Mind vomit.

SO MUCH on my mind lately, I can barely settle down to blog about a fraction of it. I'm just going to throw it all out there. Hang onto your hiney.

On the home front, Mia's finally showing some strides with her potty training. We were doing so well for a while, and then we started regressing when preschool started. The kids' school has a policy that you can't bring your child in underpants until they are close to accident-free, and that meant we were having to switch back and forth between undies at home and Pull-Ups at school. She's no slow-wit; she's well aware that Pull-Ups are really just expensive diapers. When you're wearing your own toilet, why bother using the potty at all? So last week her teacher and I chatted and she gave me the green light to just bring her in undies. After a rocky start, she's doing really well these days. Still reluctant to deposit #2...is this a girl thing?



Connor continues to have good days and bad days in Pre-K. Things got really bad a couple weeks ago when his teacher pulled me aside after class to chat about his progress. He's having fewer emotional outbursts (he and this kid Dylan continue to tango, but they really provoke each other. I'm not going to chastise my son for retaliating if the boy throws a rock at his head. I'm just not.), but she's having difficulty getting Connor to "engage" in class. He only participates in activities that interest him, and then he checks out and starts entertaining himself at random. She cited "rug time" as an example: the rest of the class sat and listened and he felt compelled to run circles around the activity table. I suspect a great deal of this behavior is boredom. Still, he has got to learn that participation is not elective. He is a compulsive "doodler" (Golly Moses, this was ME as a kid) and often decides he'd rather "illustrate" the back of his paper instead of practice writing lowercase "M" on the reverse. Getting his attention is a challenge--he has "selective hearing..." She said she caught him urinating on the playground once a couple weeks ago, and when she caught him, he could not understand what the big deal was. "I went behind the playhouse so nobody could see me!" he reasoned. She was even recommending professional evaluation, perhaps by a pediatrician. Not because he peed on the playground, but because he can't seem to focus with the rest of the class. She suggested blood sugar issues and this has been noted in the past, because he does have dramatic mood swings and has to pee a LOT. I may consider that. I'm starting to think maybe we just have a massively bored kid on our hands who also has a maturity issue in that he hasn't learned self-control yet. In the weeks following our conference, Connor's shown more of an effort to complete his handwriting practice pages, and he's had more good report days than bad. As for the public urination, he's four. And he's a boy. And little boys love peeing outside. Why else would they be such big fans of camping?

Still praying and considering what to do about Kindergarten next year for Connor. Number one on my list right now is Chattanooga Christian. I'm in love with their curriculum, their education policy, even their website. The real question...where the heck are we going to find the tuition?? Open House is Thursday. We're going to do some investigation. I want to feel PEACE about a decision soon!

Christmas looming. Mia is so excited about seeing Santa, she can't sit down. I'm trying to convince her to enjoy Thanksgiving first. Wants to put in her request for "Strawberry Shortcake doll." She's also been memorizing the American Girl catalogue. Oh my. She wants to trick out her "Bitty Baby" that she inherited from my cousin. Points to every item and declares she "needs dat." Boy, are we in trouble. Connor has already gotten half his Christmas present from us (I'm getting to that), but from Santa he wants a microscope. This kid is so into science and geography, it's ridiculous. Today he drew (free-handed) a disturbingly accurate map of the continental US and placed the state of Tennessee on it, then marked where the capital city is located. As far as the microscope goes, he loves cellular biology. Loves it. Especially blood cells and their functions. I told him if he wanted to see blood cells under the microscope, he'd have to draw blood...which isn't fun, and makes him faint (really. He did. Right after his flu shot. It was awesome...). We'll see what happens. More than likely, Mom or Dad will become guinea pigs. Anything in the name of education, right?



Beignet. It's no longer just a delicious New Orleans breakfast. It's our new puppy. Connor's Christmas present. She's adorable. However, I am now potty training two individuals in our house. We're going thru a lot of paper towels. And I am attempting to control three willful spirits and keep them from completely destroying the house. I think I'll just build a bunker in the basement and let them have it.


MORE TO COME.