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School is hard, yo

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We've had 12 weeks of school so far, that should be enough to get in a groove, right?? No, most definitely not. It feels like every other week there's a new issue we're trying to come to grips with. First it was math, the math teacher assigned a ton of homework, and didn't do a great job explaining new concepts. Aloha would get so frustrated and worked up, her brain would just freeze up, and she couldn't do simple addition or subtraction. After attacking that problem from multiple angles, her teacher up and quit. So now we're transitioning to a new teacher, who also happens to be the school principal. Things are going well so far, but my guess is there's going to be another transition to another teacher coming down the road. That brings us to our issue du jour - homework. Why is there so much of it? I know Aloha works at a slow pace, and is easily distracted, but, 2 hours of homework on a weeknight? Poor girl is just wiped out. Aloha is in aftercare at sch...
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The floodgates are opening

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Aloha has been having a hard time for the last couple weeks. Consequently, we've been having a hard time for the last couple weeks. Small things set her off, frustration with one thing turns into frustration for everything. If she feels bad, she's always felt bad, it's always terrible. We've always been at war with Eurasia. I feel like every time I ask her to do her homework, or take a bath, or take her dishes to the kitchen, it's like I'm loading her up with a hundred pound bag she has to carry around. She's on the verge of crying, and now the that the flood gates are open, and we're getting an hour or more of crying at night. It's good... I mean, it's all the stuff she's been bottling up that's all coming out. But it's emotionally draining for all of us. And I'm trying not to take any of it personally, but it's hard. I feel like I'm not good at it. I'm very process driven, but this isn't about process. It...
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Throw it all away!

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Tonight I watched two episodes of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. I came up to get ready for bed, and instead dumped a bunch of clothes and toys into a donate pile, and some in the trash. This, of course, doesn’t follow the KonMari method at all. But sometimes you just need to start. You just need to feel like you are chipping away at the iceberg. My house has far too much clutter in it. As a foster parent, I’ve been able to justify pruning back toys, because you never know what age or interest of child you’ll end up with. Well, when my 10 year old moved in, she had a TON of stuff. And no interest in Qapla’s stuff. But... is she the last? Is this our family? Can I really get rid of all the toys and clothes that are too little for Qapla? Or should I keep them... just in case? Of course, that doesn’t explain why I threw out probably 3 dozen socks I don’t wear or don’t like. And it doesn’t explain why I was keeping work out tops that don’t fit anymore. But... it does feel like a...
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I survived

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No, not the moderately entertaining series of novels that my daughter enjoys, and no, not 2018 as a whole. Although OK, yes, I did survive 2018. I survived a week with my two kids without my husband. Jim had to work the last few days of the year, and I had a two week break from work, so we decided it would be a good idea to go to Oregon and spend some time with my mom (Yaya), her boyfriend (Papa Mike), and his family. I thought that it would be better to be with Yaya and Papa Mike, because then I'd have a good adult to child ratio (3:2), rather than if I stayed home with the kids by myself while Jim worked. And it's a really good theory, except, both my kids wanted to be physically connected to my body the whole time, with me giving them my undivided attention. They wanted little to do with Yaya and Papa Mike, and every time I'd pay attention to one kid, the whining and comparison would start - "But I want to play with you...", "But you played with her mor...
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