Weekending it

Sometimes life is just too hectic to blog. Or I'm worn out and it's at the bottom of the list. That was me this last week. Nothing terribly dramatic, just our first dip into the pandemic reality of having a young child in school and all that comes along with that. 

Kip came home last Wednesday with a runny nose. By Thursday morning he was coughing. School rules, if a child exhibits any Covid symptoms you must keep them home and get a Covid test. So I called the school nurse, reported him absent, and Dan took him to get a PCR test. By Friday morning Kip had a fever and was congested and a total grouch. His PCR test came back negative. I love my child and he definitely wasn't feeling well but also, Kip has always been just, let's say, "extra" when he is sick. He requires A LOT of attention and he puts every bit of energy he has into letting everyone know he is sick. He moaned and watched TV all day Friday and Saturday. 

By Saturday afternoon we decided to take him to a pediatric urgent care because the little pulse ox reader was saying his oxygen level was fine but his heart rate was 160. And he couldn't stop coughing. Like, every 30 seconds coughing. 

One of the benefits of suburban life was finding an easy to access urgent care for kids open late on a Saturday. Dan drove us and I went in with Kip. The staff was lovely and the facility was clean. They gave Kip Motrin, another PCR test, and a chest x-ray. Kip was incredibly compliant and, of course, hardly coughed at all. The nurse said it is very common for kids to have elevated heart rates when they have fevers. It is also common for them to hold their breath and pant (Kip has ALWAYS done this when sick). But, nevertheless we did all the tests. Kip even said "cheese" when the lady did the chest x-ray. 

The doctor said his lungs were clear but given his symptoms and his "panting" he prescribed us antibiotics for developing pneumonia. I can't imagine what this urgent care bill will look like but at least we didn't have to wait hours on end in the emergency room.

Sunday, Kip was still poorly. He started the antibiotics and his fever didn't return by the afternoon. By Monday Kip started to rebound but was still very tired and we had to wait for the second PCR test. Negative as well. Tuesday Kip had essentially a cold but because of all the Covid rules we kept him home since congestion would have been hard to manage with a mask on all day. And, Kip throws consistent tantrums when he needs a "nose wipe." We didn't want his teacher to deal with that.

Last night was the virtual back to school night and Dan and I jumped on the call after Kip was in bed. Kip's teacher asked us how he was doing and that's when we found out that 1/3 of his class had been out sick. Eeek! And here we are, three weeks into school and one dramatic illness down with God knows how many left to go. 

Being a parent in a pandemic is hard. Happy Wednesday. 

Kip is back at school today. Fingers crossed he can finish out the week.

Weekending it

So Kip is enjoying a four day weekend right now. On Thursday night the water main broke in the school building and flooded the basement and part of the first floor. So school was closed on Friday. It's closed today as well and we are hoping to hear by this afternoon about the rest of the week. It's a bummer. Us adults all adjusted real quick having Kip in school for some portion of the day. And Kip did too. It's hard for a kid to bounce back and forth. I'm trying to be flexible and recognize this type of extended leave could happen multiple times throughout the year with covid still being a real issue, but it just sucks that this happened only 8 days into the year. 

You may be wondering why they didn't just move to virtual school for this situation? I guess because of the governor's mandate to require in-person school, the ability for the districts to move an entire school to virtual learning can only be approved IF a state of emergency is declared (public health or weather related). Since this was a local issue affecting only one school in the district, the BOE would not approve virtual. So, we are burning through snow days and if the closure extends past those flex days worked into the calendar OR we get actual snow days later in the year, the kids will have to extend longer into summer. 

I guess I'm just grateful it's only his Pre-k year and school is just pure fun at this point. 

This weekend we tried to spend as much time outside as possible. Both Kip and Ivy do really well when we spend a lot of time outdoors. We are so grateful for our big driveway, playroom type garage and large side yard with friendly neighbors. Plus a huge park across the street.

On Saturday, Dan took Kip on the commuter train. He'd been asking to go for some time and it was a perfect little quick adventure with Dad.

They just went two stops away and turned around and came back. Kip loved it. 

This week is the official beginning of fall and I'm praying Kip gets to go back to school by Wednesday! Back to School night was supposed to be this week as well as picture day so I'm hoping for those to stay on track.

Summer Bucket List Recap

I just went back and reread our Summer Bucket List recap from 2019. Good grief I miss 2019 and everything that came before this pandemic. 

Despite things getting somewhat better than last summer, we weren't able to hit the season quite like we did in 2019. Who knows when adventuring that hard will be possible again? But, we didn't have a bad summer and we did manage to check off almost everything from our list with several other fun things mixed in as well!

Make Homemade Shaved Ice

Terri Mom got me a shaved ice machine last year for my birthday and we finally got to use it. It was SOO yum and the perfect snowy texture, none of this ice pellets pretending to be "shaved."

Storybook Land

We managed to get to Storybook Land twice before the July heat, and one of the times with Auntie Jess! We are hoping to get back there some time this fall now that Ivy can walk, but, we'll see.

Beach Day

We did a couple mini beach visits to our local (dirt) beach and one early morning trip to a "real" soft sand beach. I think next year we will try to go to Long Branch Beach again once the kids are older.

The sand at our local beach is like a red dirt (the area used to produce terracotta tile). The water in the bay is also not clean so we consider this beach more like a sandbox than a true Jersey shore beach.

Pool

We LOVED having access to a swimming pool this summer. Mandy and I took the kids most Friday afternoons when I would get off work early. Dan made it to the pool a few times as well. Can't wait for next summer.

Ivy loved the pool for the snacks and Kip liked the water toys. He also met his only little neighborhood friend at the pool which was fun.

Make Homemade Ice Cream

Terri Mom got me an ice cream machine years ago and I was never able to use it much in our Brooklyn apartment. Kip and I made ice cream in late August and it was such a treat for him. He enjoyed several after school scoops his first week. We will definitely be making more.

Discover New Playgrounds

Park hopping was one of our favorites things to do in Brooklyn. Besides the park that is next to our house, all the other playgrounds we had to drive to. But, they are awesome. Kip loved every one of them.

Picnics

We managed a few little picnics here and there. 

Train Adventures

Kip's highlight of the summer included the Northlandz train layout (we went twice) and the ride on the Steam Engine. Ahh, to be three.

We weren't able to check everything off our list this year. Dan and I missed our anniversary trip and we never got around to taking Kip to mini golf. But, we had a fun-filled summer with lots of new adventures and many more that weren't even on the list.

Until next time, summer. We adore you!

Book Nook | Growth Mindset

We felt like a good follow-up to our Back to School Book Nook is a selection of books focused on a growth mindset. Never heard of that? Yeah, me neither. I think the term and definition are new-ish but the concept is probably fairly old. In the last year, I stumbled on it when I was frantically googling how to prevent Kip from shutting down when trying to learn new skills. He struggles to recognize there is a starting point with learning and just because he doesn't know now, doesn't mean he can't master something, eventually. I want him to be open to trying new things and building on concepts instead of believing he needs to be perfect right out of the gate.

"In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point." 

So someone who says "I'm not a math person" has a fixed mindset. Believing that you can change and improve your math skills is a growth mindset. I think it applies to general life as well, not just academics. "I'm a bad mom" is a fixed mindset, but, "I'm having a hard day but I'm trying my best. Tomorrow will be better" is a growth mindset. 

Here are some great kids books that approach this topically playfully.

See The Little Engine that Could?! That is a classic example. "I think I can" is a growth mindset mantra.

Since emotion regulation and seeing yourself as someone with potential is helpful when cultivating a growth mindset, we added some of our feelings books to this month's bookshelves.

Now, all of these books are great stories and beautiful illustrations. But, full disclosure, Kip is not a fan of most of them. He can see straight through them and he can tell our angle. He is wildly intuitive in that way. But, we read them anyways (if he'll let us) and I tell myself we are just planting a seed in his little mind and hopefully something resonates.

Weekending it

Ugh, it's already Wednesday.

This weekend was jam packed. I went into the office on Saturday for the anniversary but I got to help with the education webinar instead of being on the plaza. It was a great experience and I hope I get to do it again. The bum side was the long commute on the weekend. 

Sunday I had a baby shower for a friend back in Brooklyn. 

Since that too was a long drive, Dan decided to take Kip and they had a special day together. They had a picnic of Wendy's and then went to the Prospect Park Zoo.

 

 

Mandy stayed home and played with Ivy. So grateful for her help juggling the kids.

 

Fortunately, I had Monday off from work. Mandy and I did school drop off. So far Kip has given us a bit of a hard time getting to school in the morning this week. Once he is there, he does fine but it's motivating him that is a struggle. 

Today I'm in office. I guess back to school means back to all the tasks and chores of everything else. We need the internet guys to come out and fix our internet. The bathroom shower door is being installed tomorrow (can you believe that? Two months later). Friday is a fridge delivery and flu shots for the kids. Adults are getting flu shots as well and there is also routine blood draws for the kids. Last night was a Zoom PTO meeting. Next week is back to school night and picture day. So much to keep track of!