Where The Heck Have I Been?

I know, it's been quite a while since I blogged. I don't have any one great reason, but I do have a lot of small ones that I won't get into here. It seems pointless. In a nutshell, I've been crazy busy.

You see, I've enrolled in school. I tried the college thing after I graduated high school, but it just wasn't for me. At least, not at that time. My dad passed away half way through my junior year of high school and at that time, I was really trying to just graduate high school alive. Anything beyond that was unclear and out of reach.

So at that time in my life, college wasn't in the cards. I tried to go to trade school at one point and was elated about that. But right before my program started, the school closed that particular schedule, which was the only schedule I could take. This left me feeling like a failure.

School was finally in my grasp, I could make something of myself. I could be around our social group and be proud that I had completed schooling and I was something. And then it was taken away. A normal person would've said "Well eff this" and enrolled in another school, but I was just drained. The process of even getting started at that point had just been too much and shortly after, I ended up pregnant with Roo.

The thing is, I've always had dreams. It's not like I've been a slacker. My ultimate dream was to go to school for photography (something I had already taken plenty of courses in, along with film) and travel with National Geographic writing about my experiences and photographing all of it for the magazine. Obviously this was my "If you could do anything in the world" dream. My second to that was to teach art or creative writing. It's always been in the back of my mind.

"You could be going to school right now, you know. That teaching thing isn't so far out of reach." my subconscious would say.

So now that I'm confident with Monster in school and the timing is right, it's off to school I go. When I graduate, if all goes according to plan, Roo will be starting kindergarten.

On top of my excitement over starting school, Monster is starting the evaluation processes for getting his 504 plan or IEP.

The funny thing is, the psychologist said that she didn't know what we're worried about because he's gifted.

Yes, gifted. The ADHD is there, but so is this... other thing. I've always known how smart he is. He surprises me daily with these little nuggets of  information that he's either retained or figured out for himself.

I've never considered myself particularly intelligent. I know I've got the whole common sense thing covered, but "book smarts" never came to me. As an adult, I know this has more to do with dyslexia and dyscalculia and teachers who are ill-equipped to teach this sort of brain, but the lack of confidence still lingers. So to hear that my son is gifted is quite the shock. For funsies, Jeep Man and I had Monster take an IQ test that's made for children ages 6-16. We know he's only five (and a half) but we figured he was close enough. People, he scored 130. On a test that he's not even supposed to be able to take yet. 1 freaking 30.

I'm positive that he gets this from his father. Jeep Man is one of the smartest people I know. He can figure out the mechanics of anything and have it taken apart and put back together, only learning the object as he goes.

Obviously this means that our decision to put him in Montessori school was a good one. He won't be limited to a curriculum that he's above just because of his age. Clearly he'll need intellectual stimulation and if he's reading on a second grade level, but stuck in a first grade routine, he'll be bored out of his mind. Bored children equal rowdy children.

He still doesn't know that he's got ADHD. We'll tell him when he's old enough to understand exactly what that entails. We also haven't told him about his giftedness (that's so not a word). We will, but only once we figure out exactly what it means for his education.

My life as of late has been a whirl-wind of activity. Appointments, school events, studying, gathering paper work for school plus the holidays coming. Oy.

So please, forgive my absence. I promise to come write about some of the funny that's gone on in these past few weeks as soon as I can get this laundry done... or maybe before. The cat is looking awfully comfortable on that pile and it'd just be rude to disturb her. ;-)

~ Dee

And Now The Halloween Post.

Well... I have no real great excuse for not posting in a few days. Mostly, life just got a bit on the nutso side. I'm sure everyone can relate. So I'm just now getting around to writing The Halloween Post.

Let me start by saying that Monster had two costumes this year. He goes to a Montessori school that doesn't allow children to wear traditional Halloween costumes on the big day. They do, however, encourage kids to dress as their favorite book character. The class also picks a theme to decorate a pumpkin, which they will take with them on their big Pumpkin/Book parade. It all sounded super adorable in the form the teacher sent home.

But then came the bummer. I had already gotten him one Halloween costume and as any mother on a budget knows, having to buy two costumes was going to super suck. So I got my creative wheels a' turnin' and came up with a simple and cute idea for a Cat in the Hat costume with the added bonus of being able to use part of it in his regular wardrobe.

This is not a book character.
(Photo Credit: www.connect06.com)

When the big day came, I happily agreed to help out in the classroom with Roo in tow. I brought The Big Camera to make sure I got some great pictures for Mrs. Kindergarten as well as myself.

Some parents obviously didn't read the paper that was sent home about this. Either that, or they didn't care (aside from special needs situations). Because there were more vampires, ninjas, princesses and Sponge Bob's than I could count gathered in the kid holding area. (I totally don't count comic book characters, I mean, hello, it's still a book.)

I understand people have a budget. I do, too. I also understand that kids are picky. But really, do you want to be known as the parent who doesn't abide by the rules? Trust me when I say that if you are that parent, your kid's teacher hates you.

Over all, Monster's class looked great. There were a few not in costume, a few who had on traditional Halloween costumes, and then there were some who's parents had gone all-out.

Monster thought he was in this parade.
(Photo Credit: menmedia.co.uk)

Something you should know about my son? He's a total charmer. There's no way to meet him and not fall in love. I don't know if it's the big green eyes or the blond curls or his just-so-perfectly-imperfect speech. So imagine how every single teacher in that place swooned, yes swooned when my adorable Monster came trotting through in his Cat in the Hat gear. And naturally, him being him, he ate.it.up. Politicians can't wave and smile like my kid. Every classroom that the parade passed, kids would point and shout "CAT IN THE HAT!" and Monster would just wave and smile like he was Mr. America. At one point, Mrs. Kindergarten even leaned over to inform me that everyone loves him. "First they see him and he's just so cute. And then he starts talking and it's all over. They just fall in love." she said. I just nodded and laughed.

Once the festivities were over and Roo was officially ready for a nap, we headed home and did nothing exciting for a few hours. When Monster got out of school though, it was time to carve his pumpkin. He wanted a Cat in the Hat pumpkin. I searched all over the interwebz for a pattern, and I just couldn't find one. So he settled for The Lorax.

This is not The Lorax. And yes,
this is the actual pumpkin. We
decided it was Dr. Robotnick from
Sonic the Hedgehog. 

Jeep Momma and I knew this would not be easy within minutes of trying to just cut the top off. The pumpkin was quite possibly the hardest thing to cut, ever. It took three of us (Jeep Momma, Jeep Papa and myself) and five, yes five knives to cut through this thing. And that was just for the top! Once I had it gutted (and shaved quite a few layers from the inside to try and make it cut-able) the fun really began.

Cutting this thing just wasn't going to happen. The rind of it was a quarter of an inch thick. Not the meat, the rind. So I stuck it in the oven to soften it some, which really only made it smell good while attempting to cut it. By the end of it, four people (Jeep Man had joined in at that point) had attempted and it was definitely not The Lorax. Like, at all. Also? We had a couple of bent pumpkin carving knifes to show for our handy work.

After I finally got the pumpkin at least carved, albeit ugly, it was time to get the kids ready for trick-or-treat. Monster's costume for the evening was Fred from Scooby Doo. He's got the hair for it, or he did at the time, so we trashed the ridiculous yellow wig the costume came with. (Side note: we only threw it away after I put it on Roo. Because I'm that ridiculous.) 

Our niece was Angelina Ballerina. For those not in the know, Angelina Ballerina is a mouse ballerina. They do not make costumes of her. So Jeep Sister, Jeep Momma and I came up with the costume ourselves using a tutu I made, leotard and tights Jeep Sister bought and a mouse ear and tail set Jeep Momma bought. She was adorable. Roo was the cutest zebra in the history of zebras. But I could be biased.

Trick or treating with these three was awesome. Jeep Papa decided Monster needed a flashlight, which he proceeded to shine in everyone's eyes and aim at bushes while saying "I sink dewe's a monstew in dose bushes." Roo ran away from any door that an older man answered, and refused to let people put the candy in her bag. She wanted to hold it first. Jeep Niece seemed bewildered. She knew what was going on, she knew what to do. It just looked like she thought the whole thing was a dream. Jeep Sister and I hung back while Jeep Man and Jeep Brother-In-Law took the kids door to door. Because that's what good daddies do.

And at the end of the night? I had in my life been more thrilled to throw a pumpkin in the trash.

~ Dee

PS. What were your kids for Halloween?

I'm Sorry, You Took Your Baby WHERE?

Today there will be two posts. I didn't get around to posting yesterday so originally, I planned on just doing my Halloween post today. But then I was watching The Today Show this morning. Savannah Guthrie was doing the hot topics with Star Jones and Donnie Deutsch and some other woman who's name I didn't care to get. They discussed a few topics that I only sort of listened to, and then came the kicker.

Kelsey Grammer and his wife, Kayte, took their three-month-old baby girl  to the orgy known as the Playboy Mansion Halloween Party.

I know. I was all "What. The. Ferk." when I heard it too. Thankfully all three of the professionals Savannah was interviewing thought it was ridiculous, too. They even offered to baby sit.

One Playmate tweeted “Why the f*** does Kelsey Grammer have a newborn baby at the Mansion Party!?” (Source: www.nydailynews.com) That's a very good question, Ms. Playmate.

Dumb and Dumber at the Playboy Mansion party.
(Photo credit: www.nydailynews.com)

According to Grammer, "Kayte is breastfeeding, and we do not have a nanny or trusted sitter at this time, so Faith goes everywhere with us."

Okay first let me say, it's awesome that Kayte is breastfeeding. Really, I commend her. I'm a huge advocate for nursing an I truly love seeing pro-breastfeeding celebrities. But that doesn't negate the fact that the last place an infant should be is the Playboy Halloween party. Really, I don't think an infant should ever be at the Playboy Mansion, least of all any of Hugh Hefner's parties.

I understand how difficult it is to have a social life when you're nursing. I nursed Roo for 13 months. And she hated bottles. So even if we did have someone to watch the kids so we could go out, we typically had a small window to do so. And we didn't go out for longer periods until she was older and would take pumped milk in a sippy cup. But when you decide to breastfeed, you know this. You go in understanding that there will be sacrifices. You may have to even drastically change your diet, like a few friends of mine have had to do. It's all part of the deal.

And listen here, Mr. Moron Grammer, taking your baby to a restaurant because she's nursing and you can't find a sitter is one thing. Taking them to a loud, crowded party with half naked people everywhere and a lot alcohol (and possibly hard drugs, you never know) is just unacceptable. Furthermore, doesn't your baby have a routine? A bed time? I have no idea how long the Grammer family stayed at the party, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't even start at a kid-friendly hour.

This is not Chuck E Cheese. Do not bring children here.
(Photo Credit: Google.com) 

And the no sitter excuse is just stupid. You know what real people do when they don't have a sitter? They don't go to the party. Shocker, I know. If the event is important, one parent will usually stay home with the kids. Because that's what good parents do. And being a good parent means putting the kids first. Not taking them to Playboy parties. 

I genuinely don't think I can express enough just how jacked this situation is. I've never been a big fan of Kelsey Grammer. I've never disliked him either. Until now. Because he is obviously just. that. stupid. 

~ Dee 

PS - What's something you gave up because you're a parent and that's what good parent's do?