Busy Month

I have kind of been a slacker this month when it comes to my blog. Things have been so crazy busy. At the beginning of the month, I returned to mentoring through the department of children and family services. I was just recently assigned a case so I am anxious to get the case going and meeting with the family. Mark's schedule at work has been horrendous. So, I have had to pick up where he was doing things. The kiddos have done alright with his schedule, but at times I can tell they are very concerned where their daddy is. My work schedule has been nice. Three days on and four days off. Although, I must admit that I have to cram 5 days into 3 so it is a little busy. When I get to work I am "on" until I walk out the door. There is no down time even during lunch. I am almost at full capacity in both my classes. I have 12 in the morning now and 10 in the afternoon. So it is defiantly "busy" to say the least and exhausting. The kids are finally calling me by my name or "teacher Carissa" now instead of "mommy" or "teacher". It has only taken 6 months. I see a lot of progress being made and I am proud of my little brood. I have 7 moving on to kindergarten next year, so that will be sad to see them go at the end of the year, but it means I have to revise 7 more IEP's to account for the new time that they will have in "big school" as we refer to it.

I had the opportunity to help out in Luke's classroom this month. It was fun and "eye opening" to say the least. I wish I would have made it in there sooner, but my job would not afford me that luxury. You can learn so much by just watching. I could tell that he was in the lowest reading group. Which isn't much of a surprise. He also nagged the teacher for nearly constant attention. He is always looking for feedback and reassurance that he is doing a good job. I know that characteristic stems from the 3 moves he had in caregivers in his first year of life. He often becomes anxious or worried about many situations. He requires constant reinforcement from Mark and I. He is growing up too fast. He will be 6 years old next month. Don't blink because before you know it they are BIG!!!!