Have you ever.................

Have you ever played the game "Have you ever......" ? well its a simple game of one person asking a question to a group of people, if you have done/said what that person asks...you then respond, "Yes, I have______" and then you ask a new "Have you ever" question.

The reason for my post is sometimes when being around other people and listening to how they react with others and to my little family or I, I want to say, "You're an idiot!!! Did you really just say what I think you said?!?!?!?!" Have you ever thought this in your head? I find myself doing it more and more every day. But my mother, father, and grandparents taught me better then that.

With Riley in school, I feel like sometimes the teachers and other staff try to "pull one over" on me......Today I flat out said, "I am an educator and what you are doing and saying doesn't make sense and here's what you SHOULD BE DOING with MY CHILD". I'm lucky enough in my career that a parent has never said this to me, but it's because I know each child is not a "cookie cutter cookie" and think one way of doing something or handling an incident, fits every child.

You see, Riley is a very bright child, who like his mother, remembers EVERYTHING. I don't mean from the day before or last week.....I mean from 2 years ago......so if you say something to my child, you better be able to back up what you say otherwise, to him, you are a liar. Another thing about Riley is he is smart. Not just with learning new things and retaining it but, again like his mother, he knows how to get exactly what he wants.

At school there is a baby that Rye absolutely loves. He loves seeing him and playing with him and giving the baby treats. One day Riley wasn't listening to his teacher and so instead of him going outside with his classmates, he had to wait in the "baby" room. Well he thought that was a reward!!! He got to be with the baby that he "takes care of". Today when dropping him off at school, I said, "listen to your teachers and have fun learning!" he replied, "but Mommy, if I don't behave I get to see Avi".......you little stinker........you are using their "consequence" to get what you want......good for you.

Another, "Have you ever" Is, Have you had someone ever say something so mean to you that you actually wanted to be 5 yrs old again and say words back to them.......Yep.....I have...more and more every day......remember, I also remember EVERYTHING......so if you are going to say something mean, rude, or "un called for" to me, it better be worth it, because from then on, we are enemies and good luck getting my respect for you back.....ever..........right now it has been on more then one occasion (and only because the person is frustrated or wants to put me down to make them feel better.......hello........I teach elementary, I'm not in elementary).

One day I'm sure I will say exactly what I am thinking because I have had enough, But for now, "I have NEVER been rude to someone when they have been mean, rude, or "uncalled for" first and I'm not going to start now.

Framily :-)

We absolutely, positively, love living where we do. We love our house, we love the school the kids will be going to (my elementary of course), and the location on how close we are to anything in everything! The one thing we don't always like about where we live is we live far away from family. This is especially hard because our children don't get to see their aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents (which now a days, Paige has "stranger danger" when she doesn't see someone consistently for a long period of time). Sooooooo Matt and I, have for the last 6 years, had to go back to what we learned in elementary school, and make friends.

We have been very lucky that we were raised right and have personalities that we can get along with just about anyone no matter the age. We have made great friends with neighbors and have met great people who happen to be the parents of children that are friends with Riley.

So we have a term for these people, "FRamily". When you live far away from your family and need help in a pinch, you call your "Framily" and they are always their to help you out, be surrogate Aunts, Uncles, and even grandparents.

Thank you to all who are our "FRamily" :-)

Accomplishments

In 2006, a good friend of ours Matts and my "brother from another mother, asked me what my 5 year plan was........very seriously I looked him in the eye and said, "I AM going to graduated with my teaching degree, get a full time job, marry my high school sweetheart, get my masters degree, have two children (hopefully a boy then a girl) and buy a house............well, as soon as Paige Kathryn Wilcox was born....I did it. All in 5 years and before I was 30 :-)

I don't know who taught me about goal setting, but I do know thanks to my family, failure was never an option or a word my family uses. My parents never expected me to get straight A's or a 4.0, but they ALWAYS wanted me to do my best in what ever I decided to start......thank you Mom and Dad....I did achieve some 4.0's along the way :-) and I ALWAYS do my best.

Today as a parent and a teacher I talk to my students about doing "their" best. Which I say may not be their neighbors best and as long as they completed something to the best of their ability, I approve. With Riley and Paige, I will say what my parents said to me, "Do YOUR best work and don't you dare put your name on anything that is not your best work". Really these words are words I wish more adults would live by....imagine.....what it would be like...if EVERYONE......did their best work............

Where did you learn that?!?!?

Over the past few months 2 1/2 years, Riley has been a learning machine!! This makes both the Mommy and teacher me very happy and excited that I have a child who just loves to learn. Since I found out  he was a boy, I have been making sure he learns a lot of things before he goes to kindergarten (studies say that boys take longer to learn new things because they "don't act their age"). So together, Matt and I taught Riley his colors (by the age of 1) with M & M's (he wasn't allowed to eat the M& M until he told us the right color ), Then onto shapes (by the age of 1 1/2) with the help of Mickey Mouse Club house. Then 3D shapes but the age of 3, and now we have 15/26 letters known (with the use of a scrapbook of family members pictures. 

I also give credit to the teachers Riley has had. Riley has been in school since he turned one and comes home with new learned knowledge everyday.  When he was 13 months old he kept doing theses weird things with his hands. Matt and I didn't know what he was doing, so we talked to his teacher about what he was doing to see if he was doing it at school......he was......the teacher told us he's using sign language to get what he wants :-). Un announced to us they were teaching him and his classmates sign language and Riley had picked it up!! So what did Matt and I do???? Go to the nearest book store and get a sign language book so we could learn with Riley how to use American Sign language!!!!

There is a saying in education that I absolutely love, "You believe half of what you hear about my classroom and I will believe half of what I hear about your home"......SOOOOOO True!!! Sometimes Riley comes home and says, "You need to just give me a minute" (nothing against his teacher but you need to know that he has no idea what a minute is and you better be ready for him to ask you again). Or, "You need to be a good friend", "Let's use our patience", "let's be nice to our friends", "You're a big boy/girl". I have really enjoyed 3/4 of Riley's teachers (unfortunately one called him a baby and he believed her and so he thought he needed to stay in diapers because he knows that babies must wear diapers....trust me...Im a non violent person......but this lady obviously had no clue how to be a "GOOD" teacher and would have gotten an ear full and my foot in her mouth).

Another thing that is very.....endearing and not yet annoying about Riley and his eagerness to learn is all his questioning..........I have learned that if he asks a question I need to find the answer even if Matt or I don't know the answer......the latest question Riley asked was,  "How is snow born?"

So the next time your child asks you a question or they say something and you don't quite hear them....ask them to say it again. You may find that they just solved world piece in a sentence :-)

Family First

For the last few months, Matt and I make sure that every Saturday we go out and spend the day as a family. During the week is hard to get all 4 of us together and with us being tired from working all day, Riley being tired from school, and Paige excited to see us after she has been with her sitter all day. So Saturday is the day. We don't sleep in, we get up at around 7 am and get moving!! After a morning snack, its Gymnastics class for Riley, Then out breakfast! After breakfast it is already time for Paige's swim lessons! WE really enjoy teaching our kids how to swim sooner then later (Rye has been swimming on his own since he was 2). Then showers for all and out to lunch and then on to our family adventure!!!

Todays adventure was the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center. Typically this would not be a February event.....but when its 50 outside and sunny you go! It was sooooo beautiful and I got a lot or real nice pictures of Matt and Riley (Matt has been wanting to take Rye hiking since we found out at our 20 week ultrasound appt he was a boy!).  We hiked 2 MILES with a 3 yr old and a 6 almost 7 month old in a stroller!!! No one complained!!! Not even mommy!

Since our Saturday adventures have been happening, I make sure we always stop to take a family of 4 picture. Which is very hard to do unless I get a complete stranger to take it.......which means I am making a lot of new, friendly people who hopefully don't mind stopping to help us take our picture.

The man who took this picture actually lives 5 mins away from the center and was with his son who was about 12 and he actually showed us where a really good place was to take a family picture. He then told us they have been going there every week for the last 12 years!!! (See  :-) we're meeting some real nice people when we ask them to take our picture).

Stay tuned to next weeks adventure!!! Who knows where life will lead us!!!

Glad I saved.......

If you know me, you know that I am a freakishly unsaving, throw away everything that is not special not a pack rat saver of things. I am very organized and try to make sure my family and I live in the least amount of clutter as possible. With this said, there are a few things I am very glad that I saved from "baby Riley" for "baby Paige".
First:

Baby Riley loved the Boppy to sleep with.....






 Baby Paige loves the Boppy to sleep with.

Second: The "Bumbo"

           Riley                                 Paige                        

 

Third.........Baby Tub..........Riley

Baby Tub..................Paige

 

Fourth.........Bouncer...........Top Paige.....botttom Riley

Fifth............Activity Gym.....Riley

Activity Gym......Paige

Many of these things were very expensive.....however, well worth the money :-) Especially since BOTH our children will have used each of them :-)

Other items we love and were able to use for both:

1. Graco Car seat/stroller combination

2. Pack-N-Play with changing pad attached

3. Dresser changing pad and cover (we have the Sealy brand one with the buckle strap)

Parenthood

When the adults in the house are finally allowed to unwind and watch tv our children are in bed, Matt and I finally get to unwind with a few shows we watch. One show we find very amusing is  "How I Met Your Mother". We started to watch this show because of two reasons, 1. The main character is the guy who played Dougie Houser M.D and 2. That is one of the questions we have yet to know how we are going to tell our kids how we met (how many people marry the person they dated before they could drive a car?!?!).

Back to my reason for this post........So we were watching the show and one of the main characters Lilly (the band geek from American Pie) is prego and she's running around and says, "Every time I put one fire out another one begins.....oh god......this must be what it's like to be a parent!!!!"...For those of you who have more then one child or are someone who works with kids you know that statement is right on the money. As soon as you think you solved one problem with one child another child has an issue and it seems like it doesn't end until the students are gone for the day or the kids are all in bed. Matt and I are very fortunate in the fact that Riley knows Paige is a baby and needs our help and is very patient with getting his turn of attention (having 22 kids to yourself is another story).

So the next time you find yourself "relaxing" take a deep breathe and enjoy because chances are it wont last long :-)