What’s working right now
Scheduling wins. I was able to make an eye appointment on the Monday I have off in October. I assumed they would also be closed, but they were not, and had a ton of availability. I didn’t have to teach Teens last Saturday when I needed to get the 11yo to a baseball game at the same time. The next day I was able to go to book club and attend the memorial service for a family friend, even though my husband was still out of town. I got a sub for this coming Friday when my cousin is in town. It’s nice when things work out.
Purchases. After a spendy August, I told myself no superfluous spending in September. Then I proceeded to… buy a bunch of shit. And in my attempts to avoid Amazon (I still spend way too much on Amazon, unfortunately) I’ve been trying to buy stuff from other sites. But most of it ends up coming from China (which is NOT made clear, and sometimes is actively hidden on the sites, which I swear are not shady looking!) and is hard to return. Quite a few of these have been shoe purchases (I’m trying hard to aggravate the ::whispers barely audibly:: bunion). One pair was even a no returns, final sale purchase, and they’ve all fit! It’s honestly kind of astounding. I know I’m pushing my luck and I’m going to stop now for real, but I’m thankful I haven’t wanted to return any of them.
I’ve also gotten some toe spacers that I’m wearing for a couple hours every night now, with new super minimalist, zero drop sandals (I used to wear cloud slides that squished my toes together). I can definitely feel my toes and feet stretching, and I’ve even noticed my ankles and knees feel less tight. I plan to keep wearing them, and maybe to start training at the dojo in them.
Work. Work is going pretty well. I have a few challenging students, but there is no class that I already dread seeing. I really like the two, smaller, 8th grade classes, even though one has a lot of “excessive socializing.” I’m reading two books the admin suggested we check out – one about disengaged learners and one about Universal Design for Learning which is supposed to allow teachers to present content in ways that engage disengaged learners. I’m excited to apply what I’m learning to my free reading program, which I hope to morph into more of a free comprehensible input program that give students a lot more freedom to choose what form their comprehensible input takes.
I committed to yearbook again (I promise it will be different this year!) and 66 kids came to the first meeting! I’m making meeting agendas and they will be signing expectation contracts and we’re going to start designing the first pages soon (the PTA sponsored an ice-cream social on Friday afternoon and a lot of kids came). I”m actually really excited about yearbook right now, and I think it’s going to be a good year.
What’s not working
The 11yo’s birthday party. We’re late planning it. His birthday is on a Wednesday and his good friend (whose birthday is right after his) already sent out invitations for the Saturday after his birthday so we’re not sure when to schedule it (the husband is gone the weekend before his birthday). We’re not excited about any of the options. We’ve begrudgingly (process of elimination) landed on a trampoline park. The one in the city costs $500 for 1.5 hours (30 minutes to eat and 1 hour of play). It’s $900 for two hours, which is a no go for me. They do provide the food and do set up and clean up but still! That is a lot! It’s stressing me out, and I feel like even after we solidify plans I won’t feel satisfied. Blerg.
My skin. Did I mention that I don’t actually have rosacea like I thought, but instead have perioral dermatitis, which are red bumps around the mouth and nose that can spread to the cheeks. This actually makes sense, as I don’t get the red flushing of rosacea and my bumps are frequently itchy. The treatments are basically the same, but I think mine are a little complicated because what works for around my mouth and nose seems to aggravate my cheeks. I’ve been in a flair since school started, which means stress probably makes it worse. I do appreciate seeing the dermatologist a while back and learning the name of what I actually have; many of the treatments are the same, but perioral dermatitis is aggravated by some different factors, which I’m trying hard to avoid.
And eyes. My glasses are giving me tension headaches and I swear my vision has gotten much worse since summer. Maybe it’s just that when I wear my glasses for ten hours a day and then take them off, I’m more aware of how badly I see without them? I will admit that I don’t wear my glasses much in the summer, and that might be part of the problem. I am very glad I got that eye appointment in couple weeks so I can get a new prescription and order a new pair of glasses.
The 11yo’s middle school transition. Baseball every afternoon for 1.5+ hours has been a lot. The amount of homework he is getting in Math has been a lot. His negative feelings toward his Math/Science teacher has been a lot. He struggles with emotional regulation on a good day, so helping him manage all this has been A LOT. More than I feel like I can manage on some days. It’s exhausting and I’m really looking forward to the end of baseball season (the last game is in two weeks).
I could add “blogging” to the not working list, but I don’t have the energy to examine why I’m struggling so much to show up here, and to read and comment on other blogs. It’s the beginning of the school year and that transition is always hard. I’m sleeping less, and tried a lot earlier every night. I have less free time and less brain space when I do have twenty minutes to write. I started this post as a “Six on Saturday” yesterday morning, and I’m not vacuuming before the 11yo’s swim class so I can finish it. Blerg. I’m going to put it up now, or it will never happen.
Depending on which toe spacers you have consider wearing more of the time and especially during the parts of day you are on your feet. Some spacers are easier to wear.
Sounds terribly busy (which is normal for you). Glad the yearbook is starting so well and there is so much enthusiasm among the students. And, what a nice list of your wins recently!!!
Because I have no idea ~ is a trampoline party really better than the same amount of time free playing at say McLaren Park and perhaps free? With today’s 11 year old boys I think it is hard and expectations have changed over past decades. And maybe it is necessary to have table reservations and costs could be equally high.
I HATE planning birthday parties. So far I have once managed to convince the girl child to exchange a party for a solo trip with me, and once convinced the boy child to exchange a party for a Playstation 5. Zero regrets from me or either child in those cases. Hoping they will choose trips more often as they get older!
I’m intrigued by the toe spacers, and glad that all of your shoe purchases have worked! Wow, birthday parties are expensive, I had no idea. How many kids does $500 feed/entertain? Might be worth it. But there’s no way I’d go for that second hour. Also, trampoline right after eating? I guess that’s fine, they run around at recess right after eating.
I think they trampoline and THEN eat. At least, I hope so! I found a spot down by my work that is $380 for an hour of jumping and an hour in the party room. And my friend will let me borrow her SUV so I can drive all seven kids down there. I think I’m going to do that.
HOW ABSOLUTELY COOL!!!! Sounds like a party they will remember.
The rate of inflation is frightful I remember when houses were lower in cost than cars are today and sometimes I forget that. I remember only 20 years ago $5 was a good lunch in the Bay Area. Feeding 7 kids and maybe lunch plus drinks costs a pile today!
Whew, friend. Lots going on. Last year we did a party for my daughter’s 7th birthday at her gymnastics place and only had a few guests. It was fun I think we paid $250 for 2 hours?.. plus the food that we had to provide. I honestly did not like it.
This year I told her point blank- party at our house. Don’t even ask. She goes “okay” but can we have a k-pop demon hunters theme? Why not! We can order food and have everyone at the house. We usually don’t come up with activities- kids are kids and can entertain themselves. My daughter doesn’t have many friends so we will probably only have a few people here.
Re: blogging, in a similar boat. I can read but it takes time to comment and I haven’t got that much time. Writing about self is okay- but I think it’s an outlet… I want/need to write my goodbye September, hello October post.