Special Ed

I worked in a special ed class today. I've been in this class before, so I know the kids' names and their basic dispositions by now. Such sweet kids, all of them. I'm particularly taken with a boy in a wheelchair, blind, cerebral palsy. He says a few words, but mostly he communicates with an open-mouthed smile for "yes" and a pouty lower lip for "no." He especially loves to read a series of Froggy books. He also makes his own froggy sounds. So as I've fed him, I've talked about how he has to eat for the froggies, too. He gets a big kick out of my jokes. Anyone willing to laugh at my weird sense of humor is all right with me!

I continue to seriously consider getting into special education. If there is an opening, there might be a chance that the school district would hire me as a special ed teacher in the fall AND pay for to get my Master's degree. That would be TOO COOL for words. It would be a lot of work for a few years, but I think it would be worth it. I couldn't work with severe/profound kids -- that's just too physical -- but other levels I'd consider. I also think that it's closely associated with my psychology degree with all of the behavioral and family issues involved. My heart is in counseling, but at this season of my life, I'd rather be more available for my kids, to be off when they're off.

Keri Lynn is up to her neck in play rehearsal. All this week, she's been at the high school from 5:00 to 10:00 pm, practicing for the senior play Wizard of Oz. I think she'll look back at it and be glad she put in the effort, but right now she's just tired! I can't blame her! I can't wait to see the play, though. It opens for four nights, starting Saturday. I've got to finagle a few free tickets so that the whole family can go see it, and I'm going to try to see it at least two or three times. The high school has a ton of really talented kids in drama. Keri Lynn is part of the ensemble. She goes on stage with her group four different times. The senior play is a big deal, so much so that the drama kids are considered pretty cool on campus rather than just the usual drama geeks.

Keva has learned how to turn door nobs. This was kind of a pain when she learned how to escape from her room, but now she knows how to also get out of the house entirely. We have to be careful to lock front and garage doors. Usually we're warned if she's going out because before she makes her escape, she enjoys opening the door and slamming it shut several times in a row. This is such fun . . . for her. Lately, she's been spending a lot more time in her room than not while we try to figure out the next best course of action.

When we had Kathleen's birthday party, Kathleen and her friend, and Kylie and I all worked on two three-layer cakes. We baked the cakes and frosted them carefully and then placed them carefully away out of reach, one in the microwave and one in the cabinet above the microwave, before we all went off on the scavenger hunt. Keri Lynn came home while we were on the scavenger hunt and took the cake that was in the microwave out so that she could actually cook something in the microwave for a snack.

I got a call on my cell phone while I was out with my team on the scavenger hunt.

"Mom, Keva got into the cake! I'm so sorry. I took it out of the microwave and forgot to put it back in!"

I could tell that Keri Lynn was close to tears.

"Don't worry! Fix it as best as you can. We have a second cake!"

It's a good thing we had a back-up because that first cake did not exactly look appetizing. Kathleen was a tad upset at first but eventually got over it and we all enjoyed that second cake for her party as well as the less aesthetically appealing cake for our own family for several days after that.

Can you believe that I'm STILL not caught up with laundry. This is very upsetting to me because I think when all was said and done that I did about 24 loads of laundry in a three day period. Now that we're all getting used to school schedules and my work schedule, I've been getting them to do more of their chores again. I started getting them to make their beds again and each morning, they scour the house for dirty clothes to bring down to the laundry room. I think there ought to be a law that once a body has done 1.2 million loads of laundry (which I'm SURE I've accomplished) that he/she should no longer have to do any more laundry after that. In fact, after the 1.2 million loads of laundry mark, I think the government should provide a free laundry service. Yep, I do. I think I'll contact my local representative (D).