Jayden's Progess at School

Well, believe it or not, Jayden just finished his second week at school. It seems to have flown by. He seems to be all settled into his school now. Let’s take a look at this week.

Monday: Tears in the morning and tears at drop off.

Tuesday: Tears in the morning and sad face at drop off. You know the look. Sad eyes, upside down smile, quivering chin… Yeah, that one.

Wednesday: No tears, just vocalized his desire to NOT go to school and got over it. No sad face at drop off! Thank you God! Today is the first day, Maya shows complete excitement over Jayden coming home from school

Thursday: Apparently, Jayden has a fan club and a little girlfriend. Taryn is her name and she jumped up and down with joy at seeing Jayden. They held hands all the way to class. It was too cute. Jayden wanted to hold my hand too, but I told him to go on ahead. You can’t hold your mom’s hand and your girlfriend’s hand at the same time! It was my volunteer day at the school so I stayed to read books during drop off. Just as the kids were getting ready to have breakfast, I left. Jayden was sad but he hung in there after I told him it was ok not to eat his yucky oatmeal.

Friday: Esteban dropped him off today with no problems. I picked him up and this time it was Taryn that came running over to me crying. Apparently, Jayden said he didn’t want to be friends anymore. 1st broken heart. Awww! He got his first homework assignment for the weekend. I’m looking forward to it!

Sometimes, I wonder what’s going on at school. Some days he says the teacher doesn’t like him and other times he tells me he told the teacher he loves her. Sometimes, he says the teacher is mad at him and other times, he wants to know what Ms. Helena is doing. One night he was rolling around on the floor and when I asked why he was doing that, he said the teacher told him to. Last night, he was hopping around the room, like a frog. The teacher said was his response to my questioning eyes. Today, we went to the store and I was eyeballing the meat when all of a sudden Jayden points to a sign and exclaims at the top of him lungs $10! I had to laugh. I was kinda thinking the same thing. I’m glad he’s learning!

If you have a Praying Bone in your Body, We Need You...

I've been wondering why it is taking so long for our package to arrive to the embassy in Honduras. We were given the address for an APO (army post office) so I did a web search for information on APO addresses and how often they receive mail. At first, I didn't find much, but as I started to change my keywords I came across this article.

U.S. moves toward formal cutoff of aid to Honduras (to read the article in full)

... the United States is taking steps — including its decision on Tuesday to cease issuing some visas at its embassy in Tegucigalpa — to raise pressure on the de facto government...

The official said this was a response to the de facto government’s rejection of proposals put forward by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, whose mediation effort has stalled over the government’s refusal to allow Zelaya to return to power.

The San Jose accord proposed last month by the Nobel Peace Prize winner would have allowed Zelaya to return to office until elections are held by the end of November.

The State Department said on Tuesday it would only provide visa services to potential immigrants and emergency cases at its embassy in Tegucigalpa.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters the visa decision was “a signal of how seriously we are watching the situation” and said Washington was considering other steps, though it was premature to disclose these.

Jayden, Jayden, Jayden… What About Maya?

With all the back to school drama, I’ve neglected to share how the transition has affected my baby girl. Well, I hate to say it, but Maya seems as happy as can be. While Jayden is at school crying his eyes out and missing Maya, she’s as if nothing ever happened. And it’s not hard to see why. She’s got all her toys to herself and she’s got the full attention of Mommy and Daddy. She doesn’t seem to look around for Jayden or ask for him, but she does wear his shoes. Yes, that’s right. She wears his shoes everyday while he’s in school. She must fall down a million times a day, but she doesn’t care. She wants to wear his sandals and flip-flops.

At night, I get Jayden’s outfit ready for the next day and she wants me to get her outfit too. Sometimes, she wakes up early and she sees Jayden getting ready. She follows me around. Brush teeth too. Dressed too. Outfit too. Mommyyyyyy… I go too. She’s so funny. Today, I had to brush her teeth, get her milk, and get her dressed all so she can stay home. “Go too” she said. I would bring her with me, but I’m holding off since Jayden is still having meltdowns at drop-off.

After the drop-off, I come home and Maya comes running. “Mommy, you back!” We have breakfast. We do some sort of activity together. Before you know it, it’s lunchtime. And lunch is so easy because my fussy eater is at school. Maya will eat practically anything. Before, I always tried to keep Maya up so that she and Jayden could nap together, but not anymore. She falls asleep so easy. It’s great. Today, she fell asleep on the sofa. All I had to do was move her. Soon after, it’s time to pick up Jayden. When we get back, Maya is up and the party gets started. And since the house has been quiet all day, it’s so much easier for me to be patient with their squabbling in the evenings. I love it.

Since Jayden attends the Head Start program, Maya will be able to enroll next year at age 3 because they give priority to siblings. Before I know it, Maya and Jayden will both be going to school. Is this really happening so fast? I feel like I just had Maya the other day…

New Schedule, New Life

For the past 5 months, I have been doing the exact same thing, day in, day out. I was trying to make the best of my new circumstances, but I was in such a rut. I felt sad and bored, but I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud to anyone else. And when I thought about my husband’s kids joining us, I was terrified of losing my life as I knew it. It was ironic that the life I was so scared of losing, was the same life I was so sick and tired of. I’m sure I was depressed to a certain extent.

It’s amazing what the new schedule has done for me. Since school started, I am out and about much earlier. I have more alone time as well as more quality time with Maya. I feel like my days are longer. More productive. Gotta love that! And I spend a lot less time fussing at the kids. What a relief not to have to hear myself say the same things over and over again. The added peace has done wonders for me. I didn’t even know how tired and bored I was until my life changed.

So what did I do my first week? I spent a lot of time worried about Jayden at school. I wandered around the house in quiet disbelief. I felt like a part of me was missing. I guess back to school was an adjustment for Jayden and I both. On the flip side, I also did my housework in complete peace. Simple tasks didn’t take double the time to do anymore. Esteban got a ton done around the house and in the garage. I did my first hour of volunteer work at the school. I even got out to the stores to do some couponing and clearance shopping. And I got a much needed haircut!

And next week, who knows… I might even schedule lunch with a friend!