Senior Summer

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Two Writing Teachers

It's summer.

Time for fun, sunshine, travel, reading, relaxing.

It's the summer before senior year.

Time for college visits, questions from family, decisions, job hunting, summer reading.

It's supposed to be a fun, carefree time

but

deadlines and decisions loom.

As the parent, I try to provide advice, but I find myself keeping my thoughts to myself.

I'm providing facts and guiding questions.

I'm not the one choosing a school or a job or when to do my summer assignments.

I don't have to live with the decisions... just the person who has to make them.

It's stressful to watch, but that's my place.  On the sidelines.  Coaching.

She's in the game.

Allison

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Two Writing Teachers

Tomorrow the baby of our family turns 15.  Wow. I don't know where the time has gone!

Allison is enjoying a busy summer full of classes, poms camp, hanging out with friends, dance, volunteering at swim lessons, and --most importantly -- driver's education!  Ask her when she is able to test for her permit, and I'm pretty sure she can tell you, down to the number of hours! As my second child in the driver's seat, I'm pretty calm about the process.  I even traded in my old SUV for a new crossover with better mileage and smaller frame.  It's new, but I'm not worried about dents or crashes.  As Allison reminds me all the time, she is an excellent lawn-tractor-driver at my parents' house.

I had the pleasure of watching Allison on stage last weekend as she performed in her 11th recital.  She's been taking dance classes since she was nearly 5 years old.  Back in the early days, she was extremely shy and didn't dance if it was observation day during class.  During the first performance of her first recital, she stood stock still on the stage, as her classmates "danced" next to her.  As I stood backstage in the wings, pushed right up to the curtain by the studio director, my heart ached for Allison.  I wondered what kind of mother puts her shy, wary preschooler on a stage in front of hundreds of strangers.  I was convinced she would be scarred for life.

Then something amazing happened.  Allison made eye contact with Nicole, a sweet girl in her class.  Nicole smiled and Allison smiled back.  They began to dance together.  I was astounded!  After the recital, two different moms came up to us to share that they had been rooting for Allison to begin dancing, and when she started dancing with her class, both moms had begun to cry.

Fast forward to last weekend.  My nearly 15 year old daughter confidently performed ballet, hip hop and contemporary numbers. She took care of her own hair, makeup and costumes.  She helped her friends prepare for their numbers.  My shy, wary dancer is now a teen with drive and ambition.  On Sunday night, after all the performances were finished, Allison shared that the stage and the dance studio are her "homes away from home."

Happy birthday, Alli!  You make us proud (and make us laugh) every day!

Summer Reading... so far

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I have been working through a few good books this summer, between cleaning out my daughter's room, washing lots of dishes (now I know why we like to eat out!) and purging the basement.  Here's a few I've enjoyed:

 (book cover photos from goodreads.com)

My sister-in-law shared Summerland with me.  She devours adult fiction and passes them to me (we love Janet Evanovich's quick reads).  I liked this book as it wove together the small town of Nantucket, MA as three families deal with a teen car accident.  The writing floats between the past and present, and reveals so much about the characters.

 The Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl caught my eye when the Beautiful Creatures movie trailer came out.  They tend to be a bit long, but the characters and the South Carolina town they inhabit are fun to read about.  The magical categories and boy/girl drama between Lena and Ethan keep me reading this series.  The next book in the series is Beautiful Redemption.  I may save it for winter reading.

 Butter is a morbidly obese high schooler who plays a mean saxophone and secretly pines for a girl in his class.  He's bullied by two guys, especially, and decides he should just eat himself to death.  Butter has some great mentors, but you can feel his desperation.  (Psst - it does have a happy ending, don't worry!)

The Book of Broken Hearts is my second read by Sarah Ockler.  I immensely enjoyed reading about Jude and her family (three intense sisters, hardworking mom, dad with early-onset Alzheimer's).  These characters are so real and dealing with such a raw, terrible disease.  There's great sparks and chemistry between Jude and Emilio.  He's a motorcycle repair kid from a family of heartbreakers who Jude is supposed to avoid.  Be prepared for heartache and tears in this story.  I couldn't put it down.

Finally, I need to go back and reread Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead.  This is my fave middle grade read this summer.  Georges, Mom and Dad downsize to an apartment building in New York.  Georges meets Safer and Candy, two homeschooled kids, who introduce him to the art of spying.  Georges deals with separation from his mom and a few bullies at school.  The ending makes you realize how much you missed while you read this book!  I didn't figure out the clues the author left, so I'm determined to reread and find them.  This would be a great read for those middle graders who crave a little mystery.

Happy summer reading!  I recommend setting up a Goodreads.com account and searching #bookaday on Twitter to find your next great read!

Progress

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Progress

We are all making progress in my house this June.  We have many different goals and dreams, but everyone is taking small and large steps.  

My youngest daughter (nearly 15) conquered her cluttered, tchochke-filled room and closet with just a little help.  She felt better about sending her stuffed animal collection to the basement or my classroom ("Mom, the kids need to have a Read With the Bears Day in your room!").

Her room is nearly ready for a fresh coat of paint, now that we've removed some furniture (*See my progress below) and cleared her space.

My oldest daughter (gulp, a senior) has been applying for a part-time job and deciding which colleges she needs to visit this summer before diving into the application progress.  I've tried my best to give her space and not nag her about the job apps (I'm failing miserably!).  She's asking lots of friends about where she should apply and has successfully answered hundreds of personality and work style questions on these 45-minute applications.

My husband is now at the 5-week mark after heart surgery.  He wasn't cleared to drive yet (UGH!) but he has helped me fix up a few items around the house with a screw gun and circular saw.  This week he plans to spend some time in his office and maybe work a touch on the basement.  He's determined to get into cardiac rehab ASAP so he can start working out.  

I took the bookshelf from my youngest's room and plan to house my home library collection in the basement.  I bought clear shoeboxes and started sorting a few shelves of books.  The basement floor is a total disaster, as I only work on this project when we have crummy weather.  I'm so glad that I've started to sort what I have - I didn't realize how many books need to be in my classroom library.  Once I can get back into school, I'll purge and organize there, too.  This project is long overdue, and I'm excited to finally be making progress.

A Little Stir Crazy

I started my summer vacation a few weeks early when my husband had surgery.  I think we both know we've become a bit stir crazy.  Today's episode proves it.

The UPS and FedEx trucks make frequent stops at our house.  We (especially hubby) enjoy shopping online, especially for hard to find items.  Today I was expecting a box of clothing, but a tall, skinny box was left on our porch.

"Oh! It's my garden weasel!" my husband exclaimed.

The following soliloquy ran through my head and out of my mouth:

A garden weasel?  The garden tool on TV?  You have got to be kidding me.  You really ordered a garden weasel? Why do we need that? We don't even have a garden! Did you order that contraption when you couldn't sleep at 2:00 a.m?  I seriously think you need to change your meds.  Are you out of your mind?  Why do you "need" the most random items? Why did you order a garden weasel?

He opened the box and inside was the famous TV tool.  He just looked at me with his mouth open, shocked that I couldn't understand why he ordered it.

I stomped  away and pouted on the reading chair.  A million ideas ran through my head:  I should call the doctor.  I need to hide his credit card.  The man has lost his mind!

A few minutes later, I found him in the bedroom.  I apologized for my verbal attack on his shopping habits.

"I bought the garden weasel so I could fix the patch of grass that got charred from the fire pit.  I figured it was the best tool for the job, and we didn't have one" stated my husband, matter-of-factly.  "Is that okay with you?"

Oh.

I guess it's time to go read a book or organize my home library.

Encouragement

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Encouragement - that's the word I'm focusing on this week!

Encouraging my teens:
It's the last full week of classes for my teen daughters.

The freshman is covered in papers from the past few weeks of classes, haphazardly thrown in a folder.  We discuss the importance of getting organized for finals. That's too big an idea for my youngest, the right-brained creative-type.  We talk specifics.. sorting papers, writing notes, filling out study guides.
"Thank you for NOT calling me LAZY like some of my teachers!" she exclaims.
She's her worst enemy when it comes to self-talk... she needs encouragement.

The junior has a few quizzes, essays, and reading to do.  Two AP tests are out of the way, so those classes have started showing movies.  Many of her friends are seniors and their last day is this week.  Prom is on Friday.  She needs encouragement to stay focused on school, even with all the fun activities and friends with "senioritis" surrounding her.  Junior year is the toughest, especially at the end!

Encouraging my husband:
I'm on family leave, helping my husband recover from heart surgery, so it's another week of slowwww healing for him.  He needs encouragement in a sly way.  I can't remind him that he can't lift the pot on the stove after he boils pasta.  He doesn't want me to offer to help him find a comfortable position for sleeping.  He needs encouragement to keep positive and not be frustrated by his tight chest muscles and sore back.

Encouraging myself:
Since I'm not working, it's hard not to think about what I could and should be doing at school, with my students, in these last days of school.  I thought about making them an iMovie to remind them to read over summer vacation.  I'm going to start organizing the hundreds of books I have at home.  I hope to scan them into an app and sort them into categories so I can have an awesome classroom library in the fall.

In addition to balancing hubby care with book projects and making meals, I need encouragement to stay out of the fridge and snack cabinet.  It's much easier to eat lots of yummy stuff when I'm at home.  I must encourage myself to keep walking and riding my bike.

I hope you will share some encouragement with someone who needs it this week!

Thankful for nurses

Yesterday, my husband had heart surgery to repair a genetic defect.  The surgery was successful, and I'm thankful for all the awesome people who decided to make their career nursing.

Kind and Caring
The pre-op nurses were calming and funny.  They soothed our anxious nerves as they prepped my husband for his procedure.  They shared stories about their pets (the female cat named Jeffrey) and their families.  All of them had great bedside manner, even at such an early hour.  

Informed and Efficient
The communication nurses balanced their pagers, phones and notebooks.  They gave precise information -in minute increments - about the status of the surgery.  They scurried between waiting areas to find families and delivered messages in a clear language.

Essential and Confident
The nurses in the ICU were able to welcome us into a maze of intimidating machines, scared to see our loved one in such a vulnerable condition.  They gave clear status updates as we stared with large eyes and my knees buckled.  They assured us that we could leave, eat and rest, and they would keep a vigilant watch.

Tireless and Patient
The recovery nurses have the hardest job.  They get to work through the pain, nausea and meals.  They support and walk with my husband when he doesn't really want to.  They deal with family visitors who are in the way in a room that barely fits the patient and his equipment.  They will see the most improvement, but they will work the hardest.

I am so very thankful for the incredible nurses who have helped us navigate this very intense experience.  May they get the thanks they deserve on a regular basis.