Hello! Long time no see!

As soon as I started college again, my childcare days had to slow down. So did my blogging. The semester's long over and I am now halfway through my summer mission trip, working in children's camps all summer!

It's been an amazing time and if you want to read all about it, check out my mission blog!

sendmejamie.blogspot.com

Orientation and Sick Day?

Ive been really busy! I've missed posting about the past 2 weeks mostly because of school starting. I'm at Winthrop and its really awesome! The Friday before last was orientation. And as excited as EL was to be at college. He quickly figured out that he was going to do a lot of walking so that wasn't really fun. However he was the perfect child all day. He was very well behaved even though I could tell he was really bored. His true test though, was when I had to spend an hour or more trying to register for the classes I needed. I promised to take him for ice cream for being so good but his mother picked him up before I had the chance. So instead she made sure he got his reward.

After putting him through that I was really determined that we would have fun this past Friday. Unfortunately something happened. I had been running around all week without a break and whether it was stress or just a migraine, I don't know. But just a few hours into the day I started getting a headache. We played his video game and I tried to remain upbeat but it just wasn't happening. The headache turned to nausea and I got pretty sick. I know EL wasn't happy with this new development and though I tried my hardest to stay up, I fell asleep about 2 hours before the end of the day while watching tv with EL.

I'm not happy about that and I have to say that the is the first time I've ever gotten sick while sitting. To be honest I wasn't sure what to do. I certainly didn't want to call his mom at work. I don't think his mother was too upset about it since I told her. But I'm really disappointed with myself and I know I'm really going to have to make up for it. So I'm gonna come up with an activity of epic proportions for this coming friday. I also will most likely have to make up for my lack of work ethic on that video game.

So orientation day was alright. Last Friday, not so much. But I'm just going to look ahead and maybe come up with a plan in case something like that happens again.

New Years Eve

I did babysit for New Years Eve for another Mom. I didn't get her permission to post about the job but I will say that it was a bit...crazy...hectic if you will. But ultimately it was alright. This Friday I have my college orientation and E.L. is coming with me to that since I won't be able to go to his house. I won't get to do much with him but hopefully it will all go well. Happy New Year everyone!

Boys will be boys...

Or so I've heard. I have to admit I don't have nearly as much drama with boys as I do with girls. Thursday I sat for E.L. and we started out playing a video game that he got for Christmas. He didn't want to stop but just as I was about to put my foot down, the game did it for me when the extension doohickey thing (real technical...) ran out of batteries. Hehe. "Aww what a shame, guess we'll have to wait for your Mom to get home to replace the batteries!...Do it myself? Oh no I don't think I should mess with it...yeah I know guess we'll have to wait til next time." ^__^

I took E.L. to eat at a resaurant. On our way out of the house we saw some friends of his from the neighborhood. I asked who they were and he just got...sour. E.L. is always hyper. I cn handle hyper. But throughout the ride to the restaurant and through the meal he had a horrible attitude! E.L. never has an attitude! Where'd that come from? Everything I said to him seemed to be offensive. The same food he always gets was messed up in some way and he pouted and whined through the meal. So I told him we weren't moving til he told me what was up.

Turns out one of those kids isn't so friendly to him. In fact I'd go on to say he's somewhat of a bully sometimes. Again no details because I basically promised confidentiality. However when we got home, E.L. wanted to go play with his friends. Guess who was there? I actually had a good talk with this kid while E.L. played with the younger of the two. and he more or less told me how it is for him at school. The pattern is obvious. He gets teased at school, he comes home and channels it to someone else. I sat there on a bench while they played and aside from one little comment that I quickly nipped in the bud, everything went smoothly. Still it's something to watch out for. That particular child went back inside after about twenty minutes.

I've learned from my own bullied history that most bullies have their own set of problems. Kids just aren't naturally bad. There's always a cause for bad behavior. Just like E.L.'s pent up anger at this kid caused him to have an attitude. Just like that child's pent up anger from being picked on at school comes out at another in his neighborhood. It's sad but that's how it's always been. It's the way of human nature. But that doesn't make it right. It's not my business, but that's never stopped me from having an opinion :) That's just my own take on it but enough of that.

After they played for an hour or two I could see both of their faces turning pink from the cold. (It wasn't bad but it was chilly.) So I told E.L. we had to go home and the other boys went back to their house. It worked out because as soon as he'd gotten settled in a chair his Mother came home. She's aware of the situation of course and that alone made me feel better.  I love taking care of E.L. and I think he's an awesome kid. Next week he's going to be with me during my college orientation. I actually think he'll get a kick out of 'being at college' and I'll be sure to pump him up. Goodness knows I'm already jumping out of my seat from excitement myself.

That's all for now, God bless you all and have a great New Year!

Christmas Shopping!!!

Not me! Nope, this past Thursday E.L. shopped for his Mother! When I went to thir house Thursday I didn't really have a plan. At all. Not very smart of me. But since school is out it was a little different. He had no homework and it was perfectly okay to play games all day. BUT: I got to thinking...about shopping...and well...it was better than playing on the ipad...

So I hatched a master plan. I mentioned that we should really think about what he was getting his Mom for Christmas. Oh I know! Let's go Christmas shopping!!! He tried to act too cool for shopping but please, who doesn't like to spend money? So off we went to the store. I wanted to get him excited so I told him he could spend $5 dollars and when he asked to hold it (I didn't have cash) I let him carry the credit card instead. When we finally had the perfect gift, I let him take it to the cash register, hand it to the cashier and swipe. the. card. Well if that didn't instill excitement. Of course now I've created a monster but it was worth it! We then went to another store for wrapping paper and some extra goodies to go along with the gift. Again he got to swipe the card.

E.L. was really well behaved. This is probably because at the beginning of the day I proved to him that I knew Santa by showing him the number in my phone. He's convinced, and well he should be. But I promised that if he was good then we would go to McDonalds for ice cream. So we did.

We got back to the house and hurried inside with the goods and I attempted to show E.L. how to wrap presents. Let's just say his Mother will have fun getting into her gifts. We wrapped everything separately so that she had 3 gifts under the tree. After that we spent the rest of our time earning coins for Club Penguin's Coins For Change.

E.L.'s Mother also got me a Christmas present! Gift cards to my two favorite stores! (Books A Million and Michaels. Just in case you ever think I deserve a little present ^_^) Rest assured they will most likely not make it to the end of December...or even to Christmas!

I probably won't be posting again until January so everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!



Oh and btw. We survived...guess the Mayan's got it wrong...perish the thought!

The Big Sister Blues

So a child that I have in AWANAS has recently become a big sister! So exciting! However, being an only child for roughly 8 years has gotten her used to being the center of attention. But now...dun dun dun...enter the new baby brother! At first she was fine, proudly proclaiming her big sister status but after 6 months, I can see the bitter baby brother big sister blues coming out. So when she said something to me about it this past Sunday, we had a little sit down and chat meeting.

Here's what I told her:
1) Mommy and Daddy don't love the new baby more than you. They love you both equally.
2)Mommy and Daddy have to pay extra attention to the new baby because babies have to be taken care fo more than big kids.
3) If you feel left out, ask your Mommy if you can help with the baby.
4) You are not a baby. You are a big girl and you can do lots of things your baby brother can't. Your Mommy and Daddy take you to all your activities and stay with you through all of them, so they are definitely still paying attention to you.
5) Lastly, you can show your Mommy and Daddy what a big girl you are by doing things without being asked and helping them by not complaining when things don't go your way. That will be a big help to them and you will be showing them that you are not a baby and can be a big girl. (Sometimes I fail to follow my own advice >.>)

All in all I think the conversation went well. But yeah, I wonder if there's anything more I can say in the future...I mean I'm a walking talking dictionary of cliches...Do you have something you say to the big sibling when the get the baby blues? Let me know.

Christmas, Coins, and The Polar Express

So today was Polar Express day. But first: The REAL Christmas story.

E.L. doesn't like to read, I've mentioned that before. But most of the time, once he's settled down he'll allow someone to read to him. Today I read him the Christmas story, stopping every few verses for commentary. I must stop, though and say this:

God is amazing. Really He just is. I can't even begin to express the joy I feel when reading the story of Christ's birth. From the moment He was born, He was destined to die...and that just blows my mind. I am so in love with God when I read what He did for me. Because if it had been up to me, if I'd only one son in the world, I wouldn't be able to do what He did. But I'm human, and He's God.

Anyway, we read The Story. Some parts, E.L. couldn't quite understand. Especially when I explained that Jesus was put in a feeding trough (I believe my words were: food bucket) but overall I think he really liked it.

Then we ate lunch: Chicken nuggets. And we played on Club Penguin. Club Penguin has a charity ever Christmas where kids donate virtual coins to help real charities around the world. I talked to E.L. about kids around the world and even nearby that don't always get Christmas presents. They may not get to go to school. They may not have enough to eat, and they may not even have a place to sleep at night. When it all sank in he was set and ready to donate his coins. He was really proud of himself as he donated coins to build safe places, provide medical help, and protect the earth.

Here's a quote from last year's coins for change:

As a result of Coins For Change 2011, Disney Online Studios will donate

$640,000 USD to fund medical clinics, health care, surgical treatments and nutrition programs.

$620,000 USD for schools, libraries, playgrounds, education programs and support, and a group home.

$740,000 USD to support wetlands, rainforests and wildlife conservation programs.

Pretty cool, huh?

Now, for the main event: The Polar Express! I LOVE The Polar Express! Absolutely LOVE it! From the time I was in Kindergarten it has been a personal tradition to read The Polar Express at Christmas time. And when the movie came out? Well of course I watched it!

When E.L.'s Mom gave me an itunes card for my birthday it sat in my account for a month until this week when I bought The Polar Express movie! Yay! A worthy investment I'm sure.

As always the fort went up in his bunk bed and we made a snack mix of sorts from mini marshmallows, m&ms and rainbow goldfish. Hot Chocolate was also had! (cups with lids, cups with lids)

Of course I’ve seen it a million times and could quote the movie by heart. E.L. has also seen it once but he still enjoyed it and had a lot of fun watching it. If you haven't watched The Polar Express movie (or read the book for that matter) then there's no time like the present!