Yeah, One of those terrible days, actually almost a week. I kindda suspected something was going to happen when I tried to do "Jot/diya" on Sunday morning and I wouldn’t lit up after 20 tries with lighter then another 20 tries with gas flame. On Monday I was doing puja & there were bad bad thoughts in my mind. Tried to shook them off but didn’t work.. I ate around 2:30 and right after eating I felt yuck & felt like throwing up badly. I called hubby to come upstairs cuz I thought I was going to pass out. Within 10 minutes I was a bit ok. He went back & came back in 15 minutes cuz It was time to pick A from school. He said you want me to go but I thought I will go cuz A feels happy to see me there.. not that he won’t feel happy to see hubby but I think after the long day I want to see him ASAP.
I started driving and felt terrible. Thought of calling hubby then I thought its just my mind since I was feeling scared thinking of whatever was going on since Sunday morning. Then I put a brave face & went anyway. Picked up my son, got back home safely (1 hr. drive), parallel park the car & was about to get out and thought the car was too close to the front car. Tried to back up a bit & instead of “reverse” it was on “drive”. I saw it going into the car ahead of me & tried to hit the break but panicked & put the foot on gas *sigh*.. Well it hit the car as hard as it could & it was rav4 in front of me. Since I hit the tire on the back it damaged the trunk floor of the car too. Felt terrible & shaky. Called hubby & told him to come down.
Well estimate of the damage is almost $4000. I am feeling soooo bad but hubby is keeping cool. I don’t know how he does it but he is one cool guy. If it were one of my side family people, they would’ve been freaking out right now. I was afraid to touch the car still I drove A to school yesterday & today. Went to drop off the car that we got for the neighbor to use. Felt shaky, still did it. I know if I was feeling that way I shouldn’t drive but with kids in the car Im always afraid of these things. I check 10 times before I put my foot on the gas or break, car in reverse or drive, but that one time really messed up everything.
Still I thank God that nothing happed to A who was in the car with me but now I will be scared for a long time.
#################################
I remember a story where 2 angels came to earth & went to rich person asking for a room to spend a night. He gave them the unfinished cold basement, didn’t ask them for food. There was a hole in the wall & before leaving those 2 angels fixed the hole. Next day they went to a poor farmer guy with the same request. Poor guy gave them their food, their bed. In the morning they found their one & only bull dead in the field.
Younger angel felt really sad & asked the other angel about the whole thing. He asked the other angel that the rich guy was bad to them still they did good for him & fixed his hole in the wall & this poor farmer was so good to them & still he didn’t save his bull. The older angel smiled & said “things are not always like how they seem”. There was a treasure inside that hole & if the rich guy had gotten fixed he would’ve known. So we fixed his hole in the wall. And last night angel of death came to take farmer’s wife but I told him to take the bull instead.
Now even though the damage is a lot still Im glad the money is going on car repair instead of any human repair that would’ve been in the other car or one of us.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Farm Visit & Apple Picking
We went to a farm last weekend. Had so much fun there. Enjoy few pictures of our fun day..
Sunday, September 17, 2006
My daughter’s & My Week
Well It was the first time when we were spending any time without my son A. On Monday she was looking around & kept calling A hoping to see him running to her from kitchen or one of the rooms… It was just heartbreaking… She got very quiet last week. She wasn’t playing much, just taking toys & sitting quietly. No bicycle riding, no coloring, no sleeping during first 2 days and no eating properly. Yes, She went on almost hunger strike. She was just drinking milk. I had to force her to eat few bites of something every hr. but that wasn’t going quite well either.
I was hoping to finish lots of stuff while A was at school. I was thinking our life will be back to almost normal since I could do almost everything taking care of one kid at home like I used to, before I had her but boy was I wrong. I think it was her who needed to be in the school. Before She used to initiate things & my son used to follow her around making it difficult to do anything but didn’t think that it would still be same and very hard with only her at home with me. Needless to say everything in house is just the same as it was a week before. House is still a mess, laundry needs to be folded, no cooking done this week as I was busy feeding her every hr. and I am still very tired. I was really seeing myself very energetic at the end of the week but nope, still tired & exhausted.
Weekend is very tough. She is not letting A touch any toy since she was the queen of the house for a week & now she consider everything belong to her. She is not letting him use the computer cuz she was the one who used computer for the whole week. So in short, lots of fighting & crying is going on every second. Good thing is that she ate little better today as A was there and she was afraid of him finishing her food;-) I had never seen the jealous side of her before. Now anytime I am giving something to A first she get angry and runs to the corner of the room crying hard.
But She is getting all the love she deserves. I used to feel guilty kissing her in front of my son, even though I used to kiss A as well but she is very lovey dovey who likes to run up to me so many times a day just to kiss me and every time I kiss her back I feel guilty thinking I am only kissing her not my son. In my mind I know my son is playing or doing something and its not practical to count the kisses & kiss A the same time still I always felt bad. Now I can kiss her anytime although every time I kiss her I think of my son and still feel bad but she is getting lots of love from both of us, more than usual.
Now from tomorrow I need to work on getting her to eat well & sleep on time(she is sleeping good since Wednesday but very late in the afternoon), make a to-do list of house chores, which I can start doing at least little bit every day And hopefully we will have a normal clean house & life soon.
I was hoping to finish lots of stuff while A was at school. I was thinking our life will be back to almost normal since I could do almost everything taking care of one kid at home like I used to, before I had her but boy was I wrong. I think it was her who needed to be in the school. Before She used to initiate things & my son used to follow her around making it difficult to do anything but didn’t think that it would still be same and very hard with only her at home with me. Needless to say everything in house is just the same as it was a week before. House is still a mess, laundry needs to be folded, no cooking done this week as I was busy feeding her every hr. and I am still very tired. I was really seeing myself very energetic at the end of the week but nope, still tired & exhausted.
Weekend is very tough. She is not letting A touch any toy since she was the queen of the house for a week & now she consider everything belong to her. She is not letting him use the computer cuz she was the one who used computer for the whole week. So in short, lots of fighting & crying is going on every second. Good thing is that she ate little better today as A was there and she was afraid of him finishing her food;-) I had never seen the jealous side of her before. Now anytime I am giving something to A first she get angry and runs to the corner of the room crying hard.
But She is getting all the love she deserves. I used to feel guilty kissing her in front of my son, even though I used to kiss A as well but she is very lovey dovey who likes to run up to me so many times a day just to kiss me and every time I kiss her back I feel guilty thinking I am only kissing her not my son. In my mind I know my son is playing or doing something and its not practical to count the kisses & kiss A the same time still I always felt bad. Now I can kiss her anytime although every time I kiss her I think of my son and still feel bad but she is getting lots of love from both of us, more than usual.
Now from tomorrow I need to work on getting her to eat well & sleep on time(she is sleeping good since Wednesday but very late in the afternoon), make a to-do list of house chores, which I can start doing at least little bit every day And hopefully we will have a normal clean house & life soon.
Week in School
He did great during his first week in school. According to Ms. Monda, he cried for hardly 2 minutes after I left. She told me to stay for 15-20 minutes & watch him from behind the door or on tv downstairs. Tuesday evening he kept saying that he didn’t want to go to school. I told him that he was excited about going to school, having a teacher; lunchtime & nap time And used to tell me that he wanted to go to school.
“But now I am telling you I don’t want to go to school”
“No, you have to go to school. You will make friends there, get to play with them and have fun”
“But I don’t like school”
“Why?”
“Because I cry”
“Well, then don’t… Enjoy there”
And the whole thing repeated at least 100 times. *sigh*
Wednesday morning his teacher grabbed him as soon we got upstairs and I was hiding behind door. She sat him on a chair & asked if he wanted to make Mr. Potato head and he stopped crying & said yes. I was happy to see him not crying then went downstairs & watched him on tv. He was busy playing. That was the first day I put songs on while going back home:-)
He cried to see us there to pick him in the evening. We explained to him that there is no need to cry. You go to school to have fun. This was kept going until night.
On Thursday, I was talking to him the whole time in the car about having fun & not to cry. We got upstairs, he was hiding behind me. I showed him couple of other kids saying bye to their parents & running to class happily. He was still hiding behind me. We came out of the class, had a little talk again. Went in again. I was showing him how everybody was happy there and he should go & play too. In 2 minutes he stopped clinging & went towards the table chairs with toys. I was surprised cuz he looked back & kept going. I waved to his teacher & told her to keep an eye on him. I watched him for 10 minutes from downstairs tv & he was doing great. He didn’t cry when I went to pick him up. Definitely a progress. Same thing on Saturday, no crying at all.
His teacher said so many good things about his manners, the way he eats & other little little stuff. He is going to toilet by himself since day 1. She said I tell him to call me when he is done but he likes to do everything by himself. Sometimes she calls him from outside to check on him & he respond to her in Hindi then he realize it & say the same thing in English. He has no problem communicating with anyone. I was worried he might find it difficult to express himself since we mostly talk in Hindi at home but he understand English fully & could talk if needed. According to his teacher he has no trouble speaking English at all.
He did wonderful last week & hopefully he will keep doing great.
“But now I am telling you I don’t want to go to school”
“No, you have to go to school. You will make friends there, get to play with them and have fun”
“But I don’t like school”
“Why?”
“Because I cry”
“Well, then don’t… Enjoy there”
And the whole thing repeated at least 100 times. *sigh*
Wednesday morning his teacher grabbed him as soon we got upstairs and I was hiding behind door. She sat him on a chair & asked if he wanted to make Mr. Potato head and he stopped crying & said yes. I was happy to see him not crying then went downstairs & watched him on tv. He was busy playing. That was the first day I put songs on while going back home:-)
He cried to see us there to pick him in the evening. We explained to him that there is no need to cry. You go to school to have fun. This was kept going until night.
On Thursday, I was talking to him the whole time in the car about having fun & not to cry. We got upstairs, he was hiding behind me. I showed him couple of other kids saying bye to their parents & running to class happily. He was still hiding behind me. We came out of the class, had a little talk again. Went in again. I was showing him how everybody was happy there and he should go & play too. In 2 minutes he stopped clinging & went towards the table chairs with toys. I was surprised cuz he looked back & kept going. I waved to his teacher & told her to keep an eye on him. I watched him for 10 minutes from downstairs tv & he was doing great. He didn’t cry when I went to pick him up. Definitely a progress. Same thing on Saturday, no crying at all.
His teacher said so many good things about his manners, the way he eats & other little little stuff. He is going to toilet by himself since day 1. She said I tell him to call me when he is done but he likes to do everything by himself. Sometimes she calls him from outside to check on him & he respond to her in Hindi then he realize it & say the same thing in English. He has no problem communicating with anyone. I was worried he might find it difficult to express himself since we mostly talk in Hindi at home but he understand English fully & could talk if needed. According to his teacher he has no trouble speaking English at all.
He did wonderful last week & hopefully he will keep doing great.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
His First Full Day and Today
Yesterday was his first full day. I couldn’t sleep till almost 2 the night before. I got up around 6:30, got ready, woke him up at 7. He was awake the second he opened his eyes. Got him ready by 7:15. Another 15 minutes for hubby & princess to get ready. At 7:35 we were in the car and its around 20 minutes drive unless there is traffic. I started driving again after 7 years, yes 7 years. Drove a bit on weekend but I was still afraid of driving alone with kids that far & to another town so told hubby to come with me. Not that he wanted to come but he had to unless he was planning on dropping and picking him up every day ;-))Got to school at 8:06. Went inside the office, talk to the bird & fishy there. Then we went upstairs and met the director’s daughter, Cynthia. She took us his class, met his teacher, Ms. Mounda.
Then I showed him the adult pee toilet for boys in the boy’s room. I didn’t want him to mistaken that for the sink ;-) Cynthia said to leave him in the class but I told her that he didn’t have anything for breakfast so it might be a good idea if he sees other kids eating and decide to eat something. They give breakfast if you are there before 8 but she was fine even thought it was around 8:30. They had cereal but my son didn’t want cereal today so she got him 2 pancakes. In the mean time he decided to have cereal so got him that too. He just started eating when he saw a kid crying. He changed his mind & didn’t want to eat anymore & cling to me.We went to upstairs in the class. Oh he had 2 leaves in his hand which he gave to both teacher and he was happy about that:-) And on the way to upstairs we met another desi guy with his daughter.. He said hi to my son & found out
that they will be in the same class.. At least someone can understand hindi & if needed they can carry a conversation:-) He gave good review too.. His son used to be in the school & now his daughter. It confirms that we are not wrong about the school. A desi can never lie about this stuff:-))Took couple of pictures of him in the rooms and went to his teacher. I gave her hint that I was gonna leave. She tried to keep him busy with 2 bunnies’ they have… yup, there were 2 today but he didn’t want to leave me. We went to another room where story session was going on. He sat there for few seconds but ran up to me as he saw me sneaking out. We did puzzle but he was holding my hand the whole time. Once he got busy I tried to leave. I was about to get out of the class that someone came to see Ms. Mounda. As soon as they called her my son realized that
I was leaving so he ran up to me again. I told him I had to go to the bathroom but he wanted to come with me. He let go off my hand for few seconds while we were taking to him and his teacher Ms. Mounda picked him up & held him tight while I ran downstairs. Didn’t feel like watching him crying on the tv downstairs. Hubby & hungry daughter were waiting in the car for long too.Came home & called the school around 10:30 to check on him. He was doing well. Ms. Mounda said that he stopped crying after 2-3 minutes and he is doing great. They had B’day party there & he had cupcake & Apple juice.
Called back around 2:30. She said he is lying down but not sleeping. While I was talking to her he closed his eyes. He went potty twice there. Had Ham & Cheese sandwich & Apple juice again. He told her that he liked the school:-) I told her that I will come around 5 to pick him up.Hubby called around then and said we could pick him up now but he was taking his nap and after that it was playground time. I told him that we will go around 3:30. I called hubby around 3:15 but he was busy & couldn’t leave then so waited for another ½ hr. and got ready to pick him up. Hubby came too so we all left for school. As soon as we parked we
saw him playing in the playground. He looked fine. We sat there for 15 minutes watching him from car. His teacher saw us and told him to play where we could see him:-) When we got out we send our daughter to him. As soon as he saw her and then us, he start to climb the wire fence like a monkey:-) He was laughing but I could see tears in his eyes. He kept saying “I can’t climb”.I asked him “why do you want to climb?”
But he kept saying “I can’t climb”. He was in such rush to get out of there.
Actually they close the door of the playground during play time & other day his teacher didn’t let him open the door so he thought he had to climb the fence to get out of there:-)
I told him that we were there to pick him up & his teacher will open the door for him. He was happy to leave.. Said bye to everybody there. Then we went inside to get his backpack & talk to the teacher. The director was there and she said that he did great. Checked the sheet to see if he napped or eat even though I talk to her teacher before still wanted to see how they put the information And left afterwards. He was telling us all about the school:-) He kept saying “There was something wrong with my pee pee”And after couple of times he said the same I asked him again & again & again to give me description of what happened. In My mind I was thinking of Gauri’s Abhay’s incident. Then found out that he was playing in the playground but his training pants were coming down and they fixed it after sometimes:-)***************************************
Today I woke him up by kissing. He opened his eyes and closed right back:-) It never happened in 3 ½ years. I tried to make him open his eyes but nope, he didn’t want to. Hubby said to let him sleep till 9-10 & drop him later but I wanted to see him parents leaving their kids & how they don’t cry And I wanted to go without my daughter cuz I can’t control her while taking care of my scared son’s who doesn’t want to let go of me.Today hubby was saying “Its not that they teach anything there. It is only baby sitting.”
Ohhhh no no no. Don’t tell me this now. Anyways, he didn’t want to go to school today. I reminded him all the fun he had y’day still didn’t want to go. Y’day I got 20 blueberry muffins bags for him to take school. I told him if he want to go to school & give those to his friends. Well it did help a bit. Got him ready & we left for school. He was very quiet the whole time in car.
When we got out of the car I got him few leaves today too. It made him very happy and the thought of giving it to someone else dragged him to school:-) Even though he didn’t want to eat anything we went to eating room to say hi to whoever was there. Then we went upstairs. Kids were looking at the leaves he was holding so I told him to give it to them. He was smiling and giving leaf to every one who was coming to him. By the time his teacher came he had 2 leaves left so he gave her those while hugging her.
She showed me what he colored yesterday. And during circle time he knew most of the alphabets so he got the prize. He didn’t tell me that y’day or every kid might have gotten the prize:-) She told me that he made 3 girl-friends y’day :-) I think there are only 2 boys in his class and one is always lying down alone in the corner so he had to choose someone to play with;-) And he loved the circle time in the morning.
Today he knew I was gonna leave him. His hands were getting cold & he was hiding behind me holding my pant. I did puzzle with him, looked at bunnies but he was holding me tight. Ms. Mounda tried to distract him but didn’t work. Finally she had to hold him but before I could go he held my hair and pulled it badly. He was crying so hard & pulling my hair to come closer.. It took 3 of us to open his fist. Today I felt like crying too. I told him I will back to pick him up and left. It was heartbreaking to leave him crying there..
Around 11 I called his school & talk to him. He was doing great and his voice was happy. Ms. Mounda said that he cried for 2-3 minutes and got back to playing. Now I will call later to check again.
I think he is getting the concept of school and I am going to adjust just fine thinking we found a great place for him to play and he is having fun there. Now the school chapter is closed for the blog;-))
Saturday, September 09, 2006
First Hour in School
I was thinking of sending him to school next Monday then I realized that it will be better if he starts this Monday instead. We went there around 3:30. I didn’t call them ahead and found out that his regular teacher left at 3 but the director said we can stay if want. We wanted to see his reaction only and all the teachers can manage the kids so I didn’t think it was big deal if his regular teacher wasn’t there.
Their group was playing outside. The other day we went at the same time too so yesterday I knew they will be in the playground. I actually planned in a way that he can have little playground time & some time upstairs in the rooms. This way we can observe him better.
We stayed in the office while the director took him in the playground. He hesitated a bit but with our encouragement & the idea of being in the playground, he left holding the director’s hand. I went after them in few seconds and was hiding. He stood there just holding her hand. They were telling him to play with the kids but no response from him. Then they made every kid came up to him and introduce themselves. After that I saw him running around climbing on the toys & taking turn on the slide & other toys. After a few seconds the director was about to come out of the playground and my son was keeping an eye on her :-) As soon as she opened the door he tried to leave too:-) She spends another 5 minutes telling him to play there while he was just crying. He saw me hiding too so I quickly ran to the office before he could see me again. She came back few minutes later and said “He is doing just fine.” I bet they say that to all parents:-)
We wanted to leave saying Goodbye to him & telling him that we will be back soon. We had the choice to leave from the back door but we thought it will be better if he sees us leaving & then coming back in an hr.. We said bye to him and he was crying hysterically… Even though I had prepared him about no parents & sister in the school concept still this was expected. He followed us on all sides of the wired fence of the playground trying to climb like a monkey saying “Mamma Paas, Mamma Paas”. I wanted to stay in the parking lot that’s why I made hubby park in the back but the director said “don’t worry, go for a drive” And hubby thought of taking us ‘girls’ to shopping before I start crying too. Anyway it did help killing the time & before we knew it was 5:15, time to go back.
I went inside to see how he was doing. I had told the director that I wanted to see his reaction outside the playground too so she said that she will tell them to leave the playground earlier today so that my son will have the chance to spend sometime in the class room too. When I went there they were upstairs & she switched his class on the tv. They were going in the computer class at that time & he was just looking around. In seconds he settled down playing on one of the computers. I watched him on tv for 15 minutes from her office and he was doing fine. She said he did great, stop crying in few seconds & been playing since then. Chatted with her for a little while and went upstairs to pick him up.
I stood outside the room for few minutes watching him. Then I talked to both the teachers there. He didn’t even turn around after hearing my voice & I am kindda lound person:-) . He was so lost in computer game as lately I don’t let him be on his computer after the surgery, just trying to avoid him hurt this thumb before it healed fully. He had no idea I was there. I had to call him 3 times before he turned around. I was expecting him to run & come up to me but he was just playing there. I asked him
“Do you want to go home?”
“NO”
And everybody started laughing:-)
Can you believe it? Well we said thanks & bye to everybody and spend few minutes with bird and come back. We praised him & encourage him in the car and asked about the school. He said there was a girl name Julia, who didn’t want to share a toy with him.. yes, already :-) He said that they washed their hands after their playground time. great.. We asked him if he wants to come back on Monday, he said NO.
We think he was ok And after him refusing to leave the class I am a bit at peace too thinking that he did enjoy his time there.
Now we are starting full time from coming Monday.
Their group was playing outside. The other day we went at the same time too so yesterday I knew they will be in the playground. I actually planned in a way that he can have little playground time & some time upstairs in the rooms. This way we can observe him better.
We stayed in the office while the director took him in the playground. He hesitated a bit but with our encouragement & the idea of being in the playground, he left holding the director’s hand. I went after them in few seconds and was hiding. He stood there just holding her hand. They were telling him to play with the kids but no response from him. Then they made every kid came up to him and introduce themselves. After that I saw him running around climbing on the toys & taking turn on the slide & other toys. After a few seconds the director was about to come out of the playground and my son was keeping an eye on her :-) As soon as she opened the door he tried to leave too:-) She spends another 5 minutes telling him to play there while he was just crying. He saw me hiding too so I quickly ran to the office before he could see me again. She came back few minutes later and said “He is doing just fine.” I bet they say that to all parents:-)
We wanted to leave saying Goodbye to him & telling him that we will be back soon. We had the choice to leave from the back door but we thought it will be better if he sees us leaving & then coming back in an hr.. We said bye to him and he was crying hysterically… Even though I had prepared him about no parents & sister in the school concept still this was expected. He followed us on all sides of the wired fence of the playground trying to climb like a monkey saying “Mamma Paas, Mamma Paas”. I wanted to stay in the parking lot that’s why I made hubby park in the back but the director said “don’t worry, go for a drive” And hubby thought of taking us ‘girls’ to shopping before I start crying too. Anyway it did help killing the time & before we knew it was 5:15, time to go back.
I went inside to see how he was doing. I had told the director that I wanted to see his reaction outside the playground too so she said that she will tell them to leave the playground earlier today so that my son will have the chance to spend sometime in the class room too. When I went there they were upstairs & she switched his class on the tv. They were going in the computer class at that time & he was just looking around. In seconds he settled down playing on one of the computers. I watched him on tv for 15 minutes from her office and he was doing fine. She said he did great, stop crying in few seconds & been playing since then. Chatted with her for a little while and went upstairs to pick him up.
I stood outside the room for few minutes watching him. Then I talked to both the teachers there. He didn’t even turn around after hearing my voice & I am kindda lound person:-) . He was so lost in computer game as lately I don’t let him be on his computer after the surgery, just trying to avoid him hurt this thumb before it healed fully. He had no idea I was there. I had to call him 3 times before he turned around. I was expecting him to run & come up to me but he was just playing there. I asked him
“Do you want to go home?”
“NO”
And everybody started laughing:-)
Can you believe it? Well we said thanks & bye to everybody and spend few minutes with bird and come back. We praised him & encourage him in the car and asked about the school. He said there was a girl name Julia, who didn’t want to share a toy with him.. yes, already :-) He said that they washed their hands after their playground time. great.. We asked him if he wants to come back on Monday, he said NO.
We think he was ok And after him refusing to leave the class I am a bit at peace too thinking that he did enjoy his time there.
Now we are starting full time from coming Monday.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Finalize the School
The other day we went to see the school with web cams. It was on the ground floor of this huge office building. It looked very clean and bright. People there seems very nice too and so does their play ground. I was really impressed with the cleaning ness which is #2 on my check list. Then we talked to the director. She was a nice enthusiastic lady. While talking to her, another lady came by to play with the kids. After few minutes of usual talk about the program she took us to the room for my son’s age group kids. It was a nice bright yellow room with separate play area, cooking area, table chair to eat & learn stuff and nicely new type of platform to sleep, put aside & arranged on top of each other like square plates with sheets on it(really liked this one than those form mats). They had furniture pieces used as dividers to separate areas. Bathroom & sink were in the room itself so kids were pretty much staying in the same room the whole day beside the play ground time. Well in winter there won’t be much outdoor play time anyway. Really liked the fresh, new & crisp feeling though.
When we got out of there I was thinking about their fees & what are we getting. To me all the charges were for new stuff they have and I couldn’t think of anything they had different in their program from other pre schools who were charging half than these people. I think People don’t mind paying as much as double but they should have something special in their program to convince the parents that they were getting something DIFFERENT & MORE. And thinking about kids playing all day in one room is not that good, even though the room is big still its one room. Thinking from a kid’s perspective I didn’t like the fact. Till yesterday morning I was trying to convince myself to call them and say yes but couldn’t. Beside the web cams I didn’t find any thing in their program (#1 on check list) convincing.
Yesterday I spend some time finding more schools\and place few calls, then I came across a phone # in the search I wasn’t paying too much attention to since I start looking for a school. Instead of a school name or website URL there was just the # listed there. Yesterday since I wasn’t finding anything else I thought of trying that #. Talked to a girl and ask about the usual stuff. She sounded very nice. They were just few minutes further away from the web cam place and the fee was almost same too. So decided to check them out y’day. We went there around 3:30. It was an old office building and looked like a warehouse area around,wasn’t appealing at all. We parked on the back side and walked to the front. As soon as we turn from the side to the front, we saw soooo many kids playing in the playground. There were 2 different play ground on both front sides which we found out later was for different age group kids with appropriate toys and all the kids were looking very happy.
Went inside and found out that the girl I talked to was actually almost 50 year old lady with very peaceful look & soft voice. She started to give us a tour. They had separate room for different age groups. 3 different rooms for infants only… very young infant, medium age & almost toddlers. Not even 1 kid was crying there. Even babies were looking very happy & they had this glass wall between three rooms & had registered nurses to take care of the kids. Liked the toys there, were very different & interesting. Eating room’s floor was a mess which means they let kids enjoy. Good sign. They had gym there with 4-5 mini houses & trees & stuff which they called their VILLAGE ROOM. I liked that room.. Very different & interesting concept.
All the rooms had not fancy but clean carpet. Then she took us upstairs. First thing we saw an open area with an office feel and a girl was sitting there doing some paperwork. It was like she was guarding the upstairs part of the school & the Other lady was keeping an eye on downstairs stuff. A class of 4-5 years old were holding there hands standing in line ready to go downstairs with their teacher. They were all so happy and looking very nice & clean. Imagined my son standing in that line too;-)
Then she showed us their Science room with lots of wooden blocks placed in a circle, a rabbit, lots of books & other material. Next to that was the Nature room where they have stuff related to nature learning. On the other side there was a Computer room and my kids got busy:-) Next to that was Art room. & I saw lines of freshly painted paper on the side of floor. They had dough, clay for pottery & other art stuff in the room.
Kids ran to the computer room again with hubby while I stayed there to chat with her. She asked me if I was looking around and I said yes:-) I told her I went to that other academy almost next door too. She asked how I feel about them & hers school And I told her how I felt :-) I told her they are clean & bright but didn’t find anything great about the program but hers is really good & I think I like it so far:-) Hers is the best one I found so far.
Then she told me what they teach the kids and I told her that even my daughter can count from 1-10. She asked my daughter & we counted from 1-10;-) She was so surprise and said that 18m old don’t even talk and she can count too. I was happy:-) Then she told us what she thought of our kids & offered me a job there. I was surprise & happy but not ready to be with 20 kids.. lol.. I told her I consider myself a people person & I love kids but after these 2 Im already going crazy and need a break:-)
She told us about their open door policy, where we(parents) can go to school anytime & read them a book or do some activity with them. They do potluck once a month with all the parents. They have optional field trips on special holidays & once a year they call someone to their school for some fun activity like pony ride, magician or other. It all sounded so complete to me. And their policies are very flexible. I asked her if my son can come one day for sometime to get the feel and she was ok and I could start anytime & she will adjust the fee.
On our way home I was happy about the school & different special rooms with unique concepts. I think I would love to spend day there and that proves that my kid will have fun too. Hubby liked it too. In our mind we were still comparing and nothing could top this place. They were so loving & cheerful and I won’t be worried leaving my son with them.
We called them in 5 minutes after we left, about our decision of sending our son there. I told them that we will bring our son there on the 14th to stay there for an hr. to see his reaction and register him then and he will start full time from the 15th.
On our way home hubby was saying to send our daughter there too and relax for a while
:-) Well I am putting a brave face but I am not that brave yet.. It sure is a good place if I decide to send her. Maybe next year.
p.s I wish no one has to go to Old People Home but If there is that time in someone’s life, I wish that their kids put the same thought what their parents put to find anything for them;-)
When we got out of there I was thinking about their fees & what are we getting. To me all the charges were for new stuff they have and I couldn’t think of anything they had different in their program from other pre schools who were charging half than these people. I think People don’t mind paying as much as double but they should have something special in their program to convince the parents that they were getting something DIFFERENT & MORE. And thinking about kids playing all day in one room is not that good, even though the room is big still its one room. Thinking from a kid’s perspective I didn’t like the fact. Till yesterday morning I was trying to convince myself to call them and say yes but couldn’t. Beside the web cams I didn’t find any thing in their program (#1 on check list) convincing.
Yesterday I spend some time finding more schools\and place few calls, then I came across a phone # in the search I wasn’t paying too much attention to since I start looking for a school. Instead of a school name or website URL there was just the # listed there. Yesterday since I wasn’t finding anything else I thought of trying that #. Talked to a girl and ask about the usual stuff. She sounded very nice. They were just few minutes further away from the web cam place and the fee was almost same too. So decided to check them out y’day. We went there around 3:30. It was an old office building and looked like a warehouse area around,wasn’t appealing at all. We parked on the back side and walked to the front. As soon as we turn from the side to the front, we saw soooo many kids playing in the playground. There were 2 different play ground on both front sides which we found out later was for different age group kids with appropriate toys and all the kids were looking very happy.
Went inside and found out that the girl I talked to was actually almost 50 year old lady with very peaceful look & soft voice. She started to give us a tour. They had separate room for different age groups. 3 different rooms for infants only… very young infant, medium age & almost toddlers. Not even 1 kid was crying there. Even babies were looking very happy & they had this glass wall between three rooms & had registered nurses to take care of the kids. Liked the toys there, were very different & interesting. Eating room’s floor was a mess which means they let kids enjoy. Good sign. They had gym there with 4-5 mini houses & trees & stuff which they called their VILLAGE ROOM. I liked that room.. Very different & interesting concept.
All the rooms had not fancy but clean carpet. Then she took us upstairs. First thing we saw an open area with an office feel and a girl was sitting there doing some paperwork. It was like she was guarding the upstairs part of the school & the Other lady was keeping an eye on downstairs stuff. A class of 4-5 years old were holding there hands standing in line ready to go downstairs with their teacher. They were all so happy and looking very nice & clean. Imagined my son standing in that line too;-)
Then she showed us their Science room with lots of wooden blocks placed in a circle, a rabbit, lots of books & other material. Next to that was the Nature room where they have stuff related to nature learning. On the other side there was a Computer room and my kids got busy:-) Next to that was Art room. & I saw lines of freshly painted paper on the side of floor. They had dough, clay for pottery & other art stuff in the room.
Kids ran to the computer room again with hubby while I stayed there to chat with her. She asked me if I was looking around and I said yes:-) I told her I went to that other academy almost next door too. She asked how I feel about them & hers school And I told her how I felt :-) I told her they are clean & bright but didn’t find anything great about the program but hers is really good & I think I like it so far:-) Hers is the best one I found so far.
Then she told me what they teach the kids and I told her that even my daughter can count from 1-10. She asked my daughter & we counted from 1-10;-) She was so surprise and said that 18m old don’t even talk and she can count too. I was happy:-) Then she told us what she thought of our kids & offered me a job there. I was surprise & happy but not ready to be with 20 kids.. lol.. I told her I consider myself a people person & I love kids but after these 2 Im already going crazy and need a break:-)
She told us about their open door policy, where we(parents) can go to school anytime & read them a book or do some activity with them. They do potluck once a month with all the parents. They have optional field trips on special holidays & once a year they call someone to their school for some fun activity like pony ride, magician or other. It all sounded so complete to me. And their policies are very flexible. I asked her if my son can come one day for sometime to get the feel and she was ok and I could start anytime & she will adjust the fee.
On our way home I was happy about the school & different special rooms with unique concepts. I think I would love to spend day there and that proves that my kid will have fun too. Hubby liked it too. In our mind we were still comparing and nothing could top this place. They were so loving & cheerful and I won’t be worried leaving my son with them.
We called them in 5 minutes after we left, about our decision of sending our son there. I told them that we will bring our son there on the 14th to stay there for an hr. to see his reaction and register him then and he will start full time from the 15th.
On our way home hubby was saying to send our daughter there too and relax for a while
:-) Well I am putting a brave face but I am not that brave yet.. It sure is a good place if I decide to send her. Maybe next year.
p.s I wish no one has to go to Old People Home but If there is that time in someone’s life, I wish that their kids put the same thought what their parents put to find anything for them;-)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
What Goes Around Comes Around!
Every time I try to do some thing in the kitchen for few seconds or go out of their sight to do anything anywhere my son always come looking for me within 5 seconds (more reasons to put him in school) then my daughter follows him & they start doing their investigation around. In order to finish quickly (whatever I am doing) I almost always mess up things.(I wasn’t always like that:-) So I tell my son
Dekh Tere chakkar mein sab garbar ho gayi. (Every got messed up because of you.)
(Now I am not blaming him.. its just a way to say that he should not follow me next time & let me work peacefully for 5 minutes)
The other day I put a sandwich plate on the kitchen table and he was talking to me while I was making more sandwiches on the counter. During his talking with all the actions & drama with hands, a piece of sandwich fell on his pant.. We looked at each other to check if someone was going to say something… me telling him to do stuff carefully or him saying something..!
Him: Mamma, Tumhare chakkar mein sab garbar ho gaya.
(Mamma, Every thing got messed up because of you.)
I was looking at him in disbelief and waiting to see what else he has to say… after few seconds of pause
Him: tumene sandwich yehain rakha & aur mein tumese bath kar raha thay aur mere hath sandiwich pe lega aur sandwich meri pant pei gir gaya.
(YOU put the sandwich here & I was talking to YOU and accidentally I hit the sandwich & it fell on my pant)
I was laughing so hard from inside & wanted to kiss him but didn’t want to give him the wrong impression by kissing him when he needs to learn to be careful.
I looked at him for quiet few seconds thinking what to say but couldn’t find anything else to say beside
“I didn’t tell you to look at me or talk to me while eating.. Be careful next time,Ok..”
Ok Mamma, then don’t talk to me when I am eating sandwich...
!!!!!!!!!! :-)))))
Dekh Tere chakkar mein sab garbar ho gayi. (Every got messed up because of you.)
(Now I am not blaming him.. its just a way to say that he should not follow me next time & let me work peacefully for 5 minutes)
The other day I put a sandwich plate on the kitchen table and he was talking to me while I was making more sandwiches on the counter. During his talking with all the actions & drama with hands, a piece of sandwich fell on his pant.. We looked at each other to check if someone was going to say something… me telling him to do stuff carefully or him saying something..!
Him: Mamma, Tumhare chakkar mein sab garbar ho gaya.
(Mamma, Every thing got messed up because of you.)
I was looking at him in disbelief and waiting to see what else he has to say… after few seconds of pause
Him: tumene sandwich yehain rakha & aur mein tumese bath kar raha thay aur mere hath sandiwich pe lega aur sandwich meri pant pei gir gaya.
(YOU put the sandwich here & I was talking to YOU and accidentally I hit the sandwich & it fell on my pant)
I was laughing so hard from inside & wanted to kiss him but didn’t want to give him the wrong impression by kissing him when he needs to learn to be careful.
I looked at him for quiet few seconds thinking what to say but couldn’t find anything else to say beside
“I didn’t tell you to look at me or talk to me while eating.. Be careful next time,Ok..”
Ok Mamma, then don’t talk to me when I am eating sandwich...
!!!!!!!!!! :-)))))
School with webcams
While posting my previous post I knew what the response will be (If any :-) still sometimes we parents need a kick in the butt or twice or more than 100 times :-) (At least I do). I know I can’t hold them for long still I can’t control myself. It is only the socializing part that I want to send him to school otherwise I don’t like the school system here in USA. I think European style schooling is the best (my opinion).
And not having your kid in front of your eyes from having him there ALL the time is really really hard. Yesterday he went with hubby for almost ½ day while my daughter & I stayed home. I played with her, took her to the park still she was trying to see her brother in every little boy who was there. She ran up to couple of boys thinking they are her brother then she just said bye-bye. It was heartbreaking to see her finding my son.
I know once he will start school everything will be fine. We ALL get use to the routine.
Yesterday I looked looked & looked and found an academy with web cameras mounted in all rooms. They charge more than twice than other places and extra charge for web cameras but I can see him ALL DAY LONG from my computer:-) We are going to visit them today and hopefully my son & I will like it otherwise back to searching for another school.
And not having your kid in front of your eyes from having him there ALL the time is really really hard. Yesterday he went with hubby for almost ½ day while my daughter & I stayed home. I played with her, took her to the park still she was trying to see her brother in every little boy who was there. She ran up to couple of boys thinking they are her brother then she just said bye-bye. It was heartbreaking to see her finding my son.
I know once he will start school everything will be fine. We ALL get use to the routine.
Yesterday I looked looked & looked and found an academy with web cameras mounted in all rooms. They charge more than twice than other places and extra charge for web cameras but I can see him ALL DAY LONG from my computer:-) We are going to visit them today and hopefully my son & I will like it otherwise back to searching for another school.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Home schooling
I always have hard time thinking of sending my kids to day care but now my son is almost 3 ½ and seems like I have no choice but to find a school for him. First I thought I will send him in next session then last week I changed my mind and start finding a school with opening for this session, starting from Sep 6th. We looked for few schools on internet & based on the reviews we went to check them out on Thursday. After going to 2 schools it really hit me again and I was back to “I don’t want to send him to school this session” And after that I find one or other problem in all the school we went to(for obvious reason) :-) After half day checking out all the schools I was all ready for home schooling or at least till he will bother the hell out of me & I will be back to searching for school. I wonder if anybody else thought about home schooling…
Friday, September 01, 2006
Quick Update
They had their follow up appointment today since it is been a week TODAY but we were going to check out schools for my son yesterday so I called them to ask if I could stop by. The receptionist said there will be wait but what the heck, its not easy to get ready with both kids & go out… its like getting the whole circus ready..
Doc removed the bandage and while he pulled the cotton from my son’s hand, he went little bit too fast & the little band-aid on the stitches came out too quickly. My son started crying maybe with pain or by just looking at the black stitches. Doc put another regular band-aid on it but I thought I saw a little opening on the wound. I asked the doc if it was what I saw and he said since it is not been a week it is not healed fully. ???? Only 18 hr. short and if it was going to make that much difference, why didn’t they say to come today at scheduled appointment.
My daughter started crying because my son was crying & she remembered the doctor’s face. She wouldn’t let him touch her hand. Anyhow he cut her bandage & put regular one on the stitches. She kept crying until the doc didn’t leave the room and once he was out of her sight she wanted to run around.
Now the tough part is to keep their hands off the water for few days and teach them not to take off their band aid every hour *phew*. I still can’t look at the stitches but is so nice to see their hands without the big cast type gauge.
Thanks again for all your concerns and wishes. You all are the best.
Doc removed the bandage and while he pulled the cotton from my son’s hand, he went little bit too fast & the little band-aid on the stitches came out too quickly. My son started crying maybe with pain or by just looking at the black stitches. Doc put another regular band-aid on it but I thought I saw a little opening on the wound. I asked the doc if it was what I saw and he said since it is not been a week it is not healed fully. ???? Only 18 hr. short and if it was going to make that much difference, why didn’t they say to come today at scheduled appointment.
My daughter started crying because my son was crying & she remembered the doctor’s face. She wouldn’t let him touch her hand. Anyhow he cut her bandage & put regular one on the stitches. She kept crying until the doc didn’t leave the room and once he was out of her sight she wanted to run around.
Now the tough part is to keep their hands off the water for few days and teach them not to take off their band aid every hour *phew*. I still can’t look at the stitches but is so nice to see their hands without the big cast type gauge.
Thanks again for all your concerns and wishes. You all are the best.
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