Brennen the 4th Grader has a friend in his brother Ben
Dallin the 9th grader! Is it a Freshman when still at the Jr. High?
Josh the 6th Grader!
Brookly's in 3rd Grade!
There is not a cuter 1st Grader than Jarom!
Oh, the 1st day of school! What a busy morning! We had to get up in time for pictures and it was a zoo! My sanity was that we decided to go ahead a prepay for school lunch for the first 2 weeks! At 6:15am we got up (we need to get up earlier it seems) and hoped for enough time to be ready. By 7:20am Wes left to take Dallin to Seminary and then go on to work At 7:26am I left the house with all the rest to pick up James, Darin, and Nate. I dropped off the crew at Brinton at 7:35 and hoped to make it back to see them walk in. I then took James to Skyline and hurried back. I missed them and that's when it hit me that my little Jarom was gone for his first day of ALL DAY 1st grade. This may seem silly but he was still my baby last year when I got to play with him half day and Ben would nap. I went in to take Brennen's asthma medication to the Nurse and it was expired in July. I had called in the refill but it wouldn't be ready until 10am. The nurse didn't seem thrilled at this idea. I went to Walgreens with Ben and waited and they finished it at 8:20am. We raced back to the school and fixed the problem.
Whew! First major adventure done for the day!
Next we drove to Smith to see what we could do about changing Dallin out of Honors English since with Marching Band this semester, and with all his AA (Honors) classes he hadn't wanted to write more papers. He didn't request it last year, they just put him in. So, we get to Smith and there are at least 20 kids in line because they lost their schedules. We sat down to wait. Ben played in the corner for a while in the office and then he said,"Owie". I picked him up and realized that he wasn't hurt, he had just pooped! Of course, no diaper bag was in my arms or even mercifully in the car so I just waited until the counselor could see us. She quickly changed Dallin's class with no problem, which is huge -since they have a no change classes policy, and gave Ben M&M's, which he drooled all over. Where was my chocolate at this point? On the way home I called Kristy and she had finished Breaking Dawn so I rushed home to change Ben and then went over to her house to get it. I must admit I stayed awhile just to recoop. Thanks girl!
Now that the adventure was done I anxiously waited for the kids to get out and when Ben only slept an hour I started to worry about this new trend of his of not needing as much sleep. Hey, that's my time now, don't take it away when I just barely got it!:)
Of course there were happy kids and sad kids. Jarom's comment was "Awesome!" Brennen and Brookly didn't have much luck on the first day with friends. Josh had a great time and has the coolest teacher in the 6th grade!
Dallin the 9th grader! Is it a Freshman when still at the Jr. High?
Josh the 6th Grader!
Brookly's in 3rd Grade!
There is not a cuter 1st Grader than Jarom!
8-11-08---1st Day of School
Oh, the 1st day of school! What a busy morning! We had to get up in time for pictures and it was a zoo! My sanity was that we decided to go ahead a prepay for school lunch for the first 2 weeks! At 6:15am we got up (we need to get up earlier it seems) and hoped for enough time to be ready. By 7:20am Wes left to take Dallin to Seminary and then go on to work At 7:26am I left the house with all the rest to pick up James, Darin, and Nate. I dropped off the crew at Brinton at 7:35 and hoped to make it back to see them walk in. I then took James to Skyline and hurried back. I missed them and that's when it hit me that my little Jarom was gone for his first day of ALL DAY 1st grade. This may seem silly but he was still my baby last year when I got to play with him half day and Ben would nap. I went in to take Brennen's asthma medication to the Nurse and it was expired in July. I had called in the refill but it wouldn't be ready until 10am. The nurse didn't seem thrilled at this idea. I went to Walgreens with Ben and waited and they finished it at 8:20am. We raced back to the school and fixed the problem.
Whew! First major adventure done for the day!
Next we drove to Smith to see what we could do about changing Dallin out of Honors English since with Marching Band this semester, and with all his AA (Honors) classes he hadn't wanted to write more papers. He didn't request it last year, they just put him in. So, we get to Smith and there are at least 20 kids in line because they lost their schedules. We sat down to wait. Ben played in the corner for a while in the office and then he said,"Owie". I picked him up and realized that he wasn't hurt, he had just pooped! Of course, no diaper bag was in my arms or even mercifully in the car so I just waited until the counselor could see us. She quickly changed Dallin's class with no problem, which is huge -since they have a no change classes policy, and gave Ben M&M's, which he drooled all over. Where was my chocolate at this point? On the way home I called Kristy and she had finished Breaking Dawn so I rushed home to change Ben and then went over to her house to get it. I must admit I stayed awhile just to recoop. Thanks girl!
Now that the adventure was done I anxiously waited for the kids to get out and when Ben only slept an hour I started to worry about this new trend of his of not needing as much sleep. Hey, that's my time now, don't take it away when I just barely got it!:)
Of course there were happy kids and sad kids. Jarom's comment was "Awesome!" Brennen and Brookly didn't have much luck on the first day with friends. Josh had a great time and has the coolest teacher in the 6th grade!
Dallin catches a ride home every day from Smith with Joni and it makes life so much easier! He had a good day.
Oh, does the fun end?! Dallin got up at 5am and left for Marching Band at Skyline with James at 5:50am - thanks Joni for this incredible blessing of another less run a day! Now actually the kids all had a good day and made a few friends and things seem to be going well. Things started OK, I noticed Josh forgot his glasses and after I dropped them off I rushed home and took him what I thought was the right pair, they weren't.
8-12-08---Standing for Something
Oh, does the fun end?! Dallin got up at 5am and left for Marching Band at Skyline with James at 5:50am - thanks Joni for this incredible blessing of another less run a day! Now actually the kids all had a good day and made a few friends and things seem to be going well. Things started OK, I noticed Josh forgot his glasses and after I dropped them off I rushed home and took him what I thought was the right pair, they weren't.
I remembered that it was Sister Dees day to pick up Dallin and Caitlin for Seminary at 7:30am and was glad this worked out. After hearing that Seminary was at 7:40am and not 8am I definitely had an anxiety attack. Wes is my sweetie who saved the day by saying he would do the Seminary run on Wed-Fri so I don't have to drag all the kids, and Joni's, off at 7:10am to make it work.
Our adventure today is with Dallin's AA World History/Geography class. He brought home the syllabus to sign and on the video list of possible movies this year were probably 50 movies and at least half were rated R. Tell me why these kids need to watch Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Alexander, The Last Samurai, Kingdom of Heaven, Schindler's List, Hart's War, Enigma, When We Were Soldiers,Blackhawk Down, Platoon, The Pianist, Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, Crash, Swing Vote, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,etc. Have you heard of some of these? This is only a partial list of what we were supposed to sign that he could watch edited versions of. Sure they're edited but the main content is still there and isn't an R rating so that kids under 17 are warned even by the world's standards? Why are 14 yr. olds having this presented as curriculum?Sorry but our standards have always been higher than that kind of violence and sexual content. Let alone, I don't care if they are edited there are reasons we don't purposely give our children pornography, why give them explicit pictures of violence? I don't care the historical content! I know history is gory but do we need to relive it to learn it? Isn't the whole idea to learn from the past to NOT repeat it? I just don't believe that movies are the best way to learn. I am not going to view every one of these to fill my mind with filth to decide if we could let Dallin watch either! Aren't there other LDS parents of these kids in there? So... you see the problem.
I first signed Dallin's note with a note to the teacher myself that we don't approve of many of the movies. She emailed back and was willing to work something out.
Our adventure today is with Dallin's AA World History/Geography class. He brought home the syllabus to sign and on the video list of possible movies this year were probably 50 movies and at least half were rated R. Tell me why these kids need to watch Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Alexander, The Last Samurai, Kingdom of Heaven, Schindler's List, Hart's War, Enigma, When We Were Soldiers,Blackhawk Down, Platoon, The Pianist, Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, Crash, Swing Vote, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,etc. Have you heard of some of these? This is only a partial list of what we were supposed to sign that he could watch edited versions of. Sure they're edited but the main content is still there and isn't an R rating so that kids under 17 are warned even by the world's standards? Why are 14 yr. olds having this presented as curriculum?Sorry but our standards have always been higher than that kind of violence and sexual content. Let alone, I don't care if they are edited there are reasons we don't purposely give our children pornography, why give them explicit pictures of violence? I don't care the historical content! I know history is gory but do we need to relive it to learn it? Isn't the whole idea to learn from the past to NOT repeat it? I just don't believe that movies are the best way to learn. I am not going to view every one of these to fill my mind with filth to decide if we could let Dallin watch either! Aren't there other LDS parents of these kids in there? So... you see the problem.
I first signed Dallin's note with a note to the teacher myself that we don't approve of many of the movies. She emailed back and was willing to work something out.
8-13-08 Always Learning
I called the Counselor at Smith and tried to pull Dallin out to avoid a scene altogether. The only AA World History teacher is this Ms. Fillmon. So, I called her. A teacher in the same room answered and was not so nice. I started the anxiety again. Ms. Fillmon called a few minutes later and was very nice. She will let us decide from an email a few days before each movie which ones we'll let Dallin watch and if he can't then she'll give him make up work to take to a different class and he doesn't even go to her class on that day so others won't notice. It won't affect his grade. I did get to give a few of my reasons why and she was supportive. I still have no idea why this is allowed and am going to pursue letting the Principal and administration know this is not acceptable. I later talked with one of Dallin's friends Mom, Melissa Hawkins, and she had emailed the teacher this wasn't OK as well. Hopefully more parents will stand up.
There is more stress today because some of our family didn't get the invitations for Lynnette's Baby Shower on Saturday that I mailed 3 weeks ago and they sure sounded offended and asked if they were even invited. Come on, give me the benefit of the doubt here. Like I would purposefully not invite someone. So Mom is worried and we had to work that one out. Hopefully they are happy now.
With all this drama happening I forgot about Early Release Wednesday! How could I forget my children on the 3rd day of school?! I didn't even register the whole day until Josh called at 2:15pm that they get out at 1:55pm on Wed. They were pretty forgiving but that is the way this school year has started!
In the meantime our washer is broken-we can still use it though, waiting on a part that takes 2 technicians to install and the exterminator came and told me we needed to mow and rake the backyard for him to be effective next time. Sure, in all my spare time I'll just become a landscaper in the heat:)
9 comments:
Sounds fun and crazy! Hopefully you get the routine down sometime soon. At least most of your day is relatively calm while they are gone, right?!? Hey, sorry about the mix up with the shower! I definitely don't want to be the root of more stress! I hope it all got worked out!
From a teachers perspective I can really see why movies are a great way to illustrate the past. They are also more interesting to today's children who are partial to media because that is what the majority of kids do in their spare time. I am not saying that I agree with showing all of these movies to such a juvenile group of children, however, I do see the value in mixing up the curriculum with movies and other media to keep the students engaged in the subject. I, myself, have seen several of these movies-Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Alexander, The Last Samurai, Schindler's List, When We Were Soldiers,Blackhawk Down, Hotel Rwanda-all for an educational purpose. All of them were also edited but still very vivid and graphic. I will never watch Saving Private Ryan again. I physically got ill just by watching the introduction (and it was edited!) Hotel Rwanda was a heart wrenching movie that I sobbed during, but without that movie I don't know if I really could have ever grasped how egregious the situation was in Rwanda. I was 23 and in college when I saw this movie. I would be very careful to show this one to someone as young as Dallin. Maybe I would watch it with him if he were my son. They know and have seen a lot more than we wish to think that they have. I fear for what my children will see and hear!
Schindler's List is also very graphic even when edited. Call me if you want to talk about this.
The first week is always the worst, right? I about cried on my kids' first day back with all the stuff I had to do, but here it is week 2 and I'm already finding time to actually DECIDE (versus the usual just giving attention to the present crisis) which project to do next. There's still plenty to do, but at least the craziness has calmed down. I envy your only 1 kid at home =). Good luck with the new year!
Okay, I have to rant about the movies thing, too. I'm all for speaking up about the movies. Good job! I agree with Wendy that movies have their place in curriculum, AND I also agree that I wouldn't be letting my 9th grader view most of the movies on that list. The more violence we show them, the more they are desensitzed to it. I know they have to know about the world around them, and I don't intend to sheild my kids from everything. But come on--they're R rated for a reason! If this wicked world can agree that it's worth the R rating, we should know to stay far away and find a different way to learn about the time period or whatever. Oh for the shock I will be in for when my kids get to high school, huh?
Alright, enough ranting....
Thanks for your comments on the School day events! Thank you so much fo your help with my boys, I truly would be lost with out you! The thing about Dallin and the movies I think I agree with Wendy, but I still don't know how many I would let James watch either. I know they see a great deal of things but I still want to be a protecter too!
Oh you poor girl! You need a vacation! I am so grateful that my kids can ride the bus, it's such a huge help! And all of those movies for 14 year olds is a little crazy! I can see if maybe they wanted to show a certain scene or something, but even then I would be hesitant to let my kids watch a lot of them. Good for you for sticking up for your beliefs. I'll bet not too many parents do, that's probably why they still have all of those movies on the syllabus. Good Luck!! :)
Oh my heck! I just read your blog with my mouth dropped to my keyboard! wow! Your week is absolutely nuts! I am still in shock! You need to hire a secretary to keep all your car pool apointments straight. But hey, you're Nicole - you can do it- you have been for 14 years now. Wow- I can't believe Dallin is in 9th grade. And the movie thing is nuts! I don't know what I would do if that were Ryan in that class. Good thing you are going through all of this stuff first so then you can tell me what to do when my kids are faced with the same probelms. I can't belive you are down to Ben all day. i hope you get to enjoy it soon! Wow! Your kids are all so beautiful! Oh and di you get Dallin's BYU package from us in the mail yet? I hope he liked it. If he didn't I am sorry! We can try finding him another one. That is just all they had in his size at the bookstore. Love you and look up to you more than you know!
Wow Nicole - I finally made my way to your blog (after mom told me about your comment on J&C's blog about the Shepp's missing representation in the pics for their 1 yr. anniversary) Which is true and I got a kick out of your comment - I had to come on over to your blog and get caught up on your adventures!
I am in complete awe of how you do it. I am actually speechless. Kudos on the movie thing in Dallin's class - I can't believe they would have 14 yr. olds watch that heavy of stuff. No need. Way to take a stand!
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