2008-10-03

The ladies are enjoying kindergarten so much. They seem to be learning a lot too. And not just what you might expect. Oh sure they know can recognize the words: can, the, me, on (which led to the funny sentence Emily wrote the other day: on the can). They can write these words, and regularly bring home worksheets that show me that they can tell if there are two cats or three cats and recognize each number. But also, I know they are learning other , more important things.
Amy told me the other day that she "didn't want to burst my bubble." And Emily can recite exactly the rule of going to the bathroom. Both of them have told me about the pledge of allegiance, at least I think that's it. They repeated it after me, but when saying it themselves, Amy announced "I pledge allegiance to the flag of America on which I stand (reverentially) carnations to God!" Emily chided her about something, but I was laughing too hard. But then Emily says after we got to the Liberty and justice for all part: Have a good day! I quizzed her, evidently the principal says that before signing off. And today on the phone Emily said to husband: Do you know where I got that information?

I thought that while they were in school I'd have time to do stuff! And I have--exciting stuff too like get blood drawn (random blood sugar was 77 thank you), had a physical, got a new key made, went to the bank to stock up on gold dollars, and started sewing an elaborate pink ball gown for Halloween (for Amy). Still, I feel like the days rush by. I think that that tends to happen when you get into a routine. And a routine, I have. every day I set the alarm for 7am. And sometimes Amy is up before that. I get up, get going and wake the girls by 7:15, we make breakfast, get everyone dressed, and are out the door by 8:30. They do school and I do whatever (execpt on Tuesday--I do yoga and Thursdays when I work). I pick them up by noon and they grump and/or scream until lunch is on the table. They poke at lunch but generally get happer, receed into themselves and by 2pm are begging to do something. We do whatever, until 4 when they watch tv and I panic about dinner. (again except on Tuesdays when I head off to work at 3 and Thursday when I don't get home until 4). Just this big routine.

I enjoy it though. I hate the Thursdays when I work and I can't pick them up from school (although I do NOT miss the grumpiness). I love the afternoons that we spend beading, or bike riding or going to the park or the library. I like feeling so much like I am a solid fixture in their lives. I feel like this stay at home ness, this not push them into tons of activities was and is the right thing for us, for now. In the winter I might look for a swim class or a gym thing to do, but for now we just hang out. Which is why some things at work got a little weird these past few months. We've had no director at my library since April. We've had no "lead librarian" since June. We've had to each carve out our duties. And I confess that sometimes things that we don't do that are SOP at other libraries make me so crazy that I've done some implementing. What this means is that Come August when they were finally interviewing (3 out of what I heard were 5 applications) several people suggested that *I* would make an excellent "head librarian." Well, head librarian is 40 hours a week. Head librarian doesn't volunteer at her kids' class. Head librarian doesn't bead or bike ride in the afternoons. It just isn't where I want to be right now. And sadly, I think it may have put me in a weird place now that we actually have a head librarian. I'm hoping she doesn't see me as a threat. I guess only time will tell.

One entry ricocheting around my head lately is on why I'm feeling no need to hurry back in to the full-time workforce. About how I'm loving being the one who picks up the kids at school. I'm loving having what feels like stolen hours when they are gone. I'm loving being here to hear about their days.
But then I think that and I remember the day I had on Wednesday where I came really close to smacking both ladies across the mouth and sending them to bed at say 2pm. It was a stressful day for all three of us. Husband was on a work trip, which just made the post school grumpies worse. And my reactions weren't helping. We got through it, but I wrote a every other word swear word post on Livejournal.
Thursday was better though, and in some ways epitomizes what I enjoy so much about being a mostly at home mom. I did feed them "special breakfast" of chocolate milk and whatever they really wanted (for Emily buttered cheerios--which I don't like to encourage with her, and for Amy it was her regular breakfast on a plate instead of a bowl). I got them lunch quickly--to minimize the grumps. And we talked about how some of the cheekiness was rude, and came up with better ways to express displeasure. After lunch we did "crafts" which involved "real glue" as opposed to glue sticks. A mess was made, but they were happy. Until 5pm which I thought was good. Hey, it is a lot easier to survive until a 8pm bedtime at 5pm than at say 1:30. While they crafted, I sat with them and made some beaded bracelets out of their beads. I needed to be working on halloween costumes, but I didn't want to ruin the moment (or get glue on everything).

I've also been thinking about politics a lot these days. I'll spare you my opinions. I haven't voted for a winning president in 8 years--In fact I've voted for very few people in the last eight years who have won. This year I'm trying to do more for my candidates of choice than "just" voting, but, I'm finding that my limited kindergarten time doesn't allow for much active volunteerism.

Eh, he was wrong, that's all I want to write and there really is no conclusion. except maybe to sum up--school is going well, work is going mixed and still happy about being in the very part-time labor force (in fact don't tell anyone but a big part of me would not be terribly upset if my hours got cut slightly, it would set me back on some financial goals I have, but nothing I couldn't manage).

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