Remember how I said...

Remember how I wrote a post Why I don't hate when my kids are sick?  Well, guess what - I HATE WHEN I AM SICK!!!!  Oh my GOSH!  I rarely get sick...really.  So it's always shocking to me when I do.  Right now...not feeling the "sick love."  No. Siree. Bob.  Not. At. All.  UGH!

Honestly, if I were sick and didn't have two wee little ones to make me be at their every beck and call love on and take care of right now, it wouldn't be a big deal.  I'd lay on the couch, with a big heavy blanket watching chick flicks in-between falling asleep.  BUT, as any parent of young children knows...that really isn't an option.

So...instead of getting super comfy on my couch and dozing off...I am sitting at the computer while Conner goes potty - for fear of being so comfy and cozy that he'll make his distinguished call, "Mommy, I'm done" and I won't be able to wake up.  And anyone who has or ever did have small children knows, it means it's time for you to wipe the kids butt when you hear those words.  Yep.  And, when you feel like poop you don't really want to look at or clean up poop.  So yeah...that's my night right now.  Thankfully, Kellen fell asleep like a sweet little baby as usual.  Of course, he'll be up at least 3 times before the night is over and it's time to wake up and start all over.

The worst part about this "sick" is that...well, actually there are a few things I don't like about it...and I'm not sure which is the worst.  But anyway, I've been sick since Monday.  Fever, achy, exhausted, cough.  Now, 4 days later I have a slight fever again, am exhausted, and am now coughing up yellow-ish guck with my hacking fits.  Fun, right?

But, here's the best (and I actually think THIS is the worst)...moms, you'll probably know what I'm referring to here, although if you're like me...you may not have realized this until an inopportune time like when you were hacking up your lungs.  Are you curious?  You want to know what I am referring to?  Wait for it...wait...wait...

I FREAKING PEED WHEN I COUGHED at dinner.  Yep.  First time that has happened - not even during pregnancy!  And frankly, with the force of my coughing, I am pretty confident that no matter how many kegels I did while pregnant, or after giving birth, it wouldn't have made a difference.  I freaking peed.  Not what an almost 31 year old wants to experience.  Nope.  Not. At. All.  But, as you can see I guess I am not the only one. 

I really hope I feel better soon - it's hard taking care of my munchkins when it's hard to take care of myself!  And I really don't want to pee my pants anymore...

Alright - gotta go - the Conner kid is calling for his mama...and we all know what that means.

PS.
AND my Public Service Announcement for the week

You all (all 5 or 6 of you) just got a little bit educated about kegels and urinary incontinence.  Pretend this is your fairy health godmother  - go do your KEGELS in order to try and prevent a terrible "accident" from happening and contact your doctor if urinary incontinence is a regular thing for you.

Weekend with Nana

Most of my family and close friends know that while I was attending the College of Saint Rose, I stayed with Al's parents during the week.  I commuted to Albany from their house and went home to our house (Al's and mine) on the weekends.  Thankfully, I truly love his parents and get along very well with them.  I very much enjoyed being at their house and getting to know them in a way I probably wouldn't have ever known them if I hadn't lived with them.  I sometimes miss our at least once a week TV show watching and critiquing the dancers of Dancing with the Stars.  We developed a more intimate relationship than I'd thought possible and I very much appreciate my in-laws.

Well, Al went away last weekend to fish with his buddies.  Nana (mother-in-law) came to visit while he was away.  We had a lot of fun.  Nana helped out a lot.  She folded our laundry which is my LEAST favorite chore (THANK YOU)!  We had the opportunity to chat a bit after the kids went to bed - like we used to when we lived closer and when we lived together.  We cooked - soup, spaghetti, cupcakes, frittatta.  We played with the boys.  It was just so nice to hang out with no pressure to go anywhere or do anything. 

Thanks for the great weekend Nana.  We look forward to the next one!

My babies...

My inspiration for tonight's post is the realization that in a little over a week I will have a 6 month old and a 2 1/2 year old and time is freaking flying.  I am realizing that my babies are growing faster than I'd like.  I really just want to bottle them up and keep them this way - but I also want to watch them grow.  It's terrible!  Seriously.  Why can't we keep a piece of our kids in the loveable-huggable-kissable-totally awesome world of discovery kind of stage forEVER?  I dread the day my boys don't want to cuddle with me at bed time or to share their play time with me.  However, instead of worrying about that simply because it is far beyond my control, I accept that inevitably and expectedly they will grow up and change.  I'll always be their mom and they'll always be my babies - even if they don't want me to call them that. 

Why I don't hate when my kids are sick...

but I do.  It's a double-edged sword.

Really - I HIGHLY dislike having sick kids.  I feel terrible for them.  Thankfully my little wiggle worm, (AKA Kellen) hasn't gotten sick since he had a slightly congested nose around 2 months.  Unfortunately, my super polite, always usually kind, loving, "thinks he's a comedian" 2 1/2 year old (AKA Conner) gets sick.

As an infant, I not only had to take Conner to the pediatrician's office to do weight checks because he's "petite" but we were also there a LOT because he had either an ear infection or nasty cold.  Plus, I was a first time mom, so I ALWAYS took him into the pediatircian when he had the slightest issue "just in case."

<---I probably shouldn't point this out, but it is interesting that when Kellen had his first (and only so far) cold/nasal congestion I just raised his mattress up on one side, used saline, and a cool mist humidifier.  I didn't even bother calling the Dr...which is something I'm not sure I should be putting in writing for fear that someday Kellen may read this and realize that since he's our second we're "old hats" at the sick kid thing.  But then, I'll tell Kellen that "no, we didn't take you in...but that's because you were still nursing just fine, going to the bathroom just fine, and active as usual."  Because if you are a sick baby and you are active, eating, and eliminating like usual - the Dr. just tells the parents to watch for "not eating, not eliminating, and acting lethargic."  So we saved you, Kellen, from the boring trip down to the Dr's and unnecesary waiting in their ridiculously hot exam rooms.

Ok - enough digressing and being "tangential" which I don't think is a word but I am not going to take the time to look it up and find out - so if you want to look it up, let me know what you find out...

Back to the point of the post -

My little monkey man Conner is sick.  He woke up with a fever and telling me in a very sad and terribly pathetic voice, "I want you mommy."  It was settled, I was staying home with the little dude.  He told me his throat hurt so I decided to take him in to the Dr. "just in case" it was strep or something contagious.  Kellen went to daycare, as he was bright-eyed and bushy tailed as usual at 5AM.  I wanted to be able to take care of Conner and possibly prevent Kellen from getting whatever Conner has...which is unlikely since they ARE brothers and DO share a bedroom.  But it made sense this morning. 

And here it is.  The reason I actually don't hate it when my kids are sick.  The reason is totally selfish but I am confidant, in fact, I KNOW that pretty much every other mother out there feels this way...

My kid NEEDS me.  I am the only one that will make him feel better.  I get to cuddle with him ALL DAY and rub his back, head, or belly and give him all the love I can possibly give him.  I LOVE being able to snuggle with him and have him look at me like I am somehow magical and can make his uncomfortableness go away.  I still don't like it when I can't - and that brings all kinds of things like "mommy guilt" or insecurity into play.  However, for a little while we are in a fantasy, magical land where mommies are super-heroes and can make everything better with our magic kisses and love.  Our ever-lasting eternal love that no other person will ever know or understand until they are a mommy and can give that to their children.

I know my son is sick.  And it sucks.  But I also know, that for today, anyway, I get to shower him with all the sweetness and goodness and love in my heart to help him feel better...and he believes me when I say it's so.

And I know he is slowly quickly getting older...as is Kellen.  Someday neither one of them will think of me as "super-hero" mommy with magical kisses and soothing head rubs...so...I'm going to take this day of comforting my sick kid and remmeber it as a day that I was able to make his troubles, pain, and discomfort go away.

And that my friends, is why I don't hate when my kids are sick...even though I do.

The Writing Project...Unit 1 Week 4

I am a week behind in my posting for the Being a Writer challenge I put myself up to...

Sorry about that.

Prompt: When you were a child what did you imagine your life would be like as 

an adult?

When I was a very young girl I had great aspirations of being the next Mary Lou Retton (as mentioned HERE).  I desperately wanted to be an Olympic gymnast.  So my parents signed me up for gymnastics classes.  My sister and I went to gymnastics 1 or 2 times a week...I'm not sure exactly.  I loved it!  My favorite even was the balance beam - I had so many injuries from that 4ft high 4" wide piece of wood covered in leather.  One time I fell and bruised my shin bone - I got a baseball size lump on my leg from that and a trip to the ER.  I had numerous sprains, bumps, and bruises.  I also got a hairline fracture on my left foot after falling while doing a pirouette.  In any case, my initial dreams of Olympic stardom were really just fantasies of a star-struck young girl.

As I got older there were a few things I wanted to be (in no particular order other than in which I am remembering them):

• a police woman with a K-9 unit, 
• on the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), 
• a lawyer, 
• a gynecologist, 
• a nurse, 
• a dance instructor, 
• a professional cheerleader,
• a secretary
• a college professor
• a speech-language pathologist
• a wife and a mom...always, ALWAYS wanted to be those 

I pictured myself with a husband, 4 kids, a great career, a house, a car...not doing too bad at this point!  I have everything I could want - well except I have 2 kids not 4...and I'm not sure 4 kids is actually a part of the equation anymore. 

My life is pretty much how I pictured it.  Perfecto.

Personal Dictionaries - A Speech-language Therapy Tip

So here's an idea for my SLP (that's speech-language pathologist) friends to help with building vocabulary, documenting which vocabulary you've worked on and measuring success:

I went to a conference last year put on by the Bureau of Educational Research.  It was called something like: 75 Effective and Useful Strategies to Teach Vocabulary.  It was a great conference and I came away with quite a few good ideas. 

One of the tips was to have students create personal dictionaries for the year.  So with a 3-ring binder and some (26) page dividers many of my students are now creating dictionaries that are highly personalized.  So far, the students have been pretty receptive to it (except when I asked them to define 1 word for homework - it was like I had assigned a 20 page eval report from grad school.  Saint Rose ladies ...you remember those, right?).


I'm actually pretty excited about this year-long project for my students with weak vocabulary.  And, let's face it - most kids with language disorders have some sort of vocabulary weakness.  Whether it is defining, categorizing, comparing/contrasting, antonyms, or synonyms, etc - vocabulary knowledge and use for students with language disorders isn't generally a strength (and this statement is made KNOWING that there are ALWAYS exceptions)!

The layout of each page of the dictionary is something like this:

Word: seems pretty self-explanatory ;) 
                            
Definition:  The word is defined in their OWN WORDS so the student UNDERSTANDS it but they use a dictionary to find the definition.  This gives the students another practical skill of knowing how to use reference books.  And YES! I make students look up words the old fashioned way unless it's homework because sadly, I know more homes have computers than they do dictionaries.  But I still feel it is a valuable tool to know how to use - same with a phone book, encyclopedia, and cookbook.  Even though we can access most everything online - there is great value in having skills that allow you to function without technology, too!

Sentence:  Students write a sentence about the word that tells me they understand what it means.  For example, the word is "ringleader"  A not so good sentence would be:  "She is the ringleader of the group."  Yes, it tells me that you know the ringleader is part of the group but it doesn't tell me HOW the person is part of the group or what it actually means.  A better sentence would be: "Casey was always the ringleader when it came to tricking our parents."  <---still not a great sentence but better.  And this WAS a word two of my students wanted to define because it's in a book we read and they didn't know what it meant.  They thought it meant someone was the lead bell ringer.  Isn't that a good guess?

Picture:  Students draw a picture of their sentence.

Synonyms:  Students use their brains and try to think of at least 1-2 synonyms and then they use a THESAURUS if they can't think of anything else to write down.  What's cool about this?  Well, once your students have defined the original term and come up with a few synonyms they've ACTUALLY learned 3 or 4 words and not just one!

Connection:  Students write down WHY they picked that word to define...was it from a story?  a homework assignment from other classes?  newspaper?  at an assembly?  This helps later when kids need a reminder to jog their memories,

Each page has enough room for 3 words and all the pieces.  The best part is, if you write down on a sheet of paper the different words the students define you will ALWAYS know the new vocabulary they've studied.  You can also use this to test them for true understanding and USE of the word. 

The best part?  My students are REMEMBERING the definitions, and are beginning to use the words they've learned in new ways!  And, like I wrote earlier - they really seem to like it.  Some students have come to me with words they read in academic books, or in the hallway and are wanting to define them.  It's really cool!

I hope some of you are able to do this with your students/clients.  I think it could also work with adults who have aphasia, etc.  because you completely customize the dictionary to THAT persons needs.  None of my students' dictionaries will look the same!

Do YOU have any ideas for working on vocabulary??

Edited to add:

Someone asked which grades I am using this with.  I am currently using it with 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders.  However, I really think it could be modified a bit and used with 1-12.  The words would just usually be more difficult as grades went up.  Also - I am using it with students who have varying cognitive as well as language abilities and they are ALL retaining information.  It should be noted that this is not a quick therapy activity at least during teaching the students HOW to do it.  But, my students are finally comprehending books they are reading.