My Simple Pleasure

So I have an addiction or bad habit or form of escape as my family calls it.  I call it pure and simple pleasure.  I am talking about naps. I truly love naps and would and try to take them everyday.  Sometimes or all of the time it irritates my family.  But what is a summer off without some nap time.  I sleep well at night, but it is not pleasurable it is just sleep, everyone is doing it.  But in the middle of the day to lay on the fresh cool sheets and put your head on the cool crispness of the pillow.  Oh what bliss.  When I get in the bed and put the covers on I feel so happy I smile and grin like a little kid it is pure pleasure.  I have been taking naps for as long as I remember, years and years.  Lately it is hard to enjoy this pleasure because it irritates my family so much.  We are still doing summer fun things.  Parks, pools, bikes, outside, and other fun things but on the days we stay home I would just like to take a guilt free nap.  Well here is to a good snooze in the middle of the day.

Night at the Zoo

Friday night The Tank, The Diva, Smarty Pants and I all went to Binder Zoo for a Girl Scout sleep over.  Ruth was sooo gracious as to drive us the two hours to Battle Creek and then return for us the next day.  We get to the zoo and the leader is late.  We are waiting outside of the zoo and Smarty Pants keeps asking "When we will get to see animals?"  I keep telling her soon but she's four and that does not tide her over very long.  We finally get in and we are all pretty excited.  I mean how many people get to sleep at the zoo.  We drop our stuff of and start activities.  The zoo staff which I call Rangers have lots of fun stuff for the kids to do.  We play a survival game, the kids have a relay race dressing in Ranger clothes, a quick sand game and several hikes through the zoo trails.  We get to see and touch a few animals and more hiking in the dark.  The next day we get to hike some more, play more games and see some of the animals as they are coming out for the day.  We get to feed the girraffes which was Smarty Pant's favorite.  All night and morning she kept asking about the girraffes.  All in all it was a very cool thing to do.  I have great kids but sometimes they are....  well kids and they don't always behave the way I think they should.  But on this particular trip all three were wonderful.  They were helpful, sharing, considerate, great listeners and they all participated and enjoyed the activities.  As you know sometimes you can do the greatest, most fun things and the kids won't enjoy it for some reason.  But for this trip they all had a great time and they showed it.  They were grateful and pleasant.

I am very proud of the Tank, The Diva and Smarty Pants.  My heart is full and I have great memories to keep forever.

Tank not Happy mean Mommy

The Tank has been grounded for about a month or so.  No I-pod, no friends, no fun.  He is a great kid and helpful when we ask him to do things.  He is not a trouble maker, nor does he have a sassy mouth.  His problem is laziness, pure and simple. He is a very intelligent young man.  About a month ago I get a progress report the shows a D for biology. Ok stop a D, you have to be kidding me.  So I go on Zangle and check his grades and he also has a C and and E (this in health) REALLY.  This is totally unacceptable it has always been B or better.  Now if he did not have the ability we could understand.  The Tank's problem is not turning in assignments.  So I e-mail all of the teachers to make sure these are his grades and yes of course they are.  The teachers tell me he has a lot of work that is missing and he can turn it in for half credit.  So I am fuming.  I write down all missing assignments from all of his classes and ride him everyday to finish, redo or start from scratch to turn these in.  Today Tank comes to me and says "When do I get my friends?"  to which I reply "What?" and he says "When can I hang out with my friends?"  I tell him that I am waiting for his report card because that is why he is grounded in the first place.  He is upset I can tell by the way he just looks at me and them walks away.  I am proud of him because he does not argue or get really upset.  These behaviors are totally unacceptable and he would never do them.  But so is a D or an E but he is doing that behavior to get those grades.  So how long can a teenager be mad at his parents?  HA trick question they are always mad at their parents.  Little does he know I am upset too that he is grounded, and has less than a B.  We were planning drivers training for the summer.  That's off for now.

Angry Girl Strikes Again

Today at 3:02 My cell phone rings at work. It is Angry Girls school. Ms. Bennett she attacked the bus aide so they are bringing her back to school and you need to pick her up. So I am thinking great, so now I have to put a lot of things in motion to get everyone home safe.
Step 1--Call Ruth, you have to go get Her from school.
step 2--Ruth has to pick up The Shy One early from school
Step 3--Ruth drives to pick her up in Redford
Step 4--I have to leave work and beat Ruth home so we can get her from the car to the house without any trouble

So everything works out and she is in her room and I ask about the situation. Of course she does not take responsibility for hitting an adult. It to her is justified and not a wrong in her mind. So no more school for her. today is now her last day. so now she is screaming and yelling about leaving this awful house for about thirty minutes. Then when it is dinnertime she is sound asleep and can't be woken up. Now it is bedtime and she is awake and wants dinner.

Let's hope she is done for the night.

The Fab Five

The boy is fifteen and calls himself "A Tank". He is a great kid, a wonderful big brother, but extremely lazy. He is lazy at home and at school(which he gets from his mother). He runs track and cross country and bowls on a league.

The oldest girl which I will call"Angry Girl" is eleven. She is strong and strong willed. unfortunately she is always angry and does not use these skills for good. She attends a center based school for Emotional Impairments.

The Shy One is nine years old. She has social impairments and seems very awkward. she has trouble blending and engaging in close relationships. She is very creative and enjoys art.

The Diva is seven. She is empathetic and very emotionally sensitive. She likes fancy things and is a true girly girl.

Fancy Pants is four. She is the baby of the family and she is very spoiled. She is really smart, caring and strong.

The Fab Five are my world. They give me joy and pain. As I watch these very different children grow and change I am amazed at how the world will be impacted by their personalities. I imagine that they will improve the way we live or think or treat people. But I also worry about The Angry Girl, because all of the professionals who deal with her tell me how she will always be angry, never have good relationships and hurt people emotionally and or physically. unfortunately I believe them because she does those things now. I feel very responsible for her impact on the world and pray that maybe we are wrong.

These are my babies and they will probably take up a lot of space on this blog because they are my world, they give me happiness, sadness, confusion and a range of other emotions.

Who Am I?

Well lets start at the beginning.  I was born in Detroit, MI.  No not a suburb in the city.  I am the oldest of four girls.  I am not friends with my sisters, which I find sad.  We do not come from the same place on our views of how to live life, and be in this world.  I have always been shy.  I am not comfortable in social situations.  I went to Detroit Public Schools all the way through high school.  I even went to college in Detroit.  Attending Wayne State for my undergraduate degree.  When I was in school I wanted to be a pediatrician.  It was not until I had my son 15 years ago that I became interested in teaching.  I immediately changed from pre-med to Education, and started working with children in daycare.  I worked several years in the daycare setting and started working as a para pro in the schools system.  During this time I became aware of Autism and started working with children with autism.  I found my niche.  I sometimes think that because I am different and have sensory issues myself that it gives me some insight and understanding into my students world.  I love what I do and probably take my job too personally.  I love my students like they are my own children and get really upset when people do not understand them or think that they are not capable of things that typically developing children are.  When I was twenty three I gave birth to the most wonderful child.  He is my world.  Almost six years ago I added three biological sisters to our family through adoption.  And four years ago my little preemie was added to the family as she is a biological sister to my girls.  I love my children dearly and will do anything to make sure they are healthy and happy.  During my spare time I enjoy making jewelry and  have an account on etsy to sell my wares.  I also do craft shows.  I have always wanted to write, in school I used to write poetry and wanted to write a childrens book.  I have read some friends blogs and thought that I could share my thoughts and feelings in a cathartic way.  This blog will always be my interpretation of my life and the experiences that I have.  I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and maybe share some of my experiences.  Well welcome to the world according to LuLu.