Teacher Gifts

This year I wanted unique Christmast gifts not only for KK's two preschool teachers, but also for the school directors. The clincher - how to do this without breaking the bank?! My sister-in-law Jen has made super cute frames in the past, so I had her give me detailed instructions and I set off to the craft store for supplies.



Here's the result.... I am pleased and wondering why in the world I didn't make one for myself?!

Yep, It's Happening....

I am turning into my mother.

Growing up it never failed. Every year, my mom would bust out with a random gift for us kids in the middle of the summer, that she meant to give us at Christmas but then "forgot where she put it." Then she would stumble across said gift in the middle of a big closet clean-out.

Not that I minded a mid-year random gift, but organized, anal me wondered in confusion - "How could this possibly occur?" To me it seemed as easy as picking one spot for gifts and putting everything there.

OK, now I'm a mom too and my kid is 4 and fully understands the concept of gift receiving and believes wholeheartedly in Santa Claus. I am rushing to hide gifts when the 4-year old won't notice. I am trying to find spots in my cramped closets and drawers where her little eagle eyes won't notice. (The girl is good at spotting things.) I am diverted from tasks every 35 seconds by little people. And suddenly, things are hidden in 6 spots and I only remember 3 of them. A few evenings ago I thought I was going crazy, trying to find some missing gifts. I had myself convinced that I had thrown them in the trash on accident. Then I remembered in the middle of the night, and of course I had to get up then to verify immediately whether they were there. Yep, they were. (Like I really need to be doing this with an unpredictable newborn sleeping upstairs...) Sigh of relief and kick-in-the-pants all at once!

I get it now, Nanna!

Humbling Parenting Moments

Well, I debated whether I wanted to blog about this. Really, it makes me shiver to even mentally recall the event. But if blogging is about capturing the "big memories", then this is definitely top-10 material so here goes nothing...

About a month ago my niece Izzy was dedicated at church. My brother Griff and sister-in-law Jen attend a different church than us. So I knew right away this was going to present some challenges with little Katelynn. She has a lot of anxiety in new situations; she is getting better with age but it is still no picnic. So, what are parents to do - force her to go to their childcare where she may completely melt down, or let her come into service with us and deal with the inevitable chatter and moving-about that comes along with being less than 4 years old?

After discussing it, Gene and I decided it would be best to fully explain the two options to KK and let her decide. It became clear pretty quickly that she was conflicted. Both options had negatives. She finally opted to come into the service with us. Two minutes before it started, she turned to me with a look of panic and said she changed her mind and wanted to go to the kids' area. So we headed down to the kids area and went through the looong check-in process. KK waited very calmly and patiently through the whole thing. Then we walked to the door to drop her off and she went into freak-out mode. I could tell - walking away wasn't going to work like it does at our own church. And none of the teachers knew anything about her so I was hesitant to leave her, only to be paged back to get her 5 minutes later. So I told KK that it was fine to come back to the service with me and reminded her that this option required her to sit quietly in the service.

We made it back into the service in the nick of time and barely caught the dedication. We were on the far side of the sanctuary, but pretty near to the front, and it was a large room packed full with hundreds of people. All the doors had been closed off except for two main doors at the very back of the room. The sermon commenced immediately following the dedication. Wouldn't you know it, KK would *not* be quiet and I was really starting to cringe, not wanting to be "that parent" that lets their child talk incessantly during a church service. Then Tyler began to stir and I knew I would have to leave to feed him soon too. So I looked at KK and told her we were going to leave the service.

She interpreted this at the ultimate punishment and within seconds we were dealing with a category-10 tantrum. She was just about impossible to control physically and it was a very looong walk out of that sanctuary. The entire walk out, she screamed at the top of her lungs: "I'LL BE QUIET NOW! I'LL BE QUIET NOW!" Everyone turned to stare at us, and the pastor even had to stop his sermon until we got out of there- oh please let me die! I am sure it took about 10 seconds to make it out of there but it felt like 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, my dad and Gene followed us out to the foyer. I was sweating by this time from the emotional embarrassment and helpless feeling! I sent Katelynn outside with them since I had to feed Tyler in the nursing room. She only wanted mommy, and it took her nearly an hour to calm down.

So, looking back on it, we should *not* have given KK the choice in this situation. I think we would have been better off choosing for her and setting stronger expectations for her behavior. Then again, maybe that would have backfired too. I just felt so helpless and inept as a parent, and this was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life!

My only solace: KK will have hear this story for the rest of her life!