Category Archives: Family Therapy

Getting Kids Ready for Back to School

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I have already had a few meetings and responsibilites to take care of this week, so the kids can return to school on Monday.  We will have an 11th grader, an 8th grader, a 6th grader and a 5th grader.  OY.

Let’s just say I apologized to those teachers who had to have more than one of our kids during the course of their day 🙂

And it doesn’t help that the elementary grades post their supply lists but for the high schoolers, we have to wait for meet-n-greet night (which was last night) before we get their supply lists.  As if we have an endless supply of time over the weekend to get all of their back-to-school shopping done, as well as shopping for MORE supplies???  Crazy!

But, I want to take a minute to recognize our school’s teachers.  I have to tell you that meet-n-greet night is much more than introducing the kids to their teachers and dropping off their supplies.  It’s hugs.  It’s love.  It’s general caring about each individual student and the opportunities the teachers have to teach the kids something.  It truly warms a Mom’s heart.  I went to a much larger school (the kids’ school only has about 300 students from Pre-K through 12th grade), so we not only have students involved in their school, we have teachers who are just as involved in their students and all of them in the community as a whole.  It makes for a much more close-knit group of people that you really want to call your friends.

I’ll be here Monday, celebrating with an Irish jig (as such suits this partial-Irish lass) as the kids are carted off on the big yellow bus to their home away from home for the next 10 months!

Foster Homes Can be Forever Families

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Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, Blah, Blah, Blah – if you don’t know my history, please read up on it in my 100 FAQs because I get tired of repeating it.  🙂

Although I chose to leave my third foster home when I was 14, there were serious extenuating circumstances that necessitated my departure.  One of the big ones, apart from a very sad development with my foster parent’s natural family, was the opportunity to live with my mother’s brother – because they assured me I would get to spend more time with my loving Gramma from Tramma (she was my mom and uncle’s mother).  Her love throughout my childhood sustained me.  It breathed life into me.  It was the root of all things good.  Her love was the reason I was able to successfully survive being orphaned.

But, a couple of years ago, I reconnected with my third set of foster parents.  It’s been great.  My foster mother came and spent Thanksgiving with us last year, and we’ve communicated via email weekly.  Their home was the first foster home who welcomed me with open arms, told me they loved me before they even knew me and showed me how a functional family actually lived.

As an early birthday present, my foster mother sent me the funds to go to Iowa to visit them.  I left the two older girls in Kansas with my girlfriend from high school and the two younger kids and I headed north to spend five days with my foster parents.  The kids had a great time and loved being showered with attention from yet another set of pseudo-grandparents.  I got to visit with some dear friends and family, whom I haven’t seen in MANY years (let’s not count, m’kay?!).

My goal in going was not just to spend time with some good people, but to also show myself and others that I may have MS, but it won’t stop me from LIVING.  I had a few MS-related issues, but no emergencies and nothing we couldn’t deal with when I got home.

But, smiles on my own kids’ faces and on my foster parent’s faces were what set the heart-strings a’flutter.  It’s nice to be loved by others, and although some may know that type of love from birth – I had to find it as I matured.  I’ll take it.

Teacher Gifts from the Heart

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I always get a laugh when I tell folks that the school has five buildings on its campus and I had four kids in four of those buildings.  This next year, we’ll be down to four kids in three buildings.  But, I’m so very appreciative of the work the teachers do that we try very hard to find gifts that show our appreciation for them, as well as a little insight into our life.

This year, I made quilted potholders with Texas Hill Country fabric for the “child nutritionists” (aka lunch ladies) and DD#1 added a recipe:

Recipe for Hot Lunch Happiness

1 Smiling lunch lady
1 MUFFIN
1 Hotpad holder
1 group of hungry kids

The gifts were really cute, but this mom totally forgot to take photos of them!

For the rest of the teachers that the kids wanted to give a gift to, we were given prayer shawls by the lovely ladies at our church – 18 prayer shawls in all!

We certainly weren’t trying to push off our religion or church onto the teachers, but to give them a gift that had meaning to us and hopefully, to them.  Based on the number of “yahoos”, hugs, smiles and thanks the kids received from their teachers – I’d say it was a success!

If you are interested in making your own prayer shawls (or if not for prayer, could simply be foot warmers), check out these resources:

And we thank the generous ladies at our family church for their generosity and their loving hands that prepared these items.

School’s Out for Summer!

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The kids have a half day of school today, and then we have the official countdown as to how long it will take them to say the “B” word (B O R E D).  🙂

We all have a restful week of unplanned activities outside of Scouts for the son-man and hubster, and then our oldest takes off for her mission trip with our church youth to Chicago and the hubster and son-man head to Boy Scout camp.  What are the two little girls and I going to do??!!  I just heard from my MIL and nephew that he will be back that week, so that means I will have someone for the girls to play with so I can work!  Yippee!!!

DD#2 received another award yesterday from her band teacher – most improved player for the year!  I have to agree with him, since she went from 6th grade band to high school band with nothing in-between!  Very proud of her accomplishments!

As we end this school year – we have sadness and losses, too.  The principal has accepted a position elsewhere, and although he deserves to move so he can be with his wife, he’s been a relatively good principal (after I had to get on him the first year).  Our school superintendent also requested resignations from the art teacher and the band teacher – which means our middle schooler will have no fine art options and our high schooler is left with just one fine art option.  Very, very upsetting – since both girls have God-gifted fine art talents that they will no longer be able to enhance at school.

We have a full summer planned, though, so there won’t be as many opportunities for the kids to whine and cry about having nothing to do – and if they do, we’ll start unloading the crap stuff in their bedrooms and make them do a little spring-into-summer cleaning!

We Had a BABY!

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Our two oldest daughters decided they wanted to spend their Christmas funds in an unusual way.  Given that both are teens, you’d expect they’d want to spend it on TEEN things like clothes or books or jewelry.  But, not our teens.  They purchased an incubator!

Yesterday, they became mothers of this adorable little turkey – which our oldest poetically named POE TATER:

What fun it is to have a baby in the house again – and I don’t even have to change diapers!