Book Fair - Book Fair - Book Fair

Vern must have asked 10 times to go to the schools "Book Fair".  It is an unfair money raiser that they sell and sell and sell to get the kids to bring their parents to all under the guise of helping the school.  COME ON, I pay a sh*t-ton in property taxes which the school gets a large share of and then they sell this crap to the kids.....Opps I seem to have somehow climbed on a big soapbox. Let me climb back off and get to the topic at hand the Book Fair.

Vern has been teetering on the edge of naughty/nice for a few weeks now. It is like he is walking a tight-rope and slips a LOT.  I told him we would go to the BookFair IF he did his chores and homework when he got home from school.  "YES MOM" was the enthusiastic reply.

Well you know how life gets in the way, Ann's new glasses came in the same day. She had to get them fitted and they close at 6 p.m. and are only open Monday - Friday (really want to get on my soap box about that but I won't).  So we rush home from work, have kids jump in the car and R-U-S-H back to the city to get to the office before they close. That goes well but the "I'm hungries" started.  We go eat cheap - nasty food to fill them up. Then have to rush back to our town to get to the book fair before they close.

The kids pick out their books and are very excited. I am wondering where the evening goes.

THEN....

We get home. I walk in the door and immediately see Vern's jobs are not done. Vern has completely fallen off the tightrope this time.

I EXPLODE.  Good thing I am like the terminator and can mold myself back together. (Did you know all mom's have this superpower ability?)

His brand new books are handed over and the tears start.  He cries his entire shower. I don't want to be the mean mom but the boy has to learn about consequences sometime.

It has been a few days and still no books. He has not had good enough behavior yet. I am hoping for a good day soon.

DANG -

He is just plain CUTE.

Report card time

Vern brought home his report card the other day. I was anxious to see it as he promised me there would be improvement.

I have to say I was impressed!

He actually got a 4 in science and social studies.  A 4 is the best grade they give you at his level. It was his first one ever!!! Woot woot.

He also had less "needs improvements" than last time.

Be sure to congratulate Vern on his report card the next time you see or talk to him!

Quality time

Most of the time I am glad I work and contribute and take care of myself and the kids.  Last night I had one twinge of guilt. The guilt come from not getting to spend MORE quality time with the kids.  I mean we are always rushing here and there and doing this and that. Sometimes I just want to be with them. Do what they want. Just "be".

Last night I was blessed to get to spend some quality time with two of the kids.  It was our first really nice spring day here in the blustery midwest. Vern had gotten most of his jobs done and asked me to play with him. I of course had a zillion things I should have been doing but I told him to work on some homework while I loaded the dishwasher.

After that was done I told him to get his football and we would play catch.  It was SOOOO fun. He made fun of me for throwing like a girl (poor ball was wobbly and pathetic) but the smile on his face was worth it to me.  We also incorporated multiplication rules into the game: you can't toss me the ball until i get the correct answer to 8*7.  It was amazing and it worked!  By the end of catch he had them down.  The game had to end when he was catching one of my wobbly balls and it hit his sore finger. The tears flowed and he rolled around on the ground like he was dying. I played TV announcer and told the crowd he was fine but going for xrays on his finger. I don't know if that helped with the pain or not. Poor guy. Within 5 minutes he was back to normal.

Life is good. You just have to see it.

The Punishment.

In a previous post, I mentioned how Vern was very naughty and made fun of a girl with one eye. Well we finally decided and implemented his punishment for such an aweful act of insensativity. 

We decided that he needed to wear an eye patch for an entire day. This would be a day when we were out an about in public and had lots of activities to do so Vern would be seen.  Here is a photo of how he went through the day.

So first stop were errands in town. Vern did not like this one tiny bit. He tried to hide his face in his coat and not let anyone see his face. He was very subdued.

Later on that day we went into a store and he had to explain twice to two different people why he had an eye patch on. His poor voice was so tiny and sad, you wouldn't have even known it was Vern he was so quiet.  He did tell each person that he had made fun of a girl and this was his punishment. He hated EVERY SINGLE MINUTE.

He had to do this a few more times through out the day.  He also had some trouble with navigating with only one eye so learned that two eyes really do help you more than one. That was also a good lesson for him.

By the end of the day he had a sore spot where the patch had rubbed his face so I let him remove it. I do believe he learned that lesson. I just hope he doesn't have any repeat perfomances!

After...

As promised the after photos.
Last night Vern said it was still too long. I told him when John gets his hair cut in a few weeks we can cut Vern's further if he still wants it done.

Isn't he handsome?

Urgent Care - again???

What blog about a little boy would be complete without a trip or two to urgent care?

Monday Vern comes home and wants to talk to me on the phone. This is always big as I have previously discussed how he isn't a big phone talker.

Mom I smashed my finger and can't go to wrestling.

What did you do?

Smashed it in church.

I'll look at it when I get home k?

So when I get home I have him take off the bandaids - yes plural. His finger looks B-A-D!!! I immediately decide this needs a trip to the urgent care center and this happened over 24 hours ago!!!!

We eat a quick dinner and Vern and I head out to wait and wait and wait to get in. You know the drill.
We finally get in and the little old doctor finally shows up. We try to get out of Vern what happened but never really do get the whole story.  The doctor is looking at me like I am nuts. Why hadn't I brought this boy in sooner?  So then I have to explain that I had no idea the injury had even occured (Like he believed me :-( ).  I am hoping they aren't thinking I am abusing the boy that badly....He was at his dad's house all weekend!

Doc decides that xrays are in order to rule out a smashed bone tip. Vern enjoyed that process and asked a lot of questions.  Turns out his bones are ok but doc perscribes an oral and a topical antibiotic because it is smashed so badly.  We have to change the dressings 4 times a day. As of 3 days later it still bleeds slightly.  I am hoping for improvement shortly.

Can you go beyond anger?

If so, I do believe Vern sent me there last week. I think more than anger it was disgust, unfathomability, horror, disappointment and sadness for his victim.

What on earth you ask did he do? 

He made fun of a girl.  I know ALLLLL boys make fun of little girls. They pull their hair and tease them.  They try to impress them by making penis's out of bread...

This was bad. The little girl he made fun of only has one eye and yep THAT is what he was teasing her about.  I litterally cried when the school called me. Anger at Vern and empathy for the little girl. She just wants to fit in I am sure and to have a little boy like Vern making fun of her. UGHHHHHHH

We are still discussing his punishments but trust me it will match the crime. I am sure I will post about how that goes when I lay that one out.

Pray for a quiet week k?

Haircut

Vern needs a haircut.

See what I mean.

He has needed a haircut for a month.

I did not get an appointment in time for last weekend when I had him and this weekend he is at his dads so I am hoping to get an appointment for him next weekend. 

He will look so much better.

I don't care... He is still cute as a bug to me!  I'll try to post after photos soon...