Friday, January 25, 2013

CHANGES!

I am a very, very bad blogger. I am perhaps a worse teacher, since I am blogging instead of reading the research papers that, no matter how much I want them to, will not grade themselves. But things are happening around here, and I feel like writing about them. So here goes.

Nikki is driving! She got her license on January 9 and has rapidly embraced the freedom that transportation brings. Also wonderful is that she is now caring for Caleb in the mornings, getting him up and taking him to school before taking herself to her school. This arrangement enables him to sleep an extra hour in the morning, which is such a blessing. Also, because of this, we were able to move him to a different after-school program. Instead of being told to sit down and be quiet, he gets to run and play for two hours until we get home. It's also saving us over $400 a month. Generally, when things seem too good to be true they are. We're hoping that's not the case here!

Since Nikki began driving, both cars have been in for service to the tune of $500 (totally unrelated to her driving). Also unrelated to Nikki, Scott was t-boned by an out-of-control teen driver while sitting at a stoplight yesterday in the van (Nikki's primary ride). It was not the accident I was expecting in the van, but I am grateful that it was not Nikki!! I generally pray in the morning and then feel good about her getting herself around, but tonight was an exception. It's raining hard in San Diego, and she drove herself to her play tonight. I started feeling really nervous, so I texted her and told her that I would drive her to the after-play Denny's feast. She informed me that she had nearly hit a pedestrian who was walking around in dark clothing in the rain. She didn't see him until it was almost too late, and she was still shaking thirty minutes later. I guess mother's intuition is real. Regardless, she will be coming home and I will be doing the driving in the rain tonight.

Caleb had a rocky start to the school year again. He struggled in math. A lot. We were concerned. We modified his assignments, I bought additional resources, and we felt frustrated a lot. Even so, we knew he would eventually get it. Then he forgot to wear his hearing aids for a week, and magically everything clicked. Although he had struggled with adding and subtracting single digits all fall, adding and subtracting double-digits, even re-grouping, was a piece of cake for him. We just got a progress update based on a standards-based test, and he scored proficient in reading, but ADVANCED in math. I will never understand how this boy's brain works, but I'm finding it easier not to panic when he gets off to a rocky start.

So here we are, finishing semester one, beginning semester two, and looking forward to more new developments. Change? Bring it on!