Is there really any joy in the moving process other than the finished result? In my opinion: NO THERE IS NOT!!
A few weeks ago I made the difficult decision to go ahead and quit my job and get us moved much earlier than I had anticipated. I had hoped to be up here until May. You know, when I could have a garage sale and sell off the crap we don't want, take our time to move stuff to Newburgh and take our time getting the house down there cleaned out.
Things were moving along ok......until I started trekking back and forth each weekend with our 3 yr old in tow. It was the weekend she woke up with vomit at both ends of her bed and we didn't know she'd been sick in the night. After waiting for the 3 loads of laundry with her bedsheets and clothing in it to be done we set out. Before pulling out of the driveway I looked back in my rearview mirror at her and saw huge tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't see me, she was looking out the window at her daddy and was crushed we were leaving. Once on our way I tried to get snacks for her and she wasn't eating. Not a good sign. And sure enough at the 2.5 hour mark she erupted again. That sealed the deal. I was done. No more. If it was just me going back and forth every single weekend I could do this no problem. But Rachel? No. The 8 hours per weekend in the car, the constant uprooting of her routine then adjusting to each house over and over again was more than I could bear to watch her go through. That Monday afternoon I scheduled time with my boss and burst into tears to tell her I was leaving.
The more I looked at this situation as a mom instead of just as myself I saw how this just wasn't going to work. I know, it's only been 2 weeks, but I can't do this to her anymore. So the plans are set. My last day at work is January 31. Rachel will be starting a new school on Monday afternoon and I'm actually very excited. We've chosen to try out the Montessori school down there. It just so happened Geri had spare time and visited the school for a few hours to observe and ask questions for us. She found out they were having an open house this past Saturday while I was there. The teachers already knew our situation and our names and that was so nice. We watched the video they provided to learn what exactly a Montessori school is. If you don't know and you have small kids, check it out. The program is REALLY different but very interesting. Something I think that will work with Rachel very well.
My biggest concern was that they begin taking children at age 3, but they need to be potty trained. While we are finally making headway we aren't there yet. They said they don't have enough students and they would be willing to work with us on it. Then I saw the pricing. It's a few hundred dollars less than what we're paying up here at the Goddard school. Considering it was really our only option on short notice we were elated the cards lined up as nicely as they did. I called the school yesterday and enrolled her then mailed in her application. They got it today and she's all set! Monday, February 3rd we'll go in during the afternoon and go through an assessment process then Tuesday she's spending the day there. I know she'll do just fine and she'll like the program.
This past weekend was thankfully a long one. (I took an extra day due to weather and just generally not wanting to make the drive back again). During this weekend we got lots done at the house and Rachel has done a phenomenal job with potty training progress. We bought a new toilet set that has both and adult and a child seat so we don't keep having to remove it. We also got a new stool and I think she likes the set up. We bought training pants and while we were there she kind of got the hang of it. In just the past couple of days she's been pretty vocal about telling me her diaper is soiled or wet. She finally understands the difference and at one point told me she was poopy and "You need to change me." Yeah. Another reason to bump up the move. If we're in one place and she doesn't have to keep adjusting to everything, hopefully she'll get over this last little hump and be done!
On Saturday evening we went to a restaurant for Aunt Cindy's boyfriend's birthday. I won't lie: we typically don't go out to eat often. 1. It's really hard with a child 2. It's expensive 3. We just don't go out much. She smelled like she was soiled so I took her to the restroom and just for funsies set her on the toilet and told her she could try to potty. Low and behold.....our first BM was had and it was in public in an unfamiliar restroom! So my hope is once she gets this potty business under control she won't be so backwards about doing #2. A lot of kids can get the potty down but not the BM. C'mon. I've been wanting her to catch on to potty training for 2 years. Now that she kind of needs to for school, let's get this party ended, shall we?! Perhaps it's the incentive of candy and money that I've been offering her? At this point I'm ready to buy her a car if it means we're done with diapering. We're so close!
For Christmas this year she got a puzzle from her Aunt Heather. At first she really struggled with it. Then we came back home and my mom got her a Disney Princess puzzle she also initially struggled with. They're both floor puzzles with big pieces but at first she seemed to have trouble connecting the colors and patterns. I sat with her a few times with the Princess puzzle and she caught on and can now put it together on her own. (I've noticed she'll put it together on her own if I'm not in the room. If I'm in the room, she whines and gets frustrated so I'll help her). She can also do the puzzle Aunt Heather got her all by herself as well!
A few cute stories:
On our way to Newburgh this past weekend she pointed to a billboard that had Gisele Bündchen on it and she said, "Look mommy, that's you!" Ah.....who wouldn't be flattered?
This morning I had rollers in my hair and got her breakfast made then left the room to finish getting ready. When I came back in she said, "Oh mommy, you're pretty!"
She REALLY wants to be able to do her own buttons. We have one pajama set that has buttons she can do, but she's really had to work at it. Another set has smaller buttons and she struggles. She's slowly getting the hang of it. So each night when those are the pajamas we wear I wait patiently to see if she'll get it or if she'll get frustrated. More often than not her shirt is buttoned crooked but I don't care. She did it on her own and I want her to feel accomplished! She tells me as we get dressed, "I want to do the bundts!"
She's quite the conversationalist. We have some conversations I know I'm a part of because I'm saying words, but I have no idea what we're talking about. She enjoys telling me, "Um, I don't think so" about lots of things.
Me: "We're going to need to go to bed soon
Her: "Um, I don't think so."
Me: "I'm going to go to the restroom"
Her: "Um, I don't think so."
Never rude or sarcastic, she really means it.
Oh....another thing. The singing. Melt my heart it's the sweetest thing. Sometimes I'll play the kid station on Pandora or if we're watching a movie she's seen several times, like Aladdin, I can softly hear her trying to sing along even though she doesn't quite know the words. But it's so sweet! She loves to sing. This evening in the bathtub I heard her rendition of Old MacDonald:
"Oh Mac.....(mumbling) a Farm. EE-EE-Aye Aye-Oh. With a moo moo there and a moo moo there Old Mac.....(mumbling) a Farm. EE-EE-Aye Aye-Oh.
The alphabet is another cute one. She's got some of the sounds down and she definitely has the melody, but she doesn't quite have the letters yet.
I am really having a tough time around all this cuteness. I have a sweet angel one moment and the next I've got a demon spawn that sounds/acts/looks nothing like my daughter. She's screaming and throwing fits when I drop her off at school and she's fighting me on everything: eating dinner. Taking a bath. Going to bed. Playing with toys. Watching a show. Even if I'm giving her everything she's asking for I can't do it right or fast enough. I know it's hard for her to be up here right now. But Sweet Lord Almighty I am having trouble working all day then having a bi-polar mini human butter me up and then whine and cry at me all night.
Knowing this is temporary and that I'll soon have all of this worked through and calmed down does help. I know this is for the best. A part of me wishes this would hurry up and happen while the other part of me is in a panic because there are so many dominos to line up in the right order.
A few weeks ago I made the difficult decision to go ahead and quit my job and get us moved much earlier than I had anticipated. I had hoped to be up here until May. You know, when I could have a garage sale and sell off the crap we don't want, take our time to move stuff to Newburgh and take our time getting the house down there cleaned out.
Things were moving along ok......until I started trekking back and forth each weekend with our 3 yr old in tow. It was the weekend she woke up with vomit at both ends of her bed and we didn't know she'd been sick in the night. After waiting for the 3 loads of laundry with her bedsheets and clothing in it to be done we set out. Before pulling out of the driveway I looked back in my rearview mirror at her and saw huge tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't see me, she was looking out the window at her daddy and was crushed we were leaving. Once on our way I tried to get snacks for her and she wasn't eating. Not a good sign. And sure enough at the 2.5 hour mark she erupted again. That sealed the deal. I was done. No more. If it was just me going back and forth every single weekend I could do this no problem. But Rachel? No. The 8 hours per weekend in the car, the constant uprooting of her routine then adjusting to each house over and over again was more than I could bear to watch her go through. That Monday afternoon I scheduled time with my boss and burst into tears to tell her I was leaving.
The more I looked at this situation as a mom instead of just as myself I saw how this just wasn't going to work. I know, it's only been 2 weeks, but I can't do this to her anymore. So the plans are set. My last day at work is January 31. Rachel will be starting a new school on Monday afternoon and I'm actually very excited. We've chosen to try out the Montessori school down there. It just so happened Geri had spare time and visited the school for a few hours to observe and ask questions for us. She found out they were having an open house this past Saturday while I was there. The teachers already knew our situation and our names and that was so nice. We watched the video they provided to learn what exactly a Montessori school is. If you don't know and you have small kids, check it out. The program is REALLY different but very interesting. Something I think that will work with Rachel very well.
My biggest concern was that they begin taking children at age 3, but they need to be potty trained. While we are finally making headway we aren't there yet. They said they don't have enough students and they would be willing to work with us on it. Then I saw the pricing. It's a few hundred dollars less than what we're paying up here at the Goddard school. Considering it was really our only option on short notice we were elated the cards lined up as nicely as they did. I called the school yesterday and enrolled her then mailed in her application. They got it today and she's all set! Monday, February 3rd we'll go in during the afternoon and go through an assessment process then Tuesday she's spending the day there. I know she'll do just fine and she'll like the program.
This past weekend was thankfully a long one. (I took an extra day due to weather and just generally not wanting to make the drive back again). During this weekend we got lots done at the house and Rachel has done a phenomenal job with potty training progress. We bought a new toilet set that has both and adult and a child seat so we don't keep having to remove it. We also got a new stool and I think she likes the set up. We bought training pants and while we were there she kind of got the hang of it. In just the past couple of days she's been pretty vocal about telling me her diaper is soiled or wet. She finally understands the difference and at one point told me she was poopy and "You need to change me." Yeah. Another reason to bump up the move. If we're in one place and she doesn't have to keep adjusting to everything, hopefully she'll get over this last little hump and be done!
On Saturday evening we went to a restaurant for Aunt Cindy's boyfriend's birthday. I won't lie: we typically don't go out to eat often. 1. It's really hard with a child 2. It's expensive 3. We just don't go out much. She smelled like she was soiled so I took her to the restroom and just for funsies set her on the toilet and told her she could try to potty. Low and behold.....our first BM was had and it was in public in an unfamiliar restroom! So my hope is once she gets this potty business under control she won't be so backwards about doing #2. A lot of kids can get the potty down but not the BM. C'mon. I've been wanting her to catch on to potty training for 2 years. Now that she kind of needs to for school, let's get this party ended, shall we?! Perhaps it's the incentive of candy and money that I've been offering her? At this point I'm ready to buy her a car if it means we're done with diapering. We're so close!
For Christmas this year she got a puzzle from her Aunt Heather. At first she really struggled with it. Then we came back home and my mom got her a Disney Princess puzzle she also initially struggled with. They're both floor puzzles with big pieces but at first she seemed to have trouble connecting the colors and patterns. I sat with her a few times with the Princess puzzle and she caught on and can now put it together on her own. (I've noticed she'll put it together on her own if I'm not in the room. If I'm in the room, she whines and gets frustrated so I'll help her). She can also do the puzzle Aunt Heather got her all by herself as well!
A few cute stories:
On our way to Newburgh this past weekend she pointed to a billboard that had Gisele Bündchen on it and she said, "Look mommy, that's you!" Ah.....who wouldn't be flattered?
This morning I had rollers in my hair and got her breakfast made then left the room to finish getting ready. When I came back in she said, "Oh mommy, you're pretty!"
She REALLY wants to be able to do her own buttons. We have one pajama set that has buttons she can do, but she's really had to work at it. Another set has smaller buttons and she struggles. She's slowly getting the hang of it. So each night when those are the pajamas we wear I wait patiently to see if she'll get it or if she'll get frustrated. More often than not her shirt is buttoned crooked but I don't care. She did it on her own and I want her to feel accomplished! She tells me as we get dressed, "I want to do the bundts!"
She's quite the conversationalist. We have some conversations I know I'm a part of because I'm saying words, but I have no idea what we're talking about. She enjoys telling me, "Um, I don't think so" about lots of things.
Me: "We're going to need to go to bed soon
Her: "Um, I don't think so."
Me: "I'm going to go to the restroom"
Her: "Um, I don't think so."
Never rude or sarcastic, she really means it.
Oh....another thing. The singing. Melt my heart it's the sweetest thing. Sometimes I'll play the kid station on Pandora or if we're watching a movie she's seen several times, like Aladdin, I can softly hear her trying to sing along even though she doesn't quite know the words. But it's so sweet! She loves to sing. This evening in the bathtub I heard her rendition of Old MacDonald:
"Oh Mac.....(mumbling) a Farm. EE-EE-Aye Aye-Oh. With a moo moo there and a moo moo there Old Mac.....(mumbling) a Farm. EE-EE-Aye Aye-Oh.
The alphabet is another cute one. She's got some of the sounds down and she definitely has the melody, but she doesn't quite have the letters yet.
I am really having a tough time around all this cuteness. I have a sweet angel one moment and the next I've got a demon spawn that sounds/acts/looks nothing like my daughter. She's screaming and throwing fits when I drop her off at school and she's fighting me on everything: eating dinner. Taking a bath. Going to bed. Playing with toys. Watching a show. Even if I'm giving her everything she's asking for I can't do it right or fast enough. I know it's hard for her to be up here right now. But Sweet Lord Almighty I am having trouble working all day then having a bi-polar mini human butter me up and then whine and cry at me all night.
Knowing this is temporary and that I'll soon have all of this worked through and calmed down does help. I know this is for the best. A part of me wishes this would hurry up and happen while the other part of me is in a panic because there are so many dominos to line up in the right order.
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