One Proud Momma Bear

Earlier this week, I witnessed an older couple completely annoyed by my son.
I was extremely hurt that first day--to which my notes are from.
Looking back on it now, I'm over it, but still sad.
Here's my gut wrenching interpretation of the situation.


To the couple who sat across from us at a KID friendly restaurant for lunch today,
I'm sorry for obviously ruining your quiet lunch.


Thank God my son did not see your hurtful looks,
Hear your rude comments,
And notice your annoyed body language.


However,
I did.


I can and usually am an oblivious person to those strangers around me.
It takes a lot for me to see others.
And usually it's kind ones I see.
The smiles, laughs, nice comments, etc that bring my attention to a stranger.
But today, thanks to you, was an exception. 


I'm sorry my son is THREE.
Full of energy, full of love, full of life.


Yes, he IS a little louder due to his lack of words.
And YES, he does draw attention to those around him.
(And honestly, it's USUALLY in a positive way).


Before you were judging him and my family,
We were enjoying a nice lunch out celebrating my daughter's half day of school.


What you didn't see was....


A little BOY who was SO excited to have his sister with him, he couldn't contain it.
A boy who was even MORE excited to have his favorite BLUE moon ice cream (blue is his favorite color).
A boy who was also enjoying the company of his Nana who came to visit for a few days.
A boy who seriously always has a smile on his face, who truly sees the good in people,
AND a boy who would have given you a hug if you asked (just ask the window guy who came to our house last week).


I'm sorry you didn't see my TRUE son. 
That his actions, noises, and movements were too distracting for you to witness his UNIQUE personality.


Because if you would have looked beyond all of that, you would have seen a sweet boy who has SO much to offer this world in front of him.  His full of life attitude is going to take him places and as his Momma, I am abundantly proud of him.


You haven't been the first to feel this way and you for sure won't be the last.
But I wish I could have opened your eyes differently.
Helped you see what was truly there.
And my heart hurts a little for you and your judging ways.
And my heart hurts a little for me for noticing you.


I apologize again for the actions of my son.
And offer a bit of advice.
Every "loud" child is a child. 
Who is learning, growing, and witnessing those around them.  It is OUR job as adults to model the behavior we want our future generations to act.  Even if they are technically not "our" children, we are still influencing them and relying on them to make this world a better place.


Respectfully,
One Proud Momma Bear




Top 10 for the Week:
November 3rd, 2014


10.  Mullet.  So, I noticed earlier in the week that I had a slight problem with my hair.  Like I had a somewhat mullet going on!  Seriously.  I freaked out.  Called a few people to see if they would just cut it off for me.  Yeah, I ended up waiting until later in the week and had a professional do it.  I'm never waiting that long again!  Yikes!


9.  Time Change.  Kids slept in that first morning...but now are up early every morning.  UGH. 


8.  Volunteering.  I had a chance to volunteer at the Middle School Book Fair this week.  I had so much fun interacting with and seeing my old students!  It felt great to be back in school and to see my people.


7.  Wine & Canvas.  I was invited to a wine and canvas party at my neighbor's house.  It was SO much fun!  I didn't follow all of the directions (I changed all the trees into pine trees and added a few hills), but I think it turned out pretty good!  Would love to go to another one sometime.


6.  Thursday.  We had quite the busy Thursday.  My mom was here for a few days to help out with watching Clay while I was volunteering.  Thursday the kids both had appointments for the Flu Mist and then we decided to go out to lunch and then to Bounce land.  Kids LOVED it.  And my mom enjoyed witnessing her first time at Bounce land when it was empty.  This momma was about done halfway through our Bounce land visit.  Clay threw a major tantrum just before leaving.  And of course didn't take a nap the whole way home (I am SO puzzled why our kids don't sleep in the car!).  But overall, we had a great time!


5.  Mal's Conference.  As a parent of a kindergartener, I feel I have a pretty good idea of how she's doing.  So I was surprised how much I took away from her conference.  I mean I know she's a good kid who's doing well, but it's always reaffirming when another person tells you this and shows you evidence of this.  She is blossoming.  And I am SO proud of her.


4.  Crafting Time.  Mal and I had some crafting time on Saturday.  She made (I helped) a few things for her friend Hannah and I finished up my Thanksgiving table runner.  We enjoyed each other's company, and I'm realizing we need a bigger crafting area:o)  I can't wait for MORE time like that!


3.  Clayisms.  I feel like every day I understand him more.  He is truly making an effort to communicate with us.  I noticed when my mom was here, how much others still don't understand him.  But I do.  And I guess I'll go with that for now.  Some days I think he just repeats my name 100 times a day.  Seriously.  Some days I'm okay with it, other days I want to scream.  And I am noticing how important a nap is for him.  He becomes extremely cranky when he doesn't get one.  Especially with Mal.  There relationship is so off and on.  They fought the whole way to grandma's on Thursday for dance and then when we left, she told him she loved him and how MUCH she was going to miss him.  I cherish these moments.  Even if they are instantly replaced with crazy ones.


2.  Malloryisms.  About midweek I notice how much school takes her energy out.  However, this week she had a two half days--1 due to conferences and 1 due to a doctor appointment.  On the one day I told her I had forgotten to tell her teacher about her being gone.  "You know mom, you could just write a note for me and then I can give it to my teacher."  My child is a pure genius I tell ya.  Seriously.  What kindergartener tells her mom this?  And then about an hour later, "Mom don't forget to write me a note for my teacher."  What would I do without her?  If only she had known at the time she was going to the doctors--I'm sure she wouldn't have been so on it.  But we did tell her to expect a surprise (lunch and Bounce Land).  She was also excited about eating dinner on our special plate this week.  I made a "You are special today" plate to highlight the special things in each of kids' lives.  She was SO pumped about eating on it and was concerned that we were going out to lunch.  How in the world was she going to eat on it?  Mind you, this was FIRST thing she said to me Wednesday morning.  We reassured her the plate would be hers at dinner.  I also received the sweetest note from one of my teacher friends this week about her.  I guess they had a sentence starter that read "I have a little..."  She chose brother and then proceeded to illustrate Jay and I in a boat and her and Clay on the beach.  When she asked her what was in the lake, Mal responded with waves.  My friend was impressed by her sweetness and her vocabulary (she assumed fish would be in the lake).  I feel SO privileged to have friends teaching my daughter.  To have an insight into her school world.  To know they love her and cherish her as much as I do.  I feel SO fortunate. 


1.  BUSY Week DONE.  It was a crazy busy week.  Thanks to my mom who came and helped keep my sanity.  Glad it's over.


I'm behind on my other blogs.
But I finished this weeks:o)
Woohoo!

Have a great week!
Until next week,
Mrs. Newell


P.S.  We feel accomplished today.  Lawn mowed (mulched leaves), more lights up, spent most of the day outdoors and it felt great! 

Top 10

Top 10
October 13th, 2014


10.  Hunting.  Growing up, my dad (and later brother) where always hunting.  I remember being home with my mom while my dad was in the woods.  And now it seems I'm in my mother's shoes.  I actually enjoy this time with just the kids and me.  It seems now that school is in full session it's hard to get some alone time where we are not rushing around trying to get something done.  *Jay if you are reading this, I enjoy being home with them, but it's SUPER nice to have you home too.


9.  Chilled Weekend.  Mal felt a little under the weather this weekend and with it being kinda gloomy out, we totally chilled this weekend.  It was nice to just hang out inside playing games, puzzles, TV, forts, etc.  We needed one of these weekends.


8.  Sickness.  It's here.  Took Mal to the doctor today and she said it was allergies.  But Clay's nose is starting to run too.  And these allergies Mal has are horrible!  I'm hoping the medicine starts kicking in so she can have some relief soon!


7.  Clay's Field Trip.  Went on Clay's first field trip this past week.  ALL he could talk about was the BUS.  He was so excited to ride the bus.  He did really well and listened a lot better than he does at home:o)  Which makes me feel good.  It was fun to see him in his element with his people.  He's made a few friends and he loves all the adults (teachers, parapros, helpers, therapists) that are involved in the program at his school.


6.  Volunteering.  Still truly enjoying helping out in Mal's room.  Feeling never goes away.  I've got the itch.  To start teaching again.  Did I really type that?  Oops.


5.  Advocacy.  Since I've been home the last two years or so, I've really learned how important it is to be your own child/children's advocate.  Especially with our son.  I met with his private speech therapist and OT this week.  Our speech teacher is SO great with him and I feel she gives me exactly what I need at the time--comfort AND knowledge.  We chatted about his school setting and how it's hard for me to understand what he is actually doing in school (snack, PE time, etc.).  Most kids would come home and chat up a storm about these things.  Unfortunately, he does come home and "chat" a bit but it's extremely hard for me to understand him.  She was very supportive of this concern and enforced that I AM HIS ADVOCATE.  Later last week we started a traveling notebook.  It's already helping open up  more communication between school and home. 


4.  Wedding.  Jay and I attended a friend's wedding this past weekend.  Just the two of us.  Why do weddings always make me feel like I'm lucky?  Like I KNOW I picked the right man for me.  It's kinda like you remember all those memories you experienced on your special day.  The feeling.  The bliss.  The happiness.  I love my husband.  I love how weddings do that to me. 


3.  Clayisms.  I met with Clay's OT this week.  She is another amazing woman in Clay's life.  She first started out saying how much joy it was to work with him.  How his spirit and love of life is so great.  Makes my heart beam.  Because I also see this in our boy.  Starting at conference time, he will be on her caseload.  We are ecstatic!  She has SO many ideas for him.  And I can't wait to start working with her.  She gave us homework and I'm meeting with her again next week!  I finally feel like things are finally coming together for Clay.  Like everything finally lined up and we can only go up from here on out!  He has SO much support from his teachers, therapists, friends, family.  It truly is a blessing.  SO much has changed in just a few short months.  I am so excited for this year!


2.  Malloryisms.  Mal's been a little tired this past week.  Well, more than usual at least.  In fact, she's kinda even put up a stink about going to school.  I know shocking right?!?!  But I understand that school is work not so much play now.  Our conversation the other morning...


Mal:  I don't want to go to school.
Me:  I could homeschool you if you'd like. (I know I'm treading on water here...but read on).
Mal:  Oh really!
Me:  Yes, but that means you won't see your friends, you won't have specials, etc.
Mal:  Oh.  Yeah, I'll go to school.  It's just that I don't get to do what I want to do.  The teacher is always saying 'Do this, do that, do this, do that.'"


Dude--I couldn't stop laughing IN my head.  That's the way life works honey.  She's all good now.  But I get the feeling.  Sometimes life just seems hard and overwhelming and we all need a break from it.  But I DO think Kindergarten should only be 1/2 days.  A FULL day seems really long and hard. 


She had a chance to go to the school library this week and she was super excited about that.  It was cute to see her so pumped about books!  Another cute saying this week:  "Oh Brother!  He's so funny!"  Referring to her brother doing something funny. 


1.  Raider PRIDE.  I saved the best for last.  And it has to do with Miss Mallory.  Of course I've had lots of great mommy moments with my kids but this one seems to top them all and I wasn't even there to witness the REAL event.  But hearing it from my 5 1/2 year old makes it so special.  Mal earned an award and certificate from school this past week due to finishing up a summer booklet.  She was so excited to show me after school but it wasn't until bedtime that she truly shared with me the story.  Of course this isn't word for word what she told me...but it was close.  And you get the gist.


"Mom my name was called on the speaker!  The said "Mallory Newell."  So I went down to the office and when I got back to class all the other kids were asking me where I got it from.  They were all disappointed (this WAS the word she used! Ha!) they didn't have one.  We even got ice cream.  It dripped down my hand so I had to throw part of it away.  I licked the rest of it off my hand."


THE sweetest, proudest moment for me.  Her recollection of it, how proud she was, how great she felt....seriously made my week.  I will NEVER forget that moment she shared with me.  And it's so strange NOT being there and seeing those moments.  But somehow it's even better hearing it from HER.  Her important details and thoughts in the situation. 


Well, It's Monday!
I've got a sick kid home.
And another one bouncing off the walls!


Have a great week!
Until next week,
Mrs. Newell


P.S.  Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to finish all the ones I've slacked on!