Now selling my handmade greeting cards on Etsy.
Click here to visit my shop.
More cards are being added now. Gift tags and scrapbook pages will be added later this weekend.
Just trying to make some money as a SAHM.
Friday, November 16, 2007
troublemaker
Well, I dropped Jules off at school this morning and had my first "parent/teacher conference" as a mother instead of as a teacher.
When I started to leave the preschool teacher pulled me to the side and said she needed to speak with me for a minute. She then gently told me how Julianna had started hitting the other kids in the class. She explained that she just wanted to make me aware of what was going on at school and asked that I help reinforce why we shouldn't hit people with Julianna at home. She also told me that they've been putting her in time out because of the hitting. One day she apparently took a plate from the play kitchen and smacked it across some poor kid's head.
I have to admit, hearing all of this stung. My whole body got warm and rigid while I was standing there listening to her. I was shocked and I immediately got defensive.
As a previous teacher myself, I recognized that my instinct response was the worst response I could have had. So instead of saying what I immediately wanted to say and defend my sweet, innocent child I considered the facts.
Jules hasn't really been hitting other kids in my presence, but that could be because I haven't been around her with other kids too much recently. She has started hitting me when I ask her to do something and she doesn't want to do it. Per the pediatrician, we have been trying to use time out to discipline at home. Usually she only has to sit in time out during dinner when she throws her fork or spoon or cup. We know she does this to get attention and we're working on teaching her how to act properly. But the idea of her hitting kids was a surprise to me. Not that I can't see her doing it, just that I didn't imagine her doing it at school. I fully believed everything the teacher was describing that had happened.
Anyway, to ease the conversation I guess, the teacher pointed out how she doesn't have siblings at home and that she realized that she could have picked up some of her newfound "skills" at school. We talked about using time out at home and about how Jules usually only hits me. I thanked her for bringing it to my attention and assured her that I'd do what I could to reinforce the "no hitting" philosophy at home as well.
It took a while for me to get over the whole conversation. I am sad to have to deal with these sort of little things. Of course I want my daughter to be perfect. I want her to be the "easy" kid or the "good" kid. I'm also not naive and I know that she has to learn how to live and communicate along side other people while respecting their rights too. All this just means that she's growing up so fast. And that makes me a little sad too.
Fortunately, the more I think about it this whole little discussion really made the teacher grow on me a little. From experience I know that it was difficult for her to have to pull me aside and tell me that my daughter is showing signs of being a bully and a troublemaker (i'm totally exaggerating there I know). [I absolutely dreaded talking to parents when I was a teacher.] I also know now that she really wants to help my child learn. It is perfectly normal for Julianna to want to defend her territory when another child comes and takes away the toy she is playing with. Not only will helping her learn to stop hitting teach her how to survive later as a normal adult it will also help the flow of the classroom now so I really believe the teacher wants what's best for both of us.
*sigh*
What's next though?
When I started to leave the preschool teacher pulled me to the side and said she needed to speak with me for a minute. She then gently told me how Julianna had started hitting the other kids in the class. She explained that she just wanted to make me aware of what was going on at school and asked that I help reinforce why we shouldn't hit people with Julianna at home. She also told me that they've been putting her in time out because of the hitting. One day she apparently took a plate from the play kitchen and smacked it across some poor kid's head.
I have to admit, hearing all of this stung. My whole body got warm and rigid while I was standing there listening to her. I was shocked and I immediately got defensive.
As a previous teacher myself, I recognized that my instinct response was the worst response I could have had. So instead of saying what I immediately wanted to say and defend my sweet, innocent child I considered the facts.
Jules hasn't really been hitting other kids in my presence, but that could be because I haven't been around her with other kids too much recently. She has started hitting me when I ask her to do something and she doesn't want to do it. Per the pediatrician, we have been trying to use time out to discipline at home. Usually she only has to sit in time out during dinner when she throws her fork or spoon or cup. We know she does this to get attention and we're working on teaching her how to act properly. But the idea of her hitting kids was a surprise to me. Not that I can't see her doing it, just that I didn't imagine her doing it at school. I fully believed everything the teacher was describing that had happened.
Anyway, to ease the conversation I guess, the teacher pointed out how she doesn't have siblings at home and that she realized that she could have picked up some of her newfound "skills" at school. We talked about using time out at home and about how Jules usually only hits me. I thanked her for bringing it to my attention and assured her that I'd do what I could to reinforce the "no hitting" philosophy at home as well.
It took a while for me to get over the whole conversation. I am sad to have to deal with these sort of little things. Of course I want my daughter to be perfect. I want her to be the "easy" kid or the "good" kid. I'm also not naive and I know that she has to learn how to live and communicate along side other people while respecting their rights too. All this just means that she's growing up so fast. And that makes me a little sad too.
Fortunately, the more I think about it this whole little discussion really made the teacher grow on me a little. From experience I know that it was difficult for her to have to pull me aside and tell me that my daughter is showing signs of being a bully and a troublemaker (i'm totally exaggerating there I know). [I absolutely dreaded talking to parents when I was a teacher.] I also know now that she really wants to help my child learn. It is perfectly normal for Julianna to want to defend her territory when another child comes and takes away the toy she is playing with. Not only will helping her learn to stop hitting teach her how to survive later as a normal adult it will also help the flow of the classroom now so I really believe the teacher wants what's best for both of us.
*sigh*
What's next though?
Monday, November 12, 2007
this is one she WON’T be carrying around between her teeth
Last Tuesday, my husband's grandmother, his mother, and I all went to Old Salem to learn how to make pewter spoons. His family has a love for pewter pieces and when we heard about the class, we thought it would be enjoyable to learn how they were made and then to have a treasure to take home and add to the collection.
When we got to the class we had a little trouble locating the building and room from the dark cobblestone street. Once we go inside we noticed the room was lit with only a few lights and the glow from the fireplace (450 degrees we were told). We got a brief introduction and some instructions on what we would be doing and I chose to cast a spoon from the mid to late 1800s since the "federal" mold was already warm when it was my turn to cast. We had two other choices, but since I went next to last I knew from watching the others that it would be easiest to choose one of the warm molds.
The class itself was more than three hours of grueling detail work - casting, re-casting, cooling, trimming, filing, sanding, sanding, more sanding, stamping, and finally polishing - but it was also more than three hours of experience. I was amazed at how tedious it was just to create a simple object that we all use every day and certainly take for granted. I cannot imagine making those things all day long for a living.
During the class I would often stop and take breaks, putting my spoon and sandpaper down to rest. I began to love the small scratches or uneven places (some would call them "flaws") and I exclaimed to those working near me that those places gave my spoon "character." I'm glad to have made it.
Here. You can admire my handiwork.
Don't you love the way I stamped my initials in a diagonal line intentionally?
Now it's sitting on the buffet in my dining room, displayed with the pewter tea set my MIL gave me one year for Christmas. It looks a little out of place there, but I don't mind. It's something I'll always treasure.
When we got to the class we had a little trouble locating the building and room from the dark cobblestone street. Once we go inside we noticed the room was lit with only a few lights and the glow from the fireplace (450 degrees we were told). We got a brief introduction and some instructions on what we would be doing and I chose to cast a spoon from the mid to late 1800s since the "federal" mold was already warm when it was my turn to cast. We had two other choices, but since I went next to last I knew from watching the others that it would be easiest to choose one of the warm molds.
The class itself was more than three hours of grueling detail work - casting, re-casting, cooling, trimming, filing, sanding, sanding, more sanding, stamping, and finally polishing - but it was also more than three hours of experience. I was amazed at how tedious it was just to create a simple object that we all use every day and certainly take for granted. I cannot imagine making those things all day long for a living.
During the class I would often stop and take breaks, putting my spoon and sandpaper down to rest. I began to love the small scratches or uneven places (some would call them "flaws") and I exclaimed to those working near me that those places gave my spoon "character." I'm glad to have made it.
Here. You can admire my handiwork.
Don't you love the way I stamped my initials in a diagonal line intentionally?
Now it's sitting on the buffet in my dining room, displayed with the pewter tea set my MIL gave me one year for Christmas. It looks a little out of place there, but I don't mind. It's something I'll always treasure.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
another first
I don't know what this says about my parenting skills, but my less than 20 month old daughter just climbed up on the couch, turned the TV on, and changed the channel to the cartoons. And now she's sitting here quietly watching them. Another first, but certainly not one I expected to encounter this early.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
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