update on Michael

After a week in Miss Arcand's class, i think Michael is acclimated. At one point on the weekend, he started to tell me something about "Miss Arcand's class" and then stopped and changed it to "my class". (Is the punctuation on that right? Ever since I read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, I am confused about the order in a situation like that. If I remember right, it's a cultural difference between the US and England.) Miss Arcand is still writing "All Day!" on Michael's behavior reports, so I gather that she is not wholly convinced that he's adjusted. That one comment kind of convinced me, though. She put him at the same table as a boy in his Sunday School class so having a familiar face nearby helps, too.

Other than that, we have just been plugging along as usual around here. It's still a bit of a challenge to get everyone out of bed, fed, dressed, and out the door by 7:30 a.m., especially Michael, which is too bad since the girls could ride in the van in their pajamas and be fine. Michael, though, needs to get a little hustle in his step in the morning! Forty Days of Community started this week at church so suddenly it seems like our schedule is really busy, even though it's only one evening for us each week. I think just adding school into the mix makes everything seem to be more of a challenge somehow, because I need to think about Michael getting to bed in a timely fashion, get him to school on time, pick him up on time, get the girls in the car with me (which usually means waking at least Elanor up from her nap), and just being in one specific place at a specific time every single day. Who would have thought being a sahm with a kindergartener could be a challenge?

Which reminds me, I just have to share about Michael and his homework yesterday. In retrospect, it is funny, but at the time I just wanted to tear my hair out. Michael cut out his wall word (sight words) flashcards and I started trying to go through them with him. Elanor started screaming at me, so we quit that, picked a worksheet for him to do, and I tried to figure out how to entertain her (she was a basket case all day) so I could monitor homework. Got her entertained with Cariboo, but that meant that I had to be with her, opening all the doors for her to find the balls. Meanwhile, Caroline was sitting at the table, trying to dictate a letter to me for a friend of hers. Did I mention the popcorn all over the floor from snack time? So I was sweeping, too. Basically, Michael manfully did his homework without any adult help (OK, I did help on the second page when Elanor had calmed down somewhat). I was pretty impressed. What a great kid!