Investigations

I found out today that the ALL program my kids are officially signed up for uses "Investigations" Math. It's a conceptual based program that I think is TERRIBLE. I was part of a wave of parents who helped get Investigations out of our elementary school. It has taken Emma two years to recover from K-2 of Investigations. This year, Emma is actually now advanced in math.

We have some exceptional 5th and 6th grade teachers at my kid's elementary school and we don't use Investigations. We have until May 15th to submit the paperwork accepting or rejecting placement at Cherry Hill. Unfortunately, mine is already turned in. However, I think I could withdraw it and keep my kids at the regular elementary.

I feel so conflicted I could almost barf. I know I could supplement the kids with extra projects and neat things like that. I've heard from so many people of their kids getting overwhelmed with homework.

One woman told me her son had 2-2.5 hours of homework a night at the beginning of the school year.

The 3-4 program also seems different from the 5-6. So where I'm worried about putting Emma in, I feel less worried about putting Anson in.

I'm also concerned because the kids will be so disappointed, Wendell will be disappointed, my friend Allison will be disappointed when we don't carpool. I feel like, if I don't do this program I'm letting "Everybody" down.

Think Hard

Overheard at my house...

Mom: That is the Star of David. Hitler made all the Jews wear the Star of David to identify them.

Anson: Did they get killed?

M: Not at first, but eventually they were rounded up and sent to concentration camps where millions upon millions of them were killed.

A: Was that because they weren't concentrating?

For the record, I did correct him, but only after a hearty laugh.

Truth and Looks

"Are you cute?" the 20-something man on the other end of the phone asked me. I felt startled. I had cold-called him from an insurance agency to set appointments for an agent. The young man had recently bought a new truck and was open to the idea of switching insurance companies.

I was an 18-year-old freshman at BYU, just trying to earn some extra cash without having to work much. I think it was my second day on the job.

"No," I answered without much thought. I was at least 40 lbs overweight and a poor dresser. Although I hoped that someone would find me cute, I was far from fitting the traditional definition.

"Ah," the voice on the other end of the phone purred, "that means you're really cute."

"No!" I said getting more insistent, "No!"

"I'm coming down there," the guy announced.

"Where?" I asked.

"To the insurance place. Maybe, then I can convince you to go out with me."

I felt panicked. I had given this man, through the course of conversation, important details about where I was including the address of the insurance office.

I hung up the phone and turned to the other girls. I explained that there was a man coming to see me. They had to tell him that "Jenna" had gone home and I would make the rest of my calls using the name "Kathy." Although these girls are not normally ones who would have been my friends, they agreed.

It felt like moments later the guy showed up. He asked for me, but the girls kept their promise and told him I had left. He flirted unabashedly with the girls there, trying to figure out which one of them had actually called. He never even looked at me, the fat girl in the corner still making phone calls.

One of the sales agents working late in a back office heard kind of a commotion as this guy and his friend requested looking around the office, sure that the beautiful, albeit humble, Jenna was there somewhere. The agent told the young man that the office was closed, followed him down and locked the door.

I quit the next day.

More than anything, I feared this man's reaction. The look of disgust that would have inevitably crossed his face when he learned that I--I was the caller with the cute voice. I doubt he would have asked me out, especially once he saw me, and I doubted even more that he would believe me. If the other girls said, "There. That one's Jenna." I expect that he would have say, Can't be. And he would have kept pressing for the "real answer."

So what's the truth about you? Are you cute?

Me Stuck and Other Words

Beck said, "Me stuck," today while insisting that he was done with dinner and it was now time to get out of his high chair. So, along my similar theme (being a brag) as my last few posts, here are a few things Beck says.

*A cow says: Moo
*A puppy says: Arf
*A cat says: Ahhhhh (very high pitched). It actually sounds exactly like our cat and much more realistic than the traditional "meow."
*A fish says: (smacks his lips)
*A sheep says: Baa
*An elephant says: Goo-ga. (It's supposed to be Ooooo-ga, but often as not he puts on a leading "G.")

Beck also says, "ouch" and "ow" a lot. Unfortunately, he's started in with "mine," too. He also says, "one." I don't really know why, maybe he's counting down 'cause bad things happen at my house on three. I've tried to get him to say "one" after I ask him how old he is, but so far, no dice.

Annika Is 3

Let's pretend that today is March 21st and Annika has just turned three!

I can't believe how quickly the time goes by. Avert your eyes if you hate those posts where people brag on and on about their kids.

Amazing Things About Annika:

1. Annika is 100% potty trained. Day trained, night trained, choo-choo trained. She has, no question, been my easiest child to potty train. The worst, hardest part took 1 month after which I think she has had 2 accidents. I'm not kidding. She's awesome.

2. Annika is my most advanced reader. She sight reads over 20 words, she knows the entire alphabet and all the sounds the letters make. We are now working on phonics and she is reading books. She's currently in the middle of "The Goose is Loose."

3. I LOVE Annika's naturally curly hair. It took me forever to get up the nerve to cut it because I was terrified that I was losing her curls. Nope. They're still all bouncy and wavy.

4. Annika is very articulate. I often have people guessing that she's a small 4 because she speaks so well. The other day she told me, "I need to draw something in this area." And waved her hand over her paper. Lovely. Draw away.

5. Annika is writing too. She can consistently write A, O, N, M and W. She's working on K, I, and D among others.

6. She has a bit of a performer in her. One day at Costco, she heard children's music and immediately began singing and dancing along. Soon (according to Wendell) they had a gathering of grandmother-ish ladies, clapping their hands and adoring her. Wendell bought the music and I have been tortured with it ever since.

7. Annika can get dressed all by herself. Many times a day. Today she appeared at the front door (I was outside talking to a neighbor) in a swimming suit, shorts and a sun hat. Before I could even get inside to take her picture she had changed into filthy clothes, from heaven knows what day. She changes as much as 3-4 times a day wearing any of the following: dress-up outfits, pj's (sometimes with the feet attached), yesterday's clothes, Emma's underwear, clothes from any of the big kids, Halloween costumes, hats, glasses, etc.

This concludes Jenna's brag session.

Now That I've Vented...

So I had a heart to heart with Nathan today. I asked him what he thought of Emma and Anson going to a different school.

"I don't much care," he said.

Perhaps it was my blinking look of shock that encouraged him to continue.

"Lately, they've been bugging me."

So cavalier. Well, then. Good to know.

I want to blog about...

I should be blogging about Annika. March 21st was her 3rd birthday. I think about blogging about her everyday. But today what I want to blog about is Nathan. As eager as I am for Emma and Anson to participate in the ALL program. I am concerned about Nathan. He doesn't do well with change.

Today Anson told me that he and Nathan eat school lunch together almost everyday. And they play at recess together, though, as Anson tells it, it's often at his inconvenience. Anson is a good brother. How will Nathan do when he doesn't have Anson to watch out for him and stick up for him?

Once my nephew, Spencer (who attends school with my kids), found out that Emma and Anson made it into the ALL program, he declared that he won't be walking home with babies. He's going to walk home everyday with his pal, Paul and NOT Nathan. (His own little sister, Charlotte, will be a 1st grader next year and despite that, he is apparently not walking home with her either.)

I try to calm myself. To figure out how I can get kids home at the same time everyday from two different schools. There are options. I could stagger the kids--having two start and end times every day. Although that is easier in some ways, it's harder in others.

I am so excited for the older kids. But then, everyone says, "Have you heard about the homework?" And my eyes widen like saucers to match theirs and I think, Am I up for this?

And I worry about Emma and the math. And I worry about Nathan some more. How do I do two back to school nights, two choir concerts, two Reflection's programs, two...? But then I realize that anyone with a child in elementary and one in junior high has the same problem. It's silly to worry. I'll do the best I can. I'll get help where I can. Wendell will get off work when he can. And we'll be OK.

It's hard to embrace the new without morning the loss of the old. My three big kids will never walk home together from school again. But their minds will be fed in a different way. All of the enrichment activities, I want to do for them, will be done at school. It takes a burden off that way.

Of course we can always quit. At any time. This isn't set in stone. It's just one year. One school year. To see how the program goes. To see what happens.

It's A.L.L. Part of the Program

On Friday our family got great news. Emma and Anson have made it into the Accelerated Learning Lab (ALL) at Cherry Hill. For those of you who have no idea what that means, Emma and Anson have tested into a "Gifted and Talented" program.

My biggest worry when these two went for their test was that one would make in but not the other. Which child I thought would make it in varied based on the day. Now that they're both in, we're thrilled, albeit complete unprepared for this outcome.

On April 22nd, we can attend a parent meeting at the school, which I'm hoping will answer some of our questions. This could be tricky, though, with Nathan at one school and Emma and Anson at another. Hopefully, Nathan will test in next year and they can all be at the same school.

We will be having some family councils about this and how this amazing opportunity will effect all of us.

So I'm dying to hear about others' experiences with gifted programs. Was it good for you, was it worth it for your kid? Please tell.

Alone with My Toe

Once again, I've been guilty of a notable blogging lag. And, oh, the stories I could tell. Like about my toe. My right, big toe to be precise. The other day, while showering, I bumped the shower shelf unit that hangs on the shower door. This small, insignificant bump knocked my razor off it's spot where it careened down and sliced a half inch square (oddly square if you ask me) of flesh off the end of my toe.

I stood in the shower and watched the blood swirl down the drain and pondered on the lie that if you cut yourself while submerged in water that it doesn't hurt. Well, let me tell you. It hurts more when you get out, but it still hurts like heck.

Today, when I got up the nerve to face my razor again and shave my legs, I discovered some odd thick foreign object in my razor. AHHHHHH!!!! It was my flesh. I actually had to pull the flesh out of my razor with a pair of tweezers. (Shudder.)

But that does not tell you why I am alone. I am on vacation. All. By. Myself.

I am sitting in a hotel room, in my PJ's, typing on Wendell's laptop. I have 11 books and 3 journals/notebooks with me. I am meeting a friend from Wyview--when both our hubbies were students at BYU-- for lunch tomorrow. Then I have a massage scheduled at a day spa across the street in the late afternoon. The following day I'm having dinner in downtown Salt Lake City with my roommate from my freshman year at college, who I haven't seen in years.

Some of you will think I am insane. And some of you will envy me terribly. I want you to know I plan on sleeping in a long time. I also plan on enjoying 6 straight meals that I don't have to fix or clean up. The weird thing is, I already miss Wendell and the kids.