Fast forward approximately 11 months.  Said woman is holding a phone conversation with said mother.  Woman tries to iron out a time for a Thanksgiving meal.  Apparently, the times given to the mother were not suitable enough and she was told nevermind.  No thanksgiving meal.  The next day, upon her arrival home from work a large pile of boxes await her on the front stoop.  She opens one to find a christmas gift for her son, each box with another gift.  And one box with a letter which the woman does not read since most previous letters amount to a lot of conversation about how despicable this woman is in mother’s opinion.  Christmas, this year, is now canceled. 

Guess who is now taking vacation over Christmas instead of having six Christmases for everyone who can’t stand each other?  That’s right: ME!

So back in the day when I took these horrid-speed-dotting-can’t-do-that-anymore-cause-NCLB-will-stop-funding-your-school tests you filled in the back of the answer key with name, DOB, and all that great stuff and then filled in the corresponding bubbles.  Oh no.  That is no longer allowed.  You must pre-register each child and receive a sticker to adhere to the back of each answer key.  It has a barcode with all that super-essential info.  ITBS won’t take the test back and score it unless it has the barcode and the little bubbles CANNOT be filled in.  Yet the blasted little bubbles are still there!  All 53 of them.  And yes, I counted them because what else am I going to do while administering these buggers when it has to be completely silent? 

Do you know how hard it is to get 30 behavior disordered kids with no impulse control problems and defiant disorder to NOT fill in the bubbles on their answer keys?  The temptation is simply too great.

And may I also say that I find it, and will always find it, absolutely ridiculous that we expect every kids take these things unless they are like moderately to severely MR?  What is the point of having an 11th grader who comprehends at a 3rd grade level take an 11th grade test – it measures nothing but what we already know – that he/she is not at an 11thgrade level.  Even with the accomodation of someone reading the tests to the child they still cannot comprehend the material to answer appropriately.  An no, this is not a rant about how much I despise NCLB – I see a need for such things but this is just plain silliness.

ITBS has made me me despise the month of November. 

Tired because my way too big for his crib at 20 months old little boy is now in a “big boy” single bed and needs to wake me up at least once a night by running into my room.  (Literal tired.)

Tired because I’ve changed my budget about a dozen times (not being dramtic here) and I hate having to move money here there and everywhere to make sure everyone gets paid.  (Financially tired.)

Tired because I am forever making plans that have to be changed because the people my husband works with can’t seem to do their jobs on time so he can’t deliver and install it on time and 6 hour days become ten hour days.  (Patience tried and tired.) 

Tired because I am constantly battling the overabundance of co-workers who apprently never learned professional behavior and work ethic.  Oh yeah, and the ability to be personally repsonsible for their own job.  (Professionally tired.)

Tired because I am apparently the only one in my family that has or desires to have a happy family life and is willing to work toward that. (Tired of flying solo.) 

Oh yeah, did I mention I’m tired?

Little girl with mother is in front of us as we go through each aisle.

Little girl is not in cart but walking and talking fairly well – I estimate age at 3-4.

Little girl goes to the dairy area (with everything behind doors) and starts pounding on the door hollering, “I want this.  I want this.” While staring at kids’ yogurt.

Mom tells her no and child persists.

Mom opens door and not only lets child have it but also lets her to pick out the flavors while saying “you already have that kind at home” but gets it anyway.

Next aisle.

Little girl says to her mom while pointing to kool-aide koolers, “I want these.”

Mom says no and girl whines.

Mom distracts child by saying she can pick out something else further up the aisle.

Girl goes with mom and then wanders off.  Mom calls for he but child won’t return.  Is preoccupied with something else on the shelf she now wants to which mom says “no” to.

Mother leaves cart in middle of aisle to retrieve child while child screams.

They return to cart.

Mom loudly converses a private conversation with daughter: “See this cart.  You may not fit in there anymore (pointing to front of cart where babies sit) but I will stuff you in there if it means you won’t be able to wander off.  You need to quit.  See, this is why I can’t take you shopping because you don’t listen and you whine all the time when you can’t have what you want.  I can’t take you anywhere.”  Pause and they move on.

Girl stops and looks up at mom after looking at the shelf and says, ” I want that.”

Mom picks it off the shelf and puts it in the cart.

Just a thought here…perhaps she doesn’t know how to act when you go to the store because no one takes her enough for her to know common etiquette.   Or takes time to teach it.  And I’m guessing she whines to get stuff cause it works.

Many a times I have taken away itmes from my son in a grocery aisle (he likes to grab) and he has learned very quick that cryign for it gets him nothing.  And that all groceries go in bags – he doesn’t need it until we are home.

Grrr

 That’s all I’ve done in the last two months.  Changed my morning routine because my husbandisn’t home to wake up our son and dress and feed him while I get ready for work. 

Changed my financial budget because my husband’s new job means a different amount in the paycheck every week (ongoing change – even better). 

Changed chores and afternoon routine schedules. 

Changed night time routines because Daddy isn’t home most nights to do baths and stories and jammy time. 

Changed workout schedule – to whenever husband comes home at a decent time at night so that I can workout because otherwise I have to pay a sitter to watch my kid at night and during the day.  Nights of exercise in the last two weeks as a result: zero.

And the other result of the change in workout schedules: weight.

Changed health insurance companies so I get to learn all new policies, deductibles, coverages and all that fun stuff.  Oh, and car insurance.

Changed cell phones since the old one continually lost service – I hate learning new phones.

I’m really quite tired of change – I’ve had my fill and then some.  Really I have.  A little consistency would be nice now, for my sanity.

1. Having a spouse lose his job. A diligent and faithful worker – never late to work and never absent always willing to do a little more – his job gone without a day’s warning.

2. No health insurance. Sure, me the sicky of the family still has it but the healthy Hubby and healthy Son, nope.

3. Making choices about health insurance – do we really need to buy temporary health insurance for two healthy people. For a hubby whose been to the doctor three times in five years for minor stuff and a son who has only visited the doctor for well visits his entire life. Especially when we’re already minus an income.

4. Living without the middle luxuries because we never had the money in the first place for the little luxuries in life.

5. Worrying. I don’t think that needs anymore explanation.

6. Pretending not to worry while all the time your more anxious than caffienated squirrel.

7. Losing your child’s spot with the most phenomenal daycare provider, EVER.

8. Trying to support your husband while he waits and waits for a return phone call after an interview for a “just okay” job.

9. Finding out that your Hubby can’t go back to school to get a better job on the same grant that nearly everyone else at his old job is going to school on because his wife (me) has a full time job that puts us just over the qualifying line. Darn it, why did I have to be so driven in life to go to college and land a job that puts me just over the poverty line? Welcome to lower-middle class.

10. Missing my family on the weekends since my second job is now a much greater priority than it ever was before.

And that has been my life for the last month.

This past week my husband and I have worked diligently with him to recognize (to the object) and sometimes copy words since they seem to stick with him that way.  His big word for the week was block.  He triumphantly said block over and over as he picked each block up to examine it and promptly throw it. 

Then Sunday afternoon my little boy crawled across the floor, picked up his block, held it up high in the air and announced proudly “Butt!”  To which we smiled, laughed and said, “No, block.”  In return we were met with another declaration of “Butt.”  And so it stands.  My little boy now has many butts that he loves to play with – stacking and push down his butts with a great big smile on his face.

I have no clue why I have fallen into this slump.  Finger-itis is all can I can think of.  Tonsilitis keeps you from talking – fingeritis keeps you from writing.

Now I’m all for an early release and especially late starts.  Piddling around my house for an extra hour or so is nice on a cold, snowy morning.  No hurrying to scrape the car (curses, no garage) or shoveling the drive before the sun is really up.  But I’m pretty sure everyone around here, me whole heartedly included, are weather wusses.

I’ve been talking with a friend of mine who lives 8 hours north of me and the perils of her trips to work as of late.  Negatie 30 degrees, blizzards, snow classified as light at three inches and not one late start, early out or canceled school day.  Not one.  Sure, they may be “used” to this weather but large sections of the population cannot get their cars to start and kids are getting frost bite.  And hey, I’ve been to this town we’re talking hills like no other covered in snow.  Not one delay or cancelation.  Wow.  I’m pretty sure I don’t want to move north.  The school would expect me there to work but I can guarantee you this weather wuss would be calling in sick.

I suppose its pretty relative in the whole scheme of things.  I know people in placed like Georgia and Tennessee and when they get even a hin tof snow whole towns shut down because everyone freaks out.  I guess you just get accustomed to it – not sure I want to though.

I was unexpectedly blessed with having my husband home with me and the little man for 12 of those days.  Between having holidays off and some vacation time to “use or lose” he’s taken most of that time off.  Unfortunately the place he works for decided about three weeks ago that it just wasn’t going to be open the week of new year so he would be out pay unless he had vacation time use.  Luckily he did have some time and we are only out one day of pay for a wonderfully long -and needed-vacation for him.  He likes being busy, though, so as the vacation trails to an end this week he’s getting pretty antsy for soemthing to do.  I’ve got him in our basement sealing the floor for the next couple of days. 

Unfortunately the whole Christmas break has not been lined with silver.  The Hubby came down with stomache flu one day – luckily I and Little Man have yet to show any signs of it.  I ended up having to take part in 6 Christmases because so and so in the family can’t stand so and so, etc. and refuses to have Christmas together.  Now that we have Little Man Christmas seems like it needs to be something more special than heading off to this place or that or cleaning up one Christmas so the next people can arrive to a fresh house that doesn’t show signs that the other so and so was there.  My little boy means more to me than that and next year he will really understand Christmas and I don’t want him to think its a time of stress, running places, avoiding others, etc.  I just wish I could get my family to realize this. 

It is nice to have a break from work but it seems so often that with that break comes a whole lot of family obligations and problems that I somehow get stuck in the middle of.  That’s really no break at all.  I’m just thankful I have a husband who been here to help me out.