4th Grade Clubs

Wade is a good kid. 

Before I report on birthday celebrating, I have to share something that Wade experienced this week.  Some of his friends got together and created a "Little People" club at recess, where you have a name and an "issue."  I think Wade was "Small Man" and he had "anger management issues."  There was Mini Man and Tiny Man, etc. (4th graders are smart.)  The club was going to meet a couple times a week at recess to discuss their little people.  I told Wade that it sounded fun but that he needed to be inclusive, not exclusive. 

Sure enough, the next day a kid (a really fun, nice kid) wanted in the club and was turned down by another of Wade's friends.  Feelings got hurt and Wade was a little worried about it and confused.  We talked about it a lot, practiced "what to say," and after pounding it into Wade, I finally gave it a rest.

The next day Wade reported that there was a new club, a Marvel Super Heroes Club.  He was Peter Parker, and some of his friends were The Hulk, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Captain America.  The boy who'd been turned down before was now part of the club.  I asked, "So, who started it?  Who's the president?"  Wade said he was!   I told him I was proud of him and reminded him to be inclusive, asking him what the plan was once they ran out of Marvel Super Heroes, plan for female club members, etc.

 

Ah, fourth graders are fun!

Mondays

Rhiannon does not like Mondays, poor thing.  She loves her weekends and being able to get some regular/extra sleep!  Who can blame her, when she's waking up at 5:15am or earlier every week day.  We sure love this dedicated, responsible, hard-working girl!

 

Here she is with Oscar and Samson, trying to sum up some Monday courage!

 



 

Ever feel like this?

This morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed thinking about the next couple weeks.  There's nothing extraordinary going on--same baseball, subbing, carpooling, allergy shots, cleaning, laundry, cooking, dog care, volunteering, commitments, projects, appointments, etc etc, etc.  Compared to what other people do on a daily/weekly basis, it's nothing, but it sure felt like a mountain at that moment.  And I was feeling guilty about all the little things I hadn't got to the previous week, like updating the blog and sending out thank-yous for our fantastic Spring Break trip, something I'd told myself I was going to do every single day this past week and just never got to.  It felt like a lot to deal with at the moment.

I took Oscar for a walk way early, 6:30 on a Sunday morning, and one minute out the door he went postal on a neighbor and his dogs walking by.  We've met them before and all was well, but I guess it had been a while and Oscar just would not settle down.  It was a 50/50 mixture of "I want to eat you" and "I want to play with you."  After a couple minutes of this we parted ways.  The guy was probably tired of watching my unsuccessful, rough attempts to get Oscar to be quiet, and I was tired of waking up the whole neighborhood.

Grrrr.

So now I was stressed, guilty, and embarrassed.  Not a fun combo.

So, I walked.  And walked and walked and walked and walked.  Oscar calmed down and was a pretty good walking companion, too.  45 minutes later my head was clear again.  We walked in the house and I went straight to our family calendar in the kitchen, looked it over, and exhaled.  Things looked do-able again!

I need to keep this in mind--I heard it at a women's conference last month and loved it: