It's Halloween!!!!

The house is quiet ... and it's Halloween morning.
I think it's fair to say I'm FAR more excited about Halloween than the rest of my family combined. But, really? I love love love Halloween.
Last night we had a little party with my nieces and today we have a fun trick or treating event in the morning and then Halloween at night.
I literally can't wait for my kids to get up and for the day to get going.
Yesterday, Doodle had "black and orange" day at school. Dumb. But whatever. And, I made all sorts of yummy stuff like bleeding eye balls and jello jigglers.
And today I've been up since 5 - mostly because I can't sleep. Partly because I needed to do my hair so I can transform into a princess.
I love today!!!

This and That

I know it's been awhile since I last posted. It's not that there's nothing going on in life. A big part of it is that with Doodle we've been working hard, and seeing doctors about his behaviour. That's all I want to say about it. Not because there's something horribly wrong with him (most reports are that he's a great little boy who's very smart) but because I think this is HIS story.
As much as I've blogged about my kids, I need to figure out what part is mine to tell and which part belongs to my child. Do I talk about it? Of course, but to publish online - even if this blog is somewhat anonymous - seems unfair.
And, quite honestly all of that stuff is taking up a ton of time.
The good news? Last week. Our week of a million appointments, is OVER!
And this week is Halloween. I love Halloween.

So do my kids!
Isn't this a great picture of Doodle? (He's not allowed to wear that mask outside)
This is the baby's witch costume. I'm not revealing her other costume till Halloween! As for the hat ... she has mastered the art of pulling it off, so the costume is kind of a bust.

Even Phat Daddy got in on the halloween action! I love this season!

Schools

I should start by saying that we're happy with Doodle's school. I love his teacher and the school environment is a good one.
But, I worry about Doodle.
So, of course I started looking at private schools.
It's such a facet of my personality that it drives me insane. I always feel like what I'm doing or what I've chosen isn't the best option that I over-research. But, sometimes that's good. And sometimes it isn't.
Whatever.
In this case it was. I had myself convinced that we had gone the completely wrong route school wise and that we should be doing private education. Really, it makes sense that I would feel this way. I attended private school growing up and have very fond memories of it. It felt like home to me.
And, honestly, I've been on private school tours over the years. But, it's one thing to look at private schools when you have a 2 year old and school seems like something a long ways away. It's a whole different ball game when you have your child in school and it suddenly matters what their behaviour policy is, how many kids are in a class and how closely the curriculum follows provincinal guidelines.
Phat Daddy didn't really want to go to the open house today. But, I think he was a little worried that if he didn't go I'd convince myself that we should be going this route and pull Doodle out of school without much consultation.
I sometimes roll that way. Though I try not to.
Sooooo ... off we went as a happy family.
I didn't bother switching my every day purse to a designer purse. I didn't care that Doodle wasn't colour coordinated.
What happened today surprised me.
As we walked through the school and we saw the lovely classrooms, listened to the presentations on their learning style and met with teachers something dawned on me. We're happy.
It's been a rough transition to jk some days. It breaks my heart when Doodles has a rough day. But, I love his teacher. I love that I'm getting to know other parents. I love that when we go on an evening walk we walk past his school and he is so proud of it.
Leaving the school today I felt like we've made a great school decision and that this place is the right place for our child. I know there will be challenges. But, I'm learning that sometimes it's not about life being perfect, it's about rising to the challenge and trusting your gut.

Oil, Lube, Filter and Lecture?

Image via WikipediaI don't mind going to get the oil changed on our van.
I don't know a ton about car maintenance, but what I do know is that getting regular oil changes is extremely important. I also know that right now I'm home with the kids, Doodle thinks going to get the oil changed is fun, and I don't think it's necessary for Phat Daddy to always have that responsibility.
So, when the oil light flashed on the van we talked about how we should get the oil changed. We let that light blink for about a week and since this afternoon was a quiet one I thought it would be a fun thing to do.
Holy crap.
The guy changing the oil felt the need to lecture me.
Apparently it had been about 9,000 km since our last oil change. Apparently that is bad. And, apparently our oil was black. Big deal. Really. When he started waving the oil stick around to demonstrate my bad car maintaining I rolled up my windows. I think he took it a little personally.
He also took it personally when I declined the free newspaper.
And then when I wasn't sure how to make my lights flash I thought he was going to lose it. Seriously. I had a screaming child and a reallly talkative 4 year old and he was trying to teach me to use my van lights. (they are on automatic).
It was a fiasco.
And then ... then he started to bring things for me to inspect. He was pulling things out of my van hood to look at. I drew the line at the dusty air filter.
He didn't really like it when I said that I'm allergic to dust so I didn't need to see it.
I finally just asked him to stop taking my van apart, just change the oil and I was good.
I am not sure who was more annoyed!
Finally we finished. He kindly gave me a list of all the things I need done on my van.
The funniest part of all. At the end he gave me this really nice gift. It was a tire gauge thingy. And, he said "I'm sure you don't know how to use this, but if you ever want to learn just let me know."
oookay.

Seriously

When I came home yesterday from a morning out someone was parked in my parking spot. No biggie, but I was really curious as to what work they may be doing in our complex. (we're in a townhouse complex). The man told me that they were doing some work on walkways.
I was pretty excited about this.
I enjoy a nice walkway.
And then I got to my house, and this was my walkway ...

It was kind of cool. I felt really bad that there was a giant Kubota thing at our house, and Doodle was at school.
Apparently they are coming back today to re-pave it, so we may get to see a cement mixer. How cool will that be?
Mind you. Even though my walk way is nothing to look at, I'm feeling very Martha Stewart with my little pumpkin and cabbage display outside of my house. Appreciate it - I did it all by myself and it's really quite crafty for me!

And, in other unrelated news ... Doodle's teacher is a miracle worker. My child, who started school a month ago and had no interest in letters is now letter obsessed.
He's constantly pointing out letters and asking what letter words start with. He's so excited about it. Before school I'd been worrying that he had zero interest in writing and one of my friends told me to relax and let his jk teacher do her job. I have no idea what she's saying or doing, but amazingly he is excited by reading. I'm thrilled!
But, seriously. I gave my son a seven letter first name and 2 middle names. Do you know how many letters that is?????
If we ever have another child (not in the books) The name is going to be simple. Three letters.

Brrrr

There's nothing cuter than a baby bundled up for the cold.
Especially when it's my smiley princess!
I know - how do you resist the little Robeez booties? We needed them for the cold. And the pink vest? With bows? Thanks, Gymboree. And the little pink hat? Here's a secret. I have the same hat, but red, for Doodle. It's the only matching piece of clothing they have. Phat daddy rolled his eyes, but at least I didn't insist they get the same colour.
I tried to get Doodle to model his hat, but nooooo ....

And here she is, all ready for her walk to school. I know. I overdo the pink. But, you'll notice that I did get lilac Robeez, and I even dressed her in blue pants today!

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So excited!

It's no secret that Doodle can be a challenging child.

But, a little while ago someone recommended the most amazing book to me. It's called The Explosive Child. It's an incredible book, and it's a method of dealing with difficult children. There are two main themes in the book. The first is that children do well if they can. The second is that children are already motivated to behave, but some children (and teens) need help figuring out how to do that.

To quote the author:
“Instead of asking yourself, ‘What’s it going to take to motivate this kid to behave differently?’ ask ‘Why is this so hard for this child? What’s getting in his way? How can I help?’”
Dr. Ross Greene

For me, reading this book was an eye opener. We've been struggling with behaviour issues for awhile, and so often I've said, time outs aren't teaching Doodle anything. It's not that I'm not discipling him, but it's that I can't figure out why he's misbehaving. Forgive me if you don't agree with me, but I find it hard to believe that my child who has been having a great day, giving me high fives, playing with his sister and helping me cook dinner wants to have a meltdown because I said it's bath time (something he enjoys).
Well, according to the authors of this book there are reasons for this, and ways to prevent meltdowns.
The more we use this method, the more we start to understand Doodle, the easier our days are getting.

After reading the book I really wanted to meet the author. I had, and still have, a lot of questions. There are specifics I want to sort out. I started to do some research. I found out about a convention he's speaking at. But, it would be $250 to get in, and it is not really designed for parents (especially nursing mothers with 6 month old who are discovering mobility!). But yesterday Doodle's kindergarten teacher sent home a flyer. One of the co-authors of this incredible book is speaking NEAR MY HOUSE! AND IT'S FREE! I don't think I could be any happier right now.

I'm bringing my entire family (if I can get a babysitter - I'm working on that). And, I intend to arrive early, stay late, and ask my questions. I want everyone in my family to understand exactly what it is I'm trying to accomplish in my house. Of course they are on board, but I am so excited that they will also get to hear exactly how you do this.

The good news? In school, his jk teacher really believes in this method. And, as I'm working on it at home, she's working on it at school. And yesterday he got no time-outs at school all day. I'm thrilled.

So, we take it one day at a time. Some days are better than others, but at the end of the day it's really nice to see some positive things happening in Doodle's life.