Kathy's Diary: Nov 10 - 16

Okay this week was another challenging one! If I was astrologically inclined I would probably find it had something to do with the moon and my Aries tendencies! Anyway for the most part it should have been an easy week – I was home each night, Monday was a PD day where we did a math workshop, Tuesday was a day off in lieu of Remembrance Day and Brownies was cancelled that night too, Wednesday I had school meeting in the morning and an afternoon off and that night Tim and I went to the Bryan Adams concert, Thursday I had the morning off in lieu of the meeting and a report card meetings in the afternoon, Friday was a day of report card meetings and Friday night off, on Saturday there was a run, a workout, playdates for the kids and then babysitting for a friend, Sunday we went to the Science Centre, Tim went out for Grey Cup and I had Diddy and Winnie over for dinner.

All in all it was a good week and Monday was a nice relaxing day at school and then a great night at home with the kids and Tim went in to work. But it got busy because of course when I had Tuesday off – I filled it up with playdates etc. My friend Kris came over with her mom Kathy and her baby Breanna for a photo-shoot with my sister. Cori has a photography degree but went into the world of computers instead. She has been shooting for friends over the years but now is going to do it part-time along with parenting. Anyways we had the shoot in the living room and some of the pictures were amazing – Kris looks beautiful in the last days of her second pregnancy. My family was over visiting as well so the house was busy. In the afternoon Haley had two friends Allie and Taylor come for a play day! Tim was home all day too so after dropping the girls at home I picked up Chinese food on the way home. We had a nice family night.

Wednesday the kids got off to school and I headed over to the north end of the city for an ESL Benchmarks meeting. Of course I was a little stressed out because of trying to implement a tracking sheet two weeks ago but it ended up that everyone liked it and they agreed that the tracking sheet was a missing piece. It is times like this that I realize how important it is to always try and keep thinking out of the box and that even though there is resistance or tough slugging – it is worth it in the end. I spent a great afternoon at home working on the AADAC project and then picked up the kids at the bus stop. Nikki came over to babysit and then Tim and I were off to pick up Diddy and Julie for the Bryan Adams concert. Colin James opened and he was fabulous. And then there was Bryan (sigh) even from my seat perched at the very back of the Saddledome on the very top row – I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. He sang so well and sounded great live – just like his recorded work. Anyways we had fun and I was exhausted from singing all the songs (it is amazing how you remember all the words of his catchy tunes.)

Michelle and I worked out on Thursday morning and we had a great chat. Relationships and personal goals were among the topics. We were talking about the upcoming retreat that we are putting together in February and her role. We both hope that it is a great opportunity for other women to get the help they need from the professionals to get started on their own “life balance goals”. After that I got to head home since I had a substitute teacher in lieu of working Wednesday morning. I worked on the AADAC project and then headed off to school. The report cards are going well. Some teachers are opposed to the new report cards but many are open to it. Since it is a pilot – all feedback is appreciated so that we can work towards a “do-able” format and with clear measureable outcomes for kids. Anyways so not only are we evaluating the students in their language acquisition we are also discussing the new report card. It is interesting and I love it even though it is tough sometimes. University was cancelled for Reading Week so I took Haley to a choir practice to see if she wanted to join. She was interested in it but was too nervous to join. I thought – well at least she has seen a choir rehearsal so that if and when she is ever ready she would know what to expect. We bought the contents for a Christmas Shoebox on the way to the arena to watch the boys play hockey.

Friday morning was a blurr but we made it out the door! It was more report cards all day and then I stayed behind for an hour and some to finish some with one teacher. Once I got home, Tim went back to work and the kids and I got some movies. We made homemade pizzas and just cuddled on the couch and watched movies. Saturday morning I crawled out of bed and Diddy and I ran 12 km and then I met Kelly for a workout – she is looking fabulous in the 6th month of her pregnancy. Then I went to the arena to help the boys get dressed and Haley and I hung out in the stands to watch the game. The game was really exciting and even though they lost again, the boys had a great time. I think it is so cool that Tate and Spencer have never been much for paying attention to the score – it is all about playing and having fun! It was so funny when they finished playing I was asking how he liked the game, all Spencer could say is –“when are our friends coming over?”. They had invited Luke and Jackson over so they were counting the days and now they were counting the minutes. It was a fun afternoon but Haley started being in the boys face a little and then alternating with being stuck to me like glue. That night we went over to Monica's to babysit her 4 month old twin girls and 2 year old boy. They just don't get out much and teen age babysitters are usually overwhelmed with feeding two babies and keeping a two year old occupied. I sure was! I thought how did we ever do this? Tim and the boys came and helped for a while so it was fun then it was just Haley and I, she loved it but after awhile of feeding for the fourth time – she said when is this going to end? She was just as relieved as I was when they all fell asleep, happy and well-fed!

Sunday we slept in and then went to the Science Centre for awhile with Cori and Cami. There was a new exhibit which was cool. We were having fun but because Haley was so tired from staying up late the night before she was very argumentative and rude during parts of the trip. We dropped Tim off at the bar to watch the Grey Cup with his friends. Then we went home for awhile. The kids were acting really crazy and not listening. So I got mad, really mad. I was supposed to pick up Diddy and Winnie for dinner and was having second thoughts because of how the kids were behaving and how I was reacting. But I stupidly forged ahead anyways. The first part of the visit went well but then Haley decided to really cling to me, ignore Winnie, be generally difficult and then say mean things whenever she could and I just couldn't let it go. I called her on everything and she had a few time outs. So as the night wore on I just felt more and more anxious about her behaviour and as a result over-reacted all night. When it was time to bring them home, I could barely get the kids to calm down enough to get in the van, they were just being really silly. It was so frustrating. I kept apologizing to Diddy but she kept saying don't worry about it – what a good friend. I kept thinking that the kids behaving badly was one thing but I was all frustrated and pre-occupied – how fun was that for my friend. After we dropped them off I was tempting to just lay into the kids but didn't. I was really proud of myself because I talked very calmly to them about their behaviour and asked them questions about how they should behave. They actually responded and had calmed down. I picked up Tim and drove his friend James home and then barely spoke the whole way home – I was just emotionally spent. Tim and I talked about how we should be dealing with behaviours at home, consequences and follow through. I went up stairs and journaled about what a horrible over-reactive mother I was thought – why can't I control myself better? Exhausted I cried myself to sleep.