October

Hi.
Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t felt like blogging the past month. But, it’s time to get back on the horse, so to speak. Misty’s recent return to blogging combined with JD’s delightfulness reminded me that this is how I am keeping a record of JD’s childhood. So, let’s get to it.

While we all experienced great sorrow at the death of Daddy’s brother, there was also a good amount of rejoicing. Our faith teaches that Saints are the people who are in heaven now (rather than purgatory). I know it can be a little bit trite to talk about how a loved one is in heaven after their death but I feel in my heart that Nick is a saint in heaven. I have been very comforted when I ask Nick to intercede for me and our family during my prayers.
The funeral was a very emotional time. Both Daddy and his older brother spoke at the end of the mass and did their brother justice. They didn’t wipe away his few faults nor minimize his life experiences. The mass itself was very good. The pastor gave an excellent homily. The first thing he did was thank daddy’s parents for the love and care they gave to their youngest child… I really do have an amazing family. I’m currently reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Liseux. The pastor compared Nick’s life to hers and pointed out they died on the same day. She is a Doctor of the Church and is a very popular Saint so I thought my Catholic friends would like that.
When I first told JD that his uncle passed away, he cried for 10 minutes. Then he lied in bed for 20 minutes and didn’t want to talk about it. It nearly broke my heart. In the way of children he didn’t show anymore outward signs of grief until the funeral when he cried again. Both daddy and I are very proud of how he dealt with everything, the questions he asked, and his behavior in general.

We’ve been getting back into the swing of things. October has been a pretty busy month over all. Work, PTO meeting, craft night, karate class, Called to be a mom, house work, Sunday school, weddings, parties, St. George Parish Fair, Family Reunion etc…

I wish I could say our school issues have been resolved in the past month… Phillip and I have decided, basically, to ignore the issue. I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on my part in everything and Phillip and I have been talking a great deal on where we are willing to compromise and what is non-negotiable. But as before, the issue is an adult problem and JD says he likes school and he’s been doing well. We had our 9 weeks parent-teacher conference and there were no surprises. Yesterday they had their first field trip to the zoo; Daddy went as chaperon (I’m working on saving my leave for the winter break)

I have been teaching the Sunday school class. It’s been fun so far. The biggest advantage is that JD is learning how to share me. This can be really hard for a lot of kids but so far JD is doing well.

We acquired a number of kid’s books on different behavior issues from my mom (I read them when I was young) and JD loves them. He frequently chooses them as our bed time reading. We’ve been reading about table manners, whining, bad dreams, protecting yourself, and more. I highly recommend the books by Joy Wilt Berry to anyone who is interested. We have the old survival series for kids which I think has been revised into the A Fun and Easy Way Series (although our older series has a lot more books) and a few of the older “Let’s Talk about” books. I put the new set of Help Me Be Good books on our wish list.

Speaking of books I just recently saw a recommendation for a book Children Who Do Too Little I’m still working on obtaining a copy to read but the review I read talked about small children putting the silverware away. So we’ve added that to the chores JD does. Right now he just basically follows me around when I do chores and I either show him how or let him do the parts he can do. JD putting the silverware away while I empty the dishwasher worked out really well.
Last night he helped me make dinner. We had snap beans so he pulled up his step stool and I showed him how to snap the ends off. I was very impressed with how well he did. Another chore he has is to remind us to say prayer before we eat. He’s also doing very well at this chore too.

We are continuing to do our “Special Talk Time Book” before bed. I was getting a little frustrated though because I felt like he wasn’t paying attention when we do the bible reading. So the other night afterward I quizzed him a little and was very surprised at how well he paid attention. I think we need to work on him telling it back in his own words but I was pleased that he is paying attention.

We went to the Haunted Hike at the Bluebonnet swamp again this year. It was just as much fun as last year. It really is a nice event if you can go. They are doing it one more time this Friday. As of right now, JD is supposed to be a millipede for Halloween… we’ll see if that’s the final answer on Saturday.