I’m Back

This is my first post in many many months. Sorry about that. Most days my mind is blank and I can’t think of anything to write but I finally broke down after my husband asked me when I was going to write something after the 50th time. (wink, wink)

So life’s just creeping by. I haven’t saved the world or anything. Things at work have been getting better. I’m FINALLY more confident. That was not an easy task as I’m better at telling myself I can’t rather than I can.

My daughter seems to be doing good in school. Improving on reading but still her weakest subject. She loves math and barely complains about having to do homework. The spelling curriculum this year is very different. Instead of giving them a list to practice and test on each week she gets one list to sporadically practice for two weeks and then she’s tested. I’ve found that I have to make her practice more at home because her scores have dropped in spelling due to this change.

We’ve been suffering through “snowmageddeon”. It’s getting old… not sure what mother nature has against us. So yes, I do take advantage of our “fossil fuel” energies just like all other American’s but I didn’t discover any of this stuff for the rest of the world to use and kill our environment. Maybe a weekend with the Amish will help us to figure out how to live without power for another weekend. Although, I’m not sure how we’ll get through another “powerless” weekend without strangling each other. Well, we really shouldn’t complain because there are so many people in worse situations than ourselves. Look at Haiti, I’m sure they don’t complain as much as us spoiled Americans despite all that they have to go through on a daily basis.

So our family project is trying to make a Lego town for our train set. Putting together the kits are fun and relaxing. It is a good stress reliever. I’m so proud of myself that I can build a model designed for 7 to 12 year olds. I wasn’t a Lego kid when I was young but there’s something about building that’s just calming. Especially after looking at numbers all day. Sometimes it’s nice to do something with your hands that has color and you can be creative. Speaking of creative, my husband’s going to have to find fun creative ways to sort out the massive plastic bin of old Legos that we bought off of my 12 year old brother. It’s become a daunting task and I’m sure he’s having nightmares of little Lego men chasing him. Well at least I think he’s having nightmares because he’ll suddenly scream “No, No! Go away Lego man! I’m gonna build something to blast you away! I’ll be back in an hour!” Just kidding!! Although after playing with those little blocks of color for several hours you can visualize them when you close your eyes. I’m not sure how far we’ll get with this project but I think it would be awesome to have a whole train village made of Legos.

Another little activity that’s a great way for my daughter and I to bond is painting pottery. We found a cute little clay painting shop in our town and we’ve become addicted. Again, it’s one of those things that’s just relaxes you. You can paint the stress away. I have absolutely no artistic talent but I love doing that.

Hmmm… thinking of what else I can write about it. Right now, I’m watching my daughter spread papers all over the living room floors while the dogs look bored out of their minds.

Well it has certainly been a long time since I wrote. Our Christmas was nice. My lovely husband bought me an Easy Bake Oven and A Claymation Christmas.  Two wonderful childhood memories.  Thank you husband! You are the greatest.  New Years Eve was okay.  We went to First Night Pittsburgh walked around and watched some shows.

My daughter has a love for animals so we have been trying to visit Hog Heaven Rescue Farm in Cochranton PA.  They are an awesome little farm that cares for abused and neglected horses, pigs, alpacas, and donkeys.  It’s a place where she is actually old enough to volunteer and feel like she is being helpful.

So I’m out of things to write about for now but I hope to be back soon.

First Childhood Crush

I am not an expert in parenting and this is my first time being a parent but I recently found out that my 8 year old daughter has a crush on a boy in her class.  I honestly think I’m in denial somewhat because I still see her as a baby.  Obviously, it’s okay for her to like someone in an innocent way.  If she smiles at him excessively and gives him a valentine, okay.  As long as she is not hiding uder a table kissing him then I am fine.

Looking briefly online, I see mixed responses on this subject.  Some people say as early as 7 while others said age 11 for the first crush.  I’m assuming that it depends on the child and their emotional development.  Boys will naturally have a first crush at a later age simply because they are less emotional than girls.  It was funny how a child shows that they are interested in another.  Girls will do the goofy notes and phone calls while boys may play rough or tickle someone.

Since my daughter is more of a tomboy she will tickle and play rough instead of the “princess” I love you mushy stuff. 

This is a new adventure in my parenting life and I will try my best to talk to her about the appropriate and safe ways to have a crush.  My biggest fear is that she will not have the self confidence to say no to a boy when she gets older.  She may depend on a boy to make her feel good about herself and that’s where a good child could make a major mistake that will leave a deep scar on their life.

Personally, if I could do it all over again, I would have waited until marriage. I was 19 and unwed when I had my daughter.  If I had waited, this would mean that my first child would have been born out of love and I probably would have been able to bond with her so much better.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter so much and I just wish I would have picked a better time in my life.  I may not have my own insecurity issues and would have been more confident if I would have waited to have that “first time” and many more.

This society frustrates me because you are considered the “odd ball” if you are still a virgin at age 18.  Is anyone aware of the damage that we are doing to ourselves deep down? It may be fun and “feel good” while we’re doing it but at what cost?  Honestly, abstinence should be encouraged more and not just by adults telling teens.  Teens need to really consider this themselves too.  I believe that it would have been worth the wait.

Parent Teacher Conferences

It’s that time of the school year again for parent teacher conferences.  Lucky for us my daughter’s was cancelled by her teacher and she’ll reschedule for another date.  I’m not too concerned anyway about the conferences as much as I was in the past.  She seems like she’s making more improvements and she’s more confident.  Granted, she does have an IEP so these conferences are pretty much pointless because her homeroom teacher only has her for 40% of the time but we also get to meet with her learning spport teacher. 

She had a speech delay until about 6 and then suddenly she was speaking clearer and able to sound out words while reading etc.  She even improved her bahavior toward others.  I dreaded parent teacher conferences when she was younger because they would always bring up some odd behavior like biting or hugging people to much.  She was a crazy kid when she had speech barriers.  Now she seems to be doing great.  At least I can understand 99% of what she says. 

She definately seems more confident in school work as well as socializng so I’m happy.  My little girl is growing up so fast!  Although I will say that eight year olds are a bit sassy!