Thursday, April 28, 2011

Quick update

I STILL don't have anything cute or pithy to say. But I know the few that read this are looking for updates with kids etc. Inquiring Grandmas want to know...

-We are foster parents now. Of kittens. Gretchen suckered me good, and now 3 little kitties have taken up residence in the kids bathroom. They are so cute. The kids love them. I like them more than I let on. Eddie is entirely ambivalent, but he is gracious. Because the people he loves love them he tollerates. The kids are pushing to become permanent kitten foster parents, wherein we get a new batch as the "old" ones are leaving. We shall see...

-Spring fever has hit and motivation is waning. I would feel guilty about this except I know the same is happening in every homeschool, private school, and public school across the nation.

-Abby got into the preschool we wanted her to go to for FREE. We don't meet the income requirements for a subsidy, but her history qualifies her.

Yesterday was the preschool evaluation. Abby peed her pants on the way in. Then she started to meltdown but good because they transitioned her through 4 rooms in 30 minutes. Abby doesn't do transition that quickly; those teachers started to catch on as Abby's eyes flooded with tears, she pretended not to hear (or comply), and went off to play with the off-limits kitchen set.

The evaluator was gracious; she'd sat through evals. with hundreds of typical kiddos, and new something was up. I filled her in a bit. Then she wiggled around the numbers in our favor and got us into the preschool that meets the needs of special ed kids. She did NOT have to do that.

"Hold up", you say. "Special ed?" Yep (though Abby will be with typical kids mostly). Abby does fabulously with experienced teachers who get her need for help with transitions. Teachers who understand giving choices, not ultimatums, have an easy time of it. Teachers who use simple language, create routine, and keep things structured and quiet will have no trouble. Special Ed teachers know how to do that. Brand spankin' newbie teachers w/o the training will be given a run for their money -by a four year old. I promise. So we got into the school we needed to be in, and I'm thankful for it.

-I want to go back to school. Grad school. I'd like a Master's in Social Work. I'm looking into it. But I know I need to hold off for a couple of years - probably. Tell me this: why is grad school so expensive even for a MSW? Social workers make terrible money, and they pay a lot in tuition to do it.

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