Tuesday, February 5, 2013

New glasses, talks with teachers, and Flu Shots

   Corey is traveling a lot more often for work which is definitely hard on both of us.  He hates leaving those four sweet faces and mine too of course!  It's so hard not having him home at 5:30 every evening to help me with the craziness of dinner, clean up, baths, and the bedtime routine.  On days when he is in town, I often count down the hours until he gets home.  I'm sure other moms do that too, right?   It's just so comforting to have your spouse home and to forge through the evening chaos together. 
   So last week while Corey was out of town for work, I had to take all four little ones to the optical shop to get Thomas' new glasses.  There is always a little bit of anxiety about taking all of the kids to a place where so many things are so breakable...but this was an errand that could not wait.  In the car I gave the kids a talk about appropriate behavior while Thomas was getting fitted for his new glasses and I promised them a treat if they could come through for me.  Bribery is probably not the best parenting tool out there, but in some circumstances it seems to be the best option. 
   Needless to say, the kids were very well behaved.  No one broke anything.  They sat in chairs and waited patiently for Thomas to get his glasses and no one made a scene!  I was a happy momma!  Chocolate shakes all around!  Well, not for Kate!

   My in-laws are kind enough to take and pick up Jack from preschool for me.  This is a huge blessing considering Jack's school requires that all students are to be walked into the classroom and picked up from the classroom.  This probably seems like no big deal, but it is a huge pain for a mom with multiple small children. At the beginning of the school year I was dragging in the double stroller for the girls and I had Thomas and Jack on foot close by.   We were dodging parents and kids all the way into the school and we barely made it in the classroom without me yelling at Thomas to stay with me.  Something that should have been a simple task was an event that made me sweat. 
    Now that Mike and Lisa have offered to help with this routine part of our day, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Unfortunately for Lisa last week, Jack's teacher had to let her know that there was an issue that needed to be addressed.  Jack has been struggling with the personal space of his classmates.  He has not been keeping his hands to himself and this behavior needs to be corrected. 
   Corey and I each had a talk with Jack about respecting other people's personal space and about keeping his hands to himself.  During my talk, Jack couldn't help himself, he was rubbing the side of baby Kate's face and completely not realizing that my talk about not touching other people could also mean not touching his siblings.  AHHHH.  We have so much to work on! 
   I am planning on taking the little guy to school tomorrow so I can get the scoop from his teacher about what I can do to help at home.  I am sure this is the first of many talks with one of my child's teachers.


   Flu shot or not to get the flu shot?  Well that is the question I have bounced off several close friends this winter.  Corey and I did not get the kids vaccinated this flu season and not because we were completely against the idea, but more like we simply forgot to do so.  How does that happen?  I'm not really sure.  I actually thought the kids had been vaccinated until I asked Corey about it and he confirmed that he had not taken the kids in for the shot. Ohhhhh shoooooot. 
   Well, flu season is half way over and we have still not gotten the flu shot.  I am sure there are plenty of parents who could not imagine not getting their kids the shot and would condemn us for not doing so.  I also know there are plenty of parents out there who think the shot is not a guarantee to ward off the flu and therefor not necessary.
   Unfortunately, our kids have had colds most of January and we are battling another round of colds this February.  I guess the flu shot Gods are laughing at us right now.  I am guessing that next year we will be on top of this issue and everyone will get the vaccination as soon as it is available. 
   *Parenting failure number 'too many to count.'

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