Filling in the gaps

To pick up where I left off on Thursday . . .

Thursday afternoon, I decided to head to Kohl's with Mikayla, to spend a birthday gift card. I walked around trying to find a good deal while keeping Mikayla entertained. I needed a new pair of sunglasses, because mine had gotten swiped at the YMCA. So, I got myself a pair, and then saw the kids sunglasses where on sale. Since Mikayla had been a trooper, I got her a pair and picked up a pair of Pokemon ones, for Luke's Easter Basket. While in the checkout line, my cell phone rings, I look at the caller ID, BUTLER (the boys' school). My initial thoughts are, "Who's sick?", and then it grows into, "I hope nobody broke an arm on the playground". After answering it, the school secretary informs me that Luke has had an accident, he wet his pants. The school is very sensitive to upsetting parents, so she is explaining that she has already told Luke that he is always allowed to use the restroom (he was in Music class and thought there were no restrooms) and if he has to go really bad, he can ALWAYS ask. I quickly make my purchases and drive across town to our house, to pick up dry clothes and then go to get Luke. I get to school to pick him up and he's in the nurses office. Seeing him I realize he's managed to wet his pants and his shirt! He's also MORTIFIED! I walked him to the restroom with his dry clothes and am wondering if EVERYONE in his class knows what has happened. About that time, a few kids from his class walk by, and a little girl in his class sees me and loudly whispers, "Hey, did you hear about Luke, he peed his pants!". Oh wonderful! Just what everyone 1st grader wants as a self-esteem boost. After he changes, I ask him if he wants to go back to class, It's about 2:30 and he has an hour before school ends. He definately DOES NOT want to go back to class, so I sign him out and hope that by Monday, everyone will have forgotten about it. Luke is very sensitive to certain foods and drinks, meaning, certain things cause him to wet his pants. When we get to the van I start to inquire, so, what did you drink for lunch today? "Chocolate milk. Oh, and juicey juice." I knew it! I remind him that he cannot drink that, and hope that the embarrassment from the day was lesson enough. Friday was also report card day, so I take a look at his report card. School comes very naturally to Luke, and so it wasn't a suprise that his report card reflected that. To help add a bright spot to a bad day, and reward him for a good report card, we headed to Sonic for a treat ( .99 cent sundaes! woo, hoo!). He ordered a hot fudge sundae (with an extra scoop of hot fudge). Then we went back to school to get Logan. Logan's report card wasn't a suprise either. He has a wonderful teacher that we communicate with on a regular basis. He has good scores, but also room for improvement. And honestly, I don't care as much about his intellectual marks, as long as he's doing his best. His behavioral marks, are where John and I are much more concerned. Unfortunately, he had several areas that went from + to s (no grades anymore, just + and s and 1, 2, 3, 4). The area we need to focus on most in his school work is neatness. He does NOT like doing worksheets where you write the letter "R" 35 times in a row and you can tell, because he just rushes through it and does a VERY sloppy job. The teacher has spoken to us about this before. She had even kept him inside during a recess recently, to have him re-do a paper. She quickly realized that this didn't reach the intended purpose as a punishment, because he LOVED staying inside the classroom getting one on one attention from his teacher. I do blame mysef a bit for not working more with him at home :( But I working on school work with Logan is a sure fire recipe for MAJOR struggle and meltdowns. Not something I look forward to, so unfortunately I avoid it. But, I am re-inspired to make this last quarter a great one, so everyday, we are going to have "homework time" where both boys will work on school work from 4:30-5:00 p.m. Maybe if I schedule it for them, it will be harder for me to ignore.

Saturday: John and the boys went out to a workday at church, so I had the morning at home with just Mikayla and I. We did some general pick up and laundry and then got invited over to our neighbors across the street for lunch brunch. After lunch, he boys came home and I was ready for some time away from the kids. So, I headed back to Kohl's and to T.J. Maxx to spend the rest of my birthday money :) While out shopping I got a call from our Children's Minister, who needed some extra help at a Kids Fun Night, our church was hosting. (A volunteer had to bail at the last minute). So, John and I decided our whole family would go and make it a family night for us. I'm glad we were able to help because there were almost 50 kids in attendance! The boys had fun, even though Luke gained a black eye from playing "Super Poison Ball", which is similar to dodge ball, only more kid friendly.

Sunday: Pretty much a typical Sunday morning for us. John was preaching at the "Big Mac" so he had 3 services to preach, instead of just 1. In addition he had to drive out to Southwest for a baptism in between preaching 2nd and 3rd service. Sunday afternoon John and Mikayla napped, the boys played, and I worked on bows. Sunday evening we went to small group (where Luke hit his head on the ping pong table, he's accident prone these days!).

Monday: As I drive the boys to school, I am wondering in the back of my mind if the kids have forgotten about the peeing the pants incident of Friday. I didn't bring it up, because I am really hoping Luke has forgotten about it too! As I watch the boys get out of the car, I am amazed at how much you can learn about the boys, just by observing their behavior. Luke bounds out of the car, running like a clumsy puppy! Logan holds back, holds out his hand, so that I can give him a kiss he will hold onto for the rest of the day (from a book called "The Kissing Hand" a great story for any child who had a hard time leaving mom) and he in return gives me my kissing hand. I look up and see Luke run around the chain link fence and immediately 6 of his classmates, run up to him shouting, "Luke, Luke!" (Whew, it seems the peeing incident has indeed been forgotten) Then they crowd around and I can observe Luke explaining to them why he has a black eye. After they get a good look, they return to play a game of tag as Luke confidently runs around, energized by the kids shouting his name. I look over and see that Logan has walked over to where his class lines up, and he is the only one standing at the front of his line. I watch him, standing alone and have to remind myself that for my introverted child, it's OK that he is alone, and that it doesn't necessarily mean that he is unhappy. I continue to watch, amused by the stark differences in the 2 boys' social choices. As I turn my attention back to Luke I notice that their game of tag, has turned into a game of, "tag by hitting someone with your book bag". (No one was hitting hard, so safety wasn't a concern for me) Suddenly, a quick little kid runs by and swipes Luke's book bag from his hands. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Logan, make a beeline for Luke, holding out his book bag. Luke takes the bag, and runs after the kids shouting, "My brother gave me his bag!" I didn't realize Logan was even WATCHING the kids playing tag, but at the heart of my introverted boy is a superhero, waiting to rush in a save the day! The game only lasted a few more seconds before a teacher came over and (wisely) broke up the game of swinging book bags at each other :) When the bell rings for school, the kids scatter to line up for their classes. Logan reclaims his post at the front of his line, and stands, face forward ready to walk in. Luke is standing, in a clump of friends, talking animated with his hands, turning for those around him to hear. Now I'm home, wondering what today will bring, and how long it will be before my caller ID reads "Butler", again.