Picturing a rest

After a one day weekend, it’s been an exciting week so far.  

Monday was normal, except for drop off.  Kiddo melted down at the gate and it took a little Dad magic to smooth her out and get her moving towards the gate.  She was feeling all of the emotions and just needed to have a two minute breakdown.  The good news is that by Monday pick up she was happy and back at it and glad that she was back to school and friends.

Also, Monday, I reached out to H’s mum about the girls and how they both have iPads and that they would like to chat.  So, H’s mum ok’d it and J and I ok’d it and the girls now are connected on the iPad and can Message and FaceTime.  We, of course, can oversee it all and have controls in place, but Monday after school, Kiddo got to send her first iMessage to a friend.  The tweenager stuff has started and I’ll be over here in the corner crying.  HAHA. A lot of talk so far about homework, math, science projects and how each class is handling these things, since H and Kiddo are in different classes this year.  

Another recent topic was Picture day, since that was Tuesday and how can you do your class picture, in your school uniform, without a ton of back and forth?  Most of it was gripes about how they wished they could choose their own outfits instead of wearing “the dumb tie uniform”.  So, pretty par for the course.  I, however, think the Kiddo is beyond adorable in the school uniform.  Part of me wished that she could do her own thing and let a bit of her personality shine, but evidence suggests that she shines though even in the school kit.

Wednesday was a sick day.  Coming home from picture day, Kidod was a little stuffy and by evening and bedtime, she was sneezing pretty hard and her nose, sinuses, and ears were plugged.  It seemed to be allergies, but as someone who has bad allergies, I sympathize with her.  So, waking on Wednesday, she was tired since she hadn’t slept well.  She had a sore throat from sneezing and coughing and all the junk in her head draining.  She could have suffered through, but her and I talked and I gave her the day.  She was pretty lethargic in the morning, spending a lot of the time resting.  We did some school work and used an app that she has through her class to do some Language Arts and Math practice, did some reading.  All in all, we did about 2.5 hours of work at home, so it was more of a rest day than a sick day.  However, I remember being a kid and feeling run down and just awful and having to go to school.  We did talk about that, but I told her that once a year, maybe twice, if you really just feel kicked down, you sometimes need a day.  That I get that.  Also, that I was proud of her for working on IXL (the math and Language Arts app) and RAZ (Reading A to Z app) Kids and for that she choose to read a book during rest and down time instead of just watching a screen and that even if we opt to take a day of rest once or twice a year, that doesn’t mean we give away the day and we gotta keep up on the work, just to keep up and keep sharp.  She seemed to get it and was thankful, this morning, for the day and was “excited” for the day and “to get back.”  

Sometimes you just need a day.  We’ve all felt it.  I think it’s a good tool to give her, knowing that it’s ok to rest.   That sometimes it’s ok to punt on a day.  That sometimes it’s better to take a day, not just for your body, but also mentally, to have a down day.  A slow day.  A stay in your jammies all day, even if you are working and getting some things done at your own pace today kind of day.  It really did refresh and revitalize her.  If it happens again late April or early May, I get it.  The end will be in sight and it’s been a long year.  Not that I’d tell her that to her face, but if she melts again around then and “doesn’t feel well”, I’d again give her a day.  Mental rest and recovery is as important as physical.

Speaking of needing a day off to get mentally right, here’s hoping that they day off and flight to LA helps Milwaukee and the Brewers.  Bad showing at home and they are in a huge hole.  I read that they now have a 16% chance to win the series.  Sigh!  I’ve watched the RedSox break the curse.  I’ve watched the Cubs break the curse.  I’ve watched the Giants break the jinx and win 3 in 5 years.   I’d just like to see the Brewers get to the World Series, especially if it means getting past the Dodgers to get there.  Best record in baseball this year, but September made me worry, as they played 500 baseball and seemed to lose the urgency I felt in them in July and August to get over and get to first place and past the Cubs.  I hate to say that it seemed like that was good enough for them, but a Central Title and World Title are two very different things and I’d like to see them remember that and go into LA and play like the scrappy, no quit, battle until the last out team that I saw in July and August.  Fingers crossed.

Let’s go, Kiddo…. You had a day to rest and now we’re back in it for the haul until February break.  I am back to my day to day after a day at home with you and everything is back to normal.  Keep doing the good work you’ve been doing and keep learning as much as you can everyday.  Next thing you know, next thing me and Mumma know, you’ll be off to Uni and we’ll wonder where the years went.