HCARS

I made it to a radio club meeting tonight for the first time in several months. I actually even paid my dues--dues that should have been paid back in December! We did some Field Day planning, but things have changed some since the club no longer has an income. They are asking for folks who are going to eat to pay $7 apiece for hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and chips! I have always been in charge of the food, and I don't like the idea...but no one asked for my input! I'm not finished with this issue yet...

We were able to get me to HCARS by doing double duty with the kids. Megan came home and gobbled some food, then took Ryan to his soccer game. I took Robin to Girl Scouts, then left for club. Meg picked Robin up after soccer. I guess it all worked out.

I know I have mentioned this before. I have seriously thought that maybe I should be teaching another year or two before retiring because of the financial hit that I'll take...but the truth is that the students are so poorly behaved right now that I'm not sure I have the will to keep going a couple more years. I'm wondering how I will make it the next three weeks! We'll just have to pare down here at home and manage. Everybody else is doing it. We will, too!

I wish I understood young children. Just as Ryan's behavior has been getting better, Robin's hasn't. Picking them up from Judy and Phil's after school has been problematic all year. I'm never sure what I will walk into...if the kids will be fighting or not wanting to see me because they are playing outside...or what. This afternoon, there was a water bottle with some ice in it at the end of the sidewalk when I got there. I picked it up and took it inside, thinking that one of the kids dumped it there. Ryan was in a good mood. Robin showed up a couple of minutes later in a foul mood. All she would do was "moo". No conversation about what was bothering her. It took me a few minutes to figure out that it was HER water bottle outside and that she WANTED it there. She started shouting and being disrespectful until Phil snapped and hauled her bodily out of the house. Somehow, the concrete goose on the front stoop got knocked over and broke. When we finally all got in the car and headed for home, I said, "That was embarrassing." Someone inquired what I was talking about, so I started talking about Robin's disrespectful behavior. She didn't want to hear it so told me to "shut up". I stopped the car and asked her to repeat herself, which (of course) she wouldn't do, except to say that she didn't want to hear what I had to say. I told her that she would have to go to her room when we got home. (I didn't yell. I was proud of myself.) She didn't like that idea. (Spiders, you know.) She immediately started on her homework and was polite in asking me to check over her work and listen to her read. It wasn't manipulative. I think she knew that she had crossed a line that wasn't going to work for her. The problem is that she owes her other grandparents an apology, and I'm not sure how to approach that without creating another power struggle. Both children don't know how to handle frustration. We need to figure out how to work on that. Dr. Phil, where are you when I need you?!

Past time for bed!