Jesus Is Coming...Perhaps Today

Ed & I saw that message on a church sign once. It kind of creeped us out. And we never forgot it. We kind of laugh about it now, but it did make us take pause when we read it all those years ago.

Tonight, we were saying bedtime prayers with Isabelle. She does a "special prayer" sometimes if we have someone who really needs an extra prayer, or we want to ask God to help us with something special.

She told us she had a special prayer tonight, so we waited for her to belt it out.

She prayed, "Dear God, I really hope we see you in our house tomorrow."

Ha ha, uhhhhh, I kind of hope we don't, Iz!!!

PS: As an addendum, we explained to her that God is always with us even when we don't see him. We didn't leave the poor kid hanging.

Click, Clack, Clique

I chaperoned Isabelle's first Field Trip today, to the County Fair, and I felt like I woke up in a bad dream, back on the grade school playground for the first time, wondering who would be my friend in an uncertain world. Why did none of my girlfriends warn me of the Preschool Mom Cliques that I was going to encounter?

There are 12 kids in Izzi's class, and I think I counted 6 chaperones? I figured, naively, that all 12 kids, 2 teachers, and 6 chaperones would hang out together today, getting to know one another, comparing stories, and sharing a few laughs. I was mistaken. Boy, was I mistaken.

When the kids got off the bus, each chaperone was handed their own child, plus a random kid they've never met with enough tickets to get in the gate.

All the chaperones were off and running with their kids, as I stood at the gate looking very perplexed. Did I miss the memo? Did they hand out an itinerary and I didn't get one? Where are we supposed to meet up?

I found the teacher and asked her what the plan was and she simply said, "Have fun! This is kind of how our Field Trips go, all the chaperones just do whatever the kids want to do. We don’t try to stick together. Just meet back at the bus at 11:20.”

I looked at my phone and saw 9:02 on the display. Two. Hours. Eighteen. Minutes. To. Go.

So off I went, a solo adult with two 3-year-old girls, in a sea of amped up Preschoolers and dazed chaperones. We made our way up the hill through the vendors who were opening their booths for the day. Isabelle’s friend (let’s call her Betsy) asked me to buy her every toy and piece of sugar we passed. I had to kindly say no and try to divert the girls’ attention to something else…like the next vendor…offering sugar…and plastic garbage…only to say no again.

I ran into a pair of Moms who were chaperoning their own 2 girls plus a third. I thought it would be fun for the girls to hang out together so I introduced myself to one of the Moms who was closest to me when standing at the pigpen (literally, a pen full of 200-pound hogs).

I simply said, “Hi, I’m Jen, Isabelle’s Mom.” She literally looked at me, said “Hi”, and turned her back and walked away. No introduction. No joke. Thanks for playing, but your kind isn’t welcome here.

This was the same Mom who was at Back-to-School night last week and made a snide remark about how “working Moms” should not volunteer their time if they aren’t serious about helping out.

As I found out, these 3 girls from class knew each other (and had been friends) before they got to this school. Enter the Premiere Preschool Mom Clique. I think I’m on the other side of that Iron Curtain, at least until the Cold war ends.

I had to laugh as she walked away with a slurp of pig s#it on her cork wedge sandals. Watch out, Mom Clique #1. Just wait ‘til I recruit my posse.

Overheard in the WWOI

We were sitting down to our Friday Pizza night. Ed got our "Pastore's Seasoning" out of the pantry (Italian Spice Mix). We both sprinkled a generous amount on our slices with Isabelle curiously looking on.

She looked at Ed and very seriously asked, "Daddy, why are you putting that grass on your pizza?"

Nutrimentum spiritus

That means "food for the soul", an inscription on the Royal Library in Berlin.

We had a family outing to the Library tonight. Let me tell ya, us Silers know how to have a good time! We had a stash of books to return and while we were there, Isabelle got her very own Library Card and a sticker to prove it. She's so cool.

But let me back up a bit. We were pulling into the parking lot and I reminded Isabelle (because it's been a while since she's been to the library) that we have to be very quiet in the Library and use our whispery voices. She agreed, said she remembered, and then demonstrated her very best whispers.

Then she took on a very concerned tone and asked, "But, Mommy, I can still sneeze, right?"

"Yes, of course you can still sneeze"

"And, Mommy, what if I have to cough? Will I get in trouble for making noise?"

"No, a cough is OK, just make sure to cough into your elbow."

"Right, Mommy...And Mommy? Is it OK to burp in the Library?"

After Ed & I finished laughing....

"Yes, I think that would be OK, Iz, but let's try not to burp in the Library, OK?"

"OK, Mommy...and I won't fart either, OK?"

Caterpillars crawl before they fly

School started last week (sort of) for Isabelle. After hunkering down for Hurricane Irene last Saturday and Sunday, we finally got power restored on Sunday night. We were the lucky ones, some just got it back this past weekend! Schools were closed for Monday and Tuesday last week due to widespread power outages. The county reopened school on Wednesday but there were still some individual schools in the county that were closed b/c of power outages. This week, all schools are open and back to a normal schedule.
In addition to the power outages, Isabelle came home from school SICK on Thursday so she missed Friday. So last week was just all messed up. She went to school today, and we've bribed her with a big ice cream outing on Friday if she can get through all this week without any tears. She managed to choke them back this morning so we'll see how she does the rest of the week. We're hoping this adjustment period goes by quickly and she starts to love school soon!

Here is her schedule in case you grandparents want to know what she's up to each day...

I Am 3, Going on 10

Isabelle came home from daycare the other day and walked into the house with a sad, pouty face and attitude. I knew something was up. I asked her what was going on and Ed just started to chuckle.

Iz walked over and buried her head in my shoulder and was doing the fake-cry thing. She told me (very seriously)...

"Mommy, I really want to be TEN!"

(me) "Ummm, WHAT?!!?!"

"I reallllllllly want to be ten. I don't want to be three anymore."

(me) "Go to your room. I can't deal with you right now."

Talk about a pouty face and attitude, you should have seen me the rest of the night.

Preschool here she comes!

Ed & I have been researching and touring preschools in the area this month. We love the daycare where Izzi has been for three years but we feel it's time for a change. Izzi has only boys at daycare right now and she really needs to meet some girlfriends. Plus, we want to get her into a more structured "school" setting to prepare her for Kindergarten in 2013.

Today, we visited St. Andrew's Methodist Day School right here in Edgewater. They have openings in the 3-year-old program and the program is amazing. They are a green school - they have rain gardens on campus, each class has their own garden to maintain, they have chickens and goats, and they incorporate environmental lessons into their schoolday.

The preschool program includes Religion, Spanish, Art, Music, Library/Reading, Phys Ed, Science, Social Studies, and Math. They also have clubs and extra-curricular activities for the kids who attend the 'extended care' hours (which Izzi will be in since we both work full time).

We got to meet a few teachers today (the school doesn't have a summer program but the teachers were there cleaning and organizing their classrooms) as well as a few parents who were volunteering their time to get ready for the schoolyear.

We still need to review the packet of information they sent us home with and discuss our options, but as soon as we left the tour, both of us said at the same time "I LOVE IT!!!".

So, I think we've found Izzi's new preschool. And one of the best parts - UNIFORMS! No more morning battles about what the princess is going to wear. Yippeeeee!

For you grandparents who want to read more about the school, click on the logo above and it will take you to the school's website.