Chronicles of Kindergarten ~The RED card

Oh SJ...

My sweet lil SJ.

SJ and the RED card.

SJ and the very bad morning which ended up with a red card. 

Let me explain....

It started off as a normal morning. SJ got up and had her breakfast like she does everyday. We packed her lunch and got dressed. I combed her hair which is such task most days. Got in the van and took off towards her school. 

We got there a little early but not too bad. She told me she didn't want to go in the gym and wait with her class. I told her that was fine we would just sit in the van and wait until I knew we would be able to walk into her classroom. That is when it started....

"I am going to miss you!"

I told her that she would have a good day and learn lots of wonderful things. 

"But I will still miss you!" 

When we got out of the van she grabbed on to my hand like she does everyday. I thought we were in the clear and had avoided any breakdown. If I would have bet on that I would have lost some money. 

She grabs my hand tighter as we pass all of the offices. "I'm really going to miss you!" she tells me as she squeezes tighter. 

When we get down to her classroom she grabs on to my leg. I give her a little hug and she starts crying. I instantly know this is going to be bad. Her teacher tried to take her hand and she wanted nothing to do with it. The principal who was my English teacher in high school tries to get her to smile and she wanted nothing to do with him either. I take her inside the door and she screams louder. 

Oh great...

The teachers aide tries to talk to her and SJ just ignores her. I tell her that she needs to stop and have a good day.  She is having none of it. 

She keeps yelling and grabbing on to me. I tell her I have to leave and go to work. She screams harder. 

I tell her I love her and will see her later. She clenches on to my arm and grabs my shirt. 

I have to pull her off me and walk away. The poor teachers aide was right there to pick up the mess I left. 

I then made the first mistake of parenting....I looked back. I know I shouldn't have done it but I did. I know you all will give me a break cause my mommy heart was hurting.

When I looked back I saw my little girl screaming and trying to grab me. It broke my heart and I started tearing up. I walked as fast as I could out of that school so I wouldn't make a fool of myself. 

So flash forward to me picking her up from school.

She was full of smiles. I ask her if she got a red card today as I open her book bag because I knew she did. My mommy intuition told me that the fit she threw before I left continued. 

Just so you all know a red card is a notice that is sent home to parents to let them know what had occurred during the day at school ONLY if your kid is bad AND had to sit on the red mat. They sit on the red mat after being given a certain amount of warnings. This is a way to make sure they aren't distruptive to the rest of the class and it allows the child time to calm down so they can try again. 

Yup SJ had refused to do her work ALL morning long! Just like I knew she had.

I looked at her and said "What is this for?" 

"Cause I missed you!"

"SJ it is okay that you missed me but it is not okay how you acted and that you did not do your work."

"Oh so I need to do my work even if I am sad?" 

"Yes baby you need to always try your hardest."

"Ok Mommy I will try real hard tomorrow."

Since that day we have not recieved another notice from the school about her having to sit on the red mat. She still has rough mornings but we haven't had a day where she threw a massive fit like that.

Well not yet anyway...

I am very proud of her for trying her hardest even on the days she doesn't want to. She makes me proud for how hard she has been trying.

I know we will have tough days but I know she will at least try. That is all I ask of her because there will be times she fails and times she will succeed. She will never experience either of those if she doesn't at least try.

Does your child's school have something similar to a red mat for children who are learning the rules? 

Quote of the Week #11

I don't know what it is about this quote but I absolutely adore it. Maybe because it can be used in many different situations. 

I am using it as an everyday reminder that me becoming healthy is not a quick fix. It is something that takes time. I am not planning on being the next bodybuilding champion, I just want to be comfortable in my skin again. I want to be healthy for my little ones. I want to feel more relaxed. I want to sleep better. I want to have more energy so I can play with my kids more. I want to teach them to be comfortable with who they are. I also want to teach them what a little hard work and dedication can do. 

It helps me stay grounded when I don't want to eat that chicken breast I have yet to prepare. It also helps me remember that the end result will come and I will feel better. 

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A Letter To My Children:

Dear Little One's

I know you see the way I look at myself in the mirror when I am tying on new clothes. I know you listen to Mommy when she gets frustrated cause her pants shrank in the wash. I know that you hear me mumble under my breath about how unhealthy I am being by eating ANOTHER cupcake or how I swear this is the last Dt. Dr Pepper till the next day about 5 minutes before I grab a new one.

I want you to be proud of your own bodies and how God made each and everyone of you beautiful in your own way. My wish for you is to always look in the mirror and see what I see. To see those beautiful blue eyes that are each a different shade. To see that your personality and crazy quirks make you the most interesting people I know. I hope you look at yourself and see that your missing teeth and freckles are just memories from when you were having fun. 

It is because I want you all to be happy with who you are I will do the same. I am not happy with how I am feeling so I know it is time to change that. I will be working out and eating clean. I will get up early to workout because it doesn't take time away from you all. I will do this because it will be hard and I want to teach everyone that it is worth it. For you to always know that you are worth me doing 2 minutes worth of burpees nonstop. 

My promise to you is that I will not give up and keep going even when I don't want to do it. I will teach you about fitness and nutrition instead of telling you that it isn't healthy. I will lead by example and eat my vegetables even when I want chips or cupcakes. 

I will do this because it is time for me to love myself as much as I love you! 

Love,

Momma

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Quote of the Week #10

Some days we all look around us and see what all needs to be done which makes the stress piles on. We look at the stack of bills and then at our bank account. If you are all like me you want to crawl into a hole and never come out when it is time to pay your bills. 

This life is one that goes by too quick. You blink and your babies are moving away to collage. You retire and realize you don't have any hobbies so returning to work would be better than sitting on the couch. 

I think we all need to take some time to look around us and realize why we are blessed because I have learned focusing on the positive makes me feel better than focusing on the negative. I will start....

I am blessed because I have 4 beautiful children.

I am blessed because I have food on the table.

I am blessed because I woke up this morning...that's a big one!

I am blessed because I am lucky enough to have a job to pay for things we need and want.

I am blessed because I married a man who starts where I end.

I am blessed because my children have the greatest Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents.

I am blessed because I am LOVED.

Let me know why you are blessed below in the comments. Trust me when I say if you focus on that you will forget about how stressed you are. 

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Kansas State Fair

This past week the Kansas State Fair has been going. It has always been a favorite past time of my family to go. 

When I was younger my dad and mom would take us on the first Friday night because it was free for us to get in. We would walk all the buildings and grab a bunch of free stuff we didn't need but thought was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Come on who doesn't want a salt cube that cows use? Shoot that was the bomb.com! 

It actually taste like crap but we thought it was awesome! 

We would also see all the animals that they had there to win the blue ribbon. Honestly this is probably my favorite part of the fair. I don't know what it is because I could have just gone to my moms cousins farm in Salina and saw the same thing. Shoot I can drive down the street and see 20 cows. My backyard has chickens and rabbits for goodness sake. 

I told you all I am a Kansas girl. Or should I say I told ya'll I'm a Kansas girl. 

We also had dinner at whatever place we chose which usually ended up in us all wanting 5 different things. My parents didn't care though they did it for us. I usually got a Pronto Pup which is just a corn dog but 2,000 times better. You think I am joking come taste one and you will agree! However they are so bad for you. 

My parents also let us go one other day. It was always a Wednesday. It was also ride-o-Rama day. We paid for a bracelet  that would allow us to ride as many rides as we wanted. It was the amazing! 

When I was in high school my dad and step mother bought a fair booth with two other couples. It was called Messy Marvins. If I wasn't in school or volleyball practice I was at Messy Marvins. This is where I fell in love with fried pickle spears. 

OH MY GOSH these things are to die for! I have not found anything that taste like them since my dad decided it was the last year. Trust me I look every year for them and no one has come close to my first love. 

This year we took the boys on Monday during the day. It was dollar day so you get in for only a dollar vs the $10. We actually got in for free because we had a Dillion's card. Anyone who showed one got in for free. The boys were free because of how young they are. We took them to the pig races!!! It is D3's favorite and we have to see it every year. All it really is is 4 pigs running around a little race track to get an Oreo cookie which is at the end of the track as well as pig feed. Add a crazy announcer with some pig cheerleaders and you have a crazy fair event that every kid wants to see. Well not Bug but he doesn't understand what was going on and there were marching bands walking by that he would rather watch. 

One of my favorite things we saw that day was a Tiger show. There were 6 female tigers which did an arrange of different tasks for chucks of raw meat. Some of the tigers jumped boxes, dance, through hoops, and stand on their hind legs. The coolest tiger was the one who was walking on a tight rope. Seriously on a tight rope!!!! 

I was a little worried for the trainer running the show. One of those tigers was not very corporative and I was just waiting for her to do something. Thank goodness she didn't. 

After the tiger show was lunch and seeing some animals. D3 really enjoyed it because we went to the birthing center and a baby cow was just born. There was also baby sheep. Not going to lie but it was disgusting. The cow wasn't completely clean yet and there was still blood and fluids all over. 

So....gross.

So gross. 

We took the boys home after we saw the animals because Bug was getting sleepy so we thought it would be better to let him sleep than try to fight him. After SJ got out of school we walked to the fair grounds since her school is two blocks away. We let them ride a few rides since the rides were all one ticket. 

We then took the kids home so we could have a date night at the demolition derby. I have never been to a demolition derby so this was a new adventure for me! 

The hubby loved it! He wasn't getting into it like a lot of the people there were but he really enjoyed it. He told me he had no idea what was going on half of the time but he really enjoyed it. 

I am ready for the fair to be done. My allergies can't stand it because of all the dust and animals. 

It was a really good day and I am looking forward to next year! 

Do you have a favorite past time with your family? 

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Quote of the week #8

I adore this quote! Not because it is a deep theological quote that is designed to make you think. I love it because is tells people that you are someone.

I hope that my kids will understand that what makes them sparkle is what makes them special.

It is what I love the most about them.

In this world there are too many people who dislike others for who they are. For the religion they practice. For the person they love. For a flag they fly. For the color of their skin. For their likes and dislikes. For their weight.

I want my kids to love each other for who they are. It doesn't matter if their skin color is different from yours. It doesn't matter if they believe that aliens are taking over our bodies. They are all people just like you and me. We may not believe the same things and we may not get along but we all deserve to be treated with respect. We all have a sparkle that nobody else has. 

I will teach my kids to not only embrace their sparkle but to help others find their glitter when they have lost it. 

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Quote of the Week #9

I have been under the weather this past week so I haven't done much...any...blogging this past week. Boy did I miss it! I am feeling better as is my household so I will be writing more! Plus it is the Kansas State Fair week so that means there is something exciting for my kids to do that they only get to do once a year! 

My quote this week comes from St. Francis. I love how he lives so simplistic. I think he can teach a lot of people something. Not just about the way we work but also about the way we live. 

Do we need that extra donut or that new high tech phone? 

Do we have to drive a brand new car that has all the gadgets inside of it? 

Do we have to have all brand name clothes?

I know I want those things but I don't need them. There was a time when my oldest were babies and we didn't have a lot of money. We were borrowing from my parents or my husbands mom to pay small bills because all of our money went to larger bills. Now because of those decisions we made years ago about only getting what we NEED we can now do what is possible. We are able to pay for dance lessons and soccer. We are able to go get new shoes before our others are full of holes. 

Even though I am able to get things we want I am still teaching my kids that we don't need to have the newest toys. We may want them but we do not need them. I explain to them that we only get what we need then when it comes to birthdays, Christmas, and some surprises we will get things we want. 

Sooner or later depending on how hard we work, we will be able to do what we thought was impossible. We will be able to buy our dream house and help others who have helped us so much. 

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