Kindergarten isn't what it used to be...

Well, our day got off to a better start this morning. I even had time to check on the email I sent last night to Hanna's teacher. Imagine that! These days, parents and teachers can actually communicate via email. Her teacher answered my email at 7:30, I replied, and had a final answer before we even left the house at 8:15! Hanna had her first spelling word list come home, with some instructions that apparently confused many parents. Turns out, we were missing the additional sheet of homework that was the letter "K". I'll be glad when we get past this letter! Hanna struggles with the lower case "k", and it makes her go into absolute tantrums. "It's hard! I can't do it". Well, she's right, if you sit in the chair and kick and scream without trying, you won't be able to do it! I explained to her, the way to improve is to practice. She's not loving it, and frankly, neither am I! I'll be so happy to move on, away from this horrible letter "k"! The spelling list is exciting. The words are: ran, mad (she knows that one well!) sat, lap, fast.. and a challenge word...blast. We went through them last night, and as I called them out the second time, I had her write them on the chalkboard. Not only was she practicing how to spell them, but also write them. I'm so glad there weren't any "k's" in those words! They'll have a spelling test on Friday. This is apparently preparing them for 1st grade, when the tests "count" for something. She also came home with a practice reader, labeled as "optional", to be returned to school the end of the week. It's a small book, we can sit and read it together. Kindergarten sure isn't what it was when I was there 33 years ago! We learned our alphabet, had blow up characters that we played with, might have practiced counting, coloring, we had snack time, which I recall involved a red wagon that made a trip to the lunch room, we had quiet time/nap time, and we left at noon! These kids stay all day, there's no napping, and are already reading! I don't know if I'll be up for advanced homework 10 years down the road! I was quite impressed this afternoon, when Hanna and I took the cat to the vet for his annual visit. There was a book about sharks in the office, and we sat and read it together while we waited for the vet to come into our room. She read the book pretty well, with some help. By the way, the vet let Hanna take the book home with her!

Our afternoon was fast paced, yet packed with angst! Hanna and I made it home from her school around 3:10. First order of business was a snack, which I had to remind her it was not her place to open the closet door and "help herself". I also had to reiterate, chocolate is not an appropriate "snack", it is a reward to be savored after dinner. (Shh! She doesn't know about all the candy I eat during the day! It's my secret!) After snack was taken care of, the door bell rang. Her friend from down the street was at the door, but I reminded her homework had to be done first. Kindergarten homework really isn't that difficult, nor lengthy... it's just a battle of wills! It's a 2-sided worksheet with letters of the week, that are traced and replicated, then words written that begin with the letter, and a picture of something that starts with that letter. It comes home the first of the week, and is turned in on Friday. It could be done quickly, but we have to go into absolute fits to get it completed. We battled through the side of the paper with the letters to trace and replicate.. Upper and lower case "K". The lower case being quite the struggle. About 10 minutes before 4pm, her friend Shay returned, and I said she couldn't play, because we were still working on homework, and we needed to find the cat so we could take him to the vet. Well, her attitude started to slide downhill, so that was definitely out now; going to play and all.


The cat had just happened to come in for a snack, so he was sitting on his top step of the "cat tree". Easily gathered, and placed in the carrier. Well, now we had a new kind whining and crying; the cat! He cried from the minute we put him in the carrier, until we got home with him after picking up Daniel at 5:30. The vet's office staff was quite entertained by the howling that continued to erupt from the carrier as we sat and waited for our turn. When we went into a room, the technician came in and took the cat back to the "back room". Back there, they do all the really degrading things, like a poop check for worms, draw blood, clip nails, weigh them (I guess a cat really doesn't care what he weighs, but I hate that part!) and the vet checks him over in the back without owner interruptions. Then the vet came into the room with us with our cat, and discussed any concerns. She was impressed that I told her he was such a hunter, although quite the scaredy cat that won't leave the backyard; unlike Belle, the female cat, who roams several neighbor's yards, and torments the next door neighbor's dog, Miles. I named all the gifts he brings into the house for me, including, but not limited to snakes, birds, frogs, lizards, moles, and his favorite.. grubs hidden under the dining room carpet that pop when you step on them! Eww! I explained that since he's too chicken to leave the backyard, my only concern with him is the signs of a raccoon visiting our backyard. There are raccoon footprints in the sand often in the yard. This is interesting... she told me to be careful of raccoons, because not only do they carry rabies, but they also carry parasites that are contagious to other animals as well as people. She also commented that at the University of Florida, where she is proudly an alumni (Go Gators!), they do not treat raccoons when they are brought in for "help". She said, they are so leary of treating them with the threat of parasites, that any injured raccoons are immediately euthanized. Wow! I think she was giving me a big hint.. get rid of the raccoon by any measures?? At this point, Hanna heard 'raccoon', and proceeded to tell her about the raccoon that visited our cooler over Thanksgiving. She also gave me the familiar warning, if a raccoon is approaching in daylight, stay away, it's not healthy! Our vet, being a mother of 5 children, many dogs, cats and horses on her property, is always one to put children first. The kids were her biggest concern when we still owned Jack, our yellow lab. He had aggression issues due to pain, and she strongly warned.. 'this dog is going to bite your children!' I can't help but think she was trying to tell me to find a way to get rid of our raccoon. Not sure how I'd do it, but I'll have to give it strong consideration.

By 7:15, Hanna was fast asleep on the couch in the living room, and Daniel was lying on the love seat not far from sleep himself. I put them both in bed around 8:00, John has since fallen asleep, and the cats have now taken over the couch and love seat. Mater, our male cat that went to the vet this afternoon is looking a little rough! Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day for him! I'm headed for a nice warm shower myself, then I have to put clean sheets on the bed, since I decided this morning they needed to be washed. I hate it when I forget until bedtime to make the bed! Then, I'll wake John up, and send him off to take his shower and go to bed, so we can start this fun all over again tomorrow!