Search Results for: blog end of the school year bliss

End-of-the-School-Year Bliss

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Sing it with me. No more pencils, no more books, no more dragging kids out of bed, no more making lunches at 5 a.m., no more threatening children to finish their homework, no more last-minute scrambles to find missing socks and backpacks while the school bus sits at the end of the driveway… I’m done. Thank goodness, the end of the school year is just around the corner. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful. That’s me. While some parents are cursing the end of the academic year, I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I’m not … Continue reading →

Prepping For the Back-to-School Blitz

Still haven’t found a Scooby-Doo backpack… C’mon people; help me out here. Time is not on my side. Where did the summer go? Year-round students in the Chicago Public School system return to class tomorrow. Meanwhile, kids in Hawaii, Seattle, Atlanta and parts of North Carolina already started the new school year. Thankfully, my daughter has two more weeks of summer vacation before reality crashes in on our blissful routine-less mornings. Oh, how I dread school day mornings. Getting back into the groove of laying out uniforms, packing lunches, filling backpacks, making breakfast (then forcing half-asleep kids to eat the … Continue reading →

Gender Challenges

And I thought I had a parenting dilemma. On many occasions I have written about my 6-year-old daughter’s repugnance for princesses, the color pink and anything that could be construed as being even the least bit girly girl. As a parent I pick my battles very carefully and my daughter’s desire to dress like a boy is not something I make an issue of… at least not out loud. I do get slightly annoyed when she places her hands on her throat and makes loud gagging noises when we enter the girls clothing section at Macy’s. And I do find … Continue reading →

IHIPs, Quarterlies and Attendance: Oh My! Part 3 : Quarterlies & Attendance Records

So you wrote your letter of intent, you wrote your IHIP and you’ve been teaching blissfully for about 9 weeks now. Then, you look at the calendar and realize that your 1st quarterly report is due! Your quarterly report is a record of what you’ve taught during one quarter. It also should include an evaluation in each required subject area. Your quarterly report is also used to report attendance including the total number of hours of instruction. You can also use your quarterlies to notify the district of minor changes in your IHIP or to explain if you have not … Continue reading →

Shortening Summer Vacation

Know how to shut down an unruly kid in record time? Tell him that his school is shortening summer vacation. I’ve never seen a mouthy child go silent as quickly as I did last week while watching the evening news at our neighbor’s house.  Education leaders recently began serious talks about lengthening the academic year here. Of course, all my neighbor’s rowdy kid heard was:  “Next year, public school kids across the state could be dealing with a much shorter summer vacation.” The news reporter’s last three words nearly triggered an aneurysm in my neighbor’s kid. My child attends parochial … Continue reading →

Oh My Arm!

I lost my arm last week. My third arm. It was severed by the door to a third grade classroom. Who knew the first day of school would turn me into an amputee? My daughter and I shared an amazing summer together, but like all good things our season of fun has come to an end. Our blissfully relaxed summer days have been replaced by a stringent school schedule. Our carefree morning strolls succeeded by a stressful morning commute featuring a frustrating intersection with a left turn light that allows exactly 1 1/2 cars to inch forward before turning red. … Continue reading →

Hair-raising Dilemma

Thank goodness my daughter is not a girly-girl. I stink at applying make-up and I can’t style hair to save my life. Scroll down to my bio photo for proof. Fortunately, my daughter blissfully embraces her short, low-maintenance hairdo. Not only do her not-so long locks save us precious time in the morning, but they also assure that she will never be banned from her class picture because I’ve turned her tresses into an eye-popping coiffure. Sadly, the same can’t be said for Marcella Marino. The pretty 4-year-old blonde made headlines recently when school officials booted her from a class … Continue reading →

For the Love of All Things Not Math

My daughter is officially done with second grade. School is out for the summer and I couldn’t be happier. It was a rough year, but my daughter survived and even managed to score a perfect 4.0 on her report card. Straight “A”s, including in her least favorite subject-—math. When I congratulated her on the impressive accomplishment, my daughter noted that she was surprised that she had received an “A” in mathematics. “I hate math, Mommy!” she exclaimed. Translation: Math doesn’t come as easy to her as reading, spelling or Social Studies. It actually requires working a little harder to master … Continue reading →

The New Kid On The Block

Hi, my name is Sara and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to share my experiences as the mom of a toddler with you. My son’s name is Dylan, and he is just over twenty seven months old. We live in Vermont and in about a month, our family will be expanding by one as we welcome another baby boy. Since this blog is all about toddlers and every toddler is unique, I think that I’ll tell you a little bit about Dylan so that you will know who is shaping my toddler mom experience. Like any toddler, he … Continue reading →

Channeling Anxiety Through the Body: Rita’s Story

It’s challenging enough dealing with the anxiety that lives in our minds. But when it is channeled through the body – as it always is – anxiety works us over double time. Sometimes it manifests as a tightness in the gut, or clenching of the teeth or hands. Over time, though, anxiety takes a more dangerous toll on our physical sides, from ulcers and panic attacks, to high blood pressure and heart attacks. What’s worse is when we add fuel to the fire, treating our bodies in ways that only make anxiety worse. Rita knows this all too well. Promptly … Continue reading →