September and October

Welcome to the two busiest months of my life!  September was full of so many first I'm sure I'll forget some of them.

September 8th was Alexandria's first day of school.  She was nervous, I was nervous, Pat was depressed.  We were up early that morning drinking coffee and neither of us could fathom that our baby was in school.   At that point 5 years before she hadn't even been born and here she was going off by herself...  We all got ready for our day with Alex a mixture of nerves and excitement.  Grandma Martine came to see her off on her first day of school and that made Alex feel much better.  Alex's school is about 6 "city" blocks from us so obviously I drive her back and forth.  So off we went.  We got there before everyone else, because Mom is just that organized ;)  Alex found her locker and her chair all by herself.  She was so adorable in a cute pink mini dress and leggings (the pictures are on my computer that is crashed at the moment).  Like I said she was abnormally nervous and didn't want to sit down, she just wanted to stand by me.  Finally came the moment where the parents were given their last hugs and kicked out.  I was worried that Alex would protest and cry but she didn't.  I was worried that I would cry and protest but i held it together until I got back to Des' to pick up Joe.  He looked around very confused and said "Ally???"  "AAALLLLYYYYYYY??"  That made me cry!  But both Joe and I made it through the day.  And we were both happy to pick Alex up at 11:30.  She had 3 days of half days then went to full days.  So Tuesdays, Thursdays and 2ish Fridays a month Alex is in School and SHE LOVES IT!  She is best friends with everyone!  There are a couple of kids that she particularly likes, Layton, Hayden (girl), Amelia,  Jordy, Sage and Mason.  We always go to school 10-15 minutes early so she can play at the playground with her friends before the bell rings.  Of the many changes I've noticed it has been her automatic obedience, with her teacher anyways LOL.  There is a section of the playground that is too close to the road and can't be supervised very well so it is off limits and it is like there is an invisible fence because in the mornings Alex, Hayden, Amelia & Layton all chase Amelia's little brother and when he runs over to that part of the playground all 4 kids stop on a dime and start calling him back!  It is so cute and funny.  And when the bell rings for school to start, off Alex runs without even saying goodbye to grab her backpack and line up at the door, to wait to be let in.  I love the structure.  I love Mrs. McAllister, Alex's teacher.  I LOVE the apple tree!  The apple tree is a brilliant  disciplinary devise that is up in Alex's classroom.  There is a large tree on the wall with big leaves covering the top of the tree where 30 red apples sat on the first day.  Each of those apples have names on them, Alexandria is one of them.  On the green part of the tree there are good deeds, manners, general good things.  On the trunk/yellow part of the tree, there is not so great behaviour, interrupting, not using manner, not great stuff but nothing major.  On the ground/red part of the tree (cause apples are bad when on the ground LOL) there is fighting, hitting, swearing, things that are just plain bad.  When Pat and I looked at that tree we knew that it wouldn't take long for our little apple to fall from the branches.  Not because Alex is bad, but because the kids just doesn't listen!  Well we figured it would be the first day, but she surprised us and it wasn't until her 4th day, 1st full day, that her apple tumbled down to the trunk of the tree for interrupting Mrs. McAllister.  The funny thing was when I picked her up from school that day, innocent of her bad deeds, I asked her what she did at school that day.
"I didn't get my apple moved to the yellow part of the tree!"  Was the small reply from the back of the truck...
I really had a hard time not laughing my ass off.  She is really a sweet kid and even when she tries to lie she just can't pull it off.  So that was the one and only time that our little apple has slipped, she is WAY to aware of the humiliation of the process and I fully approve! 
She has changed in so many ways in the month and a half since school started.  She is more mature, more patient, more aware of others, listens a little better, and soaking up information and learning like a massive sponge!  Parent teacher interviews are this Thursday so we will know exactly how far she has come.

So since we all know I'm a little crazy and I really needed more things on my plate, we enrolled Alex in ballet and Girl Guides.  I was not so keen on the ballet, only because I don't think it promotes the kind of qualities that I think our daughter should possess.  But Alex LOVES it and is really good at it.  She has been asking for a year to go back in dance, so Pat and I agreed with a couple of provisions.  She would not participate in the yearly dance recital, she had to pay attention when she was there, and she didn't get it in her head to become a ballerina.  So Mondays is dance and even though I dislike a lot of the people there, women who put a pull face of makeup on their 2 year olds and give their 1 year old coffee, I go there and sit and try to ignore most of what I hear and see. 

Now Girl Guides is another story.  I think they will help teach a lot of the values that Pat and I try to teach and plus I think it is a whole different group of people that Alex can be friends with.  Again she LOVES it.  She has sold cookies door to door and helped clean up a local park.  Both times she was happy and enthusiastic about helping and doing good deeds.  Her weekly meetings are on Wednesday nights, so another LONG day for Mom, with working in Calgary on Wednesdays.

I'm going to try try try to get at least one post a month in.  I'm starting to adjust to the schedule so it should get easier!  I HOPE!!