Wordless Wednesday

Winter, Summer, Fall?

Central Texas has been very finicky this year in respect to it's weather. I keep hearing that we'll be in for a long, cold, hard winter, but all we've seen so far is a bipolar hot and cold effect. Two weeks ago we had our heaters running while enjoying the long awaited sweater weather, and then we went back to air conditioners and shorts. I can honestly say I'm completely over it though. I'm ready for a permanent season cold front. Not because I enjoy it, I don't, but because we keep getting sick with all of this back and forth! 

It's already December first, and just this past week we hit a high of 80° F. Yesterday, we were wearing capri's and short sleeve shirts and today the high is 40° F. The wind knocked down a lot of our Christmas lights, and majority of the trees are now bare. And this happened all over night! I woke up with a sore throat, and Emery with a cough. So yes, I'm ready for steady weather of any kind so long as it's constant until Spring time. 

On the bright side, our Sunday was pretty perfect. We enjoyed an abundance of sunshine, and warm temperatures. We hung up our Christmas lights and outside decorations. I refused to put up the tree until it was actually December so we still have that left to do. We had breakfast at my parents, installed our propane heaters, enjoyed a walk, visited some friends, and finally just relaxed while watching a movie before bed. This four day weekend was really exciting, and had us driving all over. Thanksgiving brought us a lot of wonderful food with a lot of wonderful people. So, having a lazy relaxing day before going back to work and school was exactly what we needed. 

Now it's back to our regular routine. Thankfully, I only have a week left of school before winter break. Oh! And I also get to graduate next spring as long as I pass my classes! This means that I'll get to start on my bachelors degree at the university closer to home! We'll also get to sign up as doggy fosters (that's a post for another time), and maybe...just maybe...consider another baby (another post for another time). Until then, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

I Hope I'm Doing This Right...

Emery has grown so much, in so many different ways, in the past few months. There are times when I'm not sure how I'll ever catch up. Preschool has been amazing for her, and I'm really glad that we waited until she was four before putting her in it. I think she had just the right balance of being at home, and learning from our very mixed cultural family to prepare her for being around children and adults of different backgrounds. She's so open to a lot of things, and she gets excited when she's presented with something new to learn. I'm happy to see that she doesn't treat anyone differently, and when she sees others do so she quickly lets them know that it isn't right. I am so proud, and if this seems a bit like bragging, just know that I am. A little bit. But that's what parents are allowed to do from time to time, right? 
One day at the beginning of October the teachers pulled me aside, and told me that she was really well mannered and really a head of some of the other kids. I walked away letting out a huge sigh of relief because up until that point I'd always had this nagging feeling that we weren't doing enough, or at the least could be doing more to prepare her for school. Not only academically but emotionally as well. Hearing that she was excelling was a huge weight off my shoulders that I hadn't realized I had been carrying around. But she's doing great! She wakes up on her school mornings so excited to see friends and learn. As soon as we are at the early care room door she gives me a quick kiss, a very loud "I LOVE YOU MOM, SEE YOU LATER!", and rushes off. When we get home it's filled with stories that they read, songs that she got to sing, and even some funny things that the other kids did. There are some days when she thinks they had too much playtime, and not enough homework which is pretty interesting. I really hope she keeps that outlook up. The attitude that she has going in, and the excitement that she exudes reassures me that she is happy. And that's all we ever want for our kids isn't it? 
She did experience her first encounter with "mean girls" which was shocking to me because they're only four. But it's out there, it happens, and if it had continued I would have had a long not-so-nice conversation with some parents. I remember the first time she came to me and told me some girls at school wouldn't allow her to play with them, and that they had told her they hated her. It completely broke my heart. I wanted nothing more than to march back down there and take her out of that class. She wasn't ready, I thought. She doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. But, then she told me what her response was and it had me smiling. "Mom, I just did this *she shrugs* and I said: Whhhaaattt? Why would you hate me? You don't even know me silly. And then I went and played with some other kids." She handled it beautifully, don't you think? I did my best to explain that she didn't need these little girls to play with. There were plenty of others there. And I even tried to explain that those girls more than likely had no idea how hurtful the word "hate" is, or the real meaning of it. She looked at me and said "It's okay mommy. I know they don't really hate me." And a week later they were all friends. 
I still catch myself wondering if letting her navigate that particular issue in her own way was okay. Should I have told the teachers? The parents? I know that we can't protect our children from everything because there is a great big world out there. And it's not always nice. But, this doesn't mean I want my child to be exposed to all of these things at her current age. It just so happened that this particular issue was happening to her right then. And I'm not exactly sure what that says about us adults? There isn't a manual or time table for me to follow either. I was proud that she felt comfortable enough to tell me right away what had happened. I really want that to be the case for everything that goes on as she continues to grow. Still, I wonder if I did the right thing? If I did it right? That's the thing about being a parent though, it's different for everyone. We can just pray and hope that we're doing the best that we  can to not make things worse.