New preschool

So six months ago I was scared to take Benjamin to preschool and here I've come full circle excited about taking him to a new one! We've decided to move him in attempts to avoid the transition drama this summer. This one will be closer to the house, but will obviously cost money since it is a private preschool. My time is definitely worth the money spent though, I must say. My time will especially be worth it this summer when our littlest lamb arrives. The whole evolution takes about two hours. Seriously, preschool is only three hours long. Oooh, and the best part- Benjamin finally gets to go to school in the morning and will have the ability to take an afternoon nap if needed/wanted. My goodness, we will be like normal preschoolers. What are we going to do with ourselves? I think that I might miss my Friday afternoon Mexican lunches, but I suppose I could keep him in extended care for an hour or so.... haha.

This preschool is completely mainstream, so wish us luck on that part. I think he'll do just fine.

Snapshot of our day

I would love to own one of those toddler leashes cleverly disguised as a backpack. (Or rather NOT cleverly disguised.) I'm only half kidding. Do they come in a husky size?

Benjamin genuinely needs a nap most days of the week, but alas, afternoon preschool inhibits such nap. There are days when he passes out in the car on the way home and can then be transferred to bed if I'm lucky. So needless to say, when three o'clock rolls around and I'm there to pick him up at school, he is a *nightmare*. He falls apart the minute he sees me and turns into this terror toddler that I thought I'd never have. He runs through the hallways and refuses to hold my hand in the parking lot, which is extremely busy. I basically have to inflict pain on him because I'm holding his hand/arm so tight. He screams "NO, MY HAND" all the way to the car and makes me look like some sort of child abuser. I usually just laugh because the mere thought of people thinking that I abuse my child makes me hysterical. We are the ones who get the darted glances at a special preschool. The thought of that also makes me laugh. People with disabled children are looking at us, judging us, and are secretly grateful that they aren't in my shoes. The irony of that is just off the charts to me. (Although by definition Benjamin is disabled, we have never thought of him in that sense.)

It takes about five minutes from the time that I pick him up from his class to the time that he is safely belted in to get him back to his normal self. He's half asleep by the time I leave the street the school is on. Either that or he's so wired that he shrieks and laughs at the billboards all the way home. So this five minutes of hell getting to the car is a snapshot of our day that people see and probably expect to be my normal routine with him all day. It lead me to think about the snapshots that I witness as well throughout the day with strangers and even friends. I think we all judge snapshots a little too hastily, especially with our friends. We have even higher standards for our friends and their parenting skills than we do for strangers and we judge them way too often. It really is a constant battle for most people and if they tell you otherwise they probably aren't being honest with themselves. I think this judgment of our friends comes from disappointment in their parenting skills, but really, who are we to judge?

So, my snapshot at 3:00 has been the ultimate lesson learned that things aren't always what they seem.

My soapbox

This was posted last year. I still feel the same way as I did then. Sometimes it's nice to recycle.


Okay, brace yourselves for this one...I'll just admit it to all of you now, I love my kid. I enjoy being a parent. No, this is not some sort of weird mantra.

How about using that as a conversation starter as opposed to the usual phrases... and we all know what those phrases are so I won't be posting them here. Really think about what you say about your children. They are not miniature adults and should not be spoken about as such. Most people say nicer things about their pets than their children when asked.

If you think your children have bad attitudes, take a good long look at their surroundings. What do they see? What do they hear? If I've learned anything from Benjamin it's that his bad days are my bad days.

I've never said my days were easy with Benjamin... and I have done my share of complaining about his behaviors... but never once have I resented him and the time it takes to care for him. Being a stay at home parent is challenging for anyone from time to time. Learn to embrace those challenges instead of simply complaining about them.

So I just might be on top of my soapbox, but that's what a blog is for, right? It's your choice to read it. :)

Honey, we lost the toys!

Wouldn't it be nice to lose some of the toys your children accumulate? I find myself picking up toys all day long in almost every room of the house. We bought Benjamin blocks because that is just what parents are supposed to do, right? We're supposed to encourage their block stacking skills. Something inside us makes us drive to the store and buy these awful, multiplying-on-their-own-at-night toys. We squeal with delight when our children learn to stack them! We certainly squeal later on as well when we're stepping all over them and almost break our necks falling down.

Oh, but to see the joy in your child's eye when he sees a number he recognizes on the block and brings it over to show you and shouts, "FOUR!" is ever so worth nearly breaking your neck.