Call me crazy, but really just know that I am doing what I feel is best for my boys – T2 and T3 are going to the Waldorf Charter School.

T2 went yesterday for his “sit in”

He spent the day in the class so he could see if it was a good fit.  When I parked to drop him off I saw a man “loitering” in the parking lot.  I was wondering who he was.  He ended up being the school administrator who was very kind.  I think he is out there welcoming everyone each morning.

Everyone is super nice.  I think because it is such a small school 220 kids instead of 1200 kids, new kids are noticed and welcomed warmly.

After dropping him off I walked around the campus a bit and just felt really good about the fit for T2.  I saw Julie, who is over enrollment and she said they do have a spot for him!  I told her we would let her know after T2 had his day there.  I went to pick him up and met another mom of a new 5th grader.  She is driving over an hour to get there, compared to my 20 min!  No more complaining from me.  (maybe)

T2 loved it.

He loved the Games (PE), he loved the math, the smallness of the school, recess, the stories.  I asked if he wanted to go there, he said 99.99999% sure!  I told them there was a spot and he was so happy.

While we were driving home he got very quiet.  After a few minutes he said, “The only sad thing is I won’t be with Mrs. S. again.”  We were both so excited that she was going to be his teacher again.

We talked about how lucky he was he did get to be with her for one great year and that she would be happy for him finding this new school. (It really is a great fit for him.)  She were honestly the only teacher that T2 has liked so far in his school career and we appreciate so much all she did for him!

T2 is there today for his second day.  He better still like it because I told our old school he isn’t coming back.

T3 hasn’t started yet.

I need to meet with the Kindergarten teachers, so they can see which class will be the best fit for him (I love how they honor each child as an individual)  and I imagine he will start Monday.

How is this related to birth?

Some people will call me crazy because the local school is really a great school.  Why make this “crazy” change?  Why isn’t the hospital good enough for a mom wanting a home birth?  She may be called crazy too!

• It is about choosing what is best for your family.  What others think really doesn’t matter!
• Personalized care instead of institutionalized care!
• Sadness of leaving something that is known.

photo credit: Ian Sane

Friday we stopped by our local public school to see which teachers the big boys got.

Thing 1 got Mrs. R and his best friend K is in his class! Apparently they had so many GATE kids that they made 2 classes and he is in one of the GATE classes. That is great, as we were trying to get him into GATE, but his test scores were skewed by his slow processing speed.

Thing 2 has Mrs. S from last year. If he stays at this school, that is great, because she is a wonderful teacher.

We don’t know if there is a spot in the Waldorf school yet.

He and I are going tomorrow to sit in the class and check it out. We should know by Tuesday if there is a spot. This way we will know for sure if we want it.

Thing 3 has a spot for him in the Kindergarten class and I am 99% sure he will be going there. It is just a matter of meeting the teachers on Tues or Wed and getting the papers filled out. I just feel a bit in limbo until we know for sure what is going on with everyone.

But I have gathered information, fasted and prayed and my intuitions says that the Waldorf school could be a great fit for our kids and family. If Thing 2 is meant to be there a spot will be open for him. If not, then maybe next year!

How is this Birth Related?

Staying flexible is what kept me sane.  I didn’t know where this was going to lead?  I am a planner and in some ways this could have driven me crazy, but in order to stay sane, I had to let it go!  I had to be flexible and go wherever this leaded me.  I also had to have faith that it would all work out the way it was meant to.

I remember when I was trying to change care providers in my 1st pregnancy.  It was stressful and it was a few days of chaos and not sure how it would all work out.  Staying flexible, positive and having faith it would turn out the way it was meant to, helped me then too!

So, I have never really been thrilled with the public school system.

• It seems so geared towards teaching to the test.
• There is not a lot of inspiration
• too many worksheets
• the classes are SO big! (35 kids per class).
• Their school is really huge too (over 1200 kids in K-6)

I didn’t feel like I had too many options

• I tried homeschooling and while I love the idea of it, living it was not something I want to choose at this time.
• I can’t afford private school for my kids and they are doing fine, so it wouldn’t be worth the stretch.

If any of my boys were really struggling I would take them out and find a different way. But they are doing fine, so it wasn’t worth the sacrifice the two options above would require.

I didn’t realize there was another option.

There is a Waldorf Charter School

I was at the beach club Friday and overheard my friend Angela talking about this Kindergarten she was sending her daughter to. My ears perked up and I had to find out more. She had found a Waldorf Inspired Charter school that was 20 minutes away.

They do Kindergarten for 2 years.

Originally I had thought of putting T3 in Pre-K this year, but that was going to cost over $300 a month, so I opted for another year of preschool. T3 is ready for 5 days of school, I don’t know if I am ready for it. But I think he is. Especially in a developmentally appropriate and fun environment. So this seemed like an intriguing option.

I called the school right away and my friends offered to watch my boys so I could run over and see it and get an application.

While driving over I thought of what a great fit it would be for my older boys too. Angela had said there was waiting lists for older kids. I prayed that if it would be a good fit there would be a spot for them.

I got there and did a quick tour and got the forms. The enrollment person wasn’t in the office, but would call me Tuesday. The person who gave me the forms thought there may be a spot for all 3 boys.

Driving home I was thinking, “This would be the perfect school for T2!” I was praying that there would be a spot for him for sure.

Hence the chaos – suddenly I had choices!

I went home and researched and prayed and talked to a few friends. I was feeling very conflicted:

• Did I want to commit to all that driving, especially if T2 and T3 go, that could require 1 drop off and 2 pickups a day?
• Am I ready for T3 to be gone 5 mornings a week?
• Do I want to have them change schools again?
• Why can’t I just be normal and not worry about school stuff????
• What if I went to a birth while they were at school? That is a huge thing to ask a friend to go that far to pick them up. Would DH be willing to do that? What if he was out of town?

By Saturday afternoon, I realized I didn’t have enough information to make a choice. (I had specific questions about the school and other quetsions too.) I decided to fast about it. To Give it up to God.

I fasted and prayed that when I got more information the correct path would be clear to me. I felt at peace and tried not to think too much about it.

We did talk with the boys about it at Family Home Evening and said it may be a possibility.

T1 thought I was crazy and said, “If you had done this years ago, it sounds like it would have been great. But I am not changing schools!”

T2 was intrigued but unsure.

T3 had no comment.

Tuesday came

and I talked to the enrollment person. She said they wouldn’t really know about spots for sure until the NEXT Tuesday (a day after T2 and T3 were supposed to start their school and the day of the preschool meeting.) I brought T2 and T3 with me. We got to see the Kindergarten classroom and playground. I could see T3 doing great there. But I think he would do great anywhere (though I thought that about T2.)

We got to meet the 5th grade teacher and she seemed nice. The history and literature they do sounds just up T2′s alley. They have a giant catapult in the playground and they host a medieval contest every year. This made T2 excited. It really does fit his personality.

The class sizes are limited to 26 (vs 35 at their current school). The total school size is around 250 vs 1200. T2 hates the bigness of our current school. However he knows that the teacher he is going to have this year is a wonderful teacher (he had her last year), so he feels torn.

We both agreed to not worry about it and wait and see what happens, if there is a spot or not. He was nervous about going to the first day of school at our current school for ONE day and then leaving if there is a spot, so I told him it was fine to skip the first day until we know what is happening.

My personal drawbacks

• totally selfish – so much driving! However with carpool with Angela, her DH will drop them off each day and hopefully Angela and I can share picking up the Kindergartners. But I would have to pick up T2 every day. And on some days do the trip 2 or 3 times.
• being a doula – what if I go to a birth. Before I could call the school and they could walk home with a friend. This will take more coordination. It is something I need to just trust would all work out. It always does.
• what if it isn’t as great as I think? – what if we make the change and it is not the great fit I think it will be? Though everyone I talk to about it who knows T2 agrees it sounds great for him. I think it would be great for T3 too, however his personality is not as set as T3, so it is hard to tell what kind of boy he will become. I know if I had started T1 there, it would have been great for him!

How is this related to birth?

• So many moms don’t realize there is even an option to hospital birth with OB. It is important to let them know there are options. (Even letting them know there are BIG differences between OBs and hospitals).
• Really search out your options – ask questions!!!  I had heard about this school briefly when I was looking for schools for T1 when he was younger, but I didn’t think we could go because it is in a different district.  If I had made a simple phone call I would have found out it IS an option!  Call other care providers and see, it may actually be an option!
• Knowing about new options can be overwhelming and uncomfortable.
• The right answer isn’t always the easy one.
• Researching, following your intuition and getting support is key to making the best choice for you!

photo credit: makelessnoise

Somehow every school year I create personal chaos before school.

I thought this year would be different.

What do I mean by chaos?

I struggle with knowing where my kids belong in schools.

2003

It all started with Thing 1. When he was starting Kindergarten the Public Schools raised the number of kids in a K. class to 30. That seemed like SO many. So I looked at my options and found a Montessori School which I thought would be a good fit.

2004

I think in some ways it was, but the layout of the building had open ceilings and it was SO loud, so the next year we tried a different Montessori school for T1

2005

The next year the question was should Thing 2 start Kindergarten (he turned 5 Aug 31st). We kept Thing 1 at Montessori and we did start Thing 2, mostly because I was due with Thing 3 and wanted Thing 2 gone every morning. He also was ready, in that he was starting to teach himself to read, etc. We sent him to Public School (I had a bit of guilt about that)

2006

The next year we realized that Montessori wasn’t a good fit for Thing 1. He had really tuned out the year before and wasn’t reading well (Thing 2 was almost reading as well as Thing 1) So then the dilemma was, what to do with Thing 1! We ended up switching him to Public School, but had him repeat 2nd Grade. I prayed long and hard about each of these choices and all I can say, is this was the RIGHT choice for him at the time. We also started intensive cognitive therapy (Learning RX) to help him learn to read and up his processing skills along with other things.

2007

Hmm, maybe there was nothing at the start of this year. Though once school started I didn’t love Thing 2′s teacher. I didn’t love the way that the school was so standards based, worksheets and really crushed his love of learning. It was a hard year for him. Thing 1 who we always thought we would worry about was doing great.

2008

I wasn’t sure, should I home school Thing 1 and 2 or send them to public school? Two days before school started we found out there would be a split 4/5 class. Jenny and I coordinate and both call the school and say we would be happy for our sons to be in there (to try to get K. and T1 in the same class) Then I am second guessing myself, was that a good choice (the combo class) But that part worked out great. T2 just was bombarded with worksheets and they were doing this 30/20 thing and I decided to pull him out and homeschool him starting in December. That was an adventure. Some great parts and some hard parts. T3 was in a great preschool.

2009

I wasn’t sure if I was going to send T2 back to school. I had him evaluated and approved for GATE. I finally decided yes we would send him back. He finally got a great teacher and had a good year. T1 had another good year. T3 was in a home preschool, that I felt was was too academic.

2010

I was all set. T1 is doing fine, we have things in place to get a 504 set up for him, regarding accommodations for keyboarding, etc. T2 was getting his awesome teacher again, she is moving up to 5th grade. T3 was going to a new preschool that sounded just right! I even thought, finally a year with no chaos!

BUT – come back for my next post which will talk about the chaos that came into my life regarding the boys education!

I got a free copy of Stolen (Blackpool Mysteries)to review from a give away on Twitter Mom. I had no idea what to expect. I was a bit skeptical when I saw it was a Harlequin book. I haven’t read one of those in ages. Luckily, this is not my mom’s Harlequin books.

I surprisingly enjoyed the book. The characters were interesting and I liked the story and how it was laid out. This is the first in a mystery series, set in rural England. There is a missing treasure, murders and a bit of romance (but this was not the main focus at all). I liked that it had an complete ending. It is frustrating to me to read a series where you HAVE to read the next book to get to the end of the story.

In the back of the book I found out it was based on the Ravenhearst game from Big Fish Games. I don’t like computer games, but I went to check it out and it looks like it could be fun. You certainly don’t have to play the game to enjoy the book.

I am glad I had a chance to read Stolen. I am going to get the next book, Vanished to see what happens to Michael and Molly next.

Pregnancy

Squat vs kegel – why one Childbirth Educator Teaches Squats

Hypnosis for Childbirth Q&A part 1 – what I love most about this was that I was the lady with the button up polo, driving the mini van.  J

Flu Vaccine and pregnant moms – we are getting to flu vaccine time again.  Here are some thoughts on why a mom may want to ask lots of questions before she chooses what to do.

Birth

Just In Case – great spoof on how this attitude leads to unnecessary interventions.

Low fluid – Another look at how this common “scare technique” should be questioned.

Trust yourself, your body and your baby for a safer birth!

Nice reminder to not judge others by their birth choices!!

Beautiful video of baby born in the caul – it seems like it takes forever for the baby to come out, but it is probably because they are being patient and not yelling at the mom to PUSH!!!  Trusting her to follow her own body.

Parenting the New Baby

Circumcision is not risk free!  Almost as many baby boys die from circumcision as SIDS.

Placenta Prints – I think this is such a cool idea!  I don’t think all my friends appreciate me discussing placenta options at book club.  But you all might appreciate it.

Parenting toddlers and up

Lunch Flashcards Not just for packing lunch for school, but how about choosy kids who can’t decide what they want at home?

I had a giant shift in my parenting life the past few weeks.  It was a bit like birthing a new baby.  I feel like I am in recovery mode.  It is all good, but change is change and requires adjusting.

I am going to do a series of posts next week explaining what happened and I will probably add how it could relate to birth in each segment.  Then it will be back to normal posts the next week.    I just feel like this journey should be shared and could be relevant to some.

I actually had 2 weeks of posts scheduled (except for my Sunday Surfin’) otherwise I wouldn’t have posted at all the past 2 weeks.  My posts may thin out over the next month or so as we get used to our new routine.  Yesterday was my first day of being home for a good chunk of the day and I got all these posts scheduled out.  They are copied and changed a bit from my personal blog, so they are condensed and the days may seem off.  But it should all make sense if you realize you are seeing my 3 week journey shrunk into 5 days.

I am also so glad I don’t have any moms due. I have actually had a break since my June Birth and it has been so great!

I will be back on call in October, a birth scheduled for Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan.  I feel ready and excited to start attending births again.  But it was a relief to not be on call while we were making this change.

Introduction

Create Chaos Before School

New Option Created Chaos

Flexibility Kept Me Sane

We Made it it Waldorf

School Update

No Media and New Rhythm to Our Day

My boys have known about sex since they were 4 and 7.  When I was pregnant with Thing 3, the topic of “how did that baby get in you?” came up quite a bit.  So I gave them a simple, but honest answer.  I used books and presented the material very matter of fact like.  It was not a big deal.

We have continued to have conversations, usually when they bring it up.  We have also scheduled some certain discussions as our oldest has started puberty.  We wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anything.  We want our boys to feel comfortable coming to us with any questions.  We wanted them to learn about sex from us, not their friends.

So it always surprises me when I discover some of my friends haven’t talked to their kids about sex yet.  Some friends with 5th grade girls who haven’t told them about periods yet.  These moms are scared to talk to their kids about periods and sex.

Why are we so scared/ashamed of our bodies that we can’t even teach our kids the simple facts about them? Is it any wonder that so many women don’t want to learn about birth.  It is as if that has extended from their childhood into their adulthood.

Teach your kids early about sex and then it won’t be a big deal!  Here are my favorite books for doing so. They are age appropriate and most are bible based.  I suggest going to your local library or bookstore without your kids, reading through all the choices and choosing the ones that are right for your family and their age.

While you are at it, talk to your girls about birth.  Don’t tell them it is scary/painful/horrible.  Just tell them some simple facts and tell them it is wonderful/amazing/great.  Even if your birth story wasn’t those things, hopefully you want something better for them!

Abbott recalls infant formula on bug contamination

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone, Ap Health Writer Wed
Sep 22, 8:47 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it is recalling
millions of containers of its best-selling Similac infant formula that may
be contaminated with insect parts.

The voluntary action affects up to 5 million Similac-brand powder formulas
sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and some Caribbean countries. The
company said the products may contain a small beetle or larvae, which
could cause stomach ache and digestion problems.

The recall does not affect any liquid formulas or other Abbott-brand
products.

A company spokeswoman said Abbott uncovered the insects last week in one
section of a manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

“We immediately shut down that one area and began an investigation,” said
Abbott’s Melissa Brotz. “We’re in the process of resolving it now.” Abbott
manufactures Similac at several U.S. sites.

Brotz said the company has been consulting with the Food and Drug
Administration, which determined there was no “immediate health risk” from
the contamination.

Consumers can enter the lot number on their containers online to determine
if they are subject to the recall. The products should be returned to
Abbott for a full refund.

“Delivering anything less than the highest quality infant formula is
unacceptable to us,” said Brotz. “We will do whatever is necessary to
maintain the trust of parents in the coming weeks.”

The affected products were sold in plastic containers and various can
sizes, including 8-ounce (227-gram), 12.4-ounce (352-gram) and 12.9-ounce
(366-gram).

Similac is the best-selling infant formula in the U.S. Abbott’s
nutritional products — which include adult brands like Ensure — had sales
of $5.3 billion last year.

Abbott expects to lose $100 million in connection with the recall.
However, the North Chicago, Illinois, company confirmed its third-quarter
earnings guidance between $1.03 and $1.05 per share.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories fell 16 cents to $51.99.

___

On the Web:

http://www.similac.com/recall