Highs and Lows November 27, 2011

LOWS:

Cole is doing very poorly in math at school.  He has completely forgotten all of his times tables--???  He freaks out when I drill him, and even though he passes all the tests I give him, he fails them at school.  Shawn is really pushing me to look into charter schools, and none of them seem to be quite what I'm looking for.  I've been looking for private tutors, but have hit a brick wall, so it looks like I'm going to be spending Cole's college money on Kumon or Sylvan. 

Luke is in this killer teasing mode where everything and everyone is POOP BUTT.  It makes the other kids mad, and they all end up fighting.  What an instigator that boy is.  And why would poop butt make older kids so upset? 

The upstairs shower leaked and made a lovely puddle on the kitchen floor.  Don't we all love costly plumbing repairs right around the holidays?

I stressed out over Thanksgiving for no reason.  Sure, the gravy was pure crap and the stuffing was too bland for my taste, but other than that it was a lovely, small, intimate meal with just our little family. 

It's 75 degrees everyday, and my kids won't play outside because it's "boring".  I put them to work, make inside pretty darn miserable, yet they would rather cry/pout/whine/yell at me, than get their pathetically ungrateful butts outside. 

I've gained a whopping 9 pounds so far this pregnancy, and no matter what I wear, I have fat rolls rather than a pregnant belly.  This really makes me mad.  For once I would have liked to have a perfectly rounded baby belly, but I just get fat rolls from the high maternity panels that come up past your belly button, or the hipsters that cut me off at the worst part just above my hips. The real worst part is that I'll look JUST LIKE THIS a year from now when the kid is crawling and eating pizza.

HIGHS:

Thanksgiving was nice.  We had pie at our friends house and the kids...wait for it......played outside for 3 hours from 7-10 pm.  Maybe they are vampires and can only go outside when it's dark? 

Shawn took Friday off and we spent the entire weekend doing things as a family.  Amazing. 

Got all of the bikes fixed and ready to be ridden.  Will be forcing children on daily bike rides to get them out of the house and to show them fresh air and a little breeze will not kill them.

Discovered that both Cole and Seth can earn their Webelos and Wolf badge at the next Pack Meeting--woo hoo!

One little Christmas dilemma has been fixed for me:  I was worried about buying presents and then carting them in the car with us to California without the kids finding them.  Shawn and I have to fly to California a week before Christmas for a work party, so I can shop that weekend, stash it all at my Mom's, and the kids will be none the wiser.  It's a Christmas miracle!!!