School Blues

Haidyn having a lot of problems at school. Didn't realize until I read the weekly newsletter from the teacher saying no more tag nor chase at recess because of unnecessary roughness. Uh-oh I thought, she's talking about Haidyn. Scheduled a conference.

Conference day & I knew I was in trouble when I got there the teacher wanted us to go to the principals office. Big trouble. Seems like Haidyn had been choaking a kid in the bathroom, tripping children when they walk by, cursing at them in the lunchroom, not behaiving in the classroom, having recess taken away etc.

Man I was blown away & a little annoyed that these things weren't brought to my attention eariler. Why spring all this on me & double time me too.

Going to corrodinate efforts between teacher & us. Haidyn is also seeing school counselor twice a day. Really, glad someone told me. Anyway things got better with Haidyn's physical aggression.

What was left was behavior. Had another conference where the principal, counselor & teacher were all there. I really need to bring someone else to be on my side, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Counselor wants to put Haidyn on meds, however that isn't going to happen. Says he can't control himself & teacher agrees. I don't agree. I know he can control his behavior & that he is doing all this for attention & trying to get in good with his pals. I want to come into the classroom to observe, which is what I have been saying all along.

Came in & Haidyn was a jewel, just as we knew he would be. Came back another day good as gold Haidyn was. Came in half a day Haidy was doing well. Got the impression the teacher wanted me to stay away now, which I thought was odd. If I can help her keep the kid calm wouldn't she want me around? Anyway I stayed away.

Was getting reports that Haidyn was doing well. Teacher tells Haidyn one day that she is going to try to handle things at school, that she wasn't going to tell us if Haidyn was appropriate or not. If he acted up at school she would deal with it & not have us back her up at home.

I thought that was a big mistake. Plus I really need to know what Haidyn was doing. I was this teachers best resource, but she was choosing not to use me. Strange.

Also we had another problem going on. Lice -- uck. Going on two months we worked picking nits, washing the hair, washing clothes & bedding everyday, zipping up in plastic bags pillows, stuffed animals etc. & every day Haidyn was coming home with more lice.

Patrick & I had discussed homeschooling Haidyn even before we sent him to school. Knew he was going to have problems just wasn't sure how big those problems were going to be.

Read or not to Read, That is the Question

Getting use to our new & busy routine. Trying to find time for everything is a challenge. I want Haidyn to have the experiences of sports without having his academics suffer. It's tough I tell you. So when do you have time to sit down and read? Well we are in the car a lot going to & from, let's utilize that time! Brilliant, no?

Reading in the car isn't without it's challenges. Firstly, with H in the back seat I have a hard time hearing him. When he miss pronounces a word it is difficult finding out from him which word was wrong & what the word actually was.

Spraying the Fence Line

Finally I got the go ahead from the weather people that there will be no rain for the next several days. Woohoo, can spray the arena & fence lines. Haidyn wanted to help, so I let him. He drove the 4-wheeler, pulling the container filled with poison & diesel, while I walked beind to spray the grass & weeds. Now I had tried this method several times with Nina, with no success. N just couldn't get the rhythm. Boy was she ticked when H was able to do it & do it well. Poor N, I do feel for her.

H was thrilled, he couldn't stop talking about it. He thought it was so much fun, he can't wait to do it again. Good because I need all the help I can get!

This morning N was in a bad mood & what a nasty thing that is first thing in the morning, so I asked her to curb her Attitude, which she didn't so I pulled over in the church parking lowdown from our house & asked her to get out. She did, & slammed the door, perfect. Watched her walk off & began to feel sorry for her so tooted the horn not once but twice before she crossed the street. She wouldn't acknowledge so I went on without her. No school for N today, sure hate it. I wish she could learn to curb her emotions. I will have to teach her the hard way.

Have to close here, sitting in car waiting for aerobics class to start but it is warming up FAST. And after such a pleasant morning.

Have a great day & smile!

Back to School

Been a while since I posted last. Lots of things have started. School being the biggest. We have enrolled Haidyn in private catholic school. Was concerned at first that H was going to be behind so contemplated putting him back in first grade. Actually didn't have time to take care of that so off H went into second, with fingers crossed & prayers said, we are in second week of second grade & so far H is way ahead! I'm thrilled & hopefully we can keep the good work up.

H was watching a Fred Astair, Genger Rogers movie & said he wanted to dance like Fred. So we have enrolled him on Monday afternoons in tap class. It is an entry level class with half ballet, half tap, which when the mention of ballet came up H was definitely opposed. Once it was explained to him that all dance begins with ballet he was more hip with it. Kinda wish the representative of the dance school could have kept ballet out of the conversation, at first so that H could gave tried dance then we could have told him he was also doing ballet, but alls well that ends well.

With the first week of school, came the beginning of football. RCS started with football camp. We went Tues., Wed., & Thursday. H enjoyed the camp & it was fun watching him participate. There were some moves he learned in dance class used out on the practice field! Think football will be the thing that will motivate H to do well in school & get his work done.

We try to read on way to school. Not really working well. He doesn't like reading & fights it. Because of that his reading is suffering. Of course I am unsure if he is just being stubborn or if he really can't read well. My only avenue is to have him read all the time, whenever we get a second & just read, read, read. Won't hurt him.

Cute & frustrating boy. We are in for an adventure! (hope I'm up for it)

Attitude

Bumpy day with Haidyn. Not really sure what the problem is & I'm beginning to think it might be me!

We were going to read a book together so I had him start reading. Jill was our first word & he said it was Joel. Went down hill from there. I am concerned that he won't be able to cut second grade.

Is he just jerking my chain or does he really not know how to read. Does he really not know his letters or the sounds. How does a perental unit know if a kid is just being a jerk.

Since i caught him cheating the other day, looked up what you're suppose to do about it. Advice I read, said to explain why cheating is bad & that you lose friends etc. to your kid. So we had a little pow wow about it. Ten minutes he was lying to me again. So I don't think he really got the jest of our conversation. I often wonder if the people who dole advice actually have kids.

Later while shopping I came across a great book "How To Behave and Why" by Munro Leaf. What great timing the book covers everything, from honesty to being fair. I love it & highly recommend it.

Later, Patrick stepped in, just trying to help but inadvertently made me the bad guy. I just don't understand how these things happen, they start then before I know it are bigger than life. Feels like I have fallen in this big hole.

Starting to have second thoughts about keeping H around. Perhaps he needs to go to another family. Don't know if I can go through this all again as with Nina. Not good long term seems like. I just wanna be happy & pitting me against Patrick will never work. He will always be the good guy.

Washington DC

Brought Haidyn to DC. Today we got a late start, but we got to see a lot & that's probably why I feel half-dead now! Ha

Tried to do a little school work with H this morning while we were waiting for Patrick to do set-up. Things did not go well. Have no ideal where all the attitude is coming from. I closed up shop before H had gotten himself in a whole peck of trouble. Hope Im not negatively reinforcing his behavior by stopping work. I felt if we went further I would have had to make unpopular consequences. Since Patricks only chance to go into DC was today, I didn't want things to get messed up.

Since Patrick got to join us, he wanted to see the WWII memorial, so that was our first stop. After seeing the memorial, we back-tracked to the Natural History Museum & the American History Museum. We were in luck that the Smithsonian's summer extended hours were in place. We had plenty of time to view everything.

At the Natural History Museum, Haidyn really enjoyed seeing the gem stones & the minerals, more so than the dinosaurs. I was surprised at the level of enthusiasm & excitement about the gems. He wanted to go out right away & start digging for his own. I will have to continue to foster this enthusiasm in him.

We had every intention of walking back to the Lincoln Memorial, but were exhausted & ready to eat. Guess we will have to go back sometime this week esp. since Haidyn specifically wanted to see the LM.

Guess when we make it back we can go see the airplanes & rocket portions of the Smith.

Upon our return from DC, we ventured out to the pool only to find out it was closed! Felt bad about that because I know H would have enjoyed a little dip in the pool. I know my feet would have enjoyed the swirling bubbles of the hot-tub! Oh well tomorrow, for sure.

Cheating!

Oh my, who knew that children as young as seven would cheat?! I was flabbergasted when I walked up to Haidyn, unbeknown to him & caught him deep in concentration looking for the answers to his problems in the back of the book! I didn't even know he knew books worked like that.

What do you do about something like that? Not sure if he really understands the ramifications of cheating at such a young age, but he did know enough not to do it while I was in the room.

Oh well I have shamed him & taken away swimming privileges for a day. Hopefully it will sink in.

Interferrence

Had a pretty good. Went by to see Aunt Doris, in the nursing home. She looked good, and seemed to be a little more adjusted. Back home H & I worked on some school stuff. He gets better & better with his words, reading, & telling time. After dinner, which H likes to put on N chef's hat & help, we went outside. I mowed the grass while H rode his dirt bike in the pastures.

Afterwards, we went to the barn where the horse manure hit the muck rake! N had forgotten to fill the water troughs for the horses again. They were totally out. It was only 95 out today. I was so mad, I picked up a crop & smacked N with it a few times.

When I turned around I saw H's little face disappear behind the barn. I have tried so hard to keep punishments & discussions private between the kids.

I didn't get a good night hug from H tonight, not even a call down that he was turning in. I wonder if he is disappointed in my behavior or just scared.

N is such a thorn in my side, the bane of my existence. She is such a difficult child to deal with. I think anyone who dealt with her 24/7 would get totally frustrated. How hard is it to fill the water buckets. She is 17 & 1/2! Not a difficult task. I even have provided a list for her to follow. Anyway, H is not hard & I just want to enjoy my time with him.

How can these two kids be such polar opposites. More importantly how do I deal with N?

Must get a bath. Good night!

Beginnings

When I get fosters kids I usually wish later on that I would have kept a log of our journey together. Haidyn has been with us for 7 months now and we have come a long way. I felt like there is no time like the present to Start the blog. So.... Here we go!