Another Week of Rhythmic Routines

Monday we had a bit of an issue with the rise then drop then rise of the temperature that resulted in our basement getting a little weepy. Fortunately everything is up on pallets, so it was more an inconvenience than anything. We have to clear out the snow as it melts between our house and our neighbors’ because if it pools, that’s when we get the leaks. Hallie and Mike used their snow shovels and broom to sweep the muddy water out to the street, and then the basement went back to a tear-free and dry state.

Mike has ended up taking some of the morning errands that Hallie used to do now that Hallie is working. Some of these errands are fun, like taking Landon to school and Eliza to gymnastics. On Wednesday, he helped Eliza go through her routines at the gym, which meant that he got his own workout chasing her from the trampoline to the bars to the balance beam to the foam cube pit. Phew! This won't be a regular thing though, because as of Wednesday afternoon we found out that Eliza's new speech class will conflict with gymnastics. Hopefully we can find something again for her in the future since she seemed to really like it.

After Mike finished work Thursday night, he joined Hallie and the kids at St. Joan of Arc School in St. Clair Shores. Too bad it’s so far away (and the tuition is out of our reach). We still have given the idea serious thought because they offer half-day kindergarten with the option of transitioning to full-day once the child seems ready. Grosse Pointe Public School District is talking about making half-day kindergarten available, but now we’re on the fence about it. We really wish they would have just kept the option available last year, and the district’s handling of the situation is why we’re weighing other options before glibly diving right into sending Landon to the local school. After all, if the district was unresponsive to parent input about the half-day option last year, why should we think they will do more than offer symbolic lip service when another issue comes up?

Eliza received her speech evaluations this week, and she is making great progress. She now uses cute little two and three word sentences. A few highlights: “ten cue” (thank you), “beep beep” (move, please), “my turn,” “I sit,” and (after she climbs up on the bar stool and has her hands in the candy jar) “hewwo!” (hello). Every time we hear her talk or say new words you want to pick her up and kiss her cute face.

One day this week after pickup at preschool, Hallie stayed to talk to Dee, the mom of another child in Landon’s class. Hallie and Dee enjoy chatting, and the kids enjoy playing. As the moms continued to babble on, the kids found snow/ice to throw at each other. When it was time to go Landon said he had the most fun ever. How fun it is to know that all it takes is an empty parking lot and some snow to make the kids so very happy!

Speaking of simple things that make kids happy: