That Kind of Day

I'm trying to find a Daisy Girl Scout troop for Hannah to join. I was a Girl Scout for over 10 years (more like 15+ years if you count all the years I tagged along with my mom's troop as a toddler and the summers I worked as a camp counselor), and I really enjoyed it. Well, I contacted the administrator at Hannah's school to see if they had a troop this year like they have in years past. Here's the response I got.

"The answer is yes and no. There is a Third grade mom who did it last year and she is going to do it this year, but only for the elementary girls because she said when they did it with kindergarten girls it was just too big of a group.

Personally, I recommend checking and seeing if there is a troop at the school she will be attending for grade school. Although troops are started in schools, it's my understanding that anyone in the community can join. If that works out she will already be establishing friendships for next year."

I understand, there are approx 12 elementary age girls and 20 kindergarten girls. An optimal Brownie troop has 10-15 girls, so excluding the kindergarteners is reasonable. My issue is what I have marked in red... We are hopeful that Hannah will be chosen to go to MONTESSORI next year. So this statement was kind of a slap in the face. Granted 80% of the kindergarteners WILL go to another school, so I'm hoping she said it this way for simplicity.

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Yesterday was Elijah's second time at gymnastics, and it was a horrid experience for both of us. I had to wake Elijah from a nap when it was time to leave. He refused to wear his Crocs (the only shoes he can take on and off by himself). He started screaming as I helped him remove his tennis shoes and socks before class. He screamed some more when I got his name tag (he wanted to pick someone else's). He was reasonably calm when I handed him off to the teacher. Then I had to take him potty (fun while holding Leah since I have to pick him up so he's tall enough to pee in the toilet). I got him back to class and I thought all was well. He got scared when he was walking across the balance beam, and he started to cry. A little bit later, it was his turn to run down a long trampoline and jump into a pit filled with foam. When he got to the jumping off point, he decided he didn't want to jump. He was fine until the teacher removed him from the trampoline... that's when the REAL screaming started. His teacher did ask me if I wanted him or if I thought he should stay, and I opted to let him stay (Leah was being difficult enough at this point, and we had to wait for Hannah anyway). When class was over, and the teachers were putting stamps on the kids' hands and feet, I heard Elijah yell, "I DON'T WANT A STAMP!!!!!" I promptly removed him at that point. So, today, I got a phone call from Hannah's gymnastics teacher who is in charge of the little kids' program. She said that Ms Danielle (Elijah's teacher) thought he would do better in the 'mom and me' class. Great. That is not going to happen since I have Leah too. I did explain that he did fine the first week of gymnastics, but yesterday was a fiasco. She said to give it one more week, then we can take him out (with a refund) if it doesn't go well. I can honestly say, that I've never gotten a phone call about Hannah. Is this what it's going to be like to have a boy in school and activities?? All I can say is "Yikes!"
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Every morning when we leave for school Elijah says something about not wanting to go to school... Thankfully, when I pick him up he tells me how much he loves it!
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Today Leah tried to eat a dead spider, but I didn't let her finish it. Elijah and I were both pretty grossed out!!
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After we picked up Hannah things got better. Daddy came home, and we all went to the library. Hannah got about 8 chapter books for me to read to her (love those Magic Treehouse and Junie B. Jones books!!), and both kids picked out some DVDs for the weekend. Then we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant. YUM!