Eyes and Ears

Every child at my daughter's school got their hearing & vision checked this week.

All the parents signed off on the testing. But is this a standard check that all schools perform? I didn't think about it until now. I remember getting my ears checked in school. But my eyes? Hmmmm....

It was really nice to hear that the school is making sure the kids are in good health. That there are no basic issues that might impede the learning process.

But is your child's school doing this?

Kids & eating at lunch

Do you monitor how much your kids eat at lunch on school days?

I can easily monitor what my daughter is eating. They have the kids return all containers and bags into their lunch bags. This way the parents can see what's been left and what's been consumed. Easy for her school because it's a small school. One class (averaging 16 kids) per grade level up to the 5th grade.

But what do big schools do? I remember lunchtime being chaotic. Everyone piling into the cafeteria within about 5 minutes. Lunch bags pulled out. Milk being distributed. The kids getting hot lunches getting in the LONG line (oh how I envied them). I remember talking and chatting and eating. How much did I eat though? I don't know because I threw away my paperbag each time.

There are schools that're trying to get their kids to eat more at lunch. How? By letting the kids have recess before they eat. You know the draw of the playground. I guess some kids were barely eating and using as much time to play as possible. Studies were done and now some schools are testing out the new routine. Play first. Eat last.

Here are some excerpts from an article:

"Prior to the start of this school year, when the lunch period preceded recess, ...there was a lot of food waste, as children tossed a good portion of their meal to get to the playground faster. Coming straight into the classroom from the heat, ...it took 20 to 30 minutes for teachers to calm them down and get them into school mode again."

"When they come in, they are more focused and ready, not wound up."

"From conversations I hear, they're eating more of their lunch. I don't hear complaints that they're hungry."

"Parents have noticed the children are eating more of their lunches, and there are less students feeling sick."

I guess having recess first gets out all their extra energy that's been pent up. They expel that energy and realize they are hungry. They'll sit and eat. And drink. Because (of course) kids play hard and need to rehydrate themselves. Just the act of eating before returning to class helps them settle down. Ready to concentrate for an afternoon of instruction. It's such an easy change. Simple. Why wasn't it done before?

What do you think about this business of playing first and eating last?

And the prices just keep climbing!

Filled my SUV with fuel today.

Just a bit over 12 3/4 gallons of regular unleaded...

I paid over $37 dollars for it. THIRTY-SEVEN!!!

What did YOU pay for gas this week?

My first interview!

I received my first call for an interview! It's scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30pm.

What's great about this is that the employer is less than 2 miles away from my house. I'd be able to stay close to home. Close to the Bear's daycare. Close to the Princess' school. Close to the neighborhood school (since I'm the 3rd call person on their emergency cards--just after both the parents). This way I'd be available for everyone in the event of an emergency of any kind. It would be a comforting feeling to work so close to home.

The Hubs is going to have to come home early. He's going to have to watch the Bear since we've got no one to take care of him. PLUS, the Hubs will have to pick the Princess up from school at 3pm.

That'll give me time to concentrate on preparing for the interview and on selling my skills. He-he-he! I haven't thought about my work place abilities in a long time. It's been over 5 years since I worked outside the home earning a paycheck. Wow!

I've got to dig out through my files and find any performance reviews or recommendation letters. I wonder where that stuff is? It should be in the hanging folder next to my old resume information. Hmm...

What I hate about the interview process is having to SELL myself. Thinking about what I can do and advertising it to people. It's uncomfortable for me to do that. It's like I'm being...prideful. I can't think of any other word to describe what I feel during interviews. That's as close as I can get. There was a guy that I knew who had no problems talking about himself. He would pour it on. He was amazingly boastful during the interview process. Sickeningly so. But he was a great guy. He just had no problems selling himself to employers.

Do YOU feel comfortable talking about your skills during interviews?

The invites are out...well some are...

I just delivered the invitations for the Princess' 5th birthday out to the neighborhood kids. I walked the neighborhood at 12:30pm where it's really nice outside (only 97 degrees!). I delivered to the four houses (inviting 7 kids) that have young-uns that the Princess' has made friends with.

The party isn't until the 24th. Why'd I get the invites out so early? Because the girl across the street has her 6th birthday on the same day. Yes! The two are just a year apart. But I wanted to get to the neighborhood kids before that girl's parents got her invitations out. So I've got dibs on 10:30am to 1pm.

Yeah-yeah-yeah!

I know. I'm weird. But that means the other girl can have her party any time the rest of the day, right? If she get hers scheduled after the Princess' party then I'll have to boot the Hubs' family out of my house so we can attend the next party. I mean...they can stay at my house if they want to CLEAN IT!

He-he-he...I've got motives people. Yup!

I wish...I wish...I wish...

Some might think it odd that I haven't written anything about "K", but there's been enough of that on the news. Like with many awful things that happen in the world, I try not to add my thoughts into the fray. It's too depressing. There are enough comments and updates about the situation. So...

Here's a look at the vehicle that I'm wishing about. The one that I hope to get in the next week or so. The one that'll carry my kids through their elementary school years. My kids and a couple of their friends. And hopefully...my parents too if they EVER move out here.

Can you tell what it is? Can you read that tiny little emblem on the back hatch? Yeah...it's a Ford. An AMERICAN car. I didn't go with a foreign one this time around. Growing up, I've always liked foreign vehicles -- Toyota, Volvo, Honda, Saab. I liked the style. I liked the reliability. But this car? The Ford Freestyle attracted my attention right off the bat.

It seats 6 or 7 (depending on the configuration of the 2nd row -- bucket seats versus a 60/40 bench). It's got stadium seating for the back two rows (which until recently was only in the Land/Range Rovers). It's got an option for full side-curtain airbags (from front to rear). It's got reinforced doors for side collisions. All the seats fold so that if you've got to haul something long (think Christmas tree) you can fit it in here. Plus it gets decent gas mileage - 20 city/27 hwy.



Things I want in the car: Full side-curtain airbags, 2nd row bucket seats (to separate my two), 50/50 3rd row, AC controls in the back (to beat the heat in the AZ summer), the pale interior like above, remote entry (a necessity with kids) and that's it. All I want is a secure vehicle for me and my family. Nothing too fancy. I do believe it's got 5 stars in a couple of the governmental crash tests.

Some might say a DVD player is a must but we usually go on our long trips about twice a year. When our drives are less than 2 hours? We don't normally put on a DVD (on a laptop). We chat with the kiddos and listen to music. Yeah...we're weird like that. We may splurge at Christmas and buy one of those that has two LCD screens (see below) that can attach to the headrest. This way both kiddos can see what's on without having to strain their necks in the event we place one kid in the 3rd row and one in the 2nd row for long trips. You parents KNOW what I'm talking about. Things are getting so much more affordable nowadays. Buying this type of thing from the dealer (at bucko-bucks) is not what I want...especially if something goes wrong with it!

So what do you think about my choice? Anyone else have one?

New adventure

It's fascinating watching the Princess break out of her comfort zone and try new things.

Yesterday? Her class went on their first field trip. They visited the local library. They were shown the nuts and bolts of the operation. It was only for an hour and a half, but it was a nice introduction to the library and to field trips.

This morning? She actually ran around the big playground with a couple of the girls from her class. She's never done it before. I was so ecstatic for her. She seemed uncomfortable the first lap around, so she came back to me to touch base. I had her and her friend give me a 'high 5'.

"Ready, set, go!"

And off they went. By the time the whistle was blown, they had run about 5 laps. The Princess was all smiles. One of the other girls in class came up to the Princess when it was time to line up and said "I saw you running around!" Even she realized what a big step it was for the Princess to let loose.

Oh yeah! We received a progress report on the Princess yesterday in her reading folder. She scored '3A' in all of the categories - 'Meeting all expections'. I'm SO proud of her!

Being practical

Who would have thought the idea would ever cross my sister's mind?

"What do you think Dad would say if I wanted to trade in my car for a Scion xB?"

People. Keep in mind. LilSis has a Lexus 300 that my folks purchased for her.

What's amazing is that LilSis is thinking ahead. To when she and Shorty have to pay for themselves. Just the two of them. The thing is that my sister is planning on being in law school next fall, so they'll be living on one income.

"Can we (the two) afford the high car payments (of the Lexus)?"

"Can we afford the premium fuel?"

"Can we afford the luxury vehicle car insurance?"

These are the questions she's been asking herself. A whole gaggle of us went around checking out cars for a couple hours on Saturday. It was me, the Princess, LilSis (who drove), Shorty and my niece.

We all took a good look at the Scion xB. LilSis was impressed with the interior room in the xB. She especially liked the sticker price AND the gas mileage (30city/33hwy) that was on regular unleaded.

I could just HEAR her mind clicking.

I really don't know WHAT my father is going to say to her. I have no idea how he'll react when she broaches the topic with him.

I'm just proud that she's finally thinking of someone other than herself. Looks like she's taking small steps to growing up!