Elisa’s Day

i think so far, the most surprising challenge of having kids has been dealing with school. i guess i didn’t realize it would be so hard, but given my feelings about school in general i guess i should have seen it coming.  between piles of homework in grade one and bitchy principals chastising me for jay walking in front of the school ( instead of walking the entire block each way to the cross walk from the extra parking across the street…..in the rain…..with a baby…..) and curriculum that seems to involve a lot of nothing while reading and writing your letters properly and holy fuck, just holding your pencil properly is all left to home, it’s all i can do to hide my outright disdain for the whole system from the kids.

and i know that they have to learn how to use computers, i get that. but how much time a week are they spending in “computer lab” playing pc games, maybe a bit of that time could be dedicated to making sure they all learn how to hold their pencil properly so that they don’t develop a bad habit that will plague them the rest of their lives. ( my mom, an english teacher, is always saying how poor most of her students handwriting is, and that most of them now print which is so slow. yet plagiarism is so rampant with the internet that she makes them write in class essays a few times a year, and it is literally painful for them since writing things by hand is becoming a lost skill, something considered un-improtant i guess, why learn to write nicely when your expected to type anything anyone else is ever going to  read anyway? )

i’m pretty sure i have already complained lots about the homework thing. homework should start midway through elementary school, grade 4 or 5. and even then, it should be minimal, a few projects, small assignments, just to get into the habit for highschool. you know who shouldn’t be bringing home 3o minutes worth of homework a night? 6 year olds!! ( i think that’s a conservative estimate btw, but i couldn’t say how long it actually would take since we don’t do it all )

i did just read an article that there is maybe going to be a shift back in the other direction, that one school in ontario has put a ban on homework all together in elementary school, with good results so far. and it quoted a few new studies about the fact there seems to be no correlation between homework and improved school work, or test scores. that in fact it could be the opposite, too much homework is actually bringing the level of school work and test scores down. so i guess it’s a start.

and the general meddling in my parenting……holy crap….like the vaccinations thing. or all this “homework” half of which is just poorly veiled attempts by the government/school board to make parents spend time with their kids. and while the sad reality is that some parents probably need that, we do not. we do lots of things with our kids and i don’t need some lame reading/worksheets homework sent home to have a reason to read to my kids. in fact i have so many better things to do with my time with my kids then homework it’s not even funny.

we’ve talked about homeschooling….on and off. i really doubt i have the patience to do it. plus, those days, when it is just hannah and i…..those are nice. besides, you know who loves school? 5 and 6 year olds!! which is why i try and keep my disdain to myself as much as possible. the kids really do love it, and i’d hate to taint that for them so early.

but i think about it still….my mom guesstimated you could cover the required curriculum in approximately 2 hours a day. that leaves a lot of hours for baking and art and fun experiments and playing, not to even mention, oh how i loath to pack lunches, it’s so very hard to pack a litter free, healthy lunch five times a week for a picky eater who goes to a peanut and fish free school……….i know right?………but then there’s the missing of the non-academic aspects too, learning the structure and the social aspects of school, both important i think.

i guess, as with all majour decisions we’re required to make for our kids, who’s to really know which is the right one?

i had a lovely birthday. my dad took hannah and i ( the other girls were in school ) out for lunch and then my mom and step dad made us dinner. the girls made me great cards, dad gave me cash as always, mom gave me a GC for a pedi and the sookie stackhouse set, which hasn’t come in yet from chapters.ca…….but soon, i’m looking forward to something new to read.

a few weeks back, i received a letter from the health board, threatening to suspend olivia from school because we were behind on our vaccinations. well, i have to tell you, i am not against vaccinating, i believe that herd vaccination has eliminated many diseases, and that the only reason it’s still fairly safe for people to choose not to vax is because the majority are still vaccinated. and if more and more people don’t, we’ll see these diseases possibly return. i’ve done my research. i know vaccinations have risks, and i know some are much less necessary then others ( or completely unnecessary all together ), and i’m making my choices accordingly.

BUT

what i am very against is the government thinking they can push me around and threaten me into following their schedule, that they somehow have some kind of say in how and when i have my kids vaccinations administered.

SO

when i called the health board to explain that olivia had an adverse reaction to the vaccination in question, and that i wasn’t going to be getting it again, they said my doctor needed to fill out a bunch of forms. and that she would have to refill them out each time that vaccination came up again during her school career. and the better option was that i needed to send her to a special allergist who could possibly figure what she reacted to in the shot, by administering it under supervision ( uh, yeah, lets just watch her get the horrible rash together, that should give us all the answers ) and that OH MY GOD didn’t i know that you can get tetanus just by getting a scratch gardening? uh yeah, try and scare me a little more why don’t you?

SO

last week we sent off our conscientious objector forms to the good ol’ health board. short and sweet. one page form, witnessed, signed and sealed by a lawyer and that’s it. i am now free to vaccinate my kids on my terms without constant harrasment. something that really should be a given in my opinion.

a very nice chocolaty long weekend all around. lots of family and treats and good food. can’t really think of a better way to spend a long weekend.

unfortunately it was still cold, and is going to be cold until the end of april seems like. i’m not sure i can handle these new seasons. you know, the new winter that starts in november and ends in may. and the almost non-existent fall and spring. and the never long enough summer, 3 months of semi hot weather if we’re lucky. any progress on canada acquiring one of those tropical type islands or what? seriously………

trying to wade through taxes, which will be so much easier once we wrap up all the loose ends and finally close our corporation. although, i have to say, the audit that started almost 2 years ago was finally closed last week, and that is a huge relief. not because i was ever worried, because we always always operated on the books 100%, but more it was just a huge hassle. the auditor was very nice, constantly thankful of our politeness and quick compliance ( obviously no point in blaming her )  and was always complimenting us on our organization and professionalism, which was nice. it was also very encouraging to know that i, never ever a big fan of math or numbers, did a very good job with the book keeping. she said the discrepancy, for the 3 years they audited was so low it was considered by the government as negligible and there would be no adjustment at all required. nice. anyway, after years of the government breathing down our necks ( the full audit of 3 fiscal years, was only the last in a string of annoying government interferences )  for no real reason other then we operated a business they didn’t really understand, it will be a huge relief to be 100% done with it. ryan and i are both looking forward to spending at least a few years at regular ol’ jobs, where someone else is accountable to the government, and all we do is work, get paid and go home and about our lives otherwise. we’ll revisit in a few years and see if we’re ready to try something else new. plus after years in front of a computer, ryan sure is enjoying getting out and doing some actual labour, he’s going to be in great shape by the end of the summer that’s for sure ( if not horribly sunburned, getting him to wear sunscreen is going to be the challenge )

i am dealing with going from a WAHM to a SAHM, which let me tell you, is quite the pay cut ! luckily i’m a whiz with a budget. and it’s pretty easy to live on a budget if you know how, but more then anything else, i miss getting my nails done. not because i’m particularly vain, but because i am a compulsive nail and cuticle picker/chewer. acrylic nails actually physically stopped me from doing it ( ryan didn’t get that until i finally explained it to him a few months ago, he thought it was more of a mental, oh my nails look nice so i won’t pick them, thing ) because acrylic nails are so thick they are useless for picking at my cuticles and keep me from being able to chew as well ( literally to thick for me to be able to reach my cuticles to chew )  and as it is i just can’t stop myself. i mean it’s crazy. i quit smoking cold turkey 8 years ago, but this……nope.

so, oh how i miss them. but i’m working on a a new, more  budget conscious solution, but we’ll see if it goes anywhere or not.

i entered the illustrious third trimester while i wasn’t looking, seems crazy, but i knew it was true, when the energy i was enjoying so much from the second trimester faded into a overwhelming need to lay down in the afternoon ( again ) and it became literally impossible to sleep in any kind of comfort. sleep is now an act in futility mostly involving trying to be somewhat comfortable and endless trips to the bathroom.

two days until my birthday.

well, inspired by ashley, i did finally go through the last two years worth of pictures and pick out the ones to have printed. and while i was doing it, and it was going pretty fast, i thought to myself “hey, this isn’t so bad, why didn’t i do this sooner” but that was while i was just selecting pictures, and still sitting on the fence about my laziness as far as red eye was concerned. see we have this camera, that unfortunately we love, that has a serious design flaw ( sony even admitted it is a design flaw eventually ) something about where the flash is mounted almost guarantees red eye. natural light, likely no problems, beautiful pictures. but man, so much red eye. and oh my god i hate fixing red eye in pictures bad enough one at a time, but attempting to go through almost 400 pictures and fix it……bah. so, i was undecided for a while, maybe i’ll just leave them, red eye is better then no pictures at all. but then i admitted to myself that i’ll be annoyed when i drop the 80$ and then 3/4 of the pictures aren’t as good as they could have been. so i put in about 2 hours the other night and got maybe a quarter of the way through. fun.

i am hoping today is the turning point weather wise. most of the snow should be gone by the weekend, and we’re supposed to stay around average temps, which sure would be nice for the long weekend. lots of spring/easter baking and crafts planned, even if it’s snowy. dinner with my dad, dinner with my mom, lunch with ryan’s mom. busy weekend.

i have approximately 10 more weeks to go. i feel like it’s going to go fast. especially once the weather turns. and i have olivia’s birthday to plan and be ready for too. i am definitely starting to feel that third trimester exhaustion. nothing like being ready for bed at 9pm ! and next week i turn 34. crazy. my dad always gives me money for my birthday, always has, probably always will. this year i have big plans for a few hours to myself, a pedi and a haircut. i haven’t had a hair cut in well over a year, and i can’t see ( let alone reach ) my toes anymore so a pedi is definitely in order. i am very much looking forward to it.

well, good old “spring” is upon us. saturday we woke up to a light snow covering, which did melt off quickly, but although none of it stayed on the ground, it continued to snow and gale the entire day.  which brings us to sunday, sunny and beautiful, the older girls spent a good part of the day outside ( with no coats ) playing with the soccer ball, hanging with the chickens, i saw some hula hooping and some skipping as well. good thing they took advantage. because now we’re in a full on winter storm. none of this melt off stuff, it’s coming down and staying on the ground. and it’s supposed to keep coming for at least the next 24 hours. sweet.

surprisingly the buses still ran, so both sidney and olivia are off to school, and hannah is down for the day with a mystery fever, so it’s a quiet day around here for me. hannah is in day two of said mystery fever. no other symptoms, but it’s a persistent fever, that has her pretty miserable. so she’s in my bed, watching some blue’s clues. and if she still has it tomorrow i’ll call our doctor.

so i guess i’ll spend my day cleaning, possibly baking….but our freezer is full to the brim since ryan and i spent our last day before his new job started making muffins and cookies and brownies to freeze for his lunches. and then i made my first batch of bread by hand ( our favorite recipe, which makes three loaves, is too big for the kitchen aid ) and i definitely need to work on my kneading technique, but it came out pretty good for a first attempt. so any baking i do today will have to be for the here and now.

maybe i’ll finish off the baby blanket, i kind of stalled on it, but my grandma was by for a visit yesterday, and she’s knitting socks for the girls and wanted to measure feet, and i was re-inspired i guess. plus she showed me how to measure it properly ( i’m trying to make it square ) and there isn’t much to go.

and i was inspired my ashley to finally get together a cd of pictures to print for albums. the last time i had some done, hannah was 10 months old. hahaha. it’s fun going through all the old pictures though, i’m up to june 2008 now so i’m getting there. so maybe i’ll finish that off today as well. totally unrelated, but looking at old pictures made me miss our old house. i wish i could have picked it up and moved it out here. don’t get me wrong, there were times i loathed that old victorian, but it was getting so much closer to being “done” and looking so nice. staring over again sucks. and more snow isn’t getting me any closer to being able to start painting here since i won’t start until i can open the house up for ventilation.

lots to do, as always, but i think i’ll start with checking on the poor hannah bun.