tifi

I have been trying to remember and teach Girlie some playground games. Specifically clapping games and ring games. If you have any, I’d love to see them in the comments. Oh, and I want this book. So far, I remember:

eeny-meeny siscileeney
ooh-bop-tumbleeny
achy-kachy liberace i love you
(I remember complicated hand movements)

take a peach, take a plum
take a stick of bubblegum
no peach, no plum
no stick of bubblegum

–

down down baby
down by the rollercoaster
sweet sweet baby
I’ll never let you go

shimmy shimmy coco pop
shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy coco pop
shimmy shimmy pow

Uno, dos, y tres-a
I said an east, a west
i met my boyfriend at the candy store
he bought me ice cream
he bought me cake
he brought me home with
a belly ache

mama, mama
I feel sick
call the doctor
quick, quick, quick

doctor, doctor
while I die
count to five and I’ll be alive
1,2,3,4,5
I’m alive!
6,7,8,9,10
I’m dead again

or

Grandma, grandma sick in bed-
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
Let’s get the rhythm of the head- ding dong! (shake head side to side)
Let’s get the rhythm of the hands- clap clap! (clap hands)
Let’s get the rhythm of the feet- stomp stomp! (stomp feet)
Let’s get the rhythm of the hot dog! (swivel hips)
Let’s get the rhythm of the hot dog!

Put ‘em all together and what do you get?
Ding dong, clap clap, stomp stomp, hot dog!

Put ‘em all backwards and what do you get?
Hot dog, stomp stomp, clap clap, ding dong.

–

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For 50 cents, cents, cents

To watch the elephants, elephants, elephants

Jump over the fence, fence, fence

They jumped so high, high, high

They touched the sky, sky, sky

They never came down, down, down

Until the fourth of July, ly, ly, ly, ly, ly

Also remember “We’re going to Kentucky”, “Brown girl in the ring”, “Bluebird, Bluebird through my window”, “Oranges and Lemons”, “Concentration”. There are also some nameless word games I remember a bit. The more I find online, the more I remember!

Links:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/archive/index.php/t-83013.html

http://www.beachnet.com/~jeanettem/chants.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games

http://www.gokidprod.com/cti.htm

So I came upon this recipe at one of the blogs I mentioned last week and knew I had to try it right away. I had all the ingredients, and that is mostly how I cook, I rarely go out of my way to buy specific things a recipe calls for. I’m a winger. When I bake, with the exception of a few items, I am not quite sure what I am doing. But I made these pretzels…and they came out perfectly! Everyone liked and ate them…not just to appease me either. Wow! We did some with brown sugar, some with garlic, some with sea salt. All fabulous. With lemonade to drink. The kids had a blast deciding what shapes to make the pretzels in, and we talked about why dough rises, so we had a little science thrown in there too. Best of all, it was super simple, my favorite kind of project.

Next stop: First Grade!

So I thought I’d share a few sites with great ideas for fun things to do with the kids:

The Crafty Crow - If you don’t click through to any other sites, go to this one. Gobs of ideas here.

Big and Little Art - Great prompts which I am finding that ZB needs a little as he gets older.

Kids Craft Weekly - I think lots of folks know about this one already, but for those who don’t, you can get updates with a new craft theme every week.

 Rainforest Maths - cute online math program.

Unplug Your Kids - TV free ideas for families.

The Artful Parent -  Beautiful and inspirational.

me & my girl - Geared towards mothers and daughters, I think, but these mostly simple crafts could work for boys or girls.

Camp Creek Press - One of my favorites, about art and nature.

Art Projects for kids - just like the name says!

Kiddley is no longer being updated, but still has great stuff.

Most of the sites I’ve listed have links to tons more, so enjoy! Try not to go nuts working with scissors, paper, glue and kids, hehe.

• The bump on ZB’s head turned out to be ringworm.
• I got the blue screen (hopefully not of death) on my computer.
• The kids’ doctor’s office informed me that I have a balance, and it turns out they submitted claims to my insurance company late. I’m not paying a thing!
• ZB had his honor roll ceremony.
• I started jumping through hoops trying to get a proctor and set up my exam for my first class.
• I realized the bug bite on my neck is ringworm too.

So this school thing is actually work! Imagine that! After being thrown off almost a week due to an error made by the school, I am now playing catch up trying to get two weeks worth of work done before next Tuesday. I will probably be up till O Dark 30 Monday night getting it done, but s’ok. I work best under pressure. Some people pace themselves and do a bit at a time but why would I want to do that? That would make sense!

The kids’ school year is winding down and seems to be drama free, so I’m happy about that. It has gotten stupid Texas hot the past few days and so I spend my time indoors between sun-up and well, bedtime. If I must go out, I scurry from air conditioned car to air conditioned building and back. Like I’ve said before, I am a delicate flower, not made for heat. I had heat stroke last year, and even fainted from the heat as a child.

My kids are currently banned from taking out library books due to the whopping fine I recently had to pay for a lost book. It was either that or go to court as not paying fines is considered a misdemeanor here. I’m not kidding. I bet the library ban goes out the window once school lets out…or maybe remembering those fines will keep the ban in check.
Anyway, I have reading to do, so I better get to it!

Second graders talking about our upcoming election. At a birthday party!

At the end of our zoo trip. I really enjoyed it. ZB’s class has a cool bunch of kids.

Girlie loves to take photos, and I really like this one. I always tell her to “get closer”, and she did.

Later that day…the perfect pout.

Isabelle is quite a cuddler and loves being on or near someone at all times.

• I got all set to start school again. I start an elementary education program tomorrow! All online. I am excited and determined to finish. At first, I thought I would do that, then get my MLS to become a librarian, but now, I am thinking of becoming a teacher after all. I know it’s twee and all, but maybe I’ll end up being someone who can make a difference.
• I took ZB to the neurologist about those headaches he’s had over the past year plus. She doesn’t think anything is seriously wrong, but she wants to do an MRI just to be sure. He also has a prescription for Maxalt now. I don’t know if I’m going to fill it though.
• We went back to the ADHD specialist, and I was pretty disappointed. He felt that meds were the way to go and that anything else wouldn’t work. What? Otay. Totally ignoring his advice and doing things my way (possible dietary changes, lots of exercise as usual, yoga, maybe acupuncture, maybe some other holistic stuff). The best thing to come out of this diagnosis deal has been getting ZB’s teacher to lay off.
• I’ve become a vegetarian. I’ve been “almost” vegetarian for a while now, rarely eating meat, but now I’ve cut it out all together. I don’t miss it at all. I don’t know if I’ll stay vegetarian, but I’m happy for now and trying to make sure I get all the proper nutrients.
• I have been purging more crap from around the house. Why does it feel so good to get rid of things you don’t need? I always tell DH that I don’t want to be one of those people that when I die, my family has to sort through loads of my junk. I am always working towards simplicity.
• I’ve had a lot of fun with my family including a field trip to the zoo with Kindy and 2nd grade. Pics to come, of course.

I wrote this entry a few days ago and didn’t post it. The testing is now complete and the diagnosis is that ZB definitely has ADH/D. We go back soon for a more complete report. It’s not going to change much at home: I am not really bothered by his energy. I try to give him ways to expend it and work with it, but ultimately, it doesn’t bother me much. We’re going to do some behavioral therapy. Things will change things at school though. Do you know his teacher looked me in the eye and told me that the school will do nothing? That it is all medical? That is complete bullshit. I spoke to two friends, one used to work in Special Education (which ADD can be considered) in my school district, and the other has a son two years older than ZB in the same district. They gave me plenty of information about how to proceed.

Also, I am filing a complaint against his assistant principal for violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act last week. She discussed his past suspension with him in front of another student. I talk to my kids, I get details of their days. Did she think I wasn’t going to find out? I’m glad I have my salsa, who is super knowledgeable when it comes to all things public education. She’s the one who schooled me on FERPA, and she is going to make one fine teacher.

–

My friend Tia sent me this link which is so timely and a little heartbreaking too. A little bit from the piece spoke to me:

“The eagle is the child who is turned into a troublemaker because he has his “own style” of doing things. While he is not doing anything “wrong”, his non-conforming is perceived as troublemaking, for which he is punished.” Ding, ding, ding, ladies and gentleman, I present to you, ZB.

I emailed her back and part of the email was about how I thought the stuff we have going on at school would never happen to me. I thought the parent that I am, the mother that I am, could protect him from this. No, our life is not perfect, but the education of my children is one of my top priorities and I just feel like I was so wrong about how I thought that education would happen. We are in the process of becoming statistics. A little black boy who can’t settle down in class and gets a label. But, that’s as far as it goes. My kid is a good student, and a good person. He is kind, outgoing, fun-loving and yes, sometimes a pita. But that doesn’t give Assy P the right to threaten him with suspension for “defiance”b/c he talked during storytime and has trouble standing on line.

On Friday, he will have ADHD testing. Even though I initially cried bs, I have now come to strongly believe that ZB may have ADHD. He seems absolutely incapable of doing things that his peers and siblings can do with ease or just a little prodding. He can not talk and stand still at the same time. He can not sit at a desk for even short periods of time working silently. He can not resist the urge to work ahead of his classmates. He can not clean his room without me sitting there giving him specific directions one thing at a time. About the only things he can do uninterrupted or passive activities like watching tv or playing video games. And those are things I limit.

My brother, who exhibited the same traits as a child was nicknamed “Tigger” and “jumping bean”. I would classify ZB as Tiggerx5. It doesn’t bother me most of the time, the constant energy and movement. I think it’s fine. Run around in circles till you fall down, if that’s what makes you happy and you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else. But in order to attend school, ZB must do thinks that he just can’t right now. He wants to, I can see it in his face when he comes out of school, knowing that his teacher is about to talk to me about his behavior. That bit really eats away at his self esteem which really breaks my heart b/c he is such a fun loving, light hearted child. He sees the school counselor (who was his first grade teacher) as needed. At least once a week, there is a written report that he “can’t sit still and follow directions”. This school year has been a nightmare, and I can’t wait for it to be over.