotten to eat a cupcake and pick something out of the treasure box.  She waved her little plastic butterfly excitedly.  ".. And tonight is movie night!  It's the best day ever!"  I'd been holding my breath every day waiting to see which Delaney would get off the bus -- grumpy, happy, or just OK -- so it was a breath of fresh air to see her so joyful.

And now the long weekend begins.  We'll do some shopping at the big mall in Durham and get her some running shoes she can wear with socks.  She hated the cute closed-toe Keen-like sandals I got her this past spring that I thought would be perfect.  Her feet sweated in them.  Annie got a pair like them and her feet sweated too and got super stinky.  Those two have the sweatiest feet around.  I can't buy them those Croc ballet flats anymore either.  Flipflops, completely open sandals, or shoes with socks, those are the options.  We all need some new things so we're going to make a day of it.  It's daunting, but we did it last fall and survived.

Delaney at 3 years, 10 months

Last night our main computer crashed -- really it died, I think.  Before Tim left, he had a feeling this might happen.  So he backed up everything to an external hard drive, and everything has been saved except for the last two months of photos.  They were supposed to be backing up too, but they didn't.  I can't tell you how much this upsets me, but I'm still holding out hope that those pictures can be retrieved with a little help from someone who knows what they're doing.  If Tim were here, this would already be fixed, but he's not, and he can only help me so much through email.  So there won't be any accompanying pictures with this post.  You'll just have to picture in your mind the little girl who first made me a mom -- big brown eyes, a nose that always needs to be wiped, a happy smile, and .. a bare bum.

Delaney has a habit that drives me crazy.  When she uses the bathroom she comes out naked from the waist down and just goes about her business.  I say, "Delaney, put some underwear on!"  But she won't unless I walk up to her with them and help her into them myself.  Whenever she gets home from anywhere, it's like she can't wait to leave her pants/skirt and underwear in a heap in front of the toilet.  I guess she just wants to be free.

She can be so nice to Annie and I think she relishes the role of big sister.  When I told them we would have to take Annie to the doctor again a few days ago, Delaney said to her, "Don't worry, Annie.  I'll be watching you, because I'll be there too."  On the other hand, she does not want to be the recipient of Annie's help.  After I asked Delaney to please go get her underwear and put it on, Annie got up and went to their room, proudly returning moments later with a pair of Delaney's underwear.  "Here, Sissy.  Underwear."  Delaney took it and flung it behind the couch, causing poor Annie to cry.

Delaney has a silly sense of humor.  She'll say things like, "You're a Cheeto!"  or "You're a Cheeto-head!"  After the Mother's Day tea, I now know where she gets it.  The little boys at our table were even more creative, according to their mothers.  "You're a dumpster!"  "Your mom's a dumpster!"  When I drop her off at school, she likes to pull the neck of her shirt up as far as she can over her face, so her teachers will say, "Who is that?" as she's walking in.

I was hoping that this would be the year Delaney outgrew her eczema, but unfortunately, no.  As soon as the temperature went over 75,  it was back.  It's in the same places she always gets it, behind her knees.  I think it started the summer she turned 2.  The only thing that causes it, as far as I know, is warm weather.  She doesn't get it any other time of the year.  When we lived in Massachusetts and Virginia, it didn't come until at least June.  But it got warmer earlier here, so it first appeared in early April.  I've tried so many ointments and creams in the past.  This year I decided I'd go with California Baby all-purpose, "nature's first aid" calendula cream.  I have to catch her and hold her to put it on, even though I'm pretty sure it doesn't hurt her.  The stuff is about $6 an ounce, and as far as I can see it's having no effect.  The eczema is getting no worse, but it's getting no better.  I wish I could find something that worked for her.  It doesn't bother her terribly, but I know it's itchy.  I sometimes see streaks on her legs where she's been itching.  I can empathize because I hate things that itch!

She misses her daddy a lot.  At least once a day she tells me she wants him to come home.  I just tell her I wish he could come home too, but he has a job to do on the big ship.  I tell her he misses her a lot too, and wishes he could come home.  Then when he calls, she doesn't always want to talk.  It depends on her mood.  I feel bad when we won't talk, but I know he understands, it's just her age.

Delaney really melted my heart yesterday.  She was so helpful with getting our new kiddie pool set up.  It was  such a pain!  It was not the inflatable kind.  The sidewalls don't stand until there's a few inches of water in it, and until then I needed her to help hold the sides up so the water wouldn't all go out.  She listened and followed all my instructions patiently.  After it was filled and she got to play in it, she thanked me at least two or three times for getting them this pool, and said, "Happy Mother's Day!"  She's such a sweet little girl.  Seeing her so happy is really its own thanks, but it is especially nice to be be thanked and shown appreciation.