So today we visited the local middle school to discuss enrollment....

[Halcyon]

and how was YOUR day????  :glare:

[regentrude]

DD's tablet has screen issues. She refreshed windows as per customer service recommendation, which necessitated reinstalling all software.

For a while it looked as if all her notes from her classes (she is taking notes on the tablet) had disappeared.

Use your imagination;-)

[foxbridgeacademy]

I went for my first and last physical therapy appointment today.... at $500 a pop I can't even cover the %20.  

[Luckymama]

:eek:

 

You three win!

 

We actually had a pretty darn good day. We watched a two hour+ documentary about the Pilgrims called "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower." It was truly fascinating. I usually dislike documentaries with recreations of historical events but these were well done with actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Massachusetts Wampanog tribe.

 

She didn't complain about doing English (for the first time this year!) and she successfully wrestled with some tricky geometry problems before her online class this evening.

 

Waiting for the other shoe to drop :lol:

[Ameena]

You know that water leak I posted about yesterday? The one the my friend fixed last night? It started leaking again around noon today. I'm on his list for repairs again - not sure if he will get to us tonight or not.

 

School sucked, and tomorrow I have a Dr's appt so we will be taking it on the road with us {not sure how THAT will work}.

 

ETA: Oh and it's almost 5pm, and no sign of the mail. Waiting on a check that was supposed to have been here Friday. Bank closes at 5pm - thank goodness for eDeposits! Now just praying the check gets here today!

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Wait!!!!!!   What???????  Why?????????????

 

:huh:  :scared:  :scared:  :scared:

[GoVanGogh]

I'll play!

DS is convinced he can get through live without spelling or writing. Now he does have a brain injury so spelling and writing is challenging to him. But he doesn't even try.

Case in point: he has outside classes on Mondays. This morning the class was told they have to do a report, due next Monday. He didn't write anything down, thinking he would remember. Yup. He doesn't remember anything other than he has a report to do...

 

DH started a new job last week. Insurance that was suppose to be effective immediately? Not. DS has special needs with twice weekly therapy.

 

OP, Hugs and best wishes on any decisions!

[quark]

Oh no, Halcyon! Hope everything is okay. :grouphug:

Today, I think DS is a little closer to appreciating poetry...AFTER I showed him a couple of examples of Emily Dickinson and John Donne and persuaded him that you really have to be intelligent to write like that.

 

He thinks "finite Infinity" shows serious lack of mathematical logic. Sigh...baby steps.

[ErinE]

and how was YOUR day???? :glare:

:hugs:

[Halcyon]

Wait!!!!!!   What???????  Why?????????????

 

:huh:  :scared:  :scared:  :scared:

 

 

Do you really want to know what led to this?? LOL. Don't worry. Once I googled the school and found that it's like 300th in the state for middle school, I changed my mind. Not that I would really have gone through with it. I don't think.   :cursing:

[quark]

I'm glad you didn't go through with it Halcyon. Hang in there.

I forgot one more incident. DS was supposed to respond to a question with a short one or two-sentence answer. So he writes part of one sentence in the workbook (Figuratively Speaking) under the question, and proceeds to write the other part of the same sentence on the other end of the page, far away from the original question...when there is clearly sufficient space under the first part of the sentence. So I asked him very sweetly, why not write one part of the sentence in Fig Speaking and write the other part in his math notebook? :rolleyes:

 

This is not the first time this has happened. :willy_nilly:

[quark]

Do you have a link for the workbook?

 

Sorry to hijack, but I'm looking for something to add for DS.  I feel like he is getting through his work way too quickly.  So I'm looking around for something.

 

Sure! Figuratively Speaking.

 

[Ellie]

Mr. Ellie's truck broke down in the parking lot of the place where he was having lunch today. Even though we are thankful that it didn't happen on the interstate between here and Dallas, we are not thrilled to have to pay $500 in repairs, especially not after we just replaced one of the air conditioning units on our house for $4500. :ack2:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Do you really want to know what led to this?? LOL. Don't worry. Once I googled the school and found that it's like 300th in the state for middle school, I changed my mind. Not that I would really have gone through with it. I don't think.   :cursing:

 

Oh man, I just about had a heart attack!   :lol:   Yeah, one of the things that gets me through the rough days is knowing that our local public school are ranked at like 16%.  Out of 100%.  Even on my worst days as a teacher, I can do better than that!   ;)  :grouphug:

[Halcyon]

Okay, so my kids say they want more GAMES, so I say to myself, heck it's the first few weeks of school why not? So i do a sort of vocab challenge with them (they are working on the same words). DS11 starts to get ahead of DS8 so DS kicks him. DS11's leg is against mine and somehow he gave me a big bruise on the side of my leg. Arg. This was after DH spoke to older DS about not applying himself, complaining too much, the need to respect me as the teacher, not whine and GET IT DONE. Today I am fed up with his woe is me attitude. It's not that he can't do the work, it's just that he spends so darn long on it, looking out the window, getting water, petting the dog, cracking a joke, interrupting DS8's work to "help" him. It drives me nutso, and today was the final straw. 

 

I am tired of being the one who CARES THE MOST about education in this family. Sometimes I feel like I am dragging him along behind me and it is so. very. tiring. 

 

So in a fit of annoyance, I loaded both boys into the car to visit the local middle school. After calming down, we have talked through (YET AGAIN) another strategy which hopefully will help. A checklist. Yes, we've done a checklist, but this will be more specific, rather than just saying "Math" I am going to write out exactly the lesson to do, etc. 

 

Hopefully it will help. Public school is not an option. We found out that the school we THOUGHT we were zoned for, which is fine (not great, but fine) is NOT our school. Rather, we're zoned for a much cruddier school nearby. 

[Halcyon]

Sure! Figuratively Speaking.

 

We love this. We did part of it last year, and this year we are doing another portion of it. 

[Miss Innocent]

7 year old son took about an hour to write the following dictation exercise: 'ask me', 'a stiff neck' and 'The map will help us'. He is a very good speller. Apparently he didn't know how to write a short 'a' sound, couldn't see that his pencil was upside down, whinged, cried, shouted, and so on and so on. He finally gave in and completed the exercise with little difficulty. By that time I needed a strong drink but it was only 10.30.   :glare:

 

Tomorrow will be better. Won't it?   :001_unsure:

[LMD]

I'm sick.  I want strong drugs and to crawl into a hole.  But I'm ridiculously pregnant, so no drugs and I won't fit in the hole anyway... 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yeah, I do that - a very specfic checklist written fresh every morning, listing exactly what needs to be done this day, with the things we do together starred.  Work has to be done before playing, screen time, or extracurriculars - horseback riding, theater, etc.  It does help. Expectations *crystal* clear.  

 

I don't think I'd ever send my kids back to ps, but I do intentionally keep that to myself.  It needs to be a credible threat for those especially tough days, KWIM?  

 

I know I have it pretty easy with my girls right now, but I gotta say, when I say "Time for X" and the response is "AWWWWWW" it puts me under such a black cloud, it can ruin my whole day.  

[quark]

Halcyon, you need some chocolate! I'm gonna go buy some in a while myself. :grouphug:

 

This is our second year of trying to get something out of Figuratively Speaking. DS loves the story/ classics excerpts but poetry not yet. Fingers crossed. I could have left it aside but I really like how it's laid out and I see him finding parts of it very interesting...he is obviously able to apply some of it during our lit discussions so just going to keep trying it. May not finish it though.

 

Our local elementary school is a 5-minute walk away. I used to give him the "school is just 5 mins down the road, you can very well do that if you can't appreciate homeschooling" talk from time to time. Not often though...he is an easier kid overall. The middle school is further so this year I have not dropped any threats yet lol. Partially from knowing that even if I cannot do better than the school or even if their success rate is high (it is not), I definitely don't want to put him through the social carp going on down there. It's a scary place. Even scarier than our local high school. I can't even imagine threatening him with that.

 

Sorry about your leg!

[8filltheheart]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone by shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

[Kelly1730]

We dealt with computer issues all day and finally finished math a little after 4:00pm. The boys had decent attitudes, mine was questionable though;P

[8filltheheart]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone. Shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon bc he had multiple other symptoms this weekend he hadn't told me about. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

[Critterfixer]

W-ow. And I was going to post a nice "hang in there" kind of post today. Had an awesome day.

[Halcyon]

Sounds like my days.  Mine are 11 and 8 too.

How do you handle it without going absolutely bonkers? I don't mind if a child doesn't understand something, but this lack of effort/focus/caring is just about wearing down my last nerve.

[Halcyon]

I just ordered it (I had a gift card from Amazon so what the heck).  I think it looks good.

 

I vote for a stiff drink Halcyon....

 

I've already cracked open a Corona LOL. Maybe I need something stiffer. 

[Halcyon]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone. Shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon bc he had multiple other symptoms this weekend he hadn't told me about. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

 

You are in my thoughts. How awful to not know what's happening.

[Halcyon]

Yeah, I do that - a very specfic checklist written fresh every morning, listing exactly what needs to be done this day, with the things we do together starred.  Work has to be done before playing, screen time, or extracurriculars - horseback riding, theater, etc.  It does help. Expectations *crystal* clear.  

 

I don't think I'd ever send my kids back to ps, but I do intentionally keep that to myself.  It needs to be a credible threat for those especially tough days, KWIM?  

 

I know I have it pretty easy with my girls right now, but I gotta say, when I say "Time for X" and the response is "AWWWWWW" it puts me under such a black cloud, it can ruin my whole day.  

 

Yes! I hate that "aw, reaaaallly? Right nooooow?" thing too.

 

I am going to work out making my expectations more clear with a checklist. I have got this week's all typed up. 

[quark]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone. Shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon bc he had multiple other symptoms this weekend he hadn't told me about. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

 

Oh no, that definitely puts things in perspective! 8, you are both in my thoughts!  :grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone. Shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon bc he had multiple other symptoms this weekend he hadn't told me about. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

 

I am so sorry about your husband, I hope he will be ok.  You are so right about how this sort of thing can make you take a hard look at your life.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

To make the bad day people smile:

 

 

 

[ErinE]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone by shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon. I still have heard nothing.

8FilltheHeart, what a scary situation! I hope your DH is okay.

[MyLittleWonders]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone. Shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon bc he had multiple other symptoms this weekend he hadn't told me about. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

:grouphug: You and your dh are in my prayers.

[My3girls]

2 melts downs over math, but other than that, it was ok. Hope those with rough days have a better one tomorrow.

[elegantlion]

I'm not sure ds cared about school at all until last year. Now he still doesn't care about everything. It sucks sometimes, especially when the others in household question your judgment. 

 

There are many days I put the little crown on my heard (figuratively speaking) and pull the "Because I'm queen" routine. It's my job to care until ds actually starts to realize it's important. I'm the mother and it's my job to see that they don't fail, even if I have to drag them kicking and screaming into it for a while. I tell him that, it's my job because I love you, I'm your mother, and it's my job to see that you are well prepared for life. 

 

It does get better. Little by little, it does.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:  I hope your tomorrow is better. 

[MyLittleWonders]

We tend to have the "homeschooing is a privilege; do you want to go to public school" conversation with at least one of the boys each fall. I just did with ds12 the other day. Then things tend to be a bit better (though unfortunately they know I wouldn't actually go through with it). This year I have assignment books for both ds12 and ds9 (7th and 5th grade). It is helping tremendously. I taught them to use a highlighter to cross-off work as they finish, and they know which subjects need mom to be able to complete. We still do some things together as a group (with ds7 or just the older two), but they have a lot more say in their day and I think they actually like it. But, it definitely would not have worked without the assignment book/check-list. My oldest, especially, needs to know just how much he has to do to be done. It makes me mad because there are many times I feel like the only one who cares whether they ever learn anything. :rolleyes: And I'm still working with ds12 on how to actually put time and effort into his work. :rolleyes: (again) But, at least there is, on a whole, less complaining, though not from ds7. Maybe he needs an assignment book also. (just imagine me rolling my eyes again)

[Jean in Newcastle]

We haven't started school yet for this year.   :leaving:  :leaving:

[Jean in Newcastle]

We haven't started school yet for this year.   :leaving:  :leaving:  Of course the reason for that is because my health is in the toilet, but I can still brag!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm not sure ds cared about school at all until last year. Now he still doesn't care about everything. It sucks sometimes, especially when the others in household question your judgment. 

 

There are many days I put the little crown on my heard (figuratively speaking) and pull the "Because I'm queen" routine. It's my job to care until ds actually starts to realize it's important. I'm the mother and it's my job to see that they don't fail, even if I have to drag them kicking and screaming into it for a while. I tell him that, it's my job because I love you, I'm your mother, and it's my job to see that you are well prepared for life. 

 

It does get better. Little by little, it does.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:  I hope your tomorrow is better. 

 

 

My dd7 gets this speech very frequently:  I am your mother, it is my job to see that you get an education.  It is The Law.  If I didn't make sure you got an education I would be failing my duty as your mother and Breaking The Law (somehow this one makes a big impact on her!  Whatever works  ;) )

[lorisuewho]

and how was YOUR day????  :glare:

 

But you just organized your school room! 

[Meriwether]

I am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room this weekend if he was light -headed. All weekend he insisted he was fine. This morning I left at 530 to take dd to kickboxing and he was still in bed......never happens. He normally leaves by 6.

 

I got home and he was gone by shortly thereafter he called to say he had an appt to see a cardiologist early this afternoon. I still have heard nothing.

 

Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. We are in the middle of a horrendous situation and are suing 2 others. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I have no idea what transpired with your ds, but if you need to enroll him in school or do completely online classes or some alternative in order to preserve your relationship with him, you should. Living in a constant state of frustration or disunity is not good for anyone.

:grouphug:I hope you've gotten good news.

[8filltheheart]

Thanks everyone.  As an update--it is not immediately critical.  It may be nothing and resolve itself or it may require surgery (not happy about this description).   They are going to run tests over the next several days to determine the cause and follow-up in a couple of weeks with options.

[FO4UR]

Well, after planning a wonderful year...we are moving...and we don't know where just yet.  

 

 

In limbo.  Gotta pack all our school for the fall (Sept-Nov) in a backpack.  

 

 

 

[Matryoshka]

I actually did put my dd in 6th last year, a few weeks into the school year.  No, it was not the answer - she's back home.  Gah, why can't they just go into a chrysalis for middle school and come out a butterfly a few years later??

 

She is signed up for many outside and online classes this year.  Hopefully this will be a better balance.  Today with her was not so bad; we had our first day at a new coop.

 

However, there was a doozy today - my older two are at the ps high school, and when I got there, it was gridlock.  The buses hadn't been loaded, and they wouldn't allow any cars in the parking lot.  Turns out, while drilling a hole for a post for the new bleachers, they'd drilled through the gas main.  Whole school (>1700 kids) was evacuated and marched to an elementary school nearby, then back.  Yikes!!!  Took ages to find them and pick them up, and dd was really late to her violin lesson, but I'm just happy nothing blew up!!  They said you could see the gas coming out of the ground - kids say this is why sports is bad for your health ('cause the new bleacher construction caused the gas leak...)  Still don't know if there will be school tomorrow...

[Sisyphus]

Older Ds had outside classes all day and so I took him with me to work on school while younger Ds danced. Just as he began an online test...phone rings, and niece, across town, is weeping and panicked because she has started her period and can't get ahold of my sil. So I rush over (Ds lost his work on the test and I will have to email to explain he needs to start it over) and get that sorted. Poor thing, it's always a nasty surprise no matter how ready you are, and having your (boy) cousin there (he was waiting in the car but came in to use the bathroom and she was mortified he was along) and being at ballet...gah. I felt so badly for her, not exactly ideal but then, when ever is a first period? I cheered her up some by showing her the "red badge of courage" commercial, at least.

 

SIL will be a wreck when she finds out she couldn't be contacted (her job is such she often can't, so I am second mom) and so I feel bad for her, too.

 

And just sort of melancholy- all these kids are getting so grown up and I'm weepy. Niece cried about growing up, and I cried because she is growing up, mine are growing up, it's just so bittersweet. Lately it's just a constant overbearing thought- time with them is almost gone.

[ErinE]

My dd7 gets this speech very frequently:  I am your mother, it is my job to see that you get an education.  It is The Law.  If I didn't make sure you got an education I would be failing my duty as your mother and Breaking The Law (somehow this one makes a big impact on her!  Whatever works  ;) )

 

So glad to hear I'm not the only one. The Law seems to work so much better than learning for the beauty of knowledge, wisdom of knowing the past, the pure joy of pursuing interests.

[ErinE]

Thanks everyone.  As an update--it is not immediately critical.  It may be nothing and resolve itself or it may require surgery (not happy about this description).   They are going to run tests over the next several days to determine the cause and follow-up in a couple of weeks with options.

 

Your family and you will be in my thoughts.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Halcyon, here's what I want to know:  Did it work?  When you drove into the middle school parking lot did he freak out and promise to do better?  

[rdj2027]

Let's see, my 10 year old suddenly forgot how to do long division, my 12 year swears he has never done anything remotely to what we have been doing for the past 4 weeks in math, my 14 year old decided that 50 minutes of math mean having spent 45 of them in the bathroom.  It's going to be a looooong day.

 

EDT: Mom, what do they mean when they say "equal"?   :banghead:   Is an equation something with an answer? :banghead:  :banghead:  :banghead:

 

 

Never mind I have been trying to change our address with Tricare, set up automatic payment with a utility company, and submit our claim for the reimbursement of our moving expenses.  Apparently no one in the military ever changes their address, automatic payment is unheard of albeit being advertised on the website and the moving office has disappeared.  Everyone on base knows the address we were given was old but nobody knows where they moved to or their new phone number?  Really?

[2_girls_mommy]

Oh, I am glad to hear it isn't just here.  The other day at Target, dd8 was having a day all around anyway, she got so mad at the cart with a crazy wheel that she flung full speed ahead... into the back of my ankle.  I ended up with a bruise and actually cut skin. It hurt.  I was furious, said a bad word, and took the cart, wanting to hurl her across Target.   Instead I bought Doritos and candy corn and we had a junk food fest in the car.  Made my day better :)