Little Miss slaying the dragons

Transformers Animatronics at Emperor's Palace

The second quarter of the year is already full steam ahead. It seems Little Miss has settled nicely in at school. She is a Little Miss Independent because we drop her off and there she goes!

All the worries about friends and fitting in have been resolved. She's got friends, and she was even invited to her first party this weekend from a child at the new school. I was told that she has a nickname of "Cutie" (behind her back), but she has heard it and has told me previously that she does not like being called cute! (We think that "Cutie" is not so bad, and it could have been a lot worse! Now only to convince her!)

Revue outfit at school

We had a hectic week last week! The school put out seven concerts in five days! It meant driving up and down to school and getting dressed and prepped for Revue seven times. (Not even counting the practice runs the previous week!) I have a lot more respect for teachers everywhere! They worked their arses off very hard and they were still smiling at the end! We had to laugh when Little Miss told us she had a job of keeping her teacher awake in class, and another boy had to wipe the spit from her mouth when she fell asleep. They found that quite hilarious, but I am sure that is how the teacher really felt each day! School had to go on!

We are still struggling with clothes and melt-downs. Winter has started a a week ago, and Little Miss has had to adapt to her new winter clothes. Of course everything about the winter outfits are bothering her, and the shoes are too tight or too loose. We know why it is a fight to get her to put on her shoes (SPD), but unfortunately we have to find a way for her to handle it better! We are at least 20 minutes to half an hour later getting out of the house in the mornings.

I am contemplating of getting some help with the SPD? If only for us and how to help her?
Should we see an occupational therapist?

For the record! She is very opinionated! I always say that she has been born with all the wisdom on earth. She already KNOWS, when she sometimes most of the times does not know! Head-banging happens a lot! (Saying it with trepidation when thinking about the teenage years?)

Little Miss making flapjacks

Little Miss loves helping with baking and cooking, and I think we should definitely involve her more. She is always willing to lend us a hand in the kitchen! Thanks, Little Miss! I am looking forward to your gourmet dishes in future!

I am writing this down, Little Miss! Even looking back on the previous post, I can see how much you have changed and developed! We like you, and we love you!

It is great to have you in our lives! And we will slay the SPD dragons together!

Little Miss Independent - an update

Little Miss has grown so much in recent weeks! This year has been tough with changing schools and getting into the swing of a new school, with new rules and new friends. I am proud of her for the way she has handled the changes.

I am doing this update to remind us of  her specialness right now! This time and age passes too quickly as well, and I don't do enough updates!

- Little Miss seems to love maths more than languages, and the spelling is a pain. But she loves reading. One of the best things we are doing right now, is taking her regularly to the library, and letting her read in the evenings to us. She begs us to go to the library every two weeks, and starts reading in the car on our way home! She also picks her books from the Teenage Reading section, and not the beginner readers anymore!

- She still loves a few favourite outfits that she wears time-and-time again. I try to hide it in her cupboard, but she always finds it! The grey leggings and the crocodile t-shirt (size 3-4) is still the absolute bomb!

- She still struggles with making new friends, but somehow she manages to keep on telling us about a few girls at school that she plays with! For an introvert that's not too bad! She has not found a very special friend, but maybe it is a good thing if she plays in a bundle?

- She loves dancing at school. There's a free class every week, and she can't wait! I had her signed up for a dancing school in the beginning of the year, but it clashed with Voortrekkers. I need to find another dance lesson for next semester.

- She has decided not to do netball, or choir, and the drama is a pain! I told her to discontinue drama at the end of this semester. I think it is better to find her feat first and then decide what she wants to do!

- She loves doing my and her sister's hair, and doing make-up! I have batches of photos of hairstyles on my phone. (If I do a search for "dogs", the hairstyles also pops up. But it's not an indication of the classiness of the hairstyles. ;-) iOS needs to work on an upgrade in photo search!)

- She loves rollerskating right now! We have promised her an outing during the holidays!

Little Miss is becoming very independent. I see it in the mornings when she asks for an extra hug or kiss, but then running away without looking back! I feel that I should cherish her still sitting on my lap, and asking for us to lay with her in the evenings!

When it's gone, it's gone!

Thanks so much for the adventures with you, Little Miss!

We are looking forward to a weekend with the Voortrekkers and camping during the holidays! (#thingsyoudoforyourchildren) It will perhaps be our last, but we have an arsenal of Voortrekker stories already built up because of you!
Next time she says she will be ready to go on her own! Little Miss Independent!

A locker is a lifesaver

Little Miss got a locker at her new school.

It has been huge fun each day to take necessities such as an umbrella and tissues to put in it. She did not have the opportunity at her previous school, as they only allowed older children to have lockers. We could really have used a locker the previous years, because the guitar and hockey stick always had to be dragged along...

It made me think about the positives of having your own locker:

- She has her own safe space in a new big environment.
- She has a place where she can put her own stamp on things. She has been taking photos and stickers to school to brighten the interior of the locker.
- She has a place to put all the extra stuff, such as sport equipment and an umbrella.
- She has a place where she can keep her heavy books, when necessary. (It seems not as pertinent this year, but in the years to come I am sure it will help a lot!) Their suitcases are already extremely heavy!
- It helps to have a locker at aftercare for backups in clothes, such as an extra jacket, or backup munchies.

I wish we had lockers when we were at school. I still have one shoulder that is hanging because of the heavy suitcases we had to carry.


What is your thoughts around having a locker at school, especially primary school?

First week at a new school

Little Miss first week of school, at a new school, has been daunting. We are glad we made the move, and there is a definite positive effect on both Mom and Dad's traffic commutes!

The challenges:

- The new environment is difficult to navigate for a direction-ally challenged kid. (Mom as well!)
- It's not as easy as asking kids to play with them. They already have their friends and groups of their own. They just say "No!" (Heartbreaking)
- We sent a child to school on Monday with stomach-ache which we thought was spastic colon (nerves), but had to go fetch her earlier. It turns out it is bladder infection because she keeps it in (not wanting to go because of dodgy toilets). I even walked past a younger girl with her dad yesterday who just had an accident. She told her dad she was keeping it in until he came to fetch her. It was 4pm in the afternoon already! (Shame!)
- There was a melt-down in class. We got a call! (Horrors)
- The activities that Little Miss is interested in, is overlapping. What do we keep, and what do we change?
- There was a general athletics meeting where Little Miss got sun burnt for the first time, and her nose are peeling. She was also spending half her time searching for me, although I could only be there at 1pm.  (Bad Mom-moment - I should have explained better about being there later...)

The positives:

- Little Miss (and her parents) do not have to sit for hours in the car going and coming from school.
- Little Miss got a playmate during lunch-breaks yesterday, but she does not know the girl's name. (Thumbs crossed)
- Little Miss has been doing handstands with one of the new boys at after-care, and yesterday afternoon there was a new "friend" that she bonded with in class after they both felt sick on Monday.
- Little Miss does not have any issues going to the tuck shop at school. She knows all the new rules! (*sigh* Trying each day to get a few cents from Mom and Dad)
- Little Miss can't stop talking about her new school. She is enjoying most of it! (Big THUMBS UP!)
- Little Miss likes her new teacher.
- I was asked to buy a special file for her yesterday that she can keep in her bag for homework. She enjoyed sorting and marking it yesterday, and was excited to use it today. (The power of the right stationery!)
- BETTER COMMUTE! (Easier, faster, cheaper!)


The positives outweighs the negatives!
The challenges are not necessarily a bad thing, and we will work on it this year!

How's your back-to-school going?