Today, I was trying to be prepared for the day, so I started a to-do list. I knew it wasn’t all encompassing. But I really wanted it to be a productive day. I think it started with just four things on the list. As the morning started to get rolling, I kept knocking things off the list that weren’t even written down yet. I had time to plan for future meetings, call many parents and meet with teachers.
I kept looking at that to-do list. It didn’t seem like I was getting those few things done, yet I was non-stop working. So I decided to write down the things that I didn’t write down the day before - but knew I needed to get them done. I wrote them and then crossed them off even though they were already done. Then I could see that I actually did more than what my original list showed. I forgot how much I like making daily lists. It helps me stay organized, focused and on task. I think I am going to start using them at home and at school more. There is something to be said for when you cross things off that list as they get done!
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Today, I got to help celebrate the first grandbaby of my friend group. The baby shower was cutely decorated and filled with love and joy.
These are the friends that I met my freshman year of highschool during softball tryouts. We have been friends ever since, we are going on over 30 years of bestfriendship. Kimmy was my first friend to gift us with a little one, I was only 18 years old at the time. That is when I first became kind-of an Auntie. Now “our” first little one is gifting us a baby. It is crazy to me to think that we are not even 50 and one of us is going to be GRANDMA. It doesn’t feel like we are old enough to be grandparents. We definitely do not look like our grandparents did years ago. I feel that we are way more fun and cool than our grandparents. But when I think of how old my grandma was when I was born…. Well, she wasn't really that much older than we are now. My grandparents were about 53 when I was born, so that is really only 6 years older than we are. It just seems so different. I have expressed how excited I am to be a “Friend Great Auntie.” I was told that I don’t need to be a “Friend Great Auntie,” I can just be a Great Auntie. This melted my heart! I can’t wait to meet little Myles. Great Auntie loves you already! I am often on the go. It isn’t often that I get to just be home for any period of time. I take the kids to and from almost all of their activities, I drive 30-40 minutes each way to work. At times, I feel like I drive for a living. I am really more of a homebody, so I really enjoy being at home. So tonight we decided that it was a good night to stay in. The weather was crappy and there wouldn’t be much to do anyway. It would have been nice to enjoy a fire pit, but the rain continued.
So we decided to order Chinese food and likely too much. But it was sooo yummy. I over ate and needed to eat some tums. We decided to have a double movie night. As the movie started, I saw that the sun was starting to come out. The rain was gone for the evening. It was too late for the fire pit for today. We started watching Bad Moms and Bad Mom’s Christmas. It was a quiet, slow paced evening. It was perfect. Now that my kids are playing high school sports, they also now need to do fundraising. My oldest has to sell coupon booklets. Not just a couple but about 25 five of them. The difficulty I find with these is that all the grade level teams are selling them. The coupons are only good for our part of town. There are 50-60 kids selling them which means that there are about 1200 coupon books trying to be sold.
Then my youngest’s coaches talked about selling candy. I guess I just assumed it would be chocolate candy bars. But it isn’t. It is a box of random things. Things for $1 each. (See the picture) I am not sure that I have ever seen anything like this before as a fundraiser. I have seen other schools that just have a link to do a monetary donation. Why can’t we just do that? Then people can get a receipt for their donation and use it towards their taxable donations. I hate fundraising. I would just rather them tell me how much it costs to play and pay for it. Especially, when everyone else is doing the same thing! I just feel that we are just exhanging money with each other to support our kids' activities. I am not outgoing enough to ask for donations. It is not in my comfort zone. But I will try. It is the end of the day, so I am packing up to leave. I am never ready to leave on time, but today I am on top of it. I make one last trip to the office to get my stuff from the printer. As I am grabbing the papers, a text comes in at 3:27.
Friend: “Annnnnny change you want to go grab a beer at the promenade???!!!!!” Me: “Let me call home and check in really quick” Within minutes, I respond for a second time with “What time are you going? She knows I am in, “I can leave in 10” Me: “I am leaving now” I walk out into a beautiful afternoon, hop in the car and leave. As I turn on the main street, I end up right behind my friend. I followed her to the parking lot. We went to a familiar pub that we have been to many times. We are both single parents. Our parents help us watch our kids for us. She and I usually stay a little later at work, so our moms expect us to be a little later. We just don’t let them know that we actually left on time and went for a drink - it is just an extension of the day. It is nice to go out and not feel guilty! We were able to get our beers, eat some appetizers….the time went quickly. I love that we were able to sneak in drinks and enjoy lots of laughs together. I stayed as late as I could to not be late to pick up my son and get him where we needed to be. Honestly, it was the best way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Just to give a little background - I am a school social worker in an elementary school. This has been my calling for the past 19 years.
Today, I met with a student, we will call him Sam. He is a tough one as he doesn't really trust or let people really get to know him. I would love to share that over the course of the year that we have made great strides. That my skill sets have equipped him with the strategies he needs to be successful in school. That he no longer needs social work because he is implementing all that he has learned. Unfortunately, that is not the case. He still needs social work to help him learn new skills and he doesn’t always implement them independently. However, today he actually sat at my table with me, not standing against the wall or sitting on the floor - as far away as possible. He was wholeheartedly engaged in our activity talking about the signs our bodies give us to indicate we are feeling a certain way. Sam tried his best without frustration, which is a success in itself. He wasn’t in a hurry to escape the social work office and even told me to have a good day. It doesn’t seem like much, but at that moment - Sam trusted that my office was a safe place and he was with a safe adult. He may forget that he trusts me during his next rough moment at school. For today, I will soak that in and know that what seems to be a small, itty bitty step is a gigantic leap forward for him. I'm going to live in that moment for as long as I can. At the end of the day, I see a few teachers meeting in the library. I remember one of the people said that they had a meeting for the One School One Book committee. There were just three people sitting around a table. I give a little wave and ask if this was the One Book committee, they said it was. I joked with them that I must have been uninvited to the committee. They shared that they had struggled to meet earlier in the year, as motivation was running thin. I told them that I thought they figured out I hate reading! They shared stories about jokingly telling people they didn’t like to read. Clearly this was not true, they are all avid readers.
I shared how I unintentionally told a class of 5th graders that I don’t like to read. When I said that to those fifth graders, I could just see the eyes of the teaching assistant and the teacher raise up to mine. Looking at me as if to say - “Did you just say that?” I instantly tried to take it back - “I mean I read magazines, like I know how to read, I have college degrees.” But nothing I said could take back those words! They enjoyed a good laugh at the story. I told them I wondered how I was selected for that committee. LOL I am sure I will never be asked back after sharing that! I don’t mind reading, if I have to and to gain knowledge. I love the concept behind this committee - creating community is something I do love the concept of this One School One Book. It is great. Reading for pleasure, would definitely come after a long list of other things, such as floating in the pool, watching a good murder show and a long nap! I see this round pudgy baby, they place him in my arms. He weighed in at 9 pounds 6 ounces. He was absolutely perfect and made our family complete. It was decided at that moment that his name would be Lucas John. We had several names picked out, but that was the one - it was meant for him. His is the “bringer of light” as the bible says and he is just that - my light.
He was an easy baby, who loved following his big brother. They played so well together, despite some typical sibling rivalry. Lucas was energetic, playful, humourous and so very loving. He has always been my guy, my shadow. His emotions run deep and will share when he wants you to know how he is feeling. He is insecure in his skills without realizing he is beyond capable. When he was little I would swoop down and lift him with my arms and swing him around. He has grown so fast and now we are at this point. We are at the point where his arms reach above my shoulders to give me a hug. His voice is deep and there is a light shadow of a mustache on his lip. We are talking about getting his driving permit this week. I don’t really feel much older, but I see how grown he is and I know that I am. He continues to be this kind and compassionate soul, who is working to find his place. To this day, he continues to be my light, my baby and always here for me even when he doesn’t realize it. Happy birthday Lucas John! I love you, Mom I was encouraged today to take a walk. So I did, I took my regular walk around the neighborhood. The toughest decision for the day was to take one or two laps around the lake. I decided I really only had time for one before picking up my son from his class. I ended up being warmer than I thought I would be. I didn’t need the warm hat or the gloves I brought. The hat was on and off during the walk. It was a little windy but the sun was shining and that was amazing. That was about 2.25 miles of walking - not bad.
I got Lucas from his class, cleaned out my car and pulled it into the driveway. It was still sunny and I didn’t want to waste the sunshine. I thought I would take the dogs for a short walk. They are not great on leashes, well one is better than the other. Dakota (the light brown dog) is the leader of the pack and wants to smell everything. Tucker (the other dog) is slower and only tries to keep up. As we round the block, I see my older son drive past, he smiles and waves. His smile speaks to me, saying “good luck with that.” LOL We make it to the school, I make them take a break. They are not used to walking this much. We head back home, but Tucker is starting to lag behind. His very short legs are struggling to keep up. I decided to help him out and carry him. He appears to be very grateful for the break. Until we are going to pass some dogs. One of the dogs is easily 150 pounds - he could eat my dogs! My dogs have no fear they bark away. We finally pass each other giving the little head nod as we pass. We are in the home stretch… They will sleep well when we get home. They are knocked out by my side as I write this. It was a good day for a little walk. Every year and unintentionally, I always seem to pick the Saturday night that time changes to have Lucas’s friends sleepover. His birthday is this week, so we always try to have the party the weekend before. Which always aligns with time change. It used to not be so bad when they were little, I would not change the clocks until the next day. The kids were oblivious as to the time change and were tired anyway. So they just rolled with it.
Now they are older and wiser. They won’t fall for my clock trick now, they all have phones and they update automatically. As the moms dropped them off they already prefaced, I am just teaching in the morning. They will be in her PJs to pick up because she won’t be ready for the time change. I don’t blame her - I am sure I will be recovering all day too. Every year for the past seven or so years the same mom tells me how brave I am to have them sleep over. I never mind. It is always about the kids and all the fun they have together. Despite the time change - it is worth it! |
AuthorI have worked in social work for over 25 years. The past 19 years have been within an elementary school setting. Archives
March 2022
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