I just went up to check on Eve and found this…
A reminder note propped in front of her clock.
In case you need a better view…
Note to self.
I understand the excitement, but the fact that she wrote herself a reminder note is hysterical! I guess I know what’s for breakfast tomorrow! 😂
I found this sitting on the bench in the mudroom the other day. I think it is hysterical!
Looking good!
Here’s how Eve’s five week learn-to-ski program has gone so far.
Week 1: She walked around on skiis as everyone else fell over, but the first time she fell over she fell apart. Tears, pain, the world coming to an end. Eventually she angrily made her way to the lodge where she was cranky and mean to the parents and teachers there who tried to help her. (embarrassed)
Week 1.5: Alan and I took her and Lex on a Sunday and we all skied together. She loved it!
Week 2: She made it up and down the bunny slope a few times, but then fell at the the top and gave up. Several coaches and even the school principal tried to teacher her how to stand up, and I tried to teach her how to just take her skis off, but she insisted she could not and eventually (with help) got them off and just hung out at the bottom of the slopes for the remainder of the time. (tired and embarrassed)
Week 3: Today! She was up and down that bunny slope a bunch of times and loving it! She had different skis this time and insisted they worked better and came off easier. She worked on her snowplow and was having fun. Half way through I escorted a group of kids from the bunny slope to the next level up, called the “tow lift,” because, you know, you actually get to use a lift! :) The coach sent four kids with me, including Eve. I didn’t feel confident that Eve was ready for the bigger hill yet and I should have trusted my instinct, but I know she wanted to go be with her friends and with me and the coach thought she was ready, so off we went. Eve figured out the tow lift pretty quickly and made it up. A friend gave her some advice on going down, and she made it down, but definitely out of control.
She went back again, got more advice from a coach, and made it down again, equally out of control. She went back up again, but decided no was was she going down again! :/ I tried to help, coaches tried, friends tried, but no, she would not ski down again. She sat at the top with a very friendly coach for the remainder of the time and then took her skis off and walked down the hill at the end, in angry tears. It doesn’t help that she is getting bruises from these falls so all week she has bruises to remind her how awful skiing is. :/ (scared)
Next week is the 4th week and I’m going to insist she stay on the bunny slope until she gets that snowplow down with confidence. She won’t be happy, but hey, she hasn’t been happy for an entire lesson yet. There’s a chance I also bribed her with Dunkin Donuts (located right next to the ski place) if she made it through an entire lesson. We’ll see how that goes next week. Stay tuned!
On my mother’s brilliant advice, I offered Eve the chance to go skiing today and get caught up on the lesson she missed on Thursday. She thought for a moment then decided it was a great idea. She also told me she was really embarrassed that she fell and didn’t noticed that everyone else was falling too! We decided to invite the boys and after a little convincing for the younger one, we all headed off to the slopes on this sunny 18° day.
Smiles all around! (Alan was still getting his gear on)
Eve was eager to “teach” Lex all about skiing. That made me laugh.
Lex lasted for a little while, but didn’t love it. He wasn’t thrilled with the out of control feeling, and one time Alan caught him at the bottom of the hill, but they both fell down together since Alan was also on skis. Lex said he hurt his head in that tumble. He did a few trips down, but then decided he was done with skiing and went to sit on the bench and watch the lift go around. Eve, on the other hand, LOVED it! She was up and down and up and down and at the moment is better than anyone else in her lesson group! Assuming none of them went skiing this weekend!:)
Alan in the black and Eve right behind him.
I hope we can get Lex back on skis again someday, but for now I’m just thrilled that I won’t have to fight with Eve about ski lessons for the next four weeks! Hallelujah and thank you mom!
We had the best field trip today!! Eve’s Girl Scout troop (finally) got started again with their first meeting last Wednesday to hand out cookie sale sheets. (buy cookies, you want cookies, cookies, cookies, cookies) They also talked about the badges and which ones they might like to pursue. One of the badges is called “Inside Government” and it involves interviewing an elected official and attending a town meeting. We joked about how that would be an easy one! When we got home we told Alan about it and he loved the idea and readily volunteered to help out. He told the Select Board about it at their meeting the next night and one of the women on the board told him about a “women in politics” (EmergeVermont) meeting happening on Saturday. One rapid thing led to another and by Saturday morning the troop was gathered at the leader’s house and preparing to attend this event. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we knew the agenda said “Lunch with a local Girl Scout troop.” We were expecting to walk around and ask a few questions (“take a poll” is what the badge requirement says) of various women, then leave. Instead we got so much more!!
She jumped right into Alan’s chair! This girl is going places. :)
When we got there we were welcomed warmly and eagerly. The girls were invited to sit in the Select Board chairs and they held a mock meeting with conference attendees coming up to the podium and asking the girls questions. When there was an extend pause in the questioning I said that really the girls are supposed to be asking the women in politics questions, so they all swapped rolls and the girls asked the questions. We had several Select Board members there (from our town and surrounding towns) and even a woman from our town who is a Vermont State Representative and an amazing person!
Eve is the only one not making a funny face here. LOL! Becca White, in black, ran the “meeting” and everyone loved it.
Our future town government! Holding a “mock” Select Board meeting. Discussing important issues such as banning cigarettes and rescuing puppies.
Ruth from EmergeVermont even had a presentation prepared to show the girls, all about how to get involved even if you aren’t old enough to run for public office. They gave the girls stickers and coloring sheets too.
How to be and involved citizen, even as a child.
After pointing out the humor in it, Ruth presented the Girl Scouts with some cookies her daughter had made. She said, “When I told my 12 year old daughter that Girl Scouts were coming to the meeting, she said, Oh, Can I make them Cookies??” So she did. Very sweet.
Time for a few fun pictures at the end. Ruth asked if we would be ok if they used them in promotional materials and online forums. That would be fun to see!
Your Candidacy Begins Today. #runlikeagirl
Our Girl Scouts with Becca White, VP of the Select Board, and Gabrielle Lucke, Vermont State Representative. They are hanging with a good crowd!
I am so pleased with how well the day went, how eager the women were to have our girls there, and how happy the girls were to be there! Gabrielle Lucke invited them to tour the State House too, if they wanted to Girl Scout field trip. She offered to personally give them a tour if she was available. I love our state!!
Look at that face. She doesn’t entirely look happy, even before the fall.
Our school offers a five-week learn-to-ski program in partnership with a local ski hill. When the paperwork came home a few months ago Eve said “thanks, but no thanks” and threw it in the recycling bin. However, the final day that forms were due she decided to join (several friends are also doing it), filled out the paperwork herself, and delivered it all to the office on her own. The school says it’s available at a discounted rate, but oh boy, it is still expensive! Especially since we had to rent everything.
Last week my boss emails me and says, “Since Eve is skiing… would you have any interest in volunteering on the slopes with them?” I double checked Volunteerspot, where the PTO posts volunteer listings, and saw that no parents had signed up! I asked Eve if she was ok with me being there (I like to check first with her), she said “yes, definitely!”, so I agreed.
Yesterday was the first day. Mass chaos (on our end AND the ski “resorts” end)! Eventually everyone ended up where they were supposed to be, fully equipped, and ready to ski. Two parents and several teachers ended up going, so we had enough adults to get the job done. Finally we were in our groups and off, learning to ski! I was with the beginner group because 1) that’s where they needed help and 2) that’s about my level these days! :) I spent most of the time picking kids up off the ground! Lots of them fell, some of them cried, but they all got back up and tried again… except mine. She was doing ok until she fell, then she fell apart. Tears streaming down her face. I got her back on her feet but she cried so hard, telling me her ankle hurt and her leg hurt. I mostly thought it was drama, but it is possible to hurt yourself in ski boots so I finally relented and let her go inside, hoping she would regroup and come back. I told her to check in with the parents in there, have them take a look at her ankle and leg, then come back. She never did. Later in the lesson I texted a parent inside asking if she could send Eve back out, but nope. Another teacher went in and later told me she had tried to encourage Eve to come back out but was shocked when Eve barked at her (not literally!) She told me she’d never seen Eve so angry before.
By the end of the lesson all of the kids were making it up and down the tiny hill and some of them could even stop themselves at the bottom. When I got everyone situated and made my way back to Eve I found her friends with her, consoling and encouraging her. It was sweet. One friend told me privately, “I feel bad for Eve, but I kind of want to tell her to just do it! Get back out there and try again!” I said “YES, please tell her that!”
At home that night Eve and I had a chat about quitting and why it isn’t an option. We talked (again!) about the importance of trying again, and how everything is hard in the beginning, and how everyone has things that come easily to them and things they have to work at, and how I paid a ton of money for this program and she’s not allowed to quit after ten minutes, and about how I’m volunteering and she’s not allowed to quit at all. Notice how I start off empathetic and compassionate, but by the end it’s down to the cold, hard facts?! :) We’ve been down this road before.
Eve was angry and sad and frustrated. I hope she is willing to put those skis back on next week though and give it a try again. It will be even harder next time because the rest of the group has a whole lesson under their belts and she is still starting from scratch. Sigh. This is why I hate volunteering for things! :)
Eve has somehow managed to lose her jacket, snowpants, and winter boots! Probably hat and gloves as well. She had them in school Tuesday, was home sick on Wednesday, and couldn’t find them this morning. How to do kids lose stuff so easily?! Sheesh! I posted on FB about it and a generous friend offered me her daughter’s hand-me-downs, which is awesome! I told her she is my Santa!
With everything going on this morning I forgot to mention my sore throat and partially numb tongue. Haha. I’m falling apart!
Eve stayed home today with Alan and ended up throwing up 12 times! She is in bed now, complaining that her stomach hurts, so I suspect we are not done. She is VERY sad that she has to miss her class holiday party tomorrow. Poor girl.
Lex, on the other hand, surprised the heck out of me this morning with his bravery! He did not want to go to the dentist, but he went on his own accord, every step of the way, with no tears and no arguing or fussing. He made it all the way there and into the chair with a positive attitude and sense of humor. The dentist decided to try just using nitrous oxide and novocain, not the sedation we had planned. I agreed, with the sedation as a backup plan. I LOVE our new dentist! He bought the practice we’ve been going to all along and he is making great changes. I love how he handles Lex in such a calm, patient, understanding way. After the meds took affect he started, smartly!, with a sealant instead of going right for the pulling. Lex needed four sealants, three teeth pulled, and one preventative filling. The dentist started with the sealant, which is the least painful, but immediately ran into Lex’s gag reflex and strong sense of taste. Lex could not handle it. The dentist stopped quickly, yay!, and we decided to go with the sedation. It was excellent! :) He started with the lowest dose possible, which was perfect. Lex was calm, but could still communicate. The dentist talked to him the whole way through, checked for pain at each step, and managed to do two sealants, three extractions, and the filling. Definitely more than we were expecting to get done!! Afterwards the sedation wore off quickly, Lex was feeling good, and we headed home.
I dropped Lex off with Alan, gave him the speediest possible “after care” update, and headed off to school. I only had one class and recess duty today, so when I was done I checked in with Alan, checked in with my boss, then headed home again where I snuggled up with Miss Eve and we both took a nap.
Oh, I forgot the best part of the dentist visit. He has a new therapy dog!! It is the sweetest, softest dog ever!! He is a seven month old Goldendoodle and he feels and looks like a teddy bear. Lex spent some time with him in the waiting room, then the dentist brought him back to visit while the sedation medicine was taking effect. Lex LOVED it!
Tomorrow is our last day before Christmas vacation, or, as Lex puts it, the last day we have to go to school in 2016! Lex has a party at the ice skating rink with treats and a Yankee Swap. I have a “Ugly Sweater” day with treats and a Secret Elf thing. Eve has to be home in bed, hopefully not vomiting. Alan has to be home with her, but Alan gets to go to work on Friday. :)
We had Eve’s holiday concert last night. Alan was sick and didn’t attend. 😢 The kids and I showed up early to help sell raffle tickets. The kids had a great time walking through the crowds, hawking tickets. Then Eve took her place and the show began.
Select Chorus singing “Mele Kalikimaka,” a Hawaiian Christmas tune.
Eve had a speaking part this year. Her and a classmate introduced the best song of the night, “Candle light”
Eve told me a sad story tonight. It started with, “When will I get to be in a wedding?” To which, of course, I had to say, “I don’t know.” She told me that last year in school they had to write what they know about weddings and she didn’t know anything! She said, “I’ve never seen a wedding. I’ve never been to a wedding. I’ve never seen a movie of a wedding. I’ve never seen pictures of a wedding. I don’t know anything about weddings!” How’s that for a random bedtime conversation?! And yes, she has seen pictures of weddings! You may be wondering, as I was, why a 3rd grader needed to write about weddings, but apparently they were learning about China and they talked about Chinese weddings compared to weddings here in the U.S. You may also be wondering, as I was, why this thought came to her mind a year later, as I was, but then I remembered that her best friend’s dad just got married and her friend was the flower girl, so I’m guessing that was on Eve’s mind. We had a nice chat about weddings and all two of the weddings I’ve been to since she’s been alive, and the two I regretfully missed! She asked again when she could be in a wedding. I told her to start talking to the aunts and uncles!! (sorry sibs!)