Soccer Party

Meredith had her soccer party yesterday at the park. It was windy! Very, very windy. And the wind was quite chilly. I didn't even take any pictures because I decided to play instead. Sorry, but too bad. Hayden requested to watch over Philip and he took him down every slide in the playground. Meredith hung out with her friends on the swings so Steffi and I climbed and slided and ran around. I did not let her go in the sand pit because...well, because our washer is broken and I don't know when it will be fixed and she may have to wear those pants again before I get to Mom's to use her washer.

We had a good time. We got cupcakes and CapriSun drinks. It would have been a better time if it hadn't been so windy that I decided we were leaving soon after the party ended. Meredith got a medal that says "Avalanche 2008" and she is happy about that. Her coach will be coaching again in the spring so we'll see about that. I was kind of thinking about putting her in t-ball instead though. I don't want to just limit her to 1 sport after all. I mean, who knows, she might be a home-run queen instead.

An Incident at School

I went to pick up my little Meredith at school on Tuesday. She did not come out with the rest of her class. Her teacher told me another lady would be bringing Meredith out because there was an incident. So I went inside to make sure my baby was alright. She was fine.

Apparently, she and another kid bonked heads earlier and her teacher asked her if she would like to go to the nurse's station and Meredith said yes. However, she did not go into the nurse's station. She also did not go back to her classroom. She just sat down on the floor. Three adults came up and asked her where she was supposed to be and if she was ok and she would not speak to them.

She would not speak to me either when I got there. In fact, she refused to say anything. Period. Fortunately, for her, I recognized this behavior. She was upset and trying not to cry. So I asked her if she was scared to go into the nurse's office and she nodded. I then asked her why didn't you just tell one of the people who came to help you and she wouldn't talk.

I figured she had a shyness attack and didn't want to go into the nurse's office but she knew she was supposed to be there so she didn't want to go back to her class. And she knew she shouldn't just be sitting in the hall so she was scared to talk to anybody.

I told her the next time she's scared to do something, she should go back to her teacher and tell her because her teacher would have gone with her or sent someone with her to the nurse if that was the problem.

Wednesday morning was a pain also because she didn't want to go back to school and she was irritating the crap out of everyone. But she was fine when I picked her up that afternoon.

A Little Girl's Take on Keith Urban

So Meredith and I were driving around the other day just listening to the radio. I always wonder exactly how much she is picking up as she listens to these songs. And, believe me, she is listening - she loves to sing along to just about anything. We were listening to a country station and Keith Urban starts singing.

After just a little while, Meredith asks me, "Why is she wearing his shirt anyway?"

Ummmmm.....Hey, Keith, you wanna field this one for me?

M: "I guess she must have thought it was pretty."

OK. Let's go with that.

Teachers

Let me say a few words to all the teachers out there....

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I have never in my life wanted to be a teacher. It took just 2 minutes of one tutoring session when I was a Junior in high school for me to realize I was not cut out for such a profession.

Yesterday, I was reminded of this.

Yesterday, I went with Meredith's kindergarten class to the Capital.

It was like herding cattle, only not quite as relaxing. Although, to be fair, none of the kids jumped the fence into the neighbor's field.

OK, it probably wasn't that bad, but there were 20-some kids and only 5 adults. Quite frankly, I think they should have been shackled together so they would have had to stay in line.

They actually were pretty good but I don't normally like kids who aren't mine or my friends'. Probably a control thing, I'm sure. Meredith was pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised by that. Hayden always got over-excited whenever I was around - he basically morphed into a hyperactive spider monkey so I eventually learned to not go with him on field trips. Meredith is a little more sedate. Plus she got to be a co-line-leader with her boyfriend and even held his hand and whispered with him. Oh, dear.

Anyway, to make a short story even longer - I walked away with tremendous respect for the 2 teachers and the 2 aides involved. I am so glad that there are people in the world who enjoy teaching small children. They even still seemed in good spirits when we returned to the school.

I, on the other hand, went home for a beer and a nap.

Soccer Game #6

Here are pictures from the last game. These girls were big! Hayden thought they were probably 3rd graders. I think maybe they were just 6+.
Here is the coach telling Meredith how to do something. She kicked the ball in.
Here is the whole team. I think everyone was there. Meredith is standing beside the coach.

Yay, Avalanche!

Meredith can't wait for next year. Neither can Stephanie.

Soccer Game #5

Our girls got creamed this week! Oh, my. The other team got 4 goals and we almost got 4 goals. We scored none but the ball just skimmed by the net 4 times. Oh, well. No one tells our girls the score anyway. They just know they played hard and ran all over the place and they did a good job. And, in Kindergarten, that's all you need to know.
My Little Meredith was being kind of ditzy this game. She hardly ever tried to kick the ball. But, the coach said she was doing very well at defense so what do I know? I need to try to learn something about soccer before next season.
Some of those girls on the other team were really tall. John chastised me for this, "I thought you said Meredith was in the top percentage of her height?!" I had to remind him this team is for Kindergarteners, not just 5-year-olds, so some of them could have been a little older.
Here's a picture of my next soccer star. I think she'll be old enough to play next year. Look at all those bruises on her shins! I may need to get her the shin guards for everyday play!

Buy this CD!

Guess what? Mommy entered my picture in a radio contest and we won! I'm going to be inside Taylor Swift's new CD when it comes out! Well, my picture is going to be inside anyway. She sings "Picture to Burn". I. Love. That. Song.

The Safe Seat

My baby had to sit in "The Safe Seat" at school for the first time today. To those of you not in the LPS system, that would be like the time-out chair. She's still quite upset and won't talk about it other than to say she had a bad day. She didn't tell me she had to sit in the seat either, I just guessed at that part. She even refused to go to dance class after school. (The class is actually in the school so I guess she just wanted to get away from there.)