Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Looking back over this past year, I wonder if I accomplished anything meaningful… I guess that depends on what you consider meaningful. Rather than dwell on that detail, I’ll share the nutshell version of my year, and reflect on how it has affected my future goals.

Professionally:
Starting in January, I started a new class at my employer. I had a mixed age group of 3 and 4 year olds. I built some great bonds with a group of children I had known since they were 1 year olds. Having a group of only 9 children, I was able to really work with them on things such as writing their names, cutting, etc. I was able to structure the class in exactly the way I wanted to, and for the most part, things went quite smoothly. As in ANY job, there were some challenges. I’m not going to expand on them, other than to say that challenges push me to be a better teacher. I hope to be the kind of person that can be a role model of how to take challenges, and do what I can to make things better.

The mixed age class was only meant to be from January to June. Over the summer, I floated between toddler classrooms. I loved it, and in September, took over as the teacher of the 2 1/2 – 3 year olds. I think I made a lot of positive changes in that classroom. While their constant affection makes working with the 2-3 year olds a lot of fun, it can also be a challenging age to work with. As a group, they have very little impulse control, short attention spans, and don’t always know how to communicate what they need. My job as their teacher is to push their attention spans, give them new things to explore, and teach them ways to interact appropriately with their peers.

My career path is going to be changing quite a bit over the next year. I am going to be backing away from the lead role in a classroom, and go back to a supportive role. I will continue to model high standards for both children and peers. I am focusing on finishing my classes to renew my Teaching License (I won’t QUITE make the December 31st deadline I gave myself, but I am getting very close). After the summer wedding, I’m not sure where my residence will be, but I DO hope to have a teaching job in MN. I used to teach in the School Readiness Preschool program in a school district there. I hope to acquire the same position (or an ECFE job). I feel strongly that I still belong in Early Childhood Education.

Blogging:
I have always enjoyed writing. Several years back, I was in Spiritual Journaling group at my church. I have always felt more comfortable putting my thoughts and feelings in writing… Blogging has appealed to me since I first heard about it. I never really thought it was something I could do. I didn’t think people would be interested in what I have to say. In the past year, I have been encouraged to blog. People have not only read what I have written, but they have also given me positive feedback. I submitted some of my blog posts to a couple of article engines ezine.com. Three of them were selected to be published. One of my published articles ended up earning me a free class through the Professional Learning Board. In the next year, I plan to continue blogging. I hope to have more articles published as well.

Socially:

This past year, I made a point to spend time with some of my dearest friends that I hadn’t seen much since I moved to WI. I plan to spend more time with people important in my life over the next year.

I also went to several SQL Saturday events with my fiancé. We had the opportunity to travel together to Chicago, Nashville, and Iowa City. At those events, I met a bunch of really cool people! Some of those people, I “talk” to almost daily on Twitter or facebook. Just for the record, a year or so ago, I told Jason I had NO interest in having a Twitter account. Now, I use it as much, if not more, than facebook! I look forward to attending more of these events in the future. I really enjoy the networking as much as exploring the different cities we go to. We have discovered that everywhere we have gone has really cool places to see, it’s up to us to find them. I don’t see myself being able to go to too many this year, as there is a lot going on. I do know I will be exploring Seattle for the first time in October, and then taking my first cruise (on our honeymoon).

Personally:

Just before Thanksgiving, I got engaged to Jason Strate (blog|twitter). We have known each other for a long time (that story will be another blog post). We plan on getting married July 16th, combining our families to become the “Modern Day Brady Bunch.”

Leading up to the wedding and the months following are going to bring a lot of changes to our family. We will be moving (thought we’re not quite sure where yet). We will also be adjusting to life as a family of 7 instead of a family of 3. Schools will change, my job will change… a lot is unknown. Having so many unknowns is a bit scary, but in a good way. I am hoping it doesn’t fly by so fast, that I don’t have time to enjoy it all!

In my previous post, I talked about my goals to exercise more, spend more time with my kids, and less time on my computer. I also plan on making more efforts to be productive every day. In general, I want to be more focused, more in the present, and just enjoy life in 2011.

Post-Christmas Blues

Every year, Thanksgiving passes, and my Christmas cheer begins. I get caught up in the whirlwind of activity, Christmas Music, Holiday Baking, shopping, etc. I thrive on the pending excitement of Christmas. Children everywhere are on a “Christmas High”. I think I get it just as bad as the kids!

Christmas festivities come and go, and then what? Then comes the dreaded work. Around New Year’s, I take down the tree and obvious Christmas decorations. I usually leave my snowman decorations up until February though, just ’cause. There’s also the putting away of all the new things. My kids are not great at cleaning up anyway (a trait they unfortunately get from me). The cleaning up is tedious and somewhat depressing. It means the holiday is officially over.

The next couple months are cold and dreary. It’s dark when I leave for work, it’s dark when I get home. There is this feeling of being cooped up. It’s hard not to feel a bit bummed out. I tend to lose motivation to do much of anything between about January 1st and March 1st. Naps become my favorite past time, and my house becomes messier than ever…

This year, I vow not to let that happen! I hate to even admit this publicly, but I’ve gotten rather lazy over the past year. I’m going to make a point to DO something productive every day. I’m going to play with my kids more, and limit the time I allow myself to sit at the computer. It’s going to be difficult for me, but it’s going to be my priority. I’m also going to make myself in some form at least 5 days a week. I’m going to keep looking towards Spring, and not let the winter blues get to me this year.

Christmas Cheer

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year! Baking Christmas Cookies, twinkling light displays, decorations everywhere, wearing my Santa Hat and fun Christmas socks, the sounds of Go Fish, Garth Brooks, the Nutcracker, or an awesome CD I got from Bath & Body Works (when I worked there about 15 years ago). I am one of those annoying people that walks around humming Christmas songs from Thanksgiving through New Years. I love Christmas shopping, in fact, the craziness at the mall actually energizes me! Yep, the Grinch, he hates me!

My Christmas Traditions
Growing up, my Christmas celebration was always on Christmas Eve. My whole family would gather at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house, eat some food, hear my Grandpa read the Christmas Story from the book of Luke, and then have the madness which is about 15 kids ripping open presents as fast as they can. Once gifts were open, the sugar rush kicked in, and children would literally run in circles around my grandparents house until the parents had had enough, and took us all home. Ah… the memories!!!

In the spring of 1997, my Grandma passed away. I was worried our Christmas traditions might change. Thanksgiving did, but Christmas stayed the same. This was a good thing, since our family really only saw each other once or twice a year. That same year, I started going to my future in-laws house for Christmas. Luckily, his family celebrated on Christmas Day. Around that same time, I had reconnected with my dad, so I went back and forth from the boyfriend’s to my dad, back to the bf’s other family. For a few years, Christmas was CRAZY! By 2002, I was no longer going to my Dad’s house, which took a lot of pressure off travel-wise….

Fast forward to 2009. I was newly divorced. I was also sick as could be with a BAD case of bronchitis! A snow storm was dumping on us. The last thing I wanted to do was drive the 2 hours to MN, all I wanted to do was sleep! I let the kids go early with their dad… It was eerie. For the first time in 32 years, I was not with my family on Christmas. The next day, I was still quite sick. This really awesome friend was also on his own for Christmas, so he came to take care of me. That was when Jason became my boyfriend. Here we are a year later, engaged to be married in July!

The bummer thing about missing Christmas last year with my family, is that I didn’t know it was going to be a Christmas of “lasts.” This past year, my Uncle Steve passed away. I didn’t know it’d be my last chance to see him. My grandpa sold the house that he had lived in since my mom was a kid. Now, he and his wife live in a condo that is not big enough to hold everyone. No problem, my mom offered to have Christmas Eve at her house. Apparently, no one was planning on going except my brother’s family and I… I was REALLY bummed!! It just makes me appreciate the time I HAVE had with my family over the past year(s). As for my cousins and I, we are going to start our own traditions together (probably starting NEXT year).

Well, my Mom just called me, and now, we ARE getting together for Christmas Eve. It will be a small group, just us, my brother and his family, and maybe my Grandpa and his wife. I’m glad. Christmas just doesn’t seem the same without getting together with family.

Tomorrow, Jason, the kids and I will be waking up to presents from Santa, listening to Christmas music, and exchanging gifts. We will load up the vehicle with kids, the dog, and cookies. We will head over the river and through the woods, to Nana’s house we’ll go… it will be a wonderful day!

As for the Christmas Story, if my Grandpa doesn’t come, I will take over as the reader of the Story! After all, that is the real reason we celebrate after all!!

Put a Band-aid on it!

Any parent can tell you, if you put a band-aid on an “owie”, it suddenly feels much better. Band-aids aren’t magical, but to many children, they hold a secret power. The power to make all the hurt go away. Now, taking them off, is a whole different story! It’s a good things most kids will keep band-aids on until they either fall off in the tub, or get so much sand stuck in the adhesive, that they will no longer stick. The whole point of the little things is to keep the blood in, germs out. Nowhere in there was “pain relief”. Yet, to many kids, it seems to work that way.

Some parents feed into the band-aid obsession, buying cutsie printed band-aids or ones that look like tattoos. I have had many a child come into my classroom covered in band-aids, not because they were actually hurt, but because they wanted them. Different parents have different takes on the situation. The best thing I once heard a dad say was, “The way I see it, if something is hurting one of my children, whether physically or emotionally, and a band-aid, or a bunch of band-aids will help them feel better, then why not spend the few extra bucks to stock up?”

Many children have comfort items. To them, the comfort item acts as a band-aid. Something makes them sad, they go hug their blankie. They fell and got a bad scrape, they want their Bear-bear. They have to go to the Dr. to get a shot, their Foxy needs to come with to help them be brave…. It’s not that the item ACTUALLY makes them feel better, but it gives them a familiarity that is comforting.

What’s funny, is how hard it is to fool children. I have known many-a-parent that lost a child’s favorite comfort item, bought a replacement, washed it, and the child knows it wasn’t the same one! I have laughed out loud at the measures parents have taken to try to get it just as ratty, smelly, faded, etc. to try to fool their child.

The struggle both as a parent and as a teacher, is how far to let that attachment go. As a teacher, our goal is to help children learn to become independent. Sometimes, we are helping them become independent from their comfort item. One challenge comes with going outside. Some parents don’t mind their children having a favorite item (such as a blankie) out on the playground with them. As a teacher, we tend to say no. Not only does it get dirty, germs can get on the blanket that could then make the child sick. If the child gets sick, there’s potential for the whole class to get sick. That may seem a bit dramatic, but those are the kinds of things we need to think about! Parents and teachers need to work together with the best interest of the child in mind. Ground rules probably will need to be set early on in the relationship when it comes to special items from home.

There’s nothing wrong with a child having a comfort item. Like a band-aid, it can have magical powers to calm, soothe, dry tears, and make the world a better place. Not allowing a child to have their special item when they are upset will likely only make the situation worse. Cutting a child off of their “lovie” at a certain age depends on the family’s personal beliefs about such things. Usually a child will wean themselves off a “favorite” item on their own. In my experience, this usually happens as a child approaches Kindergarten. It is not uncommon though to still have one special comfort item “just at bedtime.” The most effective approach seems to be to let the child do it naturally on their own. If a parent chooses to cut the child off cold turkey, they need to be prepared to give extra love and support as their child transitions away from comforting themselves with their special blanket or stuffed animal.

Back to Band-aids, on a Totally Random note:
Band-aids have also become a metaphor for a quick fix (or a temporary fix) on things. “Let’s put a band-aid on it until we have more time to deal with it.” Band-aids are a way to buy time…. this may be a topic for another blog in the future… stalling tactics that businesses (or people in general use). Hmm…

Sleeping with Foxy

No, this is not a risqué topic! Get your head out of the gutter! Foxy is the name of Michael’s little stuffed fox (though some people think it’s a squirrel). He is the love of his life (besides his Mommy, of course).

When I was pregnant with Michael, I was working as a School Readiness Teacher. One of my preschoolers gave me a gift for the baby. Inside the gift bag, was this little blue fox. It was so cute, and just the right size for baby fingers to hold on to! Michael has been attached to Foxy since just about the day he came out (or at least since he could reach for and grab things).

This little fox, which is now a dingy grey, has fur rubbing off, and is losing half his mouth, has been through everything with Michael. He has been lost and found several times, has made approximately 5 visits to the hospital, has been puked on, peed on, stepped on, and yet, still rattles when Michael carries him up to my bed in the middle of the night. When my little guy is upset or tired, he seeks out Foxy to comfort himself. When he has to go get shots, Foxy comes to help him be brave… right before we moved to WI, Michael went in for his 1 year check up. His nurse at the time said, “I can’t believe he still has this fox.” If only she knew that another 4 and a half years has passed, and he STILL has it!

In the past several months, I have been dealing with a lot of stomach issues. On one particular day, when I was laying in bed, feeling especially sick, Michael came in and put Foxy next to my face. He told me that Foxy would snuggle with me, and I would feel all better. He’s such a sweetheart!

Grace also has her comfort item. When she was a baby, my mom made her a blanket with orange fleece on one side. Grace fell in love with the orange fleece side. My mom cut 2 squares of fleece as “back up blankies”, those have been her favorite ever since. Even at 9 years old, she still loves her orange blankie. When she’s upset, she sits on her bed with her blanket and Bear-bear (a ratty old bear she also loves) and reads.

I’m glad my kids have their special items to help them feel better when I can’t. There’s something magical about Foxy, Blankie, and Bear-bear. They seem to possess the power to make anything in the world better. I wish I had a magic wand, but I don’t. For now, I’ll let their comfort items carry the magic!

A Week Without Internet – sort of

Remember what life was like before we had the internet? Neither do I! Well, actually, I do… First of all, we had to use the phone to talk to people. People didn’t have cell phones back then. In most cases, there was one phone line in each house, which was usually taken over by the teenagers who lived there. If you wanted to share news with people who lived far away, you had to write a letter and mail it to them (long-distance phone calls were expensive). To get information on any given topic, you actually had to read books to do your research. Magazines usually offered more current product information, or you had to actually talk to people to get their opinions… If we wanted to watch a show on TV, we had to wait until it was scheduled to be on (like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, or, of course, any of the Peanuts specials). If you had the timing just right, you could record the show with your VCR to watch it again and again. Usually, VCR timers didn’t quite work right. If you set the timer to record something, you had to cross your fingers, or you might miss the show after all.

In some ways, life seemed simpler then. In other ways, looking back, it seems as though life should have been much more complicated! We have all the information we need (and a bunch we don’t), right at our finger tips! Most everyone is available by cell phone at any time. If you don’t feel like talking in real life, you can text, IM (that’s Instant Messaging, in case you didn’t know), or email… Heck, the first several months of my fiancé and I reconnecting (after 11 or so years), we IM’d back and forth. That was partly me just being a chicken, partly me being too wiped to “talk” at the end of the day. IM makes communicating easy. It makes keeping in touch simple – it doesn’t wake up the kids, and you can have several conversations going at once. While you are chatting, you can watch the shows you DVR’d that week, write a blog, and balance your checkbook! Talk about the ultimate in multi-tasking!

About a week ago, I lost my cable and internet connection. Talk about feeling disconnected! I didn’t know what anyone was up to! Yep, I’m nosy like that – I love my social networking sites! I couldn’t watch my shows (well, mostly just Days of Our Lives). I couldn’t even watch Netflix through my Wii, because I didn’t have internet… Luckily, my cell phone is set up to set my Facebook status, and to Tweet. I was loving Twitter’s new feature, in that I got texts any time someone replied to or mentioned me. I could still text, but only people who’s cell phone numbers I had. I couldn’t work on my blog… I had to watch movies the “almost” old fashioned way – by putting in the DVD. No, I don’t own a VCR any more, so I wasn’t watching tapes!

Here’s what I was able to accomplish by not being connected to my computer for a week: I got all of my Fall decorations down, and most of my Christmas decorations up. I was able to go through papers that I have been avoiding for WAY too long. I got some cleaning done (though, I still have a ways to go). I was also able to catch up on some much needed sleep! I’m not sure if it was the tummy bug I was fighting off, the fact that I work with little kids, or what, but I was SO tired this week! I was in bed by 9 every night. I must have needed it!

As much as I love being able to be connected to the world, I felt like I accomplished some things by not staying attached to the computer. For one week, it was OK, but I would not choose to have no cable and internet for much longer than that!