Wowee.

The month of June flew by like it was never there even though a million things happened: end of the year school trip, end of the wee one’s first year of school, the start of summer, hubby’s new role at work, and the neighbours’ cat is still an issue…

Okay. Not quite a million.  Even if I were to include the things I didn’t. But it was still a hell of a lot!

AND my life was flipped, turned upside-down (not a la Fresh Prince styles, but close).

Learning the ABCs

I struggled with putting my little guy in school, my husband did not.  Long we debated what would happen.  In the end, we made the decision to enroll him (hell that was a big part of why we moved) because we felt the social skills he would acquire (having never been in daycare or around other kids much, since Brother One still won’t allow us access to our niece – more on that later) too valuable to miss out on.  He did brilliantly in school.  Albeit, mid-year he started to announce he was bored and was curious as to when they would “actually learn something” though I half-expected this would happen.  We continued to do our version of school work at the end of the day and on weekends, because the little guy has an unquenchable thirst.

We also hit a bump with only two months left to go when we were informed his teacher was a maternity leave replacement and that she would not complete the year, the original teacher would be back to do that.  Normally organized (in what some might consider an OCD manner) we somehow missed this bit of information at the start of the year and so we were all quite taken aback when we found out the teacher he started with would soon be gone.  Thankfully, the ECE in the room was staying.

His social skills did not necessarily need help – he is delightful, outgoing, well-mannered and empathetic – but I did notice he was less hesitant to engage in play with other children.  Putting him in school proved to be a great thing for US too as it allowed me to go out of the home and earn some much needed income and the hubby and I made some really great grown-up (and kid) friends.  At the end of the year, the teachers praised our little guy’s ability to read (he is at least two grade levels above), his desire to learn and teach others, and made a small note about how independent he is.  Translation: he’s a politician.  Not belonging to a particular group of kids, he roamed the classroom.  Playing here and there with everyone.  But mostly on his own.

Part of me thinks that could be the hazardous result of being an only child raised in a village of adults.  Part of me thinks he is in an odd spot; he is nearly the same age as the SKs (senior kindergarteners) however when his birthday falls makes him a JK (junior kindergartener) this year, and unfortunately, many of the JKs were just “too silly” for him.  Another part of me thinks he has it all figured out so I shouldn’t worry.

Concerned about his placement next year, we inquired and were quite pleased to know that he would have the same pair of teachers next year.  Phew!

The end of the year came pretty quickly.  Especially as June continued on; a month to go became four days shockingly fast!  We were surprised by a work-to-rule strike by the board (and that is rumoured to extend to a full strike just in time for the kids to go back…or not…in the fall) and learned the two teachers were not getting along.  Work politics and strikes, another reason I wanted to home school him.  So when the placements came home we were confused why he was not in the same room again.  Turns out, all of the JKs will move to another room and new teacher with the ECE.  So.  By the end of SK my little guy will have had not one, not two, but three different teachers. Thank goodness children are resilient.

Summer Lovin’

If you follow along on here you know I am a Type 1 Diabetic.  If you know anything about diabetes you will know that heat and humidity can be treacherous to navigate.  I do not have much love for scorching hot, jungle-like summer weather.  I could happily endure summer with temps hovering in mid-20s (Celsius) and NO humidity.

Crazy hot and humid days are extremely difficult for me (trying to adjust activity, food and insulin can often end in failure) and become more complicated by a little guy at home who is always rearing to go.

You see, our prayers were answered.  Hubby finally (FINALLY!!) got full-time hours and a set schedule.  We have waited almost 5 years for this, moved our whole family for a better go, and thankfully it has paid off.  However, with this amazing change came a few others.  For example, good ol’ hubs is gone by 5:30 am so I am solo-parenting in the morning which means getting the house set for the day, the wee one off to school and during the school year, me off to other work.  AND most days hubby wasn’t home in time for pick up so I would trek back to school and grab the wee one.  It was a chaotic month, but we made it through!

Now that school is over, the changes continue.  With hubby gone all day there is no way I can go to “other work” (I run my own business out of the house making cakes, but it doesn’t garner enough income for me to do that alone) until he gets home because all our monies would go to childcare.  Thankfully my boss and co-workers were very understanding and I now work evenings.

So I wake when hubby does at 4:45 am (most mornings, there is the occasional sleep in until 6 am), enjoy a quiet cup of coffee, then do the do with our little guy until mid-afternoon when hubby gets home before scooting off to work until after 9 pm.  OH.  And I still have all my cake business and regular domestic life to tackle too!

We are only a few weeks in and I will tell you, this gal is wiped!

AND our neighbours’ cat is still on the loose.  Though they claim different.  We like to sit on our back deck at night.  Like clockwork around 9:30 pm a dog in the distance starts barking, then there comes a rustling in the other neighbours’ cedars, then a rustling in ours which alerts our dog who then takes off to the back looking something like Gmork from The NeverEnding Story barking his face off, all of which is bolstered by the tinkling little bell that belongs to the feline next door.  How do you know it is their cat?  If they do not come out and call for it, it runs up their back deck and in through the window they’ve left open…

Here’s hoping that saying if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger proves to be true – fingers crossed!

Baking and Brothers

So MG and I are texting, talking and hopefully never going to fall out again.  I love that girl, whether she realizes it or not, and my niece and really do want to be a part of their lives.  MG is getting married.  She invited us to their Stag and Doe.  Some minor banter back and forth between the hubs and I.  But the wee one would be at my folks that night and it was literally around the corner from us, so we went.

Some of her bridesmaids were at the door when we bought our tickets, they were very pleasant but I am sure surprised to see us (isn’t that her ex’s sister???).  We didn’t want to cause a fuss, so quickly found MG.  She was beyond happy that we came and we got to meet the man who has been helping her to raise our wonderful niece.  He was lovely.  And I hope he realizes what a special pair of ladies he now has in his life.  We even got to see MG’s mom, whom we adore (she was always very kind to us and especially to our little guy).  All in all, we were very thankful to be included in such a special day.

Since MG and I rekindled (again) she has been by to see our little guy and has kept us up to date on all the happenings with our niece.  I thought since I had not spoken, texted or emailed with Brother One in over six months maybe it would be worth contacting him and seeing if we could revisit this whole the kids can’t see each other thing he insists upon.  I opted to send him a brief text on his birthday.  Which quickly spiraled away from the intent.  And he once again, made a random comment then vacated the conversation.  That was nearly three weeks ago.

MG has asked me to make her wedding cake.  And I have agreed.  We also let the kiddos Skype on Sunday.  We’ll see what Brother One says about that.

IF he says anything at all.