'Tis the Season

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving/ Hanukkah/ Christmas season this year!  I'm trying to get better about picture taking, and I did manage to get a few shots amidst the month-long eating and gift unwrapping frenzy.

Cory and Jennifer flew in for Thanksgiving, and it was so nice to see them.  I get happy when Craig gets to spend time with his family.  Of course, Caitlyn did her snubbing thing and refused to sit with everyone.

So Aunt Jennifer and Jaden were reunited and now, thanks to Aunt Jen,  Jaden really does believe she is a princess.  That's okay, Jay...all girls are princesses!

This is my favorite shot of Catie.  This is the "talk to the hand" look she gives you right before turning her face away.  I would like her to be more friendly with her family, but she is who she is and we love her!

Our family.

The girls enjoyed helping to decorate our tree this year.  They actually behaved themselves around it and only pulled off ornaments sporadically.  I think we can actually set it up on the floor next time!

 

Jaden was very interested in the menorah during Hanukkah.  On the eighth night, she helped light the candles.  Then she tried to sing "Happy Birthday, Hanukkah" and blow them out!

Our blended traditions.

 

These were MY gift this year.  We actually bought ourselves a Wii, and that was supposed to be our gift to each other, but Craig is too loving for that, I guess.  Kind of blew the "80's Scene It" that I gave him out of the water!

On Christmas Eve the girls wore their new festive PJs, hung stockings, and watched The Grinch...who I confess bored Caitlyn and scared Jaden.  Guess we need a new movie next year?

 

Then on Christmas morning, the girls stumbled out of their room ready for some Cheerios and found their new dollhouse all set up!  I couldn't drag them away for breakfast for a long time. After eating, they played with their dollhouse for hours.  Literally, for hours.

Jaden and Caitlyn received a LOT of gifts, and really do love them all.  Yet, 5 days after the mania had come and gone, what are they playing with?  The storage BOXES of course!

Happy Holidays!  May every season be filled with as much love and joy as this one was.

Someone's Catie

Teaching is not always just about teaching. I am continually amazed at how the lines are often blurred. Today I was checking my students' reading folders, and I came across something that pretty much smacked me in the face and took me down.

I have a student who I think of as my "motherless child" student. I usually have one or two students every year who are being raised by aunts or grandparents. Sadly, it's not that uncommon.

This little girl has been raised by her grandparents for a few years now. Mom is kind of in the picture (sometimes) but I think she's been gone for awhile. Grandma is doing a great job. I really have to hand it to her. This child is well taken care of.

Still...what must it be like to not have a mom around? This is my biggest fear; to have something happen to me and leave my girls without a mother. I can't even imagine what it would be like for them to grow up that way.

I have a little sticky note posted at work that reads, "Every child here is someone's Catie." I read this every day. It reminds me to be kind, be gentle, stay patient. Even when they're driving me bugshit, to above all remember that every student in my class is some other mother's little child. I tell myself this, and try to always treat them the way I would want my children to be treated.

This little girl in particular tries my patience a lot. She's a nice kid...I really like her a great deal, actually. But she's very labor-intensive. I have to be on her all the time. She seeks attention and approval continually throughout much of the day and she's off task a lot. Let me tell you; I read that sticky note several times a day.

Something about her, something...I'm not sure what...reminds me of how I imagine Caitlyn's future personality might be. How she could grow up to be. I try not to let my thoughts carry me along like this, but sometimes I can't help it. Sometimes I imagine... what if that was MY little Catie; motherless and acting out in some future teacher's classroom, driving her bugshit?

So you see, the lines get blurred and even if it's not prudent to get emotional about other people's kids it happens, as it did today.

It was a small thing, really. Nothing that might upset somebody whose greatest fear wasn't leaving their children motherless. I opened up this student's reading folder to see if it was signed, and saw it was covered in rounded, childish script, "I love you, Mommy." Over and over.

It was a few moments before I realized that I was standing before my entire class with tears rolling down my face. A few of the observant ones noticed and looked a little stricken to see my face that way. I got a hold of myself somehow and played it off, telling them my contacts were bothering my eyes.

Contacts are treacherous things, the way they clarify your vision. I'd like to take them out sometimes and be free, and walk around like most everyone else not knowing all I know. But I won't. All the other mothers' Caties still need me.

Another Year of Jaden

On the day you turned three...

You were a lover of girly dresses and play jewelry, kitty cats, Playdoh, Elmo and Abby, and reading.

Your favorite books were The Napping House, The Lady With the Alligator Purse, all of Eric Carle's bear books, and The Green Sheep. You could "read" these books from memory (with voices), and were learning to track your finger along the print, although you didn't know what that meant. You liked to share the reading with Daddy, who made you laugh with his embellishments of The Green Sheep and Pajama Time.

You sang along to Mama Mia and Hairspray, complete with makeshift microphones and a little bootie action. We couldn't reign you in. You loved to sing and dance, preferably dressed in your finest princess or fairy clothes, and bedecked in jewels.

You looked forward to having your hair brushed, and while I liked to style it with curls falling down your back, you more often than not insisted on two pigtails...all the better to admire yourself in the mirror.

You were a nice big sister. You were really learning to be patient with your Honey. At school you liked to sit beside your little sis, looking out for her and telling every passerby that she's your "Honey." When sitting at the table, you'd watch over her, telling her "Eat, Honey!"

When you were grouchy and having a bad day, you couldn't stand being cooped in your carseat. You liked to try Daddy's patience by kicking his seat from behind and shrieking incredibly high pitched screams.

You loved bubble baths as much as your mommy, and you would play tea party endlessly in the water, serving up tiny cupfuls of imagination.

You were friendly and sweet to everyone. You were thrilled to see your family walk through the door. You were never mean to kids, although you'd cry like the world was coming to an end if Catie or anyone swiped your toys. You spent a lot of time with Kharli. You were always so happy to see her, and you called her your best friend.

You were so incredibly smart...you just blew us away with the things you knew and how quickly you learned. You could count to 20(with correspondence!), knew your letters, and could recite about 20 songs, fingerplays, and nursery rhymes.

Most nights you went to bed so easily. You liked to have a tissue in your hand and water nearby, but were fickle when it came to which animals or blankets could share your bed. All we had to do was read a few stories, tuck you in and say good-night. As we closed to door, you'd call out softly, "I love you... I see you later... night-night... I see you in the morning... good-bye..."

My Jaden, every day I know you, I love you even more. I never forget how lucky I am to be your mommy.
Happy Birthday, my precious girl!