&aIn other news, Bob started school on Tuesday. First grade. His first experience with all-day school, cafeteria food, and other things.
It's supposed to be a good school; private, a bit expensive, there are uniforms (basically business casual), etc. Lots of talk about honor, respect, honesty, etc. The expected never-ending requests for donations of time and money, I'm sure. And it seems okay so far, but there have been a few glitches.
For example, no one apparently explained lunchtime procedures, either to us (we've had 3 hours of "orientation" so far) or the kids (unless Bob didn't hear that part). So, Bob didn't know that there were separate lunch lines, and he ended up with nacho bar instead of a sandwich on Tuesday. He'll survive. A talk with the teacher this morning cleared things up, but this should be in the handbook, I think. I can't answer Bob's questions if I don't know the answers.
Also, unfortunately, we've already had to find the Lost & Found. Even more unfortunately, I don't think our Lost thing will ever be Found, which means that (probably - I'm hoping for recovery) someone, not to sugar-coat it, stole my kid's Snuggle Puppy backpack clip on the second day of school, and that said Someone is one of his classmates.
Yes, it's my fault for putting Snuggle in Bob's backpack pocket for a first week security blanket, and Bob's for not zipping the pocket. But still. As near as I can tell, it had to fall out in his classroom, with the teacher and other people around. We looked in the hallways, cubbies, and classroom. No luck. Teacher hasn't been overly helpful (I get the impression she's not friendly with the parents, but I hope that's just me being defensive and tired and anti-social this week) regarding lost Snuggle, either. Wich leads to my supposition that some other little kid saw Snuggle, liked him, and absconded with him, knowingly or not. Sucks majorly. So much for honesty and integrity and all that.
Also, the Lost and Found? It's a cheap pop-up hamper in the main hallway. No sign, so we had to ask three people before we figured it out. No supervision, so honestly if someone sees a nice item in the hamper, they can take it and no one would ever know.
So now, I'm off to search the Internet for a Teenie Pillow Pet dog for less than $15. Which sucks more because I got ours on clearance after Christmas for something like $2. But it's my fault he's lost, so I'll replace him.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Freak out Follow Up
So, last time on the amazingly neglected blog, I was dealing with the Dali/Coin conundrum, and vision issues.
The Dali issue was not so traumatic as I expected. That day turned out to be bicycle day at Summer Camp, and an extra half hour racing his friends around the parking lot meant that Bob didn't give a fig about missing Dali or the coins (whichever ended up being the actual program).
The eye issue is an ongoing thing. Bob had a two-hour checkup with an optometrist who specializes in pediatric patients - which meant having his eyes dilated, and whatever the doctor used was heavy-duty stuff, because he was still dilated a week and a half later. And that led to my mother worrying that his eyes were still dilated. And yes, we called the doctor, who said "drop by" the office (which is a 40 minute drive, so "dropping by" isn't that convenient). We dropped, occupied the waiting room chairs for 20 minutes, and an assistant took a 20-second look to tell us that it's fine and can take up to 10 days to go back to normal. And why couldn't they mention the 10-day timeframe the first time around??? Who knows.
Long story short: Bob has, as far as the optometrist can tell, micro-strabisimus in his left eye, meaning the focus is a bit off or out of sync with the other eye. She prescribed 2 hours of eye exercises a day - things like stringing beads, putting toothpicks into a straw, tracing things, etc. That was easy to do before school started, but this week has been a mess. Trying to fit this into the evening, along with dinner, homework, bedtime routines, and play time, is a serious headache. I hope it gets better as we get the routine fine-tuned. We go back for a follow-up in 5 weeks, and if this hasn't worked, I don't know what the next step is. Google results mentioned surgery, but that was for cases caught a bit younger and suddenly - since Bob's vision last year was 20/20, I'm not sure how something sort of sudden compares to a case that may not have been so sudden.
The Dali issue was not so traumatic as I expected. That day turned out to be bicycle day at Summer Camp, and an extra half hour racing his friends around the parking lot meant that Bob didn't give a fig about missing Dali or the coins (whichever ended up being the actual program).
The eye issue is an ongoing thing. Bob had a two-hour checkup with an optometrist who specializes in pediatric patients - which meant having his eyes dilated, and whatever the doctor used was heavy-duty stuff, because he was still dilated a week and a half later. And that led to my mother worrying that his eyes were still dilated. And yes, we called the doctor, who said "drop by" the office (which is a 40 minute drive, so "dropping by" isn't that convenient). We dropped, occupied the waiting room chairs for 20 minutes, and an assistant took a 20-second look to tell us that it's fine and can take up to 10 days to go back to normal. And why couldn't they mention the 10-day timeframe the first time around??? Who knows.
Long story short: Bob has, as far as the optometrist can tell, micro-strabisimus in his left eye, meaning the focus is a bit off or out of sync with the other eye. She prescribed 2 hours of eye exercises a day - things like stringing beads, putting toothpicks into a straw, tracing things, etc. That was easy to do before school started, but this week has been a mess. Trying to fit this into the evening, along with dinner, homework, bedtime routines, and play time, is a serious headache. I hope it gets better as we get the routine fine-tuned. We go back for a follow-up in 5 weeks, and if this hasn't worked, I don't know what the next step is. Google results mentioned surgery, but that was for cases caught a bit younger and suddenly - since Bob's vision last year was 20/20, I'm not sure how something sort of sudden compares to a case that may not have been so sudden.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Another reason to freak out
Yeah, the blog's been ignored this summer. Serious lack of computer time, since the computer is upstairs and a certain kid doesn't like to be downstairs alone. And the Kindle Fire, while internet-capable, does not work well with Blogspot.
So. Today is NOT my day.
Small issue: we're signed up tomorrow for a program at the campus art & archaeology museum. Which, thanks to lousy luck, starts at the same time that summer camp is ending, and it's a 20-minute drive/walk from one to the other, but we can leave camp early in a pinch. But the issue: the schedule I picked up at the museum this spring says the program is supposed to be about coins, while the schedule online says the subject of the day is Dali. Bob (not his real name) is interested in the antique coins, but not so much with the Dali. So, I call to double-check, and am told that it's Dali. Crap. So, I get to tell Bob that we're not really going to the museum tomorrow, and he'll probably be grumpy about me "ruining" his fun. Ah well. We're still doing summer camp, plus pajama party at the library in the morning, so it's not like he's at home staring at the ceiling.
Big issue (Big Big issue. Freak-me-out issue referred to above): Eyesight. In short, mine sucks royally, and the one thing I was really really wanting was for Bob to not inherit the crap eyesight. We've been going along fine until now. He had his first optometrist visit last fall, 20/20 in both eyes, everything's fine. Passed the amblyopia screening at school with no problems. Then, Monday, he had his annual visit to the pediatrician, and didn't do so well in their quick-n-dirty vision screening. Right eye fine, left eye "blurry."
So we say "Uh oh" and called our optometrist after we got home. He spent an hour with her this morning - got his pupils dilated, nifty little digital pic of his retinas, the whole shebang. Right eye, still good. (Okay, a touch of astigmatism in one eye, but still.) Left eye, not so much. Still blurry, but oddly, the optometrist can't see anything that would make it all blurry. So we're getting sent for a second opinion. Joy.
I will NOT Google this. My Reader's Digest/Discovery/anatomy class medical education is enough to worry me as it is. If the eye itself looks fine, but the brain is getting fuzzy pictures, that makes my medical non-education think that it's maybe something else, like problems with the optic nerve or whichever part of the brain is in charge of visual processing. And neither of those can probably be fixed with glasses.
The really odd part is that he hasn't mentioned anything, and he's a bright enough kid that surely he would have said something about reading being hard. Because he's been reading like a fiend all summer - Magic School Bus, Magic Tree House, he's discovered all my Calvin & Hobbes and Foxtrot books, plus anything he can find about the Titanic, or other shipwrecks, or Dr Ballard. Of course, he's also a bit of a hypochondriac at times, he comes home from Grandma's house with a limp to match hers, and a cough to go with Grandpa's. But this seems too consistent.
So. Today is NOT my day.
Small issue: we're signed up tomorrow for a program at the campus art & archaeology museum. Which, thanks to lousy luck, starts at the same time that summer camp is ending, and it's a 20-minute drive/walk from one to the other, but we can leave camp early in a pinch. But the issue: the schedule I picked up at the museum this spring says the program is supposed to be about coins, while the schedule online says the subject of the day is Dali. Bob (not his real name) is interested in the antique coins, but not so much with the Dali. So, I call to double-check, and am told that it's Dali. Crap. So, I get to tell Bob that we're not really going to the museum tomorrow, and he'll probably be grumpy about me "ruining" his fun. Ah well. We're still doing summer camp, plus pajama party at the library in the morning, so it's not like he's at home staring at the ceiling.
Big issue (Big Big issue. Freak-me-out issue referred to above): Eyesight. In short, mine sucks royally, and the one thing I was really really wanting was for Bob to not inherit the crap eyesight. We've been going along fine until now. He had his first optometrist visit last fall, 20/20 in both eyes, everything's fine. Passed the amblyopia screening at school with no problems. Then, Monday, he had his annual visit to the pediatrician, and didn't do so well in their quick-n-dirty vision screening. Right eye fine, left eye "blurry."
So we say "Uh oh" and called our optometrist after we got home. He spent an hour with her this morning - got his pupils dilated, nifty little digital pic of his retinas, the whole shebang. Right eye, still good. (Okay, a touch of astigmatism in one eye, but still.) Left eye, not so much. Still blurry, but oddly, the optometrist can't see anything that would make it all blurry. So we're getting sent for a second opinion. Joy.
I will NOT Google this. My Reader's Digest/Discovery/anatomy class medical education is enough to worry me as it is. If the eye itself looks fine, but the brain is getting fuzzy pictures, that makes my medical non-education think that it's maybe something else, like problems with the optic nerve or whichever part of the brain is in charge of visual processing. And neither of those can probably be fixed with glasses.
The really odd part is that he hasn't mentioned anything, and he's a bright enough kid that surely he would have said something about reading being hard. Because he's been reading like a fiend all summer - Magic School Bus, Magic Tree House, he's discovered all my Calvin & Hobbes and Foxtrot books, plus anything he can find about the Titanic, or other shipwrecks, or Dr Ballard. Of course, he's also a bit of a hypochondriac at times, he comes home from Grandma's house with a limp to match hers, and a cough to go with Grandpa's. But this seems too consistent.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Can I freak out now?
Tomorrow is El B's last day of kindergarten. He's been sad for days, and I think I may have to schedule a little freak-out time for me. He's loved this school (it's a preschool mostly, French-immersion, and this was their first year with a kindergarten class), he's learned insane amounts of French and loves his teacher. This fall he'll be changing schools and starting all-day school, and he doesn't do transitions well. (Neither do I, apparently.)
At least he'll have summer camp with his current teacher, plus weekly get-togethers with some of the kids in his class. And hopefully a couple of his favorite classmates will be going to the same school we're sending him to.
But for right now, I may need to freak just a bit. I just have to find somewhere to send him while I have a little panic, because he's also a worrier. Oy.
I'm so not ready for him to be six, or in all-day school, or first grade. The world really needs a pause button.
At least he'll have summer camp with his current teacher, plus weekly get-togethers with some of the kids in his class. And hopefully a couple of his favorite classmates will be going to the same school we're sending him to.
But for right now, I may need to freak just a bit. I just have to find somewhere to send him while I have a little panic, because he's also a worrier. Oy.
I'm so not ready for him to be six, or in all-day school, or first grade. The world really needs a pause button.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Just a little garden/flower update.
The delphiniums survived and are blooming, but they're drowning in a sea of coreopsis, so I need to move something this fall. The perennials are doing well, the so-called annual snapdragons survived the winter, and we're knee-deep in volunteer tomatoes. The only things doing well in the garden are the volunteer potatoes and maybe the peas. But, I didn't plant enough peas, so we've basically got enough to snack on in the garden (18 plants isn't enough),.
Also, I ate two pods of peas this weekend, and I think I'll have to add peas to the list of foods I can't eat raw. Pretty sure it's Oral Allergy Syndrome, from what Google came up with. Certain foods, if I eat them raw, make my mouth itch. So far, the list includes carrots, apples, peas, cherries, and a couple others. Peas are new, cherries were added last year (after I found Rainier cherries on sale, darn the luck). In other words, all the cheap, easy-to-find snack veg are off-limits right now. If it gets to the point where watermelon and broccoli are included, things will be dire. Cooked foods do'n't bother me (another signs of OAS). I g uess it's time to go see an allergist.
Anyway, I planted some things last night: 2 gallons of cranberry ice dianthus that I got for Mother's Day (which had already bloomed when I got it), the last two annual dahlias that were getting leggy in the house, 3 green bell peppers, some nicotiana, cucumber seeds, watermelon plants, and canteloupe plants.
The mailbox bed is full of volunteer marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos, but they're all runts. Not sure if it's a fertilizer issue or a water issue. The primrose is looking more like a weed - it's planning a coup. The delphinum seed never came up, but the peppers (bell, some dwarf) are ready to harden off. The watermelon and pumpkin seedlings are all leggy and scrawny, but I'll plant them if I can find a spot. Can't hurt. Need to start the milkweed and figure out what went wrong with the delphies.
The delphiniums survived and are blooming, but they're drowning in a sea of coreopsis, so I need to move something this fall. The perennials are doing well, the so-called annual snapdragons survived the winter, and we're knee-deep in volunteer tomatoes. The only things doing well in the garden are the volunteer potatoes and maybe the peas. But, I didn't plant enough peas, so we've basically got enough to snack on in the garden (18 plants isn't enough),.
Also, I ate two pods of peas this weekend, and I think I'll have to add peas to the list of foods I can't eat raw. Pretty sure it's Oral Allergy Syndrome, from what Google came up with. Certain foods, if I eat them raw, make my mouth itch. So far, the list includes carrots, apples, peas, cherries, and a couple others. Peas are new, cherries were added last year (after I found Rainier cherries on sale, darn the luck). In other words, all the cheap, easy-to-find snack veg are off-limits right now. If it gets to the point where watermelon and broccoli are included, things will be dire. Cooked foods do'n't bother me (another signs of OAS). I g uess it's time to go see an allergist.
Anyway, I planted some things last night: 2 gallons of cranberry ice dianthus that I got for Mother's Day (which had already bloomed when I got it), the last two annual dahlias that were getting leggy in the house, 3 green bell peppers, some nicotiana, cucumber seeds, watermelon plants, and canteloupe plants.
The mailbox bed is full of volunteer marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos, but they're all runts. Not sure if it's a fertilizer issue or a water issue. The primrose is looking more like a weed - it's planning a coup. The delphinum seed never came up, but the peppers (bell, some dwarf) are ready to harden off. The watermelon and pumpkin seedlings are all leggy and scrawny, but I'll plant them if I can find a spot. Can't hurt. Need to start the milkweed and figure out what went wrong with the delphies.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Holy Cow
Just watched the season finale of NCIS (will watch LA tomorrow) and holy crap. It's going to be a long long summer. And as far as I've heard, David McCallum just signed a 2-year contract, but even knowing that, who knows what's going to happen to Ducky, much less everyone else.
I hate cliffhangers. I've had too many shows get cancelled and leave me hanging.
I hate cliffhangers. I've had too many shows get cancelled and leave me hanging.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Garden Failure
This year's actual garden (as opposed to plants in general) is shaping up to be at least a partial failure. I've planted spinach 3 freaking times in the past two months, and what's out there now would maybe be enough to feed a small gerbil with no appetite. I don't know why it won't grow, but it's making me angry and frustrated. The only thing I've actually grown and eaten so far is about 6 radishes. Spinach and lettuce are failing spectacularly, and the peas are iffy. Something snacked on part of the first batch, and the second batch is just sort of stalled out. I may blame the weather - it was a freakish 90 degrees on March 30, which may have done in the spinach. And it's going to be upper 80s the rest of this week, so I'm not sure planting more spinach right now would do any good. I'm ready to rake up the first round and replant with fresh seed, but I don't know if it'll grow enough before it gets hot to be worthwhile.
The big plan was to have at least something from the garden for El B's birthday party at the end of May. Not gonna happen, I don't think. The peas are blooming and may be ready by then, but there's like 15 plants, and 20+ people in the family. One pea each?
This sucks.
The big plan was to have at least something from the garden for El B's birthday party at the end of May. Not gonna happen, I don't think. The peas are blooming and may be ready by then, but there's like 15 plants, and 20+ people in the family. One pea each?
This sucks.
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