Wow! It's been a while!

Sorry I've left you stranded again to read the same blog entry over and over (haha, yeah, like I'm sure any of you did that!)...work has been keeping me busy and exhausted! My 4 year olds continue to be awesome and amazing! And 5/6 of my 3 year olds make it easy to get up for work each day, too...One child (and his parent), however, have still been making my life crazy. Remember this parent that I introduced you to on Meet the Teacher Night? Well, let me tell you the newest adventures in preschooling and why she has single-handedly convinced me (not that I needed much convincing) that some people just should NOT have children...

On Tuesday, paperwork went home about our class field trip to the pumpkin patch. Most of the parents choose to attend with their child(ren) and it's a great bonding time and learning experience. There are three options listed on the permission slip concerning transportation to the field trip. The first option is to meet us at the preschool parking lot at 8:50AM & we'll all form a caravan to make the short trek to the pumpkin patch. The second option is to meet us at the pumpkin patch at 9:25. And the third and final option on the permission slip is for those parents who work and would like their children to be able to go, but need to render some form of transportation for getting them to and from the pumpkin patch (most of the moms are SAHMs, but some do go to a babysitter after preschool who also watches other children).

And this is where things get very strange...the twins' mom called the daycare on Wednesday and spoke with my director saying that she didn't know how to fill out our permission slip because even though she was planning on attending the field trip with her kids, she would also need transportation for them to get to the pumpkin patch. My director was very confused by this and asked for clarification...the mom then explained that she was planning on dropping the boys off at preschool at 8:50 (with their car seats) and expecting someone else (ME) to drive them to the pumpkin patch for her & she would meet us there with her two other kids! She pretty much came right out and told our director that she wanted some time away from the twins... :(

THEN, she went on to say that her husband would also be going along on the field trip, along with their other 2 children (5 and almost 2), but she wanted to make sure that someone else would be there to take the twins off of her hands because "we have 4 kids and it's really chaotic with all of them at once!" Um honey - hello! First of all, I deal with 6-8 of them everyday with no aide. Secondly, it was YOUR CHOICE to have 4 kids...if you don't want to be responsible for them, then keep your legs closed! And thirdly, why can't your husband stay home with two of the kids so that you can come on the trip with the twins? If you're not going to all be spending time as one big cohesive unit, then what is the point of everyone going on the trip "together"? AAAAHHHHH - it's times like these that being infertile really sucks...I always wanted to have 4 kids, but at least mine would be my priority and be taken care of BY ME and not SOMEONE ELSE.

So, on Thursday, the mom approached me personally (all of this up until now was just hearsay from my director and the conversation that they had had on the phone) after preschool and asked me personally if I would be able to provide assistance with the twins on the day of the field trip. I explained to her (once again in my most professional teacher voice) that my job on that day is to facilitate the parents and keep the whole crew of kids wrangled (help kids on and off the hayride, help kids pick and carry pumpkins, help with snack, keep an eye on kids going through the hay maze)...due to the fact that I have 3 girls who are all watched by the same babysitter, it was very doubtful that I would be able to give her boys my full attention (nevermind the fact that all of the moms of my girls who go to the same babysitter are actually planning on coming on the field trip - she certainly doesn't need to know that). Then she replied, "Well, it's really just M that I need the help with." And of course, in my head, I'm thinking, yes, I know that you can't handle your own child, and apparently she thinks that I can handle her own child better than she can or she would give me the good ones and strap M into a stroller and be done with it (who, by the way will be turning 4 in less than 3 weeks!). I told my director (and she agreed) that if I need to make him hold onto a leash and lead him around like a dog all morning, then that's what I will do. It's obvious to me now that Mom is in denial of her own inadequacies with her children...or she just doesn't care and doesn't want to have to deal with him any more than she absolutely has to.

So, needless to say, Tuesdays and Thursdays are becoming more and more stressful with each passing day. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the MOM and her mom stopped in for an impromptu observation on Tuesday morning? I know I'm probably being paranoid (with good reason), but it just felt like they wanted to come in and see if anything I was doing in the room was the cause of M's poor behaviors...of course I graciously welcomed them in, knowing full well that I have nothing to hide and that I am using best teaching practices and appropriate activities in my preschool classroom. I've been observed by a panel of 7 or more administrators at a time while I've been teaching...she doesn't scare me one bit!

Ok, so now that I got that off of my chest, let's end on a happy note...some more pics of the house! We have our pre-settlement walk-through a week from Wednesday and closing two weeks from tomorrow!! I cannot believe it is here!!

The hardwood in the foyer & dining room


The front of house getting ready to get stoned...(whoa, dude!) ;)


And here are two pics of the kitchen! The space on the left is where the stove & microwave will go and the space on the right is where our refrigerator will go.

A better shot of the flooring! Not sure who the lady in the picture is (the builder's coordinator sent us the pics). I think it must be one of the kitchen vendor people.