Expiration

My girl reached an expiration point last Friday! I think the first days of school were so exciting, and an adjustment, of course, especially with no nap (!), that she got overly tired. I was surprised that she wasn't more tired Wednesday and Thursday nights, but I should have put her to bed earlier anyway (duh). She seemed to be doing so well that I didn't think about it. I went to school to sign her out on Friday and there, on my sign-out sheet, was a sticky note, "Please see Megan". Oh dear. I signed, took the sticky note, and looked for Megan, and the other gal said, "She has Amanda in the principal's office." Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

When I went in the office, I saw the secretary talking to her while she sat a chair at the front of the office, and Megan was talking to the principal by the principal's office. I asked what happened and Megan said she was throwing wood chips on the playground, and when she was told to stop, she hit Megan and then tried to bite her, and got away and ran across the parking lot. I grimaced and said, "I'm so sorry...she can be REALLY naughty sometimes. Sorry!" She asked what I do when she does that (it's been awhile since I've had to deal with it), and I told her that I sit with her and hold her arms - basically restrain her - but I wasn't sure if that was allowed at all for them. I told her that Amanda is very candy-focused these days, and I have no problem using it as a bribe (or withdrawing it as punishment), especially in these first days while she's adapting to the new environment. We came up with some other things as well. I apologized to her for not preparing the before/after school gang about her behavior, and told her that they would have to be clearly in charge (rather than being "nice"). I'd warned her teacher but didn't think about before/after school. Not sure where my head was there. I kept apologizing, and Megan said it was ok, that she has a 1 1/2-yr-old daughter who is starting to hit and when Amanda started hitting her, she had a flash of... I finished, "of how your daughter might behave if you don't get a handle on it?" with a wry smile. I did tell them that she's only been with me 18 months and she's made great strides. They write up a kid and after the third write-up, they're "kicked out" of care. She said she wasn't going to write her up this time (really??? ok, I'll take it!) but that she would have to next time. *Whew* one free pass!

Amanda tried to come over to say hi while I was talking to them, and I told her I was busy discussing how naughty she'd been and she should go back and sit down again. I'd wanted to get out of town right after work, heading back home for the weekend, but this "talk" took a good 20-30 minutes of my time (no big deal, just "best laid plans..."). I asked her about her behavior as we headed home, and she got a little smile on her face. She's not very good with the poker face! She was sad when I told her that naughty behavior at school means that she doesn't get to listen to her music in the car (that worked for daycare when we drove home together, and it seemed fair to apply to the drive that night). I gathered up things at home and we hit the road, and she fell asleep and was completely zonked for the first 30-40 minutes of the drive.

I was home for my 25th high school reunion. Gathering Friday night (Grandma & Grandpa watched her, couldn't get her to stay on the couch to sleep, even with some old-fashioned discipline), then Saturday morning we toured the high school to see all the changes. She got to spend all Saturday afternoon and evening at Uncle Mike & Aunt Cheryl's, and she had a blast. They have kitties and she was constantly carrying one around. They also had trouble getting her to settle down, and old-fashioned discipline was employed, to varying success. But, Cheryl said she was really good, overall, and Mike said he had a ton of fun with her and that it was great to have her there. Yea! I'm glad she got time with her cousins, and I'm always happy for her to spend time with her uncles, as they are a main source of male influence for her (not the exact word I'm looking for, but it works). (male presence in her life? maybe that works better.) Anyway, nice for her to have some guy time! Reunion-wise, I had a wine tasting/gathering Sat 2-4 and then the main gathering was at the country club that night. Two nights of being up until 12 or 1am. I was close to expiring by the time I headed home!

Amanda in the middle of the forum at my high school:

Cheryl got her a new outfit when they went into town Saturday (I asked Shayla on Sunday if Amanda spent any time without a kitty in her arms. She said, "Yeah. Well, when we went into town....") I took this pic of the back of her outfit - I was walking behind her and just thought how grown up and cute she looked in it.
On Sunday, Mom & Dad treated Aaron, Shayla, Amanda & me to lunch. It was my turn to be naughty - I was a real crab (aka b*tch). We'd gone to the "new" McDonald's, and it was crowded. It was noon and there was only ONE PERSON taking counter orders. I tried to change my order and the gal made me FORCE her to change it (...you can get the meal...yes, I know I can get the meal, I want to try the McDouble...it's the same thing (no, it was more expensive)... well, do you mind if I just order the McDouble instead (or do I need to leap across the counter and throttle you?!)). Then we got our order and over half of it was wrong (even the kids meal, which she'd specifically asked boy or girl...sheesh). But, the line was still long and it wasn't worth trying to get it fixed. I was antsy about it taking so long because I wanted to get to my friend's house and then head back to Omaha so we could get home at a decent hour. Everyone was nice enough to ignore me, mostly. We all went to see my friend's new house by Pierce (awesome house, Jana and Bryan!), then stopped to see Jana's dad in the hospital (where I took the above picture), and then back to the farm to say goodbye and pick up some fresh produce from Mike's garden (courtesy of Cheryl). I stopped to take some pictures of the pipeline going through just west of my parent's farm. I wasn't even that aware of it - were you? Here's a link to some info, with a link to a map - http://www.keystonepipeline.state.gov/clientsite/keystone.nsf/?Open

Amanda wore her new outfit to school Monday, and that night we had a great supper of sweet corn and salad with tomatoes (from my prolific plant) and cucumbers and some sliced turkey. Yummy! I felt so healthy! Thanks, Mike & Cheryl! Anyway, this is what her new top looks like from the front. Can't really tell, but it's adorable. (She's sitting like such a lady.) Tonight (Wednesday), the little girl down the street saw me driving home and ran down to our house. As I was getting out of the car, she came shouting, "Is my friend home?" She'd checked to see if we were home over the weekend, and left a couple of envelopes with drawings in them for Amanda. She's so excited about having another little girl on her street! I told her I was going to walk to school to get Amanda, and after checking with her dad, she went with me. Amanda was (overly) excited to see her, screaming and falling on the ground. Yes, I think she has a future in the theater. Taylor said she's shy around other kids, so I think she was pleased to get such a reaction from Amanda. They played on the playground a while and then we headed home. I thought they made a cute picture, holding hands.
I'm really enjoying our new routine, since I'm now able to run errands after work before picking up Amanda. Yesterday I picked up some groceries and stopped by the car place to have them look at a mud guard thing that was hanging down after travelling down the MUDDY country roads (they replaced the clip holding it in place). Today I returned the crib I'd bought a couple of years ago (also Amanda's toddler bed) as it was recalled. Bonus! I got to use it and now that I don't need it, I get store credit for it as a recall! Interestingly, Amanda had chosen to go back to sleeping in the "little" bed for the last couple of weeks, and she said she'd move back to the big bed when she was 6. Funny! Well, Uncle Keith stopped by Sunday night (we got back home about 6:30pm) while he waited for Cindy's plane to get into Omaha. So I took advantage of Keith's presence and we made short work of disassembling the bed. Yea! Nice to get things done. Amanda didn't mind going back to the big bed (although I had trouble getting her to get to bed, with Keith's presence and after a stimulating weekend).

Amanda's birthday is Saturday. I decided to make cookies for her class on Friday, so need to get ingredients and make them tomorrow night. My sisters were wondering what was going on for Amanda's birthday and I raised the distress flag. My house is a disaster area and I'm having a crunch week at work. My sister Barb said no problem, party in Lincoln! All I have to do is bring the kid! Have I mentioned that Family Rocks?!!!! Looking forward to seeing whoever can make it on Saturday. =)