Trick and Treat

I'll answer Lynn's call to check in. Congratulations on the new house. Here's a rundown of what's happening in Pennsylvania:

Last Thursday, Jacob got in a fight at school. He and a boy named Kyle were pushing and shoving to be first in line to get to class (that's a first!). Apparently, Jacob had him pinned on the ground and was punching him so the race to class quickly turned into an all fight. He's five, mind you. The punishment? He and Kyle have to sit alone for snack and can't go to recess with the class.

Brian called me on Thursday soon after the teacher talked to him. I was shocked. My sweet little boy could very well turn into a bully. What's worse is that I have no idea what to do about it. I just told him I loved him and asked if he wanted to talk about it. I'm going to keep telling him he can tell me anything and keep asking him if he wants to talk. Maybe that will make a difference and one day he will want to talk.

The boys went trick-or-treating Wednesday night and today (Sunday) there's a parade for the elementary school downtown. The kids are all going as construction workers and as you can tell, Jacob was NOT a construction worker for Halloween. This is a problem since the parade is a Halloween parade and he can't wear his costume! I can't believe this is just the beginning!

William, of course, will be Spiderman as he watches the unhappy construction workers parade down Main St. At least we all get hot dogs after it's over!

Treat: I got a new job at a different newspaper about 40 minutes the opposite direction. It's for an independently-owned newspaper and they just made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

So, that's it for now. Oh, we lost our first football game Friday night to our backyard rival Marian (see olympianfootball.com for highlights). But, we're still in the running for a championship! Go Thorpe!

We did it!! We actually MOVED!!

Things are coming together (sort of). My dining room is covered with stuff I unpacked tonight and now I just want to COLLAPSE. Chris is back in Dallas again, and will be gone for the next 3 weeks (home on weekends, though) and football is ending soon. ONE week left!! It's time to start gearing up for new routines and settling in for the winter. (shiver)

Hope all is well with everyone...I've been overwhelmed and "absent", but want to get back into the swing of things. Having most of cheer and football "behind" us should lighten the load...although Maddie's Regional Competition won't be until the weekend after Thanksgiving, so it isn't QUITE over yet...

So how's everybody doin?? How about a reply "roll call"? Just check in. ;o)

He's Five Years Old

Jacob is a smart little boy. We always suspected that, but he’s already proven his intellectual prowess in that testing ground of all testing grounds — Kindergarten.

It started about a week ago. Mrs. Fannock, Jacob’s teacher, wrote a note in his MOOSE book (that’s an acronymn for Management Of Organizational Skills Everyday which calls for a separate post altogether) asking me if I signed the note. I wrote back the next day that I didn’t see any note. We exchanged another round of Q&A the next day and she called the house on Wednesday and asked Brian about the note.

Turns out Mrs. Fannock wrote a note on Friday explaining that Jacob had been terribly bad that day. He was spoken to three times by three different teachers; had his desk moved away from the other children; and got up anyway and pushed a child in the back.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the note was missing from his MOOSE book because he took it out, rolled it up into a ball and stuck it in his desk. Mrs. Fannock found it the day she talked to Brian.

That evening we talked to Jacob about what he did. He just stood there staring at me. He didn’t flinch when Brian told him Mrs. Fannock called. He didn’t seem to mind that if he gets in trouble again at school he can’t watch television for two days. He just stood there.

I’m hopeful that the lack of acknowledgement is a reflection of his age. He’s five. What the heck does he really know of deceit? He got caught. What does he really know of expressing regret?

If it’s any consolation, he’s been really good the past few days. He hasn’t hit his brother nearly as much as usual. I’m hoping the whole aggression thing is a phase he’ll grow out of.

Afterall, he’s being managed to the bone. The MOOSE thing sounds like a tool from General Electric’s Jack Welch. Jacob actually tells me he works all day and he’s tired. His world of trucks, playdough and swingsets is over.

Who wouldn’t be pissed and act out against THAT?