There have been years I have not looked forward to summer vacation. The thought of having the girls home for so many unstructured days made me feel uneasy and wonder what I was going to do with them to make them not fight, to occupy their time, to make sure that TV didn’t end up being their main source of entertainment for the hot, hot summer days. Not much is different this year, but I am really looking forward to the break.

I’m looking forward to sleeping in a little bit and not having to rush anywhere in the mornings. While there is swim team, I don’t have to be at the pool until 9am. And while there are some days I’m sure I’ll need to be there at 8:30, that is still such a change from being out the door by 7:01. Sure, there needs to be a little work done to make sure that all of our pre-swim team hours don’t get spent in front of the TV where the girls end up surprised that they are hungry when it is time to walk out the door because they “forgot” to get something for breakfast, but I feel pretty confident that we can do that.

I’m looking forward to leisurely afternoons at the pool where the girls play and swim and dive to their hearts content. While I keep a watchful eye on what they are doing, I will admit that my eye is not as watchful as it once was. I can read and chat with friends while they amuse themselves, knowing that they are strong enough swimmers that I can tone the worry down to a steady simmer.

Maggie has her first week long sleep away camp this summer, and I’m actually looking forward to having her enjoy that and me enjoy some one on one time with Katie. I’m sure she’ll keep me busy and entertained.

Maggie also has a lacrosse camp. She’s nervous, but excited. She is looking forward to playing lacrosse in the fall, and this will be a great way for her to learn the sport so when she goes back to Kelsey to learn more, she will have a basis to ask questions.

Other than a week of VBS, Katie is not doing any camps this summer. She considered a few, but decided she wanted her time to be free formed so she could do with it what she wants. I’m hoping this will give her some time to work on some friendships with girls in the neighborhood.

And, of course, the new kitchen is coming this summer. Only 9 years of waiting and planning and hoping and wishing. I can hardly wait!

Apparently, the other day, the school administration decided there would be no more recess until after CRCT tesing was over.  I suspect this was a construct, but Maggie believes it to be the unvarnished truth.  Her letter persuading the principal and assistant principal to change their minds came him the other day.

Dear Mrs. Frost,

In my opinion, recess is the 2nd most important part of the day specials be the 1st. But still, why recess?  Why not 1/2 of it?  Mrs. K. says we need to get all of our energy out, and even 5 minutes will be enough. But please, please, please, not the entire 30 minutes!  I am pretty sure that I’m gonna blow my top if I don’t get at least 10 minutes at least 3 times a week.  4 days and I’d be giggling like a girl that has’just mewt Justin Beiber (just as an example, I don’t really like him.)  But that’s besides the point.  Maybe just take away 15-20 minutes.  That would probably be enough.  I mean 30 minutes is still a short amount of time ompared to 45 minutes, and I really like my 30 minutes of playing!

Yours truly,
Maggie S.

Recess has officially been reinstated.

Katie missed Thursday and Friday of last week. The first day, she laid in bed, the second day, she was mostly fine and did crafts and drew pictures. She was very sad to miss all her friends, and devastated that she couldn’t go to the play date we had scheduled for Friday afternoon. There was crying and flailing and attempts at negotiation and bargaining. It was so hard for her to understand that she couldn’t play because she hadn’t gone to school; that germs are things we don’t want to share with our friends.

Maggie’s fever, which was actually higher than Katie’s, seemed to affect her less yesterday. She mostly lay in bed, but was able to make it to the library and do a little homework, too. She read a whole book, got dressed and was in decent spirits. Today, her fever is just about gone, and she is anxious to get back to school. For the second time in her three years at school, she’s missed picture day.

And I’ve been faced with the unending quandary about when to call the doctor. Is a fever enough? What about these sore throats they complain about? Is it strep? Or just the general fever virus that makes them feel icky all over and they notice it more when they swallow? So far, although I’ve had the phone in hand, and some numbers dialed, I haven’t made an appointment. The fevers seem to be going away on their own too quickly to be anything other than weirdness.

If all continues the way it is now, it looks like both girls will be back in school tomorrow for the first time in a week. And since I volunteered at the school this morning, I got to hear about the strep, stomach bugs, flu, pink eye and general fever disease going around. And I can only wonder how long both of them will be in school for this stretch.

Yesterday morning, she got it out after she arrived in her classroom, but before school started. So not only did she get her necklace, but she got to wear it ALL.DAY.LONG at school. It was a very good day.

At home, there was much discussion about the tooth fairy. She worried that the tooth fairy would forget to come and wanted to know what would happen then. She worried that the tooth fairy would get confused and take her necklace. But we worked it out. Katie has a special book where she can put the information about her lost tooth in it, and she specifically left her a note asking that she leave the necklace. Then, in the space where she could list what she wanted to trade her tooth for, she stipulated that she’d like either $100 or a chihuahua puppy. Then, she begged us all to go to sleep right away so the tooth fairy would have easy access to what was under her pillow.

At 5am, I woke to crying. And the overhead light in my room going on. Katie had her special book in her hand and was so sad because the necklace was gone and there was no money. But I found her $2 and paused a split second before moving on to being upset that the necklace wasn’t there. I stumbled into her room (hey, it was 5am. I was tired.) and found the necklace which had fallen to the floor next to her bed. With the necklace secure in her fist, she cried because she didn’t want the money she got. She wanted $100 or a chihuahua or both and all she got was TWO LOUSY DOLLARS. The horror!

I have to give her a break, though, because while she was crying, we noticed hat she was burning up. The little girl with a fever and possibly a tummy ache clung to her measly two bucks while she slept in a little this morning. We’ve had some tears since she woke up because she didn’t get to go to school today and she wanted to, but at least she is resigned to the gift. The note from the tooth fairy didn’t hurt matters, either.

I believe that Maggie is enjoying school, though it has been hard to get much information out of her. The rightful order of her life has been restored, and she is relieved that she is back in her environment. The only homework she’s had this week is reading, and she is overjoyed that now instead of recording minutes, she records the pages she’s read. One day this week, she got to put down that she read 60 pages in a night, and that pleased her to no end. The only thing that would make her life complete at this point would be an extra 6 hours in the day to watch all the TV she would like. Well, that and having all her extra curricular activities start again.

Katie loves her teachers, but as she puts it, she’s still getting used to them. This means that she is very quiet during the day and all the noise she is used to making gets compressed into the 4 hours between school and bedtime. And she is used to making A LOT of noise. It is funny to imagine her being as quiet as I know she is being at school, since I so rarely see that side of her. Her teachers even told me that she waited halfway through snack one day this week before letting them know that she couldn’t get her “bar” open. She’s still learning the names of her new friends, but has already asked me to write down her address so she can give it to her new friend, a boy with curly hair.

I am getting used to the quiet at home during the day, and already amazed at how quickly the time goes and how my list of things to do seems to grow much faster than I able to cross things off it.

Swim Team is going well so far. Maggie loves it and is really a great swimmer.  She’s very proud that in the meets this year, she’s gotten several first place ribbons.  Not getting any last year made her so sad.

Katie is part of the “developmental” team this year– she can swim the practices, but she is still too young to swim in the meets.  So far, this is ok with her. I think the meets intimidate her. That, or she really loves the freedom of being able to do what she wants when she wants during the meets.

This week is Maggie’s first week of Girl Scout camp.  She is sorely disappointed that I only signed her up for one week of camp this summer and has asked me to promise that she can do more next year. I’m not sure, but I think she likes it.

My Dad is very tall (almost to the ceiling).

My Dad has black hair.

My Dad has green  eyes.

My Dad works at the phone and the computer.  He is very smart.

My Dad’s favorite sport is tennis.

My Dad’s favorite food is eggs (I think).

My Dad really likes to go visit his dad.  It is 44 miles away.

I know my Dad loves me because when I call his name he comes.