Once upon a time, I said that once the new year hit, things would slow down for me/our family. Ah....such was the case years ago when the kids didn't have very many after school activities, or even had school all day. But that isn't the case for us anymore. I was looking forward to Trevor having religion class this year and Gwen will start next year, but it seems to throw more of our time away rather than being a good value for us. Not to say we will forgo it, but it just makes us so busy!
So there is school, Chess club, piano lessons, swimming lessons, religion, hockey, dance, the request by the kids to do their after school program twice a week, homework and their own personal play time. Gwen is the only one with time to get together with her friends, and it always happens during the mornings that she doesn't have school. She doesn't have as much time taken up by activities, but rather than being run to errands all the time, she prefers to hang out. I think they would be more likely to get together with friends if we lived in a neighborhood where the kids were within walking distance of a good friend.
But what has been going on with the kids over the past few weeks? We had conferences, and the kids got their semester report card. Trevor's was not surprising. He continues to do very well academically, and needs to work on slowing down...taking his time...and really understanding what is being taught. He has a wonderful teacher, and we are so blessed to have her willing to work with us to find out what works best for everyone.
Gwen...well, Gwen is Gwen. Honestly, I was shocked at her report card. After her fall conferences, I finally felt at peace with the decision to send her early. She seemed to be fitting in both socially and academically. Now...with the report card, I'm still not understanding how she could be doing so well. They don't have grades. They simply explain if she meets the standards for Kindergarten. If she tests above those requirements, she can get an "exceeding expectations" score. It is the same numbering score as Trevor, the simply have different requirements. I made darn sure to not compare kids, especially since I don't want to make it a competition. These kids are SO different. But it seems as though Gwen is meant for school. She is in a wonderful mix of kids, she is being challenged, and her teacher really enjoys what she adds to the mix of kids. She loves going every day and talks about how she wants to go the entire day. Hopefully we can continue the momentum next year. That will be a very tricky thing.
After conferences, I went to Vero Beach, FL for a moms only weekend. It was interesting to be away from the family during a somewhat busy time. 3 other moms and myself decided to stay at a very nice spa/hotel right on the ocean for 3 nights. While we had no interest in the spa itself, it was such a nice hotel facility. The offered free coffee and tea in the morning, hot chocolate early afternoon and wine in the evening. The area of the city we stayed in was really quiet. We found out the first few hours we were there, the city motto was: "Home of the newly-wed and almost-dead". Because it wasn't heavy honeymoon season, there were a lot of elderly people there. While we were there, at the hotel I think we came across 3 families, one of which were from Spain I believe. They were European at least. We had such a good time, simply laying in the sun, eating really good food, or enjoying live or DJed music in the local watering holes. However, even there, we were lucky to see 20 other people. I have no idea how these places can stay in business. I guess they depend on the off-season slow down when they have peak timing. We also stayed a block away from a hotel owned by Gloria Estefan. If we ever go back, we'll have to look at that place. But really, there wasn't anything to complain about. We didn't have to worry about the kids. We could simply de-stress. And I came back completely de-stressed. It was SOOOOO nice. Add to it a few hot yoga sessions and I can continue the good feeling for a few more weeks until we go back as a family at the end of March.
So while this isn't a lot of new information, I figure I'd at least acknowledge that I need to get back on the blogging wagon. Its time for the annual not-exactly-valentines-day-celebration-but kinda..... nice dinner and a movie! Yipee!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment