I'm Older

Another tally mark around the sun done. I got home and found a package on the porch with my name on it. I immediately assumed it was really for Carrie and asked for permission to open it.

Turns out, it really was for me. John sent a present!

Movie Night: Live Action Aladdin

Carrie wanted to see the new Aladdin as a family. I almost didn't go. 

I didn't have a good excuse. Swim lessons are done. I was just tired and uninterested. 

I'm glad I did. It was fun. 

Will Smith wasn't Robin Williams, but he did a great job. The CG for "Friend Like Me" was beyond what I thought was possible.  

I wonder if Carrie is going to want to go to the movies more now that Shane can watch a wider variety of movies. She's already signed up for the first round of cheap 'Summer Camp' movies the second week of June!

School Troubles

While on the way to the dentist, Shane dropped a "By the way," of by-the-ways to Carrie. I thought she did a good job writing it up, so I'm stealing her post and putting it here.

Rarely do I post this often, but in this case I feel compelled to. This morning I spent the better part of a hour with my son's elementary school principal. Shane was jumped/attacked by a group of kids. Why? Because...... he was trying to save a frog. 

Shane found a frog in the sun and scooped it up to put it back into the woods in a marshy area he had seen before. At first he was surrounded by kids asking to see it..... then asking to have it..... then came the bribes ("if you let me have it, I'll give you something")..... then came the threats ("give me the frog or I'll punch you")...... then came the physical attacks. Shane was tripped, punched, kicked, sworn and cussed at. Although he cried out for help, he kept letting himself be hit. Why? Because he refused to stop protecting the frog because he was afraid of what they'd do to it.

The school is mid investigation and one child has already been removed from his class. Two weeks of school left and this is the memory my son will have when he leaves. I hurt as a parent. I hurt as a mom. But at the same time I couldn't be MORE PROUD of my son! He protected that little frog and stayed true to himself. I love you, Shane. You're my hero.

I let Shane know I was proud of him for doing what he felt was right regardless of what the odds were against him. "You're my brave boy!"

Dentist Day

Kid dental x-rays look freaky cool.

Early May, the orthodontist thought that it was freaky how Shane's incisors were pointed inwards and positioned to push in under his adult incisors. She recommended we remove some of his baby teeth to fix the problem before there were worse problems in the future.

The dentist happened to walk over from next door to visit and the orthodontist showed her the x-rays. They agreed extractions were the best course of action and the dentist asked me about Shane's fillings. "How did he handle those? Fillings are worse than extractions on kids."

"He did fine thanks to 'tablet hypnosis.'"

I think I coined a new term from their reactions.

I scheduled the first appointment I could to make sure Shane got looked at before I lost my insurance between jobs (Which, by the way, only paid for 2.33 teeth and the rest was out of pocket). 

Today was it.

It certainly looked like Shane was having a good day when I picked him up. He let me know he was the Jackrabbit of the Week!

He seemed happy, hearty, hale, and happy to get out of school early! He was looking forward to playing a MineCraft knock-off.

Shane asked to ride with Mom to the dentist. We had to take two cars, because she had a 3:00 PM appointment with County HR about being a substitute teacher. Carrie let me know something was up when we got to the dentist (more on that tomorrow).

Tablet hypnosis did the trick again. I watched the doctor stick Shane in the mouth with a needle all over while he tried to tell her what he was doing while her hand was still in his mouth. She'd already stuck him multiple times before he even asked, "Is that a shot?"

She answered him, but I think he was more concerned that her hand was obscuring his view of the game.

Proof a tablet can turn my kid into a drooling idiot.

The extractions went without a hitch. Carrie flinched seeing them come out. The roots were still fully formed and the teeth were much larger than we expected.

Shane played on, undisturbed. The only thing that bothered him were the gauze pads they made him bite on after they were done!

Shane and I went buy Tropical Smoothie Cafe afterward. He couldn't use a straw, so I got him a spoon.

It turned out to be a much messier affair driving home than I expected. I was proud of Shane for how well everything went, so I told him not to worry about it!

We showed him the teeth when we got home.

Neat stuff. It looks like it should have been so much more painful than it was.

Shane's going to have a chipmunk smile for a while! The dentist warned us right before they started that Shane's canines were probably a couple of years away from coming in! And that's if they come in at all!

At that point, we were already there and planning on doing it, so we did it. It was still a bit of a, "Huh" moment.

Don't worry about Shane feeling off. He started poking me and I chased him around the kitchen. We got in trouble when he tripped over the stool and banged it into the fridge for a small dent.

"You shouldn't have chased me, Dad!"

"You should've known how to not bump into things!"

Yeah. Shane acted like nothing much had happened. We didn't even give him any pain meds.

Just a day in the life!

Memorial Day 2019

We got out of the house for Memorial Day. We got to see our kittens, again! Max was the adventurous one as usual. She hasn't figured out how to use the cat door, though.

Bucket saw us and hid under the couch for a while to make sure we weren't some sort of phantasms or ghouls. She eventually got curious enough to see if we were real (or did she get scared enough of being under the couch and retreat to us?).

This guy was desperate to get his hands on Grandma's tablet, but I was the party-pooper .

Grandma and Carrie were talking up a storm, so Shane and I played some Citadels.

He later went on to destroy Grandma for a few rounds! I was careless with the TV on and he almost put me on the ropes with a bold move save for being just off with his placement! I was suitably impressed. He was suitably frustrated. I chastened him for the attitude and he finished the game grudgingly (I didn't go easy after that close call!).

Shane did get his fishing wish answered.

Grandpa thought it'd be too hot for the fish to bite, but we got some action immediately. Shane literally found a fish stuck at the water's edge he threw back in the water! While he fiddled with it, Grandpa dropped the line in the water for a test run and caught a fish seconds later!

It slowed down greatly after the initial bounty.

Shane did manage to find another fish flopping around. I don't remember if it was pushed up by bigger fish competing for bread or if it fell off the hook.

I remember it was a "preschool fish," because I've got picture evidence.

Hopefully it's brain hasn't developed enough to remember the drops.

Or the flight home......all potentially emotionally scarring.

Shane spent the last half hour running up and down looking for black-tipped tails that signified baby bass. I tried to stick to the shade.

Meanwhile, Carrie and Grandma worked and enjoyed cat company. Carrie wanted to try to get our cats out of quarantine and integrated. Bucket only popped out for some momentary affection before retreating back to her safe space.

Max was more determined. Boo was not pleased. There were some active moves to establish a pecking order. Boo seemed to be on top, but Max would retreat and then pop around a different way to explore. It seemed like she was wearing Boo down from persistence rather than aggression!

We all went to an Italian restaurant for dinner on our way out. I was so glad we got out of the house and made some meaningful memories!

Funny side story:

Grandma, Grandpa, and Carrie were all standing by Bucket 1 and saying their farewells. They weren't quick about it and Shane spotted a tree on a median in the parking lot.

"Dad?" He asked expectantly.

"Go for it."

Shane was up in the tree having a good time when the trio noticed him. "What's he doing?" "Oh! Come down, honey!" "Don't climb in parking lots!"

I thought it was a great diversion that kept him out of the road, but I was outnumbered! Ha! We left right after, so I thought it worked out well enough timing-wise!

In my childhood, Nana would have let all of us climb until it looked like a Christmas tree with kids for ornaments. Then she would have said something to "It's time to go! I'm leaving without you," or "Be quick or if the fall doesn't get you, I will!"

Golden Apple Award

One of my students asked, "What does a golden apple look like?" I described it, but decided to take a picture later.

Golden apples are highly reflective.

A flash fixed that problem.

And, of course, I've been thinking.

Carrie was mad at me, because I didn't go to the Golden Apple ceremony again. She felt it was disrespectful and I disagreed.

The ceremony was scheduled for the Thursday night before we moved out (or so we thought) and Shane had a swim lesson. I didn't want to dress up and sit around for a couple of hours for a stranger to take two minutes to hand me something, so I said I wasn't going. If the point of the apple was to honor teachers, I felt appreciated I was nominated. There was no need to waste my time or theirs with a ceremony I wouldn't appreciate. It's not like any of my coworkers or students would be there (My boss might have been required to attend if she wasn't at home with the flu).

Hilariously, Silas and Monica were there! She was getting an award. Silas texted, "You coming?" He said he was tempted to walk up for me as a joke when they called my name.

He didn't, but I would have died laughing! It would have been the only reason to go in my mind! White guy with a short beard? Here ya go, "Mike."

Both times I've been acknowledged for being a good teacher in Cville I have not felt like a good teacher. I've felt like a man tired and under pressure who's making mistakes and doesn't always know what to do. I've felt like I'm trying to do my best and to not burn out at the same time. I've felt heavily invested and when kids hit bumps I've felt reverberations.

Right now, I'm teaching up to my last days in the city and it feels like the success of the past four years are riding on the next five days.

That's not logical.

And yet, I can't deny those feelings are there. I do my best not to entertain them and "take captive every thought." I have felt successful before (like at my first round of January SOLs year 1), but feelings shift.

I want my foundation to be on firm ground (Matthew 7:24-27). I think that's been the key to my successes at LMA (when they've happened). I typically feel secure in who I am and who I serve. I look at conflicts as information rather than threats and look to work forward rather than react defensively.

That's enough for now. There are deadlines, a form I messed up that's causing trouble, and kids floating on the cusp of graduating. Best to get to it rather than delay!

The Gruesome Twosome vs Me - Round 2

I told Shane, "I'm going to see if I can get John to come down this weekend."

His reply, "Awesome! We can play Battletech!" (Followed by, "I'm going to be another missile launcher!")

Shane got his wish.

It's not like he was the only one who wanted to play, either! I set up a scenario where I marched a Locust, Commando and Hunchback across the map to deal with John's hatchet-wielding Assassin and Shane's Catapult. 

Carrie was so tired she fell asleep on the couch even with us being far less than quiet one room away. We snuck off to Wegmans for snacks and a cheap pizza for dinner.

Shane was very eager to mix his own soft drink. I don't think soda is supposed to be fluorescent strawberry orange.

I like orange soda, but his concoction was best in small sips to prevent choking. Shane swore it was a good mix, but I noticed he wasn't drinking it either.

Carrie woke up when we got home and we all watched the Lego Movie 2.

It was so good, Shane got hyped and jumped straight onto John.

Shane's idea of a "comfortable viewing position" are only comfortable for aspiring contortionists (he gets that from my side of the family).

I've enjoyed all the Lego movies so far.

It inspired Shane to build as the credits rolled.

John needs to move to Charlottesville so he can visit more often.

Random - I think it's now a thing: I catch John yawning in at least one shot each time we get together.

Tell the Truth!

Shane has a tendency to embellish.

It bothers me.

He'll tell me a long story or some sort of 'fact,' and I'll ask "What's your source?" A few pointed questions reveal when he's talking out of his posterior and it's more often than I would like.

The question is: How do you teach your kid to ask questions? Especially, to ask them instead of making up a story to make it sound like you know what you're talking about?

I'm still working on that one.

Maybe it's a phase, but Shane vastly prefers to tell rather than listen. His 'listening' is sometimes just being quiet while you talk so he can formulate what he was planning on saying regardless of how the conversation may have shifted.

I'm pretty sure I had some funny story when I typed in the title for this post, but that was five days ago.

Swimming Test

Shane had his fourth and final swim class. It involved some testing. His teacher has praised his effort levels continuously. He's noted that Shane is not "detail oriented," and there's some stuff he does right and some stuff he does wrong. But he doesn't quit and has energy to spare. 

I'd say that's an accurate assessment. Shane's don't well and I'd like to sign him up for another round, but with the beach and graduation coming up it may not happen. 

This is the raw footage of some of the swim tests. I didn't bother to edit it, so only watch if you're bored or happy to fast forward.

The hope is one day Shane will be a good enough swimmer, Carrie will be able to watch him without a panic attack.

The Details I Leave Out

There's a lot to love about my job.

Our day ends earlier than the high school's, but it stays busy.

Last week ended odd with a student getting kicked off the bus at the end of the day. Amidst all the yelling and cursing, the police were almost called, a pole was punched, a hand broken, and then the student went home and found a dead body while fishing with another student. The kid's been off for a number of other reasons and everything extra won't help.

I hoped this week would start off quieter, but it didn't.  Monday, I heard yelling and jumped over a chair to help keep a pair of students separate. There'd been an attempt at a restorative, clearing-the-air conversation, but it went south. Also, I let it out in the open that I was moving and switching schools. I wanted to give the kids time to process. I'd told one kid on Friday who kept talking about "next year," and didn't want to lie by omission to him.

Tuesday, was quieter due to the aftermath, but it was busier in a different way: The kids all wanted to work...which is great, but tiring. It was a revolving door. I was busy through lunch and my off period as one came in whenever one went out.

Wednesday had an odd air. I heard gunshots at home after 11 PM Monday and Tuesday. No one got hit or it would have made the news, but some of the kids who lived in the area were on edge. Carrie was asleep, thankfully, or she'd have been on edge, too! It was a long day with night school. There's a funny story with my boss picking up one student and finding another she "Mom'd" into coming back to school. His friend was laughing at his temper tantrum until his Juul was confiscated, because he was trying to charge it in his chromebook.

Thursday, a pair of my students had court. They've been locked and we didn't know if they were going to be tried as adults or minors. They were involved in a serious incident and a chunk of students related/connected to the incident were out. There's friction between the sides. The boss warned us that it was possible one of them would be released and back at school in the morning while she was out.

Friday, the boss was out and one of the students was released. I don't think there's ever a good time for a student to be arrested, but right as I was doing some paperwork with deadlines and through SOLs is a pretty crappy time. Dropping the kid back into the mix wasn't a huge help, but if the kid graduates that would save me a ton of work (minus the work to get them to graduate!). I bolted out of my room at one point when I heard chest-wracking, sobs and bawling, but the situation was under control. It was right back to teaching.

I'm bittersweet about moving on, but the time is right. I'm tired. I'm thankful that I have a choice in the matter (It's a luxury).

The last few weeks trying to somehow do everything while life is busy outside of school, too, will be tough. It feels like the pressure is building and my flames are fizzling, but summer is coming.

Phone Upgrade

Carrie upgraded her phone, so I got a hand-me-down. I went from an S5 to an S8. 

I would have happily stuck with the S5 if Carrie hadn't insisted and done everything for me. She upgraded to an S10e.

The most fun part was when Carrie came by my school to deliver the phone and tinker on it. A few of the kids were shocked to see I really had a wife. "I'm his favorite," one kid said. "Nah! It's me!" said another.

One of the girls said, "Your wife's pretty."

"I think she's hot!" was my reply.

A coworker also complimented Carrie and I said, "I married up!"

I tried to say something to a few boys along the lines of I thought it was a man's job to give his family the best first, but let's just say their interest in the matter had lapsed by then.

Overdues

We got some nasty overdue bills from the library. There are no late fees on children's library cards, so we've been too unconcerned about checking them back in. I never set up Shane's card to have an online login, so I can only renew his checkouts in person.

That's two mistakes that compounded. 

Shane and I went to turn in what we could find before they sent us to collections. We found everything except a pair of items I later pulled out of Mom's car.

I'm pretty sure Nana took us to the library way more often when I was growing up. Where and when did she finnd the time and energy to do it!? There were five of us!

And we were all climbers, so you know where Shane gets it from.

Overnight Ninja

Shane's been eager to do an overnight Ninja Night. This time, we let him. He's 8.5 years old and since he's not having sleepovers at friends' houses this seemed like a good chance to get that experience. I did ask the ages of the other kids sleeping over beforehand to make sure Shane was in the typical age range.

I was probably the most apprehensive about the whole situation. Shane didn't look back when I dropped him off, and Carrie went to bed early! 

Mt. Kim normally posts pictures on social media, so I kept my phone on hand to see how things were going. Shane wasn't in the front of any pictures posted. However, he was wearing a bright, neon yellow shirt, so if you want to play "Where's Waldo" the Shane version...

...you'll see him running around here and there. 

Shane said the kids normally have a nerf fight on the playground. He likes to play as a zombie and whoever shoots him can tell him who to attack.

Shane wasn't present for any of the class type pictures, because he was zoned out on electronics in the back.

He showed up for the pillow fight, though!

The next morning, the kids all went for a walk on the same trail Shane, Dylan, Ryan, and Sarah walked (Shane's way in the back walking up).

They got MacDonald's for breakfast.

I asked Shane when he went to sleep and he said, "2:30!" Wake up time was 7:00 or 7:30 AM!

Boy, was he tired! He was a little off and cranky for all of Sunday. Learning the value of a good night's sleep and how to go without one are two important lessons growing up!

Shane said that the lights went off at 10 PM, but anyone with a device could stay up as long as the brightness was low, the sound was down, and no one made much noise. I guessed that might be the case and it was why I wanted to know the ages of the kids before I signed Shane up! There was a gorging of Fortnite, Minecraft, and assorted other games. 

I liked it better in "the good old days" where kids stayed up late playing flashlight tag, hide and go seek, or if there were electronics they were on a TV screen rather than on individual devices hooked up to the internet. 

Still, Shane had a blast. We'll certainly do Ninja Night again and maybe we'll even do another overnighter.