1. I feel amazing. It is so nice to have energy, to be able to stay up past 7pm and to not throw up here and there and everywhere, and feel nauseated all the time. At 14 weeks I got the ICKIEST stomach bug ever that knocked me off my feet for a few days...which I have to say is totally lame after 2 months of icky morning sickness. But, that is over and I am soooo happy now. It is so nice to feel good. I am about 16 weeks now.
2. Dave has had the EASIEST month ever! he is on a neuropathology month where nobody cares if he comes or not, he has no patients to care for and no pager going off constantly. It is amazing. I have to say I have seen what a difference it is to have a 2 parent family rather than a one parent family. It really makes a HUGE difference to have him home for dinner each night, to have him seeing the kids every day, and to not be a zombie due to lack of sleep, food and daylight. People, if you have a husband who is home pretty often, be THANKFUL, it really is a blessing. Those who don't, I feel your pain. I've had 5 years of this and probably a few more (if not a lifetime) to go. Dave goes to children's hospital next month where the pager is on 24/7 and he probably won't be home for dinner a single night.
3. I pulled Calvin out of school Friday. I have known it was coming for a while. You may remember back in November I requested a teacher change and said I'd home school if it wasn't given to me. Well, I left that meeting and had to run throw up ... after that was 2 months of progesterone poisoning and a haze that left me barely functional. I didn't hastily pull him out at that time even though the principal was clearly a *(%)*%+$ about the situation. I partially hoped that things would improve with a little extra care and attention from everyone and I partially could not fathom taking Calvin out at that time. So, there have been a cascade of events leading up to this decision which I don't have time to document now. However, I do need to write my letter to the school board and superintendent so maybe I'll share some of that story later.
For now, I'm excited about some of the fun things we can do together, some of the charter schools I am looking at and happy to have "saved" Calvin from a very negative school situation. Today I took him with me to work in Clare's class and one of my friends there saw him with me and said, "Oh, did you pull Calvin out? He looks great!" After just a few days at home he is already more cooperative and pleasant and as he says, "I am best listener in the family." This is definitely the way I want him to think of himself rather than the extremely negative labels he was getting at school from the principal and his teacher.
7 comments:
GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! Denise you are a wonderful mother! I hope I have as much courage as you do. Not knowing the situation at all I can only imagine that your rights and Calvin's were NOT being met as they should have and you did absolutely the right thing. Good luck with everything and be sure to right that letter. And if I were you call and make sure they read it and it isn't tucked somewhere on a desk or file.
I'm proud of you, Denise. That would be a hard decision to make. At this critical stage in his life, Calvin needs to know how much he is loved, how special he is, and how much potential he has. And his teacher (with whom he spends a large chunk of his day) has a responsibility to nurture those positive feelings in him. I hope that you find a better fit soon!
I'm so sorry about all the stresses...I'm glad this month is better. i hope you figure out a good plan for calvin, I'm sorry the school handled things so poorly. i bet calvin is soooo much happier to not be in that classroom! hope you don't get sick anymore! I was sick w/ stomach stuff 2 times while pregnant w/ charlotte and it is so not fun.
Glad you are starting to feel better and have Dave home some. I would love to hear why you pulled Calvin out as well. Sounds like you had good reasons.
This is such a happy post. I am so glad that things have improved. We are looking forward to seeing you next week!
I do count my blessings that Jeff is home a lot. I don't know how you continue to do it on your own so much! What a woman!
Wow, those are some big changes! First, I'm so glad you're feeling better. That makes a huge difference in your outlook, I bet. Everything is harder when you feel awful and have no energy.
Second, good for you for pulling Calvin out. I'm sure it was a tough decision (especially knowing you were pregnant and wouldn't have much help from Dave due to his demanding work) but it sure sounds like it was the right call. It also sounds like you're taking things slowly and from what I've read about homeschooling, it's important to be patient with the adjustment before you jump into too much formal schooling at home. He'll likely need to unlearn some of the negative stuff he was getting from that environment before he'll start to be teachable at home.
I'm sure the school deserves a scathing letter, but depending on how you end up homeschooling, your district could be a valuable resource so it might not be in your best interest to burn bridges. Just a thought.
Hang in there!
Post a Comment