The Sorry Song

Sunday afternoons can be hard.  I wish I could report that our little family sat around and just loved each other all the time, but of course that's not what happens.  Most of the time we are OK but then we have days like today where it just seems like everyone picks at each other.  

After church Henry was finishing a school project and Tessa was trying to get him to move his stuff off the counter.  He got in her face and she scratched him, resulting in a trip to her room for some downtime until she was ready to apologize.  After a while she came and said she was sorry.  But then she took her apology a step further - she wrote him a song, complete with a poster of the lyrics:

The song goes:

I'm sorry! For what you say?  Oh Yeah!  I'm sorry for scratching you in the face.  I heard that you got a bump or two! (insert frowny face)  I just want to say I'm really sorry!  From Tessa To Henry.

You can say what you want about Tessa (and we had plenty to say, believe me) and her scratching antics, but she sure can apologize in style!

Election Day

Apparently the last few weeks of school in 1st Grade is pretty kick-back.  They don't do core testing this young so they don't have tests to plan around and seem to try and fit in some fun, different kinds of projects. Case in point - what Tessa calls "Community".

Apparently they set up their classroom as a mini-community.  Everyone has jobs.  Tessa came home and informed me that she wanted to be the Mayor and she needed to make some campaign posters.  Here is an example:

The election was today.  She lost.  She didn't seem too upset, although she did tell me that she was "sad in my heart" that she didn't get to be the Mayor.  The Mayor is a good friend of hers who gave out candy (!) as an incentive for voting for her.  No wonder Tessa lost.  It didn't even occur to me to send candy - I just got out the markers and poster board and let her color for a while.  

Oh well.  She is the Mayor's assistant.  She seemed relieved because she really, really didn't want to be the garbage man.

Animal Farm

The end of the school year is full of programs and fairs and field trips and field days.  It seems like every single day has me doing something school-related.  It's kind of fun and a sign that the school year is wrapping up.

Today was Tessa's 1st Grade Animal Fair.  The kids had  researched and written a short report on an animal of their choice.  They made a model of the animal out of clay and a background of the animal's habitat.  Then they all stood at their desks while we (parents, teachers and other students) walked around and talked to them about their animals.

Tessa's animal, if you can't tell, was a Panda.

Unfortunately the Panda keeps breaking it's head and ear off.  I keep hot-gluing it back together again and it is incredibly fragile.  But it's cute and she is very proud of it.

The Mother's Day Conundrum

I have mixed feelings about Mother's Day.  I mean, any day where I get presents is obviously a good day.  This year Jay managed to surprise me (again!) with a new computer chair.  Either he thinks I spend all day watching Netflix on the computer while the kids are at school or he noticed that the chair we had was slowly losing all it's foam stuffing and sitting on it to check your email was like sitting on concrete.  At any rate, I am now sitting on a very comfortable chair that I may not move from tomorrow, especially since The West Wing is streaming on Netflix.

Anyway - mixed feelings.  I love being a mother and I think I'm pretty good at it most days.  But I'm not sure that I need a special day to reinforce that being a mother is kind of fun and great.  I don't need or even want to be told how awesome I am by my kids on Mother's Day because honestly it feels a little forced.  "Mom, you are a great cook" after a week where sandwiches were the norm because everyone was always busy around dinnertime just doesn't have the ring of truth, you know?  I would rather be appreciated every day of every year than blasted by Mom Love for a day and then ignored for the other 364 days of the year.  And to be fair, maybe I feel that way because I do feel appreciated.  I know that Jay appreciates what I do as a mom.  He tells me, just randomly.  I know that my kids, in general, think I'm OK and I don't think I have messed anyone up to badly yet.  I'm lucky.  Not everyone has that.  So when Jay asks me what I want for Mother's Day, I honestly don't know.  I feel pretty fortunate and don't feel like I need a gift to make me feel good about myself.  Don't get me wrong - I will enjoy this new chair a lot.  I loved the cute little gifts that my kids brought home from school and church today.  We had cupcakes.  I just don't feel like it's necessary, at least for me.

Also, there are many women in my little sphere of existence that don't have children for whatever reason.  I hate that Mother's Day, no matter how hard we try to make it inclusive, can be a painful reminder of something that they may want but do not have.  I hate that.  And I hate that there is absolutely nothing that I can do to change those circumstances and nothing that I can say that won't sound trite and cliche.

So I'll celebrate Mother's Day because it's just what we do in our culture.  I will call my Mom and make sure she knows I was thinking about her today.  But I won't make myself feel guilty because I'm not Mother of the Year and I won't pat myself on the back for all the sacrifices that I make as a mom. I'll just go about my business, like all mothers do.  And that's how it should be, I guess.

7th Heaven

Today is Tessa's 7th birthday.  She is a great little girl who is funny and smart and sassy and a wonderful addition to our family.

She celebrated her birthday with a scooter and some new doll clothes and a trip back to USU's Aggie Marketplace with it's Mongolian BBQ and Nacho Bar and All-You-Can-Eat Aggie Ice Cream.

To celebrate Tessa's 7th birthday, I thought I'd share 7 Great Things About Tessa.

1 -  She is a great reader.  She loves to read her cute little chapter books, like Amelia Bedelia, June B Jones and American Girl.  She has over 80 AR points and loves seeing that number go up as she takes her tests.

2 - She loves to dance and perform.  She is on her third year of dance and is looking forward to her recital in two weeks.  She was in the Opera club at school and recently performed in the Summit Elementary original opera "King of Candy" as a licorice.

3 - She doesn't like the wind.  She loves to play outside, but if it's at all windy, she stays inside.

4 - She loves popsicles.  I buy the cheap "Fun Pops" because if I bought the pricier Otter Pops during the summer we'd go broke.

5 - She is a sweet girl.  Her teacher at school is always telling me how nice she is to the kids in her class and how much she tries to help them at school.

6 - She loves to play games on the computer but doesn't like to play on the Wii.

7 - She wants to be a dance teacher or an inventor or a school teacher when she grows up.

Happy Birthday, Tessa!  We love you.