Summer Challenge

I feel like I need to challenge myself to either write more here, or give up the blog. So I’m going to challenge myself to post weekly this summer and see how it goes. I’m hoping to do some fun things with my kids (instead of just working and keeping the house together) so maybe these weekly posts will keep me motivated to stick to my plans.

Unlike other summers, I’ve actually been looking forward to having my kids home from school. Not because I’ve necessarily missed them so much (I wish I were that kind of mother, but sadly I haven’t overcome that particular strain of selfishness in myself yet), but because school itself had become such a terrible presence in our lives. I’ve been so grateful to give up the homework battle with my kids that I’m doing a little happy dance inside every afternoon when I don’t have to gear up for the fight. It has been lovely. Of course, my kids are oh so bored … they really don’t seem to know how to entertain themselves at all. When I was a kid, our nearby green space would have been the ultimate kid playground. But there aren’t many parents who let their kids go down there unaccompanied, so my kids don’t really have friends to explore with – too bad. I guess I’ll have to do a better job giving them work to do – but I really don’t want to police it!! I gave them a limit on screen time and after one week of it I’m ready to toss the whole system – it is totally bugging me that they are always asking if they can get on the computer or watch t.v. or play ds. Have to do some thinking about this one …

Speaking of school battles – Tom and I decided to have Andrew tested again for learning disabilities and lo and behold, he came home with a diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia yesterday. Could have knocked me over with a feather … that was certainly not on my radar of possible things that weren’t working in his brain. But it actually made me feel better – there are some good interventions and tools out there to help him learn more effectively and we were able to see that actually his intellectual ability to learn is there – we just have to help him work around the things that his brain doesn’t do very well. Anyway – it should make for an interesting IEP meeting in the fall – but hopefully more than what the school can do for him, it can make a difference in how we can help him at home.

Tom and I have been working hard in the garage, so some pictures are definitely in the offing … maybe I’ll even post twice this week, if I can get them taken this weekend! And my brother Andrew and wife Sarah had their fourth baby this week – a little girl!