Thursday, January 17, 2008

Martin Luther King Jr.

Landry is learning about Martin Luther King Jr. this week in school. We talked about him today in the car. I told him about segregation and all of the important changes that MLK helped to bring about. He summed it up for me by saying, "So, now we get to play with black people." Yup, you gotta fight for your right to play with black people.

On our way home today we passed a stinky smell. Landry said, "Okay, who farted?" Sophie, very matter of factly said, "It's just my breath."

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sweet Nothings

I love the way Sophie says "Momma". It's very southern and very little girl. I can't describe it, but it is sweet. Landry has called me mom since he was about three. Unless he is sick or being very sweet. So, when Sophie talks to me and she says, "right momma?" I just love it! I remember when Landry used to call me "mommies" he was one or two and oh so sweet. I also remember when he started talking in sentences. Right after his 2nd birthday we were shopping in a store. We started to leave and he looked up at me and said, "We not going to buy any little boy toys?" I stopped in my tracks and told him not today. He looked at me with these questioning eyes and said, "Little boy have enough toys at home?" I can hear it like it was yesterday. He was so edible!

Last week he told me he learned about "penstofalys" in school that day. He meant apostrophes. Sophie had a headache last week and told me that her head was beeping all day long and she had a tentature in her ear because it was beeping, too. She did have a temperature in her ear. I am glad we don't use the rectal thermometer.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Talent Show is Over!!

Talent Show is over, Talent show is over, talent show is over!!!!! Yeaaaaaah, Yeehaaaw, WoooHoooo! As you may know, this year Landry and 4 friends did a "dance" to Ghostbusters for our 2008 Wood Cruise Line Talent Show. We had 5, 2nd grade boys all decked out in Ghostbusters outfits complete with Protonpacks and Guns who did a dance choreographed by the moms that included a chair routine, fog machines, and a light that projects ghosts swirling around the stage and if that was not enough we also had a bigger than life size Staypuft Marshmallow man who made an appearance on stage only to be shot to death. The part of the marshmallow man was played by non other than my brave and selfless husband. The part of dresser of the marshmallow man was played by me, so neither one of us got to see the actual performance, but as soon as we get the DVD I will put it on the blog. I may actually blog more since I will have more time now. We'll see!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

School is in session and no one died!

Today was the first day back to school after winter break. It was strangely uneventful. I wasn't sure how today would go since the last day of school before winter break was truly one of the hardest days of my life.
As many of you know, my favorite person at Wood Elementary, Ms. Sandy McNutt, retired on that day. Ms. McNutt is my friend, she is my favorite teacher, she is the only reason I drive my kid 20 minutes to school instead of going to the school down the street. She is my family and I love her way too much.
She is the most empathetic person I have ever known. She has the ability to make every person that she knows feel like they are the single most important person to her. I have often watched her talking with people and I marvel at how she never takes her eyes off of them. She focuses on what they are saying. She really listens to them. Her attention makes them feel special and to her they are.She sees potential and she coaxes it out. Kids just beam when they walk away from her. I am not the only person who loves her and considers her personal property. Our whole school is full of love for this woman. So, I knew this would be a sad day. I just didn't realize how hard it would be on me, personally.
We started the day with what I thought was going to be a fun Christmas carol sing-a-long in the school cafeteria. I brought my happy self and my happy daughter up to the school and sat there with Landry's wonderful teacher trying not to cry as each grade level sang a specific song for Ms. McNutt. She cried and cried. My heart just broke watching her hug every kid.

As I was leaving the sing-a-long someone told me that the school was going to line the halls at the end of the day and do the "clap out" for Ms. McNutt. The "clap out" is a Wood tradition where the students line the hallways on the last day of school and clap out the 6Th graders who are on their way to Jr. High. I went to it last year. Mind you, I only had a kindergartner but, I cried like he was leaving for college. So, when I found out the plans for that afternoon, I lost it. I completely broke down sobbing. I don't generally sob. I tear. I sniffle, but I don't sob. But, I could not imagine how unbelievably hard that would be for Sandy. I wanted to take her away right then and say, you don't have to do this. You can stay. I will take care of everything. Actually, I did say that. No luck!

Needless to say, that was a ridiculously hard day. I cried the whole day. People kept asking me if I was okay and I would just break down and try to explain.It was really crazy for me. My head hurt. My eyes were swollen and I had to go get a massage the next day to get rid of the tension I was holding in my body. See people...I have compassion!
I don't even want to know what Sandy had to do the next day to get back in working order.
Anyway....that terrible day was over and I have dreaded today for the past two weeks. I know in my mind that it wouldn't be different. That everything would remain the same, but my heart has a little empty feeling when I think of going up there and she isn't in the building. I also wondered if maybe she would change her mind and show up chained to the front door with a shirt that says, "Hell no I won't go!" Hee Hee...now that would be funny!

It didn't happen. As a matter of fact life went on. Landry did wake up with a stomach ache today. I wondered if I would be going up to the empty, hollow halls of the school to pick him up early today, but he made it through the day and forgot about his stomach ache. The halls weren't hollow or empty. No new regime is coming in to shake things up. It is just another day at Wood. I didn't even have to get out of the car today. Which is a good thing because it is cold as a witches nose! I will miss plopping my butt down in her office and just shooting the breeze. I will miss the security I feel being under her wing, but I am so thankful that she invited me to come to the school that she has made into the amazing place that it is. I don't know what I have done to be so blessed, but God has really put wonderful people in my life who love me as much as I love them. He has guided my steps even when I wasn't aware of it. I hope he keeps doing it. Landry and Sophie, you don't know how blessed you are!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

They will go back to school

Come hell or high water, they will go back to school tomorrow. My kids are bored. The $25,000 worth of toys they got for Christmas have been played with or ignored completely and they are now considered old and boring. Their neighborhood friends started getting on their nerves and they have seen every ridiculous episode of SpongeBob known to man. It is time to go back to school. It is time for schedules and planned activities. It is times like these that reinforce my conviction that I should never home school my children.