Georgia's Turn

Hello everyone!  I am indeed still among the living.  I just have a crazy schedule that does not allow much time for writing these days, but I feel like I need to.  At least I have to tell the story of Georgia in the Jungle Book play at school.  I wrote about Sonya and Lana's experiences, so it would be unfair of me to not talk about little GG.  Plus then, when she gets older, I'll never hear the end of it about how she, as the youngest child, always got the shit end of the stick.  Less writing in the baby book, less pictures of her, blah, blah.  It's a song my little sister Megan likes to sing sometimes.  Well, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen to G!  At least in talking about her part in the 2nd grade play.  

For those of you who have been with me a while, you might remember reading about Sonya's experience with this and then Lana, who ended up with the same part Sonya had when she was in 2nd grade.  This is one of the things I love about my girls all growing up in the same place.  I moved around so much when I was a kid and my sisters never had the chance to have the favorite teacher I did or get the same part in the play.  We didn't have similar experiences to compare.  Which is fine, I swear I'm not harboring a grudge-well maybe a tiny one- however I like that my girls can share and compare their similar childhood experiences.  

Now unlike Sonya, who was petrified to get on stage, Georgia is my ham.  She is the one who longs to be in the spotlight and have everyone looking at her-as long as they are supposed to be looking at her.  When they started discussing the Jungle Book at school in January, Georgia was dying to play the part of King Louie.  I honestly have no idea why she wanted to be him, but that was who she had her heart set on.  Then she came home in tears one day because she wasn't going to get the chance to try out for King Louie.  They were organizing it a bit differently this year and each 2nd grade class had a group of animals they could try out for.  Her class was not the monkeys.  Her class was Kaa the snake and she had no desire to be one of 10 kids as Kaa the snake.  She could, however, try out for one of the four main parts-Mowgli, Shere Kahn, Bagheera, or Baloo the bear.  Once she heard about this option, all her cards were on the table to go for Baloo.  I thought this was a perfect choice for her since Baloo is more of the comedic relief of the play, and Georgia is the comedic relief in our family.  

Sidestory-We were talking at dinner one night about how the girls wanted to see the new Ghostbusters movie.  I told them they could, but that they had to watch the original one first.  Sonya and Lana decided they would be too scared.  Georgia said that was fine, she wanted to watch it.  Then she said,

"But I might end up in your bed in the middle of the night....Consequences!"

Consequences indeed.  Damn that kid makes me laugh.  Anyway-Baloo.

They auditioned in their class for the teacher.  Then their teacher picked two kids to move on to audition with the other Baloo, and main part hopefuls in the other classes.  (You're going to Hollywood!)  Her teacher kept telling me how great she was for the part, but they had to see the other kids first before they could decide.  Of course none were as good as Georgia, not to brag, but yet to brag, and she got the part.    Little GG was going to play the part of Big Bear Baloo!

Over the next month and a half, they rehearsed the play at school.  I kept hearing from all the 2nd grade teachers how great she was doing and how cute she was.  We worked on her lines at home and I could see how into this she was.  Her only problem was running the lines too quickly.  

She was so  nervous the night before and the morning of the performance.  We could barely talk to her without her getting mad or bursting into tears.  She was jumpy!  I was just praying she wasn't going to get a migraine.  Don't worry-she didn't.  This isn't one of those stories, but I was sweating it.  She hadn't had one since December and she was due.  Thankfully it happened two weeks AFTER this.  

The school held two performances and we went to both.  I even took Sonya out of school for a bit one day, so she could come watch her sister.  I was nervous for her, but she remembered every line and played the part adorably well.  People I didn't know came up to me afterward to tell me how cute she was.  She really was.  She is easily one of the smallest kids in her class-as all of my girls are, they come by it naturally-and here she was playing the part of what was supposed to be a big bear.  I was so proud of the great job she did and of course cried at the beginning of both performances.  I am such a sap!  The best part is she loved every minute of it.  She loved the acting and getting the laughs and she loved the spotlight.  I guess something else she comes by naturally.  

It's been so crazy to watch each of my girls do this play and each in a different way.  Even though Sonya and Lana had the same part they certainly didn't play it the same way.  Then having Georgia play a main part brought it to a different level.  I'm so glad they go to a school that will do things like this for the kids.   There was talk of it not happening this year, and I would have been heartbroken if it didn't.  I feel like things came full circle while watching Georgia up there, after having seen it two times before with the other two.  Not to mention that this really sparked something in her.  I would guess she is going to look for more opportunities like this to shine.  She enjoyed herself so much from beginning to end.  I think the craziest part of all this for me though is to realize that they have now all been through 2nd grade.  This is it.  We are on to the END of elementary school.  I just can't even think about it half the time.  I will miss all the littleness and cuteness of all this...


                                            

On the plus side-I am anxious to see what they will choose to focus on in their lives and if something like this play really will spark something in Georgia.  I love watching their lives unfold and seeing what kind of people they will become.   I will NOT love the attitudes that are about to explode in my house over the next eight years though.  Especially if this acting bug kicks in.  The drama that will follow!  Oh Lawdy!  Pray for me people! 

The Teacher's Lounge

Last Thursday night was the girls' school PTA meeting.  I tried to attend these meetings every month to help out with what is going on around the school.  To be honest, if it weren't for the PTA and Booster Club at our school, there would be no extra anything at the school.  It would be teach the kids, go home.  There would be no family picnic, or Halloween parade.  No music teacher for the Kinders and first graders.  The parents really do the fundraising to get what we need for the school.  Including extra teachers.   I like to attend the meetings to know what's going on and what needs to be done.  It's great that I can be more involved now than I have been in the past since all three girls are at the same school.  That does not mean I want to be president of the PTA, however, so don't get any ideas.  I just want to help out.  It  is also how I got roped into being in charge of hospitality for the meetings.  You know, because I felt like I had five minutes in my life that weren't quite filled up yet.  Done!

Actually, the hospitality job isn't that difficult.  I just have to set up tables and paper goods before the meetings once a month.  I also have to buy drinks and make sure people who come to the meetings bring a food item to share pot luck style.  Easy enough. 

Last week was my first time doing it.  Lana had gymnastics for an hour, so after I dropped her off I took Sonya and Georgia with me to the school.  I figured I'd put them to work with helping set up.  It is nice having older kids who can actually help you with such things now.  It's not like they are just another obstacle in a stroller I have to contend with anymore.  (Although, yes, I sometimes still miss those obstacles.)  

They helped to carry the drinks and the ice in.  They helped me set up the tables and put out paper goods.  Since the meeting wasn't going to be for a few hours, I had to put the sodas and ice in the teacher's lounge refrigerator.  I told the girls to follow me, that we were going to the teacher's lounge.  This was met with an excited Sonya who said,

"Oh wow!  I've never gotten to go in the teacher's lounge before!"  

She acted like I was taking her to Disneyland.  I didn't get it, but whatever.  I opened the door to the room and since I have been in there many times before I knew it looked like any break room in any workplace.  Tables to eat at, fridge, sink, coffee pot.  That's pretty much it.  Nothing too exciting.  This, however, was not at all what Sonya was expecting.  

As soon as she walked into the room, the giant smile she had on her face fell.  Then she said, 

"This is IT??!!"

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"I really thought there would be a jacuzzi in here," she said.

Yes, I burst into laughter.  How could I NOT?

"What?  Why would you think there was a jacuzzi in here?" I asked her.  As far as I knew teachers weren't ever roaming the halls of the school in wet bathing suits with towels wrapped around them.

"I don't know," she shrugged.  "I just did."

As I continued to chuckle, she checked out the rest of the room.  

"Ok, there's coffee, I thought that would be here.  But there's no bottles of wine," she said more to herself.

"Wait, wait-you thought there would be bottles of wine AND a jacuzzi in here?" I asked.  Honestly her teacher's lounge sounded pretty kick ass, if you ask me.  

She nodded yes.  Then I asked her,

"Sonya, what else did you think would be in here?"

She looked at me, hesitated and said, "Ummm...Nooottthhiingg..."

Which I knew meant she had something else in mind, but didn't want to say.  Well, since I had laughed out loud at her other thoughts, I guess I couldn't blame her.  

"No really," I encouraged her. "Tell me what else."

"Well," she began.  " I thought there was a big closet full of fancy dresses that the teachers put on and walked around here in, before they quick changed to go back to class."

My daughter has quite the imagination.  

"Nope," I told her.  "It's just a place for the teachers to come and eat their lunch while you guys are having your lunch.  Not really to exciting huh?"

"No," she admitted.  

I think she was pretty disappointed. She was really expecting some kind of Shangri-La.  It's funny how build things up in our mind that we know nothing about.  Especially kids.  Then again, this should make future talks about things like Santa Clause and the Tooth fairy a little easier.  All I will have to say is "remember that time when you thought the teacher's lounge had a jacuzzi? Well..."

Clowning Around

Here we are a week and a half into school and back into the swing of things.  I have volunteered in Georgia's classroom once and Lana's just today.  I love to go volunteer in the class because it gives me insight as to how my kids are at school.  Mostly they act as I would expect.  Georgia, however, did surprise me a bit last week.  

Last year I volunteered in Lana's class every other week.  Despite the problems I have with her at home from time to time, she is great at school.  She listens, follows directions and plays well with others. Sonya has always been this way too.  They have been model students.  I suppose I just thought Georgia would behave accordingly.  

Now it's not that she didn't or was "bad" in any way.  It's just that...well...I think we may have a class clown on our hands.  It's not completely surprising.  It's the way she's always acted at home.  Trying to be goofy and make everyone laugh.  She is her father's daughter.  So I don't know why I was a little surprised last Friday when she was being silly with a friend sitting next to her, instead of doing her work.  Then when they went to sit on the rug to listen to the teacher's lesson, instead of facing the front and paying attention to the screen the teacher was pointing to, she was completely turned around to the back of the room paying attention to what, I don't know.  I tried to discreetly get her to turn around, but she wasn't even looking in my direction.  Now, in her defense, she wasn't the only one having a hard time sitting still.  It was the end of the first week of school for these five year olds, and they are still trying to get the hang of this paying attention for more than ten minutes thing.  But still, this is not anything I have ever seen from my other two.  

When I talked to Andy later on in the day he asked how Georgia was at school. I mentioned how she was a little goofy with the other kids and how I thought that perhaps she might end up becoming a class clown.  

"Really?"  He asked.  "Oh I like that!"  

"It is kinda funny," I admitted.  

"Ooohh...except that means she might get in trouble though," he realized.  

Yup.  

Well, not yet but just wait, my friends.  I have a feeling there may be some good stories coming from her this year.    

Making New Friends

Last Friday I volunteered in Lana's kindergarten class.  Now that I have free time for a few hours each week, I figured I should help out the very overworked teachers.  Lana has the same kindergarten teacher Sonya did, so I already know her and know how she works.  She always welcomes parent help.  She's not stupid.  I was looking forward to going and helping out, and even more interested in seeing how Lana behaved in a classroom setting.  Her preschool teachers always told me how good she was.  They weren't lying.

Lana is a model student in class.  She listens and responds when she's supposed.  It's obvious she saves all her antics and crankiness especially for me at home.  Or at least that's what I thought.  I learned that day that she tends to let it out at bit at recess too.  

Since school started, back in August, Lana would come home every day and tell me she "made up a  new friend!"  

"Really?" I would ask.  "What is her name?"

"Ummmmm...I don't know, I forget!" She'd tell me. 

This is the response I would get every day for at least two weeks.  I kept telling her to try and remember to ask names.  Eventually she came home one day and told me she found out the name of the girl she'd been playing with.  Jazlyn!  Well, at least she finally got one name.

So the day I went in to volunteer I was scouting the classroom to find this Jazlyn girl.  It's always interesting to see what kind of kids your kid likes to play with.  During recess a little girl walked in the classroom as I helping some of the other kids with an art project.  She looked around the room and I asked if I could help her with something.  She told me no, and I asked her her name.

"Jazlyn," she responded.  

"Ohhh!!  Jazlyn!" I said.  "I'm Lana's mommy.  Lana said you two are friends."

"Yup," she said nodding her head.

"Do you have fun at recess?" I asked, trying to make conversation with a five year old.

"Yeah..only...well...Lana is grumpy a lot of days," she told me.

"Oh really?" I asked feigning surprise.  Let's be honest, I love Lana, but she IS grumpy a lot of days.  I just didn't know the other five year olds knew it.  

"Yeah," she admitted.  Then she clapped her hand over her mouth like she said something bad and with widened eyes said to me, "Don't tell her I said that though, or she won't be my friend anymore!"

"I won't say anything," I promised her.  "Plus I think she's still be your friend."  Maybe.

Well, on the plus side it looks like Lana doesn't have any problem making friend. Even though she is grumpy, people still like her and want to hang out with her.  On the minus side, I think this means she may end up being a Mean Girl.  Great.

Vampire Teacher

After picking Lana up from preschool on Friday afternoon:


Me- "How was school Lana?"


Lana- "Good!  I yike my teacher. Teacher Suzanne."


Me- "Yeah?  She's a good teacher, huh?"


Lana- "Yeah, she's fun.  Mommy?"


Me- "Yes, Lana?"


Lana- "Does Teacher Suzanne go to sweep at night or is she awake and teaches all night?"


Me- Stifling my giggles, "I'm pretty sure she sleeps at night like we do."


Lana- "Oh. Okay!"


What would possibly make her think that someone stays up all night and teaches?  Perhaps I shouldn't let them watch the Twilight movies anymore.

Rain, Rain Go Away, I Have To Go To School Today

Over the weekend I was filling out paperwork for Sonya to go back to school.  I was also reading some of the handbook and other  information that came with everything I had to fill out.  While I was reading through it I came across this little tidbit of information.

Did you all know THIS!?  They are supposed to go to school on RAINY DAYS?! 

OK.  Look.  Here's the thing.  I know we live in "sunny" Southern California, and no we don't get a lot of rain, but we do have a season where it does gets rainy here.  It's also known as our winter.  I grew up mostly on the East Coast and not once would I have ever thought I wasn't going to school because of a few raindrops.  Unless, they turned into freezing raindrops or came with high winds, and had a name to them, like Irene or Andrew.  No, I had many a rainy school day and it was just a school day.  We might not have had recess, but we still had to go to class. 

I guess what bothers me most about this little of blurb of information, is that they felt they HAD to inform parents about this policy.  Which means at some point in time, there were parents who thought their kids didn't have school because it was RAINING.  Come on parents!  Can you at least pretend that you're smarter than your first grader.  I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised though.  We are talking about a part of the country where, when it does rain more than an inch, the news people start talking about "Storm Watch 20__(fill in the year here)."  I'm not kidding.  They do this for a simple rain storm.  

Sometimes I do miss the slightly less crazy people on the east coast.  

School's Out for the (Spring)Summer!

Today was Sonya's last day of first grade.  Yes, it was today.  I just heard all of you yell "but it's May!" You have to remember though, she went back to school in the middle of August.  Still, I can't believe a whole school year has gone by already.  And I can't believe my first baby is now out of first grade.


I know I say it a lot on here, how I feel like time is just going way too fast, but it really is.  It makes me sad when I think about it too much.  At least I still have two who haven't even started school yet, but in the blink of an eye they will be right there with Sonya.  So, I had to fight back tears this morning as she left for her last day of school, because I am sad she is growing up.  Also, because now I have ten weeks with her at home.  All day. Every day.  I know, I'm conflicted.


As it turns out my daughter is just as sensitive as I am, if not more.  Most kids are thrilled with the last day of school.  They usually count down the days until it comes.  When I went to pick Sonya up from school today, I watched as all the kids ran out of the school with big smiles on their faces.  They were ready to face the next six weeks of no school and no homework, with happiness and excitement.  Then I saw Sonya.  She walked down the steps of the school in tears.


"What happened girlie?" I asked as I put my arm around her shoulders.


"I'm going to miss Mrs. Mckenna!!!" she wailed between sobs.


Sonya gets just a tad bit attached to people.  So far she's loved every teacher she's had since preschool and has cried leaving every one of them.  I told her to calm down, and if she stopped crying we would take a picture with her and her teacher.  We took the picture and said our goodbyes.  Then the girls ran around outside with the other school kids for about 20 minutes.  Sonya forgot about being sad and leaving her beloved teacher.  Then we started walking to the car, and she started to get upset again.  She cried in the car the entire way to In-N-Out.  She's a sensitive soul, that one.


Luckily cheeseburgers, french fries and lemonade, make everything better.  

Santa's Other Wordly Contribution

This morning at breakfast:

Sonya-"I think Santa was home schooled."

Me-"What?"

Sonya-"I think Santa was home schooled."

Me-"Why do you think that?"

Sonya-"Because of Santa Clause is Coming to Town." (the Christmas special) "He lived in the cold and snow, so he couldn't go to school, so he was taught at home."

Me-"Oh really?  I didn't know that.  So do you know there are other kids that are home schooled?"

Sonya-"Yeah, that's why the whole world chose to home school.  Because Santa taught them."

Me-"But everyone isn't home schooled.   You aren't."

Sonya-"That's because some parents can't teach their kids everything because they don't know it."

I suppose I can't argue with that logic.  I can barely help her with her first grade "pre-geometry" math. 

 I really wish I was kidding about that. 

Back To School!

Today is a bittersweet day for me. Usually, when I write I have the younger two down for a nap and Sonya next to me doing some kind of schoolwork. Now, however, Sonya won't be sitting next to me during writing time anymore, because today is the first day of 1st grade. The first day of ALL DAY school.

If you would have talked to me about a month ago, this day couldn't come fast enough. She was starting to drive me summer crazy. The kid really needed more scheduled activities then I provided for this summer, but live and learn. Then about a week and a half ago I got sad thinking about her being gone all day. I would no longer be making and having lunch with her. She would no longer sit next to me, trying to talk as I tried to write. Those thoughts left me a bit gloomy. Then fifteen minutes later she did something to make one of her sisters yell and I was back to hoping this day would quickly get here. Of course now that it is here, I am back to a bit gloomy. I guess it has something to do with how great she was yesterday afternoon and this morning. She was so excited to start 1st grade. She had gotten the teacher she wanted and her best friend, Lourdes is in her class. She was much less apprehensive than she was last year and just generally excited. I guess this excitement put her in a good mood because she decided to be extra pleasant for a while. Everything was,

"Yes, mommy. Okay Mommy, whatever you say mommy."

Then this morning I woke up about 6:45 to the sounds of her moving around a chair in the kitchen and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing on the TV. I dragged myself out of bed, put my slippers on and headed down the hall. As I walked into the kitchen, I found Sonya fully dressed in her new first day of school clothes, standing on a chair about to pour milk into a cup for Lana. Lana, who Sonya had convinced to go potty and trade her pull-up for underwear already, was sitting watching Mickey. Usually it takes me at least ten minutes of begging Lana to change into underwear in the morning. Not for Sonya though, nope. Sonya got her to do it first thing. She had also gotten out the cereal she wanted and a bowl from the clean dishwasher. I peeked into her room to find her bed had already been made as well.

WOW!

Why can't EVERY day be the first day of school?? Or at least the first day of 1st grade. Something tells me the first day of 10th grade won't really go the same way. Something tells me the 10th DAY of first grade won't go the same way either. The only thing she hadn't done was get Georgia out of her crib, but I don't think I'd really want her attempting that anyway.

I commended her on what a great job she had done. She smiled with pride. Then she poured her own cereal and milk. I debated about going back to bed, letting her pack her own lunch, and taking herself to school, but since it was the first day I figured I should help out some.

She was ready to go in record time and asked me to curl her hair since we had an extra moment. I did as she asked, since she was being so great. She looked so much older to me now, as I watched her walk off to the bedroom to go check her hair out in the mirror. She is no longer a baby at all. She is a true little girl. I still say she is little, because until she hits 10 she is little as far as I'm concerned. Even then it's up for debate.

So here I sit all alone in a quiet house with two sleeping kids and one at school all day. I am more morose then I thought I would be.

Then again, here I am in a QUIET house with two SLEEPING kids and one at school ALL DAY! What the hell am I so sad about? Soaps and bon bons here I come!! Or perhaps a nap first. Oh decisions decisions! ( I'll just pretend I don't see that pile of dirty dishes in the sink. )

Happy first day of 1st grade Sonya. I know you are going to be a bright and shining star!