tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30167921445510997492024-02-20T21:28:48.950-08:00La Familia PáginaFour people, a dog, a cat, a bunny, a chinchilla,and just enough chaos to go around.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.comBlogger362125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-69566349989686368142014-09-19T23:54:00.000-07:002014-09-20T00:04:37.420-07:00Washed Up?I began teaching when I was 22. Bright-eyed and full of self-importance and altruism, I spent my days around people who were much more "experienced." As the youngest member of our staff for the first five years of my career, I listened to their grumblings and complaints with a mixture of curiosity and loathing. Those poor, wretched people had forsaken their principles and succumbed to the pressure to *gasp* settle. They did not try to save every child. They did not spend hours every night grading papers. THEY WENT HOME BEFORE DARK! And to top it all off, they were bitter. They said negative things about the administration, the district, and even the students. It was all very, very disturbing.<br />
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Then I had a baby, and I had to learn to *gasp* settle, too! Strangely, my baby did not understand that I needed to grade papers. She did not care one bit about cheer competitions, or community service events, or that another one of my students was homeless. She just needed her mama. And I was the only one she had. So I learned to find TAs to help with grading. I didn't even grade everything! I quit coaching. I, too, was home before dark (most days). But I still loved my job, and I did it to the best of my ability. I loved my kids and my school and the neighborhood where I worked. I pitied the people who left the school, because they always realized in hindsight how much they had loved working there. But they moved on, and kept teaching. I stayed.<br />
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My school has undergone many changes in the 22 years I have been there. Some of them have been groundbreaking; some have not. Some have been incredibly positive; many have not. Today, the only two colleagues who were there when I started are administrators, and they are serving out their last couple of years before retirement. Everyone I taught with has left, by choice or by force (including my husband), or retired. Enrollment is dropping. We are the only school that has not undergone facilities improvements that other campuses received a decade ago. And we have a significant number of teachers who are just biding their time until they, too, leave. Of course, there are other teachers who have taught valiantly with me for many years, who have fought for our students with every ounce of their being. They are tired, defeated, and bitter. They are only in their thirties. They are on their way out. Out of the school, or out of education altogether.<br />
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And so here I sit, in my mid-forties, wondering what I am supposed to do about this. As an educator, I cannot respect someone who doesn't demand the best of kids. But the people I know who don't settle have left or are leaving. And last year, in one of my classes, I had to settle, too. "Just let them graduate." As a senior English teacher, how can I correct three (or eleven) years of failure to demand quality work from students? No, no. Let them graduate. It's not their fault. ISN'T THAT THE SAME ATTITUDE I'VE FOUGHT MY ENTIRE CAREER??<br />
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I know I am at a crossroads. Change is coming, and I don't know what it is or where it will lead me. It's been a very, very difficult beginning of the school year, even though my actual teaching assignment is pretty nice (all honors classes, small class sizes). But right smack in the middle of my identity crisis, one of my graduates came by to say goodbye before she moves in to UCLA this weekend, and left me the sweetest thank you note telling me all the things I helped her with. Another of my current seniors came in with cheesecake to say thank you for writing him a letter of recommendation before running off to football practice. And two kids stayed for 90 minutes after school going over a test on which they performed poorly.<br />
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These kids. These beautiful, hard-working, grateful, amazing kids I work with. How could I ever leave them and live with myself? How can I continue to sit by and watch them be undereducated and given less? How could I stop doing everything in my power to change that? How can I live with my inability to change that?<br />
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Life was so much simpler when I was 22. Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-71234463172475838662013-12-18T20:00:00.001-08:002013-12-18T20:00:30.536-08:00Community Service CrackAs the advisor of our Peer Helping club at school, I get the annual opportunity to oversee our school's Adopt-an-Angel program. We have a community-support organization based on our campus, and they refer families who have contacted them for assistance over the course of the school year. They reach out to the families and ask them what their children would like for Christmas. Then we put these anonymous requests out to the students and staff of our school. In theory, they purchase the gifts they have chosen and return them in a timely manner so that we can sort them by recipient and family and deliver them in time for Christmas. The operative words here are "in theory." Because that is not what actually happens.<br />
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Most people do, in fact, follow through. Kids whose families are barely paying their bills go out and purchase gifts for even-less-fortunate families. Alumni who are just getting on their feet financially message me and bring gifts. I am always touched by the generosity of these people.<br />
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And then there are the things that actually happen. The people who buy the gifts but lose the tags, so we don't know who the gifts are for. Others wait until the last minute to return the gifts so that we are left wringing our hands, wondering if we will have to send away a child without a gift. And then there are those who just don't purchase the gifts at all, which would have been fine if they had never taken the tag to begin with. Somebody else would have bought that gift!<br />
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But the thing is, for every absent-minded, or tardy, or just irresponsible person who causes the annual rise in my blood pressure, there are many more who step in and fill the gaps. There is the alumna from the Class of '64 who wants to know what she can do to help, and provides a box full of towels for a family. There is the teacher who forgot, but comes back just in time with not only his gifts, but two sets of pots and pans for two other families. There is the teacher who is fostering and comes in with extra gifts that were given to her kids, but that they just didn't want or need. There is the student who just wants to help and shows up with a baby blanket. There are alumni who live too far to help, but send money or blankets or backpacks. And there are the many teachers who don't have time to shop, so they happily give us their cash so we can fill in the missing pieces. Somehow, magically, it all comes together. <br />
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Adopt-an-Angel is community service crack. I want to quit. I need to quit. It's NOT good for me. But that moment when little Naomi sees the piles of gifts for her family makes all of the stress worth it. The beauty of the end result outweighs all of the disappointment and confusion and stress. And that is why I keep coming back for more. Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-79600159682116410302013-08-27T21:48:00.001-07:002013-08-27T21:48:43.293-07:00RecoveryAugust was a month of recovery.<br />
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For all but five days in July, I was gone. Gone to Mexico to spend time at Miracle Ranch, one of my favorite places. Gone beach camping. Gone to Minneapolis, MN to work at Redeemer Lutheran, and then to Wisconsin to paddle the Namekagan River in canoes while cleaning it. It was busy, it was fun, it was fulfilling, and then BAM!!! Home on Sunday, tests on Monday, and then on July 30 they cut my girl open and inserted two titanium rods and thirteen screws into her spine. And just like that, things got serious.<br />
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Of course, we knew this was coming. We were very good at distracting ourselves from the reality of what was about to happen. Because if we thought too hard about it, we might freak her out. We might even freak ourselves out. So we kept her busy. She even took an additional trip to Alaska with her grandparents between school letting out and the trip to Mexico. She had NO down time this summer. And since July 30, that's all we've had.<br />
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She's doing extremely well. I was worried about the surgery (of course), the pain (of course), and the attitude I would get from someone who was miserable with pain (because, you know, she's seventeen). But everything went beautifully, and we've even had minimal attitude! And now that she is four weeks post-op, she can bathe herself, dress herself, wear real clothes, and even stay home alone again. In four short weeks, she went from completely helpless and unable to walk to a near-normal teen who is a little stiff but is ready to try driving around the block for practice and spent two hours at the mall with her friends. My brain, which was the consistency of oatmeal for about three weeks from what I could surmise, is slowly reviving. So now that we are getting back to normal, it is time to go back to school.<br />
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We are so, so blessed to have the summers off with our kids, and most especially this summer so that we could be there for every step of Nikki's recovery. Soon we will be back to homework, and grading, and late nights, and ridiculously early mornings. Normally, the the loss of the lazy, unstructured days of summer stings. But because of everything that happened in August, I am grateful for normalcy, and that even includes the return to school. Perhaps it is because I visited with a friend whose daughter spends a great deal of her time in the same hospital we inhabited for five days because she has cystic fibrosis. Perhaps it is because a family at our church just lost their not-quite-two-year-old son to cancer at that same hospital. I have the luxury of looking forward to being a normal family with normal gripes. Our brief foray into the world of Children's hospital was just enough to ground me, to make me so grateful for awesome healthcare, for healthy children, for our brand of normal.<br />
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We're almost all better now. Time to get back to work.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-3029818317961490522013-01-25T20:36:00.000-08:002013-01-25T20:36:11.618-08:00CHANGES!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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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So here we are, finishing semester one, beginning semester two, and looking forward to more new developments. Change? Bring it on!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-34572931410086241462012-09-03T22:36:00.000-07:002012-09-03T22:36:44.526-07:00Legal. Again.Tomorrow I start my 21st year teaching at Crawford. I am now not only long-past-legal in human years, but also in teaching years. And this year, I'm feeling it.<br />
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I had a sad back-to-school in Fall 2009. My kids I'd had for four years had graduated, we had lost half of the CHAMPs staff, and my husband had joined them in moving to another school. I cried on the way to school. But in the end, it was a great year. Emma came to stay with us, Scott's new job gave him more time at home. In the end, it was fine.<br />
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This year, CHAMPs is gone. Not just staff, but the actual school. We are now back to being one big Crawford with two "learning centers", each comprised of half of the remnants of each of the four small schools. Instead of starting tomorrow with the kids I taught in the spring, I will walk into a classroom of 40 students, 2/3 of whom I have never met. Our secretaries are gone, our school is gone, key staff members have retired, and once again, my husband is gone (but just across the street this time).<br />
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I am trying really hard to be positive, to cling to the fact that the kids will be awesome, as they always are. But a part of me wants to quit. They killed CHAMPs. In spite of all of our successes, in spite of the kids in college and the 1.6 million dollars our seniors earned in scholarships last year, they killed CHAMPs. Which just proves that, no matter how much you succeed in this district, they will always find a way to kill your dreams. And it's not about kids; it's about money. <br />
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But at the end of the day, I am still a Colt. My students are still Colts. And I have some great kids to work with, many of whom I haven't met yet. Tomorrow, when the kids are there, I will be fine. But tonight I am sad. Sad, but legal. Again.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-27434821056917618012012-07-20T08:08:00.000-07:002012-07-20T08:08:28.545-07:00Adoption=LoveWe are so blessed to have an open adoption, so Caleb will never have to wonder if his birthmom loves him. I was so moved by this artist's struggle, and I thought it was worth sharing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z61zdZJ9uZc" target="_blank">here</a>.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-67256790805388228972012-07-10T19:49:00.001-07:002012-07-10T19:56:10.920-07:00It's Been Awhile...since I posted and since I had anything to post about!<br />
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But our wonderful pediatrician moved from Children's to Sharp and a whole slew of interesting developments have come about because of that.<br />
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<li>I learned that not all healthcare networks are a hot mess like <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2008/03/socialized-medicine.html">Children</a>'s. At Sharp, when I call they either help me themselves or transfer me to a real person. WOW! Also, our pediatrician apologized when we had to wait ten minutes because he had a two-year-old with a fractured arm ahead of us. This is the same man we used to wait 60 minutes for when the kids were well, 90 when they were sick. Again, WOW!!</li>
<li>The pediatrician noticed that we hadn't been to the ENT since Caleb was diagnosed at almost-four. He decided to refer us to see the ENT with Sharp. THEY called US to make the appointment once the referral was approved. Again, WOW!!</li>
<li>We saw the ENT today. We learned several things. We learned that Caleb's ear pits are actually cysts connected to the cartilage in his ears. Apparently, most people with ear pits have trouble with infections. Who knew? Also, he looked at Caleb and asked me if I was interested in knowing what caused his hearing loss. What an interesting question that nobody has ever asked me (well, at least not any medical professionals). Um, sure? But what difference does it make? Well, in fact it DOES make a difference because we would then know whether to anticipate a decline in his hearing later on, or whether he should avoid impact-prone sports to prevent further loss. Have we had a CT scan? Why no, we haven't. Have his kidneys been checked? Why no, they haven't. Has he had a blood test to determine whether he is a carrier of a gene that causes hearing loss in 20% of cases? Why no, he hasn't. What did the other ENT do? Why, she told us that once he had hearing aids we'd be able to rip up his IEP. Not so much!! So he scheduled a CT, ordered a urinalysis to check kidney function (which we were able to do on the way out), and said he'd rather hold off on the blood test since it is unlikely that Caleb's hearing loss is caused by that gene (he's probably in the 80%). Well. Just. WOW!!!</li>
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So it's likely that we will once again have some <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2008/05/answers.html">answers</a>. Answers to questions we didn't even know to ask. WOW!!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-80603671582121579662011-11-21T09:40:00.000-08:002011-11-21T09:56:46.325-08:00Three Years LaterI went to a panel for parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing kids this week at Lafayette Elementary, which is the magnet school for DHH kids in San Diego Unified. It was a great panel. Several of the panelists were parents of deaf or HOH kids, and they talked about the process of getting their kids identified and served (boy, did THAT bring back memories!). Two of the panelists were deaf adults, and I especially enjoyed hearing about their experiences. One wears a cochlear implant and functions in both Deaf and hearing worlds (she was born hearing but caught meningitis and lost it). The other was a Deaf man who came from a hearing, bilingual family. He is now married to a Deaf woman, and their son was also born deaf. One thing that all of them shared was that they went through a grieving process when they found out their kids had hearing loss. I suppose that makes sense to me, although I don't remember ever feeling that. So I went back and read my <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2008/05/answers.html">blog posts</a>. You know what? I never grieved.<br /><br />I suppose that growing up with a cousin who is Deaf, and having spent my early life immersed in sign language both gave me more perspective than your average hearing person. But even the Deaf panelist talked about grieving his son's hearing loss. And really, we are quite fortunate because Caleb can hear, just not well. Then again, things didn't really turn out as predicted (we still aren't tearing up his IEP, and he definitely still has language delays). All in all, though, he's doing great. I couldn't ask for more than that!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-30109398920309463752011-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:002011-10-19T19:19:06.330-07:00Expanding AgainIn a totally unrelated turn of events, we will be welcoming two new members into our household. José, 18, will be joining us tomorrow. And Bolt, the baby chinchilla born here in August, will be coming home this weekend. Never a dull moment!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-25600779808604165902011-10-16T21:05:00.000-07:002011-10-16T21:19:00.545-07:00CrazyI've been having a very hard time dealing with all the balancing that comes with being a working mom lately. I don't know why it's hitting me hard this year in particular. I really don't. But it is. And I'm not quite sure that there's anything anyone can do about it.<br /><br />But here's the crazy part. You ready?<br /><br />I want to adopt this little boy I met in Ecuador two years ago. I really do. His name is Carlos. I got to spend some time with him while I was down there. I took he and his friend Jose Luis on a little walk. A dog came running over to say hi, and they freaked out. FREAKED OUT. Because they had never seen a dog run up to them like that before. Their lives are so sheltered and small in the orphanage. They orphanage is doing a GREAT JOB of taking care of these kids, but it's still an orphanage.<br /><br />Three weeks ago, a member of our team from 2009 put out a table with pictures of the kids who are currently at the orphanage. They need sponsors to help cover their costs. And on one of those cards was Carlos. It told a little of his story, and said that he is free to adopt but nobody has come forward. I put the card back, and picked Lesley to sponsor. But Carlos has been on my mind ever since. Two weeks ago, I mentioned this crazy plan to my family in the car. They were all for it. Of course, I think they thought I was kidding. Tonight, I told my mom. She said to pray on it.<br /><br />I know it's crazy. We don't have any money to adopt another child. We could make room for him by getting bunk beds in Caleb's room. But again, that costs money. I'm already going crazy trying to keep all my ducks in a row. But like my mom said, we're already taking Caleb to Boy Scouts and gymnastics. What's one more? And although he's a year younger than Caleb, they'd probably be in the same grade.<br /><br />I always thought we would have three kids. Is God really telling me that we should?<br /><br />This is just crazy.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-60362674977608050872011-09-18T12:35:00.000-07:002011-09-18T12:49:18.306-07:00Following DirectionsWe made cupcakes for our Girl Scout troop today since we've had three birthdays since we last met. Caleb wanted to help. Nikki decided she could muster the energy to scoop the batter (she caught a cold and is very near death). The process went something like this:<br /><br />Caleb: I want to put the papers in the pan.<br />Me: Okay, just do one pan and then we'll see how many more we need.<br />Caleb: Okay (finishes one pan). I'm done! I'm going to mail the letter.<br />Me: Okay. It goes in the TOP SLOT. Way above our mailbox.<br />Caleb: Okay!<br />(two minutes later)<br />Caleb: Mom! I forgot the key!<br />Me: You don't need the key. You're mailing the letter, not getting the mail.<br />Caleb: NO! I need the key!<br />(Nikki explains one more time.)<br />Caleb: I'm back!<br />Me: Did you mail the letter?<br />Caleb: Yep!<br />(Note to self: check mail slot for letter.)<br />Me: We need some more wrappers in the cupcake pan. Would you like to help?<br />Caleb: Yes! Here you go, Nikki. (Deposits a pile of cupcake wrappers next to Nikki.)<br />Nikki: Caleb, I need them IN the pan.<br />Caleb: Okay. (Deposits pile back into original container.)<br />(Nikki winds up completing this task.)<br /><br />Caleb's IEP is coming up on September 30. They want to exit him from the resource program because he reads at the 2nd- or 3rd-grade level. We're very excited about his progress with reading, but he still has an auditory processing disorder and skips 15 when he counts to 20. And then there's that "following directions" thing...Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-81221202130518632912011-08-30T18:17:00.000-07:002011-08-30T18:28:22.951-07:00They're Baaack!The bedbugs. They're back. Just in time for back-to-school. Grrrr...
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<br />So this time we've opted to do the foolproof, far-less-labor-intensive, way-more-expensive tenting option. Only guess what? When you tent for bed bugs, you have to leave your home for FOUR days instead of three. Awesome.
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<br />We found this out the day we were supposed to be welcoming Scott's cousin, Emily, into the household. Instead, she opted for the bedbug-free-but-not-so-close-to-SDSU Pages' house in Poway.
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<br />Here is a list of where you can find us this week:
<br /><ul><li>Emily: Carol & Dave's house in Poway</li><li>Cindy, Scott, Nikki, Caleb: The Clements' house in Poway</li><li>Gloria: Carol & Dave's house in Poway </li><li>Lydia: Furry Friends Pet Resort (which has already called to tell us they can't brush her; she won't let them touch her)</li><li>Reeses the Rabbit: Clements' house</li><li>Chinchillas (3+baby): Clements' house</li></ul>We are so grateful for both sets of parents' willingness to host two- and four-legged refugees from Santee. YAY!!
<br />Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-9946144746928624552011-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:002011-07-16T11:13:50.992-07:00FailCaleb had his swim assessment yesterday. The boy swims like a fish and was clearly bored with the tasks in the class. We were certain that he would be placed in the next level when the new session begins Monday. We were wrong.<br /><br />An instructor other than the one working with the kids assesses the swimmers. When she came over to test the students, Caleb went first. He swam out to his teacher doing the backstroke, and then he was SUPPOSED to swim back freestyle. Unfortunately, he didn't get that message (because, you know, HE CAN'T HEAR WELL) and swam back underwater. Instead of making sure he understood the instructions and making him follow them, she failed him. Her feedback on the evaluation? "Don't go underwater."<br /><br />Caleb can swim freestyle the entire length of the pool. He is bored in his class. He is with kids who are afraid of the water and for whom diving for a ring is a challenge. And now he is doomed to repeat it for TWO MORE WEEKS. I am so frustrated!! I DID tell the instructors that Caleb has a hearing loss, and that they needed to make eye contact with him while instructing. However, I don't think the high school students really get how to do that.<br /><br />We told Caleb what happened, that he didn't hear the instructions. He said, "But I can't wear my hearing ears in the pool!" We emphasized the importance of making eye contact with the instructor and watching the other students. But really, if you already have a hearing loss, are surrounded by ambient noise, and your ears are half-submerged in the water, this is a legitimate problem.<br /><br />I'll be away on a mission trip when his new sessions starts Tuesday, but Scott has assured me that he will ask for a re-test. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will honor his request.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-37600468438421405942011-06-21T09:35:00.000-07:002011-06-21T09:47:34.266-07:00Don't let the bed bugs bite!No, seriously. Don't.<br /><br />About a week ago, Scott came down with a rash on his arms and hands. It moved from day to day, but was consistently there. He's been under a great deal of stress at work, so we attributed it to that.<br /><br />Then, last night, I crawled into my freshly laundered sheets with a new (and, as it turned out, very good) book. About two minutes into my read, I noticed a black bug crawling on my clean sheet. I thought it was a flea and, annoyed, crushed it, reminding myself that it was time to reapply the flea medicine on the animals. I continued reading and saw a second, then a third bug. And they were too soft to be fleas. Then I saw a larger, round, red bug crawling on the other side of me. And that was the end of my restful summer night.<br /><br />We have bed bugs in our bed.<br /><br />In the wee hours of the night, I made appointments for Stanley Steemer to come clean the carpets, Terminix to do a cryogenic treatment (if the heat doesn't get them, maybe the cold will?), and did extensive internet research which led us the the soon-to-be-purchased diatomaceous earth for sprinkling on the carpet. We spent the morning disassembling and removing the bed, laundering the just-laundered bedding, vacuuming, checking the kids' beds (they're fine, thank goodness!) and researching places to buy new beds. We'll be moving upstairs and sleeping on the aerobed until we figure something else out. And we'll be buying mattress encasements for the kids' beds. If you don't have them on yours, you should. All of this could have been prevented if we had had them.<br /><br />So there you go. This summer is turning out to be very fun, and expensive.<br /><br />Tonight, I hope to sleep tight and to NOT let the bed bugs bite.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-91187304145514508402011-05-28T21:27:00.000-07:002011-05-28T21:51:28.109-07:00CommittedI had a conversation last night with two dear friends who I love very much, in which they were trying to justify the hypothetical decision to leave my job. They both felt strongly that if my work is not being valued by the leadership, it would be in my best interest to leave for my own happiness. My counterargument? I love my kids, I love the community, I love my job, and regardless of the inadequacy of the "leadership", I would never abandon my kids or the community. I don't do the work for recognition, I do it for the kids, because I believe in them.<br /><br />I explained to my friends that I am good at commitment. As the words were leaving my mouth, I recognized the truth in them. I am not good at many things, but I am good at commitment. And I have learned that commitment is not always fun or self-satisfying, but in the long run the commitment is ALWAYS worth it. There are many areas of my life in which this is true.<br /><br />Today, I finally took a couple hours to myself while Caleb was napping (!) and watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0879870/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Eat, Pray, Love</span></a>, which I read several years ago but had not yet watched. At the end of the movie, I was curious as to whether or not Liz continued the relationship with her male love interest at the end, so I started searching the Internet and found that she wrote <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Committed-Love-Story-Elizabeth-Gilbert/dp/0143118706/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306643837&sr=1-1">this book</a>. Notice the title. Yes, I ordered it.<br /><br />But how does one explain to two people, one in their twenties and one in their early thirties, neither of whom is in a relationship or parenting, the rewards of commitment in ways that they will understand? I can understand why, from the outside, commitment might look like a lot of sacrifice for very little reward. I can understand why my life, my job, might not seem very rewarding. I can understand why they would not make my choices. Nor would I expect them to.<br /><br />During the school year, I have no time to philosophize or ponder. But summer is coming. You have been warned.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-41780520735515812992011-05-26T21:33:00.001-07:002011-05-26T21:51:16.195-07:00EndingsJust as September brings <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginnings.html">beginnings</a>, May and June bring endings. We went to Nikki's final drama showcase yesterday, Caleb's final open house today, will soon be attending his final Little League game, and of course the school year is screaming toward a close.<br /><br />Tonight also marks the first night that we are a family of four since March 2009, when Devon came to stay with us. Right after he moved out, Emma moved in. But tonight Emma is on her way to go camping with her family and will be back Tuesday to take her belongings. And so another chapter in our lives closes.<br /><br />I would have loved for Emma's departure from our home to be triumphant. I am a fan of fairytale endings. But everything in her life is rather undecided right now, some things because of choices she's made and some things that are beyond her control. But God has made it clear to all of us that this living situation is no longer working, and we need to honor that.<br /><br />Neither of us would change our decision to include Emma in our family for the past 19 months. We have learned so much and grown as a family through this experience, and we will always love her. Hopefully, she will take something good away from her months with us. But it is time. Time for her to figure out what path she wants to take. Time for us to refocus on each other. Time for Nikki to have <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span> high school experience.<br /><br />But tonight, the house just feels empty.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-22068359125150351292011-05-23T20:33:00.000-07:002011-05-23T20:40:58.205-07:00SEVEN!Caleb is seven today! It's so hard to believe that he is already seven, but then again I have trouble remembering life without him.<br /><br />I took the day off so I could make cupcakes and take them to his class. Then it occurred to me that Ronnie was off this week, so I texted her and she came, TOO! It was fun to surprise Boo. We are so, so blessed that she plays such a big role in his life. I think that it's hard for some people to understand how our relationship works so well, but I love that it does. AND I love that she and her family love Caleb so much.<br /><br />Happy birthday, Boo! Thank you for bringing so much laughter and love into our lives.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-73705657293597616312011-05-18T21:04:00.000-07:002011-05-18T21:16:55.015-07:00GeminiCaleb was SO EXCITED to go to school today. He's been having a great time looking forward to his field trip tomorrow, and to his birthday next week. Life is just awesome for him right now. Except for baseball. While he is REALLY GOOD at it, and has a great time while he's there, every game is preceded by a nuclear meltdown. We can't figure it out, we can just plan on it. So when Caleb woke up, we had this conversation:<br /><br />Caleb: Is it raining?<br />Me: Yes, it is.<br />Caleb: YES!!!! NO BASEBALL!!!<br /><br />However, when I went to pick him up from childcare, I was greeted with a yellow card from his teacher for (of all things) WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK AND WALLS WITH CHALK. He was MORTIFIED and hung his head out to the car, then proceeded to sob all the way home. I tried to calm him down. I told him that the teachers don't want chalk on the sidewalk at school, but it's still okay at home. He wasn't buying it. He came in, packed his little rolling suitcase, and told me he was running away. Except he didn't actually go anywhere; he just sat on the stairs and put his head in his arms. Even worse, while he was doing this I was checking the status of his game and found out it was NOT CANCELED.<br /><br />After about ten minutes of sobbing and crying and refusing to put on uniform items, then lamenting the non-uniform socks, and that he can't tie his shoes yet, we finally walked out the door with a snack to eat in the car.<br /><br />Then we got to the game, and he was HAPPY and played really well! He got two kids out at second with some great catches, got a hit every time he was up to bat, scored several runs. And he LOVED every minute of it!<br /><br />I am really beginning to think there's something to signs. Caleb is a textbook Gemini.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-83109575674547622182011-05-16T20:58:00.000-07:002011-05-16T21:17:28.469-07:00In other news...Caleb's pediatrician just called (yes, at 8:00 at night). When he was there for his well-child visit, one of the CNAs gave him a <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2009/04/answers.html">color-blind test</a>. Unfortunately, she had no idea what she was doing. The pediatrician reviewed the results she remembered after all the patients left, and according to her report the results indicate that Caleb is not only green color-blind, but COMPLETELY color-blind. Which makes learning your colors by age five seem pretty darn impressive, no?<br /><br />That boy just amazes me.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-15378117728937892032011-05-16T19:46:00.000-07:002011-05-16T19:55:53.734-07:00SnoozingScott is out of town for five days. He rarely does this, and I don't think he's ever left me for that long during school days. The weekend was fine. But Scott is the morning person in this family, and I had concerns about what this was going to look like. My concerns were not unwarranted.<br /><br />Sunday<br />9:00 pm: Finally get kids to bed. Set alarm for 4:50. Cringe.<br />10:00 pm: Get into bed, grade stories.<br />11:00 pm: Turn on news, fall asleep immediately.<br /><br />Monday<br />5:50 am: Wake up. Notice it is very light outside. Look at time on clock. Look back at window. PANIC! Realize that it is useless to panic. Wake Caleb up, get his clothes out, prepare breakfast, make lunch, shower, get dressed, gather belongings.<br />6:30 am: Amaze myself by being ready to go only ten minutes late.<br /><br />Tonight, I will not only SET my alarm, I will also TURN IT ON.<br /><br />Scott, COME HOME!!!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-3682224622838533032011-04-05T19:52:00.000-07:002011-04-05T21:33:01.308-07:00How to Vaccinate Your Cat (A Community Service Announcement)<ol><li>Get cat carrier off of high garage shelf and dust it off; it's been a year since you used it.</li><li>Notice that the cat has seen the "Box of Death" and has opted to retreat to the inner recesses of your daughter's box springs.<br /></li><li>Tempt said cat with tuna. Find that this is futile. Notice that you have five minutes to get to the vet.</li><li>Call your husband, who comes in with a long pole. He thinks this will help until he realizes that the cat is INSIDE, and not UNDER, the bed.</li><li>Have your husband shake the entire bed and scare the %&*# out of the cat. Wait, ready, by the bedroom door.<br /></li><li>Grab fleeing cat.<br /></li><li>Insert flailing cat hind-end-first into Box of Death. Ignore moans and wails while hauling the now-heavy Box to the car. You are now five minutes late for your appointment.</li><li>Arrive at appointment ten minutes late. Apologize for your tardiness and the banshee-like noises coming from the Box of Death.</li><li>Find yourself quickly deposited in the nearest available room so the banshee will stop scaring the other unsuspecting pets.<br /></li><li>Say hi to the doctor, who now has to extract the furry banshee from the Box of Death, the same one she barely fit in at home. </li><li>Let the doctor take the banshee away for shots. Listen to her howling from the waiting room.<br /></li><li>Finish the entire appointment in ten minutes so that the banshee can be removed from the premises.<br /></li><li>Drive the banshee back home while she screams at you from the Box of Death. Apparently, cat profanity contains many vowels.</li><li>Arrive home, open the Box of Death, and watch the banshee disappear. Appreciate the silence.</li><li>Wait until your daughter arrives home to extract the cat from under YOUR bed (because hers is clearly no longer safe) and yell at you for mistreating her cat.</li><li>Sigh and be grateful that it's over for another year.<br /></li></ol>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-6013551773506804302011-03-12T19:40:00.000-08:002011-03-12T20:04:02.055-08:00Down and OutI know how much you love to read about my sick kids, so here you go!<br /><br />Caleb has been sick for A WEEK. A WEEK!! And not runny nose or a little droopy sick, but lying inert on the bed or the couch sick. FOR A WEEK! Scott took him to the doctor on Tuesday, where he fell asleep on the examination table and also tested positive for Influenza B. So we tried to get him to eat, kept a water bottle at his side, and kept him company while he slept 16 hours a day and lay on the couch for the other 8.<br /><br />Still, I was certain he would be better by yesterday, when his class took a field trip to Balboa Park for a puppet show. We had been planning the trip for weeks and I took the day off work (which turned out to be rather redundant this week). Alas, there was no puppet show for Boo. Instead, there was yet another trip to the doctor, who was quite impressed by Caleb's lack of activity. He couldn't find any indications of possible infection other than a red throat, so after the rapid strep came back negative, he sent us home to wait it out yet again.<br /><br />But today, while Caleb was lying inert on the couch watching his fiftieth movie this week (because I feel like he should be staring AT something while lying there?), I got a call from the pediatrician's office saying that they cultured his strep test and it came back positive! So he DOES have strep. Which explains a lot. Finally.<br /><br />Of course, we had to go through several options before we came up with an antibiotic that hasn't <a href="http://lafamiliapagina.blogspot.com/2009/03/frustration.html">given him hives</a> yet, but now he has azythromycin and, I am praying, will be on the mend. In the meantime he is yet again running a fever of 102 and sobbing while his daddy gives him a bath. "I just want to go to bed!"<br /><br />Even so, I am feeling pretty blessed that we are dealing with this in our intact home in our intact city in our intact country. We are saying prayers for Japan, punctuated by prayers for healing for Caleb. Nothing like a little dose of perspective to keep me honest.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-12378919217489650232011-03-04T20:27:00.000-08:002011-03-04T20:52:06.641-08:00Highs and LowsHigh: Two new babies this week! A new generation of Clements (congrats Jason and Kirstie!) and Hank & Tomoko started their new family.<br />Low: Lost an alum from Class of '96. I don't know what happened to her. So sad. Rest in peace, Kim.<br />High: Junior is coming home today!<br />Low: Grades are due.<br />High: Fun Friday night out with the family.<br />Low: Marathon cleaning session tomorrow morning.<br />High: Maryland!<br />Low: Missing student in Spain, $4 gas, bloodshed in Libya, social status of my chosen career.<br />High: Blessed to have a job, a home, and people I love and who love me.<br /><br />Hope you had a great week!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-18076217255372580802011-03-01T20:52:00.001-08:002011-03-01T21:02:20.749-08:00DRIVER!A fellow mom and I were discussing today our new role: taxi driver.<br /><br />Because really, once I leave school, that's all I do. For example, today. Before school I dropped off Caleb and Emma. After school, I went and picked up a scholarship app from Emma, went home to find the letter of rec. she didn't include, wrote another one, drove to the post office to mail said scholarship app, drove and picked up Nikki, and drove home. And this was a reasonably quiet night because I didn't have to go pick up Emma and, mercifully, Scott took Caleb to baseball practice. Of course, the reason it was quiet was that I was leading a Girl Scout meeting (lest you think I was cleaning my house or grading papers or doing laundry, which I was not).<br /><br />I told Krystal (the other mom) that somebody should have warned us when we were thinking about having babies that someday, our entire lives would revolve around getting each child to where they belong at various times of the day.<br /><br />Perhaps all of this would be less aggravating if gas weren't $5 a gallon. But perhaps not.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3016792144551099749.post-70307321738067230992011-02-24T21:12:00.000-08:002011-02-24T21:14:22.035-08:00Crash and BurnHere's a little parenting tip: If your child's school nurse calls you and tells you that your child fell while running and is probably too sore to make it through the day, believe her.<br /><br />Pictures to come.<br /><br />The Parks name may have died, but the genes live on...Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14198403145634608033noreply@blogger.com2