Shelby Dropping the Kids off at School Sept 2016

The kids 1st day back at school and Shelby's first day leaving them.  Shelby LOVES a car ride so she was happy to come with me to drop the kids off.  However when I came back home she refused to get out of the car.  It was like she was telling me we couldn't get out because we left the kids.  She was so somber the entire day.  When it was time to pick them up she was more than willing to keep a watch for them.  Its really cute because she checked every kids face that comes near and then kind of shakes her head saying "nope, that's not mine"  When she does spot one of here kids her eyes are laser focused and her tail wags fast enough to be a fan.
One day I was at home working on a project when Shelby tried to get my attention.  She is talking in her own way (its not barking more of a grumble moan thing) I was ignoring her and she did it again heading to the garage door.  after 3 attempts to get my attention I finally looked up from my project and asked
"What is it girl?" Then I looked at the clock and said, "Oh it's time to go get the boys" She was so excited and kind of bounced on her front paws with a nod that said "That's what I've been trying to tell you!" I can't believe she knew the exact time to go get her kids.  She is such a good dog.

Boys First Day of School Aug 2015

Peter Kinder Grad May 2015

Peter graduated from kindergarten but just barley.  This little one has really struggled with the academic part of school.  This baffles me a little because I know he is smart enough.  He knew all his ABC"s  by shape and sound before he was even 2 years old.  After much trial and error we realized he is also blessed with the curse of ADD.  I say blessed with the curse because it is both.  With ADD you can notice so many things, your brain has the ability to do so many things at one time.  People with ADD are very curious, smart, excellent problem solvers because they can think out of the box, and creative just to mention a few things.  But they are also cursed, because it is so hard to focus on 1 thing at a time that it can take forever to learn something.  Their brains are working so hard that they get exhausted and just can't take any more so they let their attention wander.  I myself have ADD and my wonderful mother had taught me many tricks to help me to be able to focus.  The older I got the easier it was for me to know what I would need to pay attention and when I knew I wasn't going to get anything out of . . .

Recognizing the signs we decided to give him the caffeine.  We have already gone through this with Ellie and between her doctor and I opted to try the caffeine route first.  This is something these kids are going to have to deal with their whole lives.  I like the caffeine route because I can control the side effects.  (This doesn't work for everyone but it worked for Ellie and we were going to try it for Peter).  Peter didn't like soda for breakfast (that is what we used for Ellie) so I found some sweet mints that have 1mg of caffeine in them per mint.  We tried these so I could dose him appropriately with it being such a small dose.  

I gave him them in the morning for a few days then I went into the school to talk with the teacher and see how he was doing.  When I talked with her she was so excited that Peter had been finishing his morning work everyday without complaint of needing help.  We found the trick for him.  After that announcement I told her about his mints.  

Something that people don't realized with ADD people is that it takes a lot of energy to focus and those with ADD are focusing on so many things at one that there just isn't enough energy for their brains to function "normally"  Caffeine helps give them that extra boost so they can focus on the things that they are supposed to focus on.  It was a little late before we figured this out so he is still behind but we will just have to wait and see what the summer brings. 

During his kindergarten class graduation the teacher had all the kids come up to receive their award.  She also gave them a special award.  When she got to Peter she gave him the award for the best smile.  She could never get over his darling dimples.  When she interviewed him just before school I tried to tell her to put her blinders on when it came to his dimples because he can talk you out of doing things with that smile.  She really struggled with that

1st day of school 2014

The first day of school is always a toss up on whether my kids will let me take them or not.  This year they were a little better than last.  I explained to them ahead of time that its my right as a mom to  take them to school on their first day.  First we went shopping for all their school supplies.  I just like to get the necessities. I felt like this was a good time to teach them about finances.  When they went to select their folders I showed them the prices of the different options and taught them the difference they would be saving if they bought the generic one.  After a quick math lesson they were finally catching on and decided that if they spent less money on the fancy school supplies they could use the extra for something they really wanted or needed.

 My boys really wanted a new backpack but I felt like their backpacks were still in good condition so I refused.  They came up with a plan to sell lemonade to earn money to buy their own backpacks.  I am so glad they went about it this way instead of trying to nag me or whine or pressure me into just buying new backpacks.

We did find this cool backpack/vest for Peter who is totally into vests right now.  Seriously he never leaves the house without a vest regardless of the tempereature outside.  He decided not to get it.  I was astonished.  This guy who LOVES vests didn't want a vest backpack?  His reasoning behind his decision, he would have to take it off at school and it was too small.  I am glad that in somethings he can think logically, there may be hope for him yet.  

I had the kids set out their clothes for their first day of school the night before.  Brennen was so literal in laying out his clothes I just had to chuckle to myself.  Silly Brenny.

I was a little nervous about Peter's first day.  Not for him but for me.  Was I okay with this?  My baby going off to school?  I am not going to lie it was a little hard but he was so confident I just had to be happy for him.  FYI I love the way the school welcomes their kindergartners on their first day.  Peter already thinks quite highly of himself but after this, he was SURE he is a rockstar.  Way to inflate is ego Sego Lily.