If you Give a Boy an Idea....

Joshua has been very bored lately.  Today he walked in the door from school and stomped up to me and complained, "I'm Bored!"  Apparently he needs a lot more homework.  

A few days ago when he whined about utter boredom and demanded something fun (as opposed to the chores I normally offer), I suggested he find a project.  He has been reading "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and decided he needed to make a go-kart.  The book has a materials list and schematic, I think.  Today I said he could make a list of supplies, and come up with a price quote.  After he sat at the computer for 20 minutes, I booted him off and said it had a $20 limit.

Eventually, he came over to ask if he could use materials in the garage.  I said yes, but he had to clear each item with me first.  30 minutes later, I was called outside to approve a pile of stuff in the yard.  I was impressed.  No, he could not use the tires to my bike trailer, but everything else was a yes.

I was astonished when the children called me out about an hour later.  This is what I saw:

All 5 children were "helping" in the yard.  They had come up with an idea and gone with it.  Joshua's pal Mark had helped a bit as well.   But this was what they had created.  Impressive, hmmmm?!

 Yes, this really is the size of my yard.  It makes me cry too.  Fortunately, I was so pleased with the cooperative creativity of the kids, that today they were tears of joy!

 They needed a little time after dinner to work out the front wheel, and then it was off to try it out!

This is their (currently) finished project.  They used the luggage carrier, duct taped a little kick board onto it for the seat.  They cleverly replaced the luggage carrier's wheels with the wheels from Delaney's old scooter.  Then they duct taped the third scooter wheel to the front.  I'm not sure how long it will be till someone becomes a casualty of the duct taped wheel, but so far, it has been great fun!  Callie is posing as my model here, but it sure is an odd pose!


And this picture is for my mom!

This was Marian's fairly easy, yet impressive looking hair Sunday.

And a Frog

Sorry.  I forgot that Dan downloaded some pictures and really wanted them posted.  We went to the temple on Saturday and it poured rain for the last hour- the last hour when it was my turn to hang out  with the kids waiting for Dan to get done with his session!  No worries, we hung out in the van watching videos, and I with my Kindle.  The girls saw a break in the deluge and ran out to play in the sprinkle.  They had a good time and found an exceedingly large frog. 

They loved all the flowers on the grounds.  Isn't Callie lovely?!  And note Joshua in the background.  He's probably using the Temple wifi to surf the internet! 

Say Hello to their new fiend!

 I do love these girls!  I love that they had so much fun over a frog.  I am also happy that they were content to let the frog go when they were done with it, and I do not think he was harmed... physically!

Wasting Time

I should be balancing the checkbook.  There really are so few times during the day when I can sit down at the computer in peace and quiet and focus on where the money is.   And right now, I am squandering one of those precious times!  Reading blogs is so much more fun than tracking and transferring money.  SO much more fun!  What is truly shocking is that Joshua came home from school and raced off to play at a friend's house.  Normally he just hangs out here whining that he is bored.  All 4 girls are upstairs and I hear actual giggles and shrieks of laughter.  Oh, sure, soon it will be shrieks of anger or hurt, but I love to hear the happy sounds of my girls playing together.

I should be putting groceries away.  I had just enough time to unload them and toss the cold stuff into the fridge before I had to dash off to get girls from preschool.  There are 5 bags of various food items on my floor.  There are veggies piled on my counter, and I'm sitting at the computer.  If I wait long enough, the kids might gobble it up before I even have to put them away!

I should be dealing with the never ending laundry issue. There are 3 loads of laundry sitting on my bed right now.  I figured if I dumped it all there then I would be sure to fold them before I went to bed, right?  Now I'm thinking that odds are much better that I'm going to stuff them back into their baskets and leave it for a few more days.  But again, if I wait long enough, maybe the kids will pick out their clothes as they need them, and I won't ever have to fold the clothes and put them away.

And now, I think it may be time to shove the groceries aside, clear a spot and start dinner.  After that maybe I'll make brownies.  Mmmmmm..... Brownies.  Then it won't matter if the checkbook is unbalanced, or the house is a mess or the laundry is undone.  I'll be the best mom ever because I made brownies!

Who's been Playing with My Camera?!

Today we wanted to go to the Splash Park. It was also suppose to rain.  I did not want to get my good camera wet and broken, so I dug up the little waterproof camera.  I have not really used it or done anything with it in 5 months, and there were 166 pictures on it!  I know I didn't take them!  When children get the camera, they do take some interesting shots.  Such as these:

Sometimes they take some interesting.... and unintentional videos, like this!

And finally, we get to what I did want the camera for.   Sadly, I did not take many pictures with it.  But these were 2 of them.

We made the 40 minute drive to the Zoo and it started to drizzle as we arrived.  Undaunted, we figured we were going to get wet anyway, so no worries!  We headed to the splash park to splash.

Unfortunately, it actually managed to be COLD!  I have not been cold since January here!  The kids didn't splash too long.  The water was cold and the sun was hiding, so it was chilly and some lips turned blue.  But fun times were had!

The long Version

Sometimes I am not very good at seeing the whole picture.  I am aware that I only see what is in front of me and I know there are other points of view but I honestly do not see them until it is pointed out to me.  So, knowing that, I am not sure how annoyed I should be, and I definitely am not sure what I should do.

So, here's the background. Deep background is that in VA, Marian was known by nearly the entire school, and pretty much everyone thought she was great.  Kids would say hi to her all the time and would try to engage and play with her.  Her teachers were attentive and thought she was a good kid.  They focused on her strengths, and were very aware of when she was feeling uncomfortable.  Then we move here.  The teachers have no training on how to deal with students who are not the norm.  They are nice, but don't pay attention.

Recent background is that Marian has been getting into trouble a lot the last few months.  Lying about her work, pushing kids, drawing on her desktop, not doing work.... stuff like that.  I knew something had to be going on with her, but could not figure out what it might be.  And she kept saying everything was fine, and no there was nothing bothering her.  So I could not figure out what was triggering this.  I talked to her teacher, who said Marian was very closed off and almost sneaky, and didn't want to talk much.  This was all red flag stuff that something was not right, but again, I could not figure out what it was.

Monday, I got a call from the school saying that Marian had kicked a kid for no apparent reason.  Since this kick had reopened a wound on the kid's leg, and this was not the first physical offense, she was being given In School Detention for Tuesday.  Yes, she is only in 3rd grade and they are giving her In School Detention!  I know, crazy.  So I feel conflicted about that one.  On the one hand, Hello, it is 3rd grade, isn't that a little extreme? And on the other hand, Awesome!  Marian is much happier alone, than with a big group of rowdy kids.

And here is the rest of the story.  I finally know what has been bothering her.

Marian has a huge personal space.  Or maybe it is a small personal space, but she really, really does not like it infringed on.  Her desk is her space and she does not like other kids touching it.  Her class has figured that out and has taken great delight in teasing her.  They like to walk by and touch her desk.  This makes her crazy.  She said she even tried putting a book up to prevent them from messing with the desk, but then they just poked her book with their pencils, which was even worse.

And this is when Marian resorts to pushing or hitting, or, apparently, kicking.  And then the kids tell on her and she's in trouble.  Yes, I see that it is not okay to hit or push kids. Although honestly, I'm pretty sure that there should be a natural consequence to teasing. If you tease me and I hit you, you'll quit teasing me.  But telling the teacher is just a wonderful extension of that teasing.  Now not only have you gotten immense satisfaction from pushing me to the brink, but now you get to see me get in trouble for losing it.  I don't like that either!   But what is the solution?  How is this fixed? The teachers are not interested in the teasing.  They are not going to be watching her.  They are not keeping an eye on this, or on her.  They are not keeping track of what sets her off, nor are they even aware of how easy it is to read her and know when she's having a problem.

I am frustrated at the lack of care from the teachers.  I understand that there are 28 kids in the room, and they can't do everything all the time, but I DO expect some situational awareness, and in this part of the country....  well, child-rearing is still stuck in the early 1900s.

There are just a few weeks of school left.  I'm probably not going to do anything now.  But what about next year?  What do I do?  I have some options: 1. I can leave her in that school and hope for a better year.  2. I can switch to the other school, which is further away and on a different calendar.  3. I can pay big bucks for a private school. (Yeah, that was just an option, not a viable one!)  4. I can home school.  5. I can wish it magically away.  6.  I can let her suck it up and be miserable through school.

So there you have it.  My biggest frustration this week.  I honestly do not know what to do. I want my little girl to be happy and successful.  How do I make it happen?