Week 3 of "social distancing"
Last week allowed me to get in enough of a groove that when we were given the news that Georgia public schools will remain closed through April 24, I wasn't a complete utter mess. I will also put out there I am doing a really good job of shoving most of my emotions down pretty deep so I can continue moving in a forward motion.
In my professional world I am in a "good" place. I am calling it good as in I feel like I have a handle on writing Google Classroom directions, which have to be so detailed they can be executed by an 8 year old substitute who has never substituted before. And believe it or not some days I still don't give enough details. But I think I have figured out how to structure each day so my students don't have too much independent practice, or too much "live" Google Meet sessions, which is where I deliver our new content, or too much busy work which I know I could never find the time to actually grade. I have found a sweet spot I think. I am just now starting to get to giving feedback on turned in assignments which is honestly what I have found I miss the most. Now that we have been digital learning for a couple weeks I am realizing I think my favorite part of teaching is supporting the students to get to be independent, then allowing them to be independent, and then giving the real time feedback. It is at that point in the teaching game I think the students grow. They see their hard work pay off, they see where they made mistakes, and they can change and hopefully learn for the next time they get to do it on their own. That feedback part is so hard to make happen in this "digital learning" setting. But I am working on it, and I guess even a little bit of feedback is better than no feedback.
My heart truly feels so great when we are all "meeting" together. "Seeing" them is a great part of my day. We are learning so much more about each other's home lives. I get to "see" siblings, parents, homes, living rooms, offices, bedrooms, pets, and have heard many "talking to" when the mic wasn't on mute. On the other side my students know what my basement looks like in my house, my cat Simon shows up for most meetings wrapping himself around my neck, they know what my dog Lola's bark sounds like, and they actually ask where Cade and Ellee are if they haven't made an appearance. It is a whole new way of a get-to-know-you.
In my personal life it all seems a little more bleak. We have just had a string of bad news. It is hard finding something to look forward to, and when you are in a deployment looking forward to something is one of the big ways of coping. We just last minute canceled our spring break trip to Florida. I kept holding out hope that there would be a wide spread test, that it would get better, that something big would happen and we would all be let out of "shelter and place". I kept dragging my feet, not wanting to face the decision, so Jacob made the decision for us. It was a no go for a lot of reasons. I just couldn't make myself make the hard decision. But it has been made. We will stay in Atlanta for spring break.
Speaking of Jacob, not so great news came from that front too. I am sure you can all put together the sentences that I can't type in this space as you see the headlines of travel bans and quarantines. My heart has broken a few separate time this past week.
And my real kids. It is so hard always saying No. Most know in real life I am not the "no" mom. Most of the time (except for eating too much sugars and screen time) I am all for trying to make happen what my kids come up with. I have found myself saying No so much in the last two weeks. And it is so hard. No, you can't go outside when _____ is out. No, you can ask ___ over to the house. No, we can't paint right now, I have to teach class. No, we can't go to Florida. No, daddy won't be home then. No, we can't go to the park. No. No. No.
But you know what. I've got some really awesome kids. They are taking this all in stride. I should honestly be taking lessons. With every no Cade tries to understand the reason why, and he always comes up with, well when the Corona is gone we can do it. And he is right. When this is all done and over we will be able to get back to life as we knew it. And I sure hope daddy will get to join us at some point too.
And to end this post... what about that Tiger King?!?!
Monday, March 30, 2020
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Three Augusts
In my world I look at a calendar year and know I have a whole bunch of months and then I have August. August gets its own category for me. August is the start of school, and as an elementary teacher my evenings are long, my days exhaust me, and my weekends are filled with paper work, color coding, and writing my students names a million times for the month of August. Once Labor Day hits I normally have most things under control, I am back to just the regular expectations for teachers, and I can fall into more of a balance that includes self care and family time. August is the month that I know I will be consumed by work and I allow the balance to get heavy on the work side because I know it is only August.
When we found out Jacob was being deployed and dates were being thrown out, we were so thankful he would be here to support me through August. I knew if he was here for August I could gather all my strength, push through, and set myself up for a school year with him being gone. And that is what we did. After August #1 he left and I felt secure with a set up classroom (I had just moved classrooms again), a schedule that I could lesson plan for, and I knew the job as this was my 4th year in the ESOL position. The day he left for deployment I knew work would take a back burner to my family needs and I was ready.
Five days after Jacob left I was asked to take over a 3rd grade homeroom position. There were many reasons why this decision weighed very heavily on me, and honestly I didn't like the situation that arose for me to have to be asked. But I knew what the answer should be. I knew what would be best for the students. I was placed as a 3rd grade homeroom teacher on a Friday, and expected to begin teaching two days later on that Monday.
I found myself in August #2. I had to move my classroom. I had to learn a new schedule. I had to write the students names 100 times. I had to learn new routines. I found myself right back in that "month of August", except it wasn't August. I stopped running. I picked the kids up way too late. I found myself waking early, and going to sleep way to late just to try and get it all in. And this "August" I was alone. No one at home to help.
Of course things got easier. I have a fabulous 3rd grade team, and a co-teacher I am positive I couldn't have done this year without. And I was able to find my balance again. I was able to get some runs in after school, I started sleeping more than a couple hours a night, and my time with my real kids on the weekend went back to being kid centered.
Now enter this past week. I found myself in August #3 for this school year. I had to move my "classroom" to my basement. I had to come up with a totally new schedule. My school and students had multiple needs, and I was in triage mode. But as we have already established Jacob is still gone, and my "real" kids were also in triage mode. They were also ripped out of their routine, and were now getting their education from their mom in the basement. I floundered. I cried multiple nights. I stayed up way too late, and got up early in the morning just to do more work. I had to work on "classroom expectations" with Cade and Ellee, while teaching "online expectations" to my students through different modes of streaming. I was creating a whole new set of "online" curriculum while also learning pre-k and 1st grade standards. I was making sure we spent part of our day in Spanish. I had to learn all my school's new online programs, while also learning my son and daughters online programs. Oh, and someone has to do the laundry, cook the meals, and make sure the animals are kept alive. This past week I felt like everything took a backseat to my work for the third time this year.
Now, we are a week into this "new normal". I think I have found a happy balance of office hours, online real time teaching, online learning for Cade and Ellee, and me one on one instructing them in our make-shift home school. And if all goes as planned next week I will be back to just being "mom" at 4pm everyday. My third grade team and set of administrators have made it possible for me to feel okay going into week 2 instead of this unbalance dragging on for a few more weeks. My class and their parents have been so filled with grace and kindness as we all are finding our way through digital learning.
On kind of a side note I am in awe of the teaching profession. What we went through as a profession in the last week (at least here in Georgia it all went down last week) is something I hope to never have to go through again, yet I feel so proud to be a teacher. Our profession was shoved in a corner, given no extra resources, given high expectations, and honestly a list of must dos that were unheard of in our profession anytime before. And yet, I personally know so many who never complained, put our problem solving minds on and solved all of the problems. We are a week into this and I know I (or my co-teacher, who we are in contact all day long) have been in contact with every student in our class, we have figured out technology needs for specific students, have taught an entire week of curriculum, and "met" with our class twice last week. We have reassured students through messages, phone calls, video chats, and comments on a classroom platform. We have held our heads high, and come out stronger as a profession than anytime in my 13 years of teaching. Way to go teachers. I know we have always known our worth but I think others are starting to take note. I have always been proud to be a teacher, but this past week has shown me exactly why I have always felt this way.
This school year will be one I will look back on and probably wonder how I made it through, but also I hope it will serve as an inspiration in the way of me thinking "well you made it through the 2019-20 school year, you can do anything" kind of way. But dang. This school year has been so full of "Augusts".
When we found out Jacob was being deployed and dates were being thrown out, we were so thankful he would be here to support me through August. I knew if he was here for August I could gather all my strength, push through, and set myself up for a school year with him being gone. And that is what we did. After August #1 he left and I felt secure with a set up classroom (I had just moved classrooms again), a schedule that I could lesson plan for, and I knew the job as this was my 4th year in the ESOL position. The day he left for deployment I knew work would take a back burner to my family needs and I was ready.
Five days after Jacob left I was asked to take over a 3rd grade homeroom position. There were many reasons why this decision weighed very heavily on me, and honestly I didn't like the situation that arose for me to have to be asked. But I knew what the answer should be. I knew what would be best for the students. I was placed as a 3rd grade homeroom teacher on a Friday, and expected to begin teaching two days later on that Monday.
I found myself in August #2. I had to move my classroom. I had to learn a new schedule. I had to write the students names 100 times. I had to learn new routines. I found myself right back in that "month of August", except it wasn't August. I stopped running. I picked the kids up way too late. I found myself waking early, and going to sleep way to late just to try and get it all in. And this "August" I was alone. No one at home to help.
Of course things got easier. I have a fabulous 3rd grade team, and a co-teacher I am positive I couldn't have done this year without. And I was able to find my balance again. I was able to get some runs in after school, I started sleeping more than a couple hours a night, and my time with my real kids on the weekend went back to being kid centered.
Now enter this past week. I found myself in August #3 for this school year. I had to move my "classroom" to my basement. I had to come up with a totally new schedule. My school and students had multiple needs, and I was in triage mode. But as we have already established Jacob is still gone, and my "real" kids were also in triage mode. They were also ripped out of their routine, and were now getting their education from their mom in the basement. I floundered. I cried multiple nights. I stayed up way too late, and got up early in the morning just to do more work. I had to work on "classroom expectations" with Cade and Ellee, while teaching "online expectations" to my students through different modes of streaming. I was creating a whole new set of "online" curriculum while also learning pre-k and 1st grade standards. I was making sure we spent part of our day in Spanish. I had to learn all my school's new online programs, while also learning my son and daughters online programs. Oh, and someone has to do the laundry, cook the meals, and make sure the animals are kept alive. This past week I felt like everything took a backseat to my work for the third time this year.
Now, we are a week into this "new normal". I think I have found a happy balance of office hours, online real time teaching, online learning for Cade and Ellee, and me one on one instructing them in our make-shift home school. And if all goes as planned next week I will be back to just being "mom" at 4pm everyday. My third grade team and set of administrators have made it possible for me to feel okay going into week 2 instead of this unbalance dragging on for a few more weeks. My class and their parents have been so filled with grace and kindness as we all are finding our way through digital learning.
On kind of a side note I am in awe of the teaching profession. What we went through as a profession in the last week (at least here in Georgia it all went down last week) is something I hope to never have to go through again, yet I feel so proud to be a teacher. Our profession was shoved in a corner, given no extra resources, given high expectations, and honestly a list of must dos that were unheard of in our profession anytime before. And yet, I personally know so many who never complained, put our problem solving minds on and solved all of the problems. We are a week into this and I know I (or my co-teacher, who we are in contact all day long) have been in contact with every student in our class, we have figured out technology needs for specific students, have taught an entire week of curriculum, and "met" with our class twice last week. We have reassured students through messages, phone calls, video chats, and comments on a classroom platform. We have held our heads high, and come out stronger as a profession than anytime in my 13 years of teaching. Way to go teachers. I know we have always known our worth but I think others are starting to take note. I have always been proud to be a teacher, but this past week has shown me exactly why I have always felt this way.
This school year will be one I will look back on and probably wonder how I made it through, but also I hope it will serve as an inspiration in the way of me thinking "well you made it through the 2019-20 school year, you can do anything" kind of way. But dang. This school year has been so full of "Augusts".
Friday, March 13, 2020
Well, That was Strange
Today was strange.
So strange I am having trouble putting it in words.
At 4:30pm yesterday I was notified our school district would be closing for 2 weeks, with the possibility of being closed for longer. By 7:30 my phone was buzzing at a constant rate between emails, and text messages. This continued well into the night.
To say this took most of us by surprise is an understatement. Sure we had been asked to load three lesson plans for "digital learning days" into our Google Classroom, but we never thought our time was really running so short.
I hardly slept last night. I was suppose to have a substitute today, scheduled months ago, to take Cade and Ellee to a multiple doctor appointments. I scrambled to come up with a plan. How would I prepare my students while being gone? Although I tried to come up with a million different plans, ultimately it came down to I would cancel the doctor appointments and be with my students.
By the time I headed to school I had more questions than I had answers, and I had a to - do list that overwhelmed me. But as we always do, I put a brave face on walked through to door of my classroom.
The energy was high between the teachers. We lingered more in the hallways, texted a lot more, and ran our copy machines more than I have ever seen, all the while calming our students. By 10am I had over 20 emails with directions from other teachers and my district. Everyone scrambling to get 100% online learning in place in an 8 hour day. It was a mad dash every second I was at school.
I spent most of my day hugging my kids. Reassuring them we will see each other again. I stressed. We practiced how to log in to our online platforms. I learned how to clock in from home. I asked a lot of questions. I stressed. I answered many questions. And most of the time my answer was "I am just not sure". I stressed a little more. Then I handed out material to cover the next 6 weeks. I gave them all hugs as they walked out the door with their over loaded book bags.
And then they were gone.
Then the really strange feeling hit me. I was packing up my classroom to take it home. What would I need to teach all of my curriculum from my basement? I was walking out of my classroom, being told not to count on the ability to get back in to the school, and no time table of returning. This became the strangest feeling I have ever had.
As I walked out of my building, for who knows how long, I asked a co-worked to snap a picture for me to send to my mom and sister. I sent the picture with the following text "Today was by far one of the strangest days I've been through. Leaving school today is one of the strangest feeling. I am packed and ready to teach for up to 6 weeks online, and I guess this is what it looks like."
So, until who knows I will be teaching 3rd grade from the basement, while being a homeschool teacher to a PreK and 1st grader (who spends 1/2 his day in Spanish). Never in my wildest dreams would I have come up with this scenario.
Stay well all. And I am sure the strange feeling will wear off eventually.
So strange I am having trouble putting it in words.
At 4:30pm yesterday I was notified our school district would be closing for 2 weeks, with the possibility of being closed for longer. By 7:30 my phone was buzzing at a constant rate between emails, and text messages. This continued well into the night.
To say this took most of us by surprise is an understatement. Sure we had been asked to load three lesson plans for "digital learning days" into our Google Classroom, but we never thought our time was really running so short.
I hardly slept last night. I was suppose to have a substitute today, scheduled months ago, to take Cade and Ellee to a multiple doctor appointments. I scrambled to come up with a plan. How would I prepare my students while being gone? Although I tried to come up with a million different plans, ultimately it came down to I would cancel the doctor appointments and be with my students.
By the time I headed to school I had more questions than I had answers, and I had a to - do list that overwhelmed me. But as we always do, I put a brave face on walked through to door of my classroom.
The energy was high between the teachers. We lingered more in the hallways, texted a lot more, and ran our copy machines more than I have ever seen, all the while calming our students. By 10am I had over 20 emails with directions from other teachers and my district. Everyone scrambling to get 100% online learning in place in an 8 hour day. It was a mad dash every second I was at school.
I spent most of my day hugging my kids. Reassuring them we will see each other again. I stressed. We practiced how to log in to our online platforms. I learned how to clock in from home. I asked a lot of questions. I stressed. I answered many questions. And most of the time my answer was "I am just not sure". I stressed a little more. Then I handed out material to cover the next 6 weeks. I gave them all hugs as they walked out the door with their over loaded book bags.
And then they were gone.
Then the really strange feeling hit me. I was packing up my classroom to take it home. What would I need to teach all of my curriculum from my basement? I was walking out of my classroom, being told not to count on the ability to get back in to the school, and no time table of returning. This became the strangest feeling I have ever had.
As I walked out of my building, for who knows how long, I asked a co-worked to snap a picture for me to send to my mom and sister. I sent the picture with the following text "Today was by far one of the strangest days I've been through. Leaving school today is one of the strangest feeling. I am packed and ready to teach for up to 6 weeks online, and I guess this is what it looks like."
So, until who knows I will be teaching 3rd grade from the basement, while being a homeschool teacher to a PreK and 1st grader (who spends 1/2 his day in Spanish). Never in my wildest dreams would I have come up with this scenario.
Stay well all. And I am sure the strange feeling will wear off eventually.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
How I am Doing IT
Day 183
Once we have sured up that Jacob is still gone, they check in with how we are doing, then they say "I don't know how you are doing IT." I have a fleeting moment where I think, I should laugh it off, and maybe even have a response like " I don't know either". But in all honesty...
I know how I am doing it.
I know all of the hours of prep work that went into this deployment flowing well. I know how much thought and energy went into thinking of the many scenarios of the what-if's and creating a clear path of simplicity (or at least how simple we could make it).
First off I know every family is different but I have taken most of these ideas from other families and changed things just enough to work for our family. Maybe something that is working over here might help someone else.
Second, my personality is a to-do list lover, color coded calendar fanatic, and I naturally lean on the minimalist/organized side. Although in life situations such as this all of these traits help, remember there are I-am-ruining-my-kids-futures moments on the regular, and being so type A is very hard with the abundant negative inner thoughts that carve their way through my mind daily. There are always pros and cons to how everyone is wired, and finding a balance (even though I hate that word and don't believe there is a true balance in life) that you can go to bed feeling good is what my goal is everyday.
One of the big things I think assisted with the transition to deployment was that we have always done the same routine with the kids if it is mommy who is home, or daddy is home, both of us or even sitter. We try to keep the routine the same no matter who is here. So when all of a sudden one day daddy is gone, for a long time, nothing really changes in our everyday routine.
First, the day starts the night before. Lunches are packed and in the fridge. Dishes are out of the sink and in the dishwasher. Showers are done the night before. Right now we are not picking out kid clothes the night before but we have done that, however, my outfits are picked out the night before. Kids' and mommy's backpack/purse/workout clothes are packed and set up on the table ready to be grabbed on the way out of the door.
I am a strong believer of waking before the kids. And my kids wake early. School days my alarm goes off at 4:30a, so I have plenty of quiet time to workout, read, pray, watch the news (if I am watching it), or fold laundry all before the kids wake up. I do not have time to do all of those things everyday but more of combination of some things I know I enjoy starting my day with. I even wake before the kids on the weekends, as I find it helps me center myself and have a few clear thoughts before I am bombarded with kid jabber.
We have a morning routine. M-F is the same routine every day. Wake at the same time, move through the same motions. It takes the kids 30 mins from the time they wake, to complete their morning tasks, and be in the car. Saturday mornings have their own routine, and then Sunday has its own. If there is going to be a change, it is discussed the night before.
Our evenings are very similar and follow a consistent nighttime routine, but depending on outside events the order may change. But for the most part as soon as we get home it is homework time, while I cook dinner. We eat as close to 5:30 as possible. That leaves time afterwards for a little play time. Kids in the shower at 6:30, and if they have earned cartoons they get 20 mins of cartoons from 6:50(ish) to 7:10. Then it is reading in bed, and lights out by 7:30p. That leaves me a little time to get some school work done, get the kitchen cleaned up, and pack everything for the next day. My goal every night is to be in bed by 9p.
I am a planner, and I have plans set up by month, week, and day. I revisit the plan for the month at the start of each month by creating a large calendar in the kitchen. When Jacob is here it helps us stay on track with what is going at a quick glance, and we plan our meals by the month, which help us make weekly grocery lists. We use Google Calendar and everyone is color coded. This is very helpful when Jacob is here as I can see what he has planned and he can see what I am doing. It is also helpful for me as I can put in events months in advance and not have to try and remember them all. I have a child care plan for the whole month done at the start of the month. Every weekend I do a look over the next week. It is at this point I put in the unplanned events in the calendar to make it fit; like workouts, library visits, school projects or special days, stores we have to get to, etc. Every night after the kids are in bed I run through what needs to be done the next day. If there is something out of the ordinary, I write a sticky note with what needs to be done and I stick it on my car audio display, so I can't miss it.
And the last thing that I think that allows things to run as smoothly as possible is everything has a time for it to be done. And, to clear my brain of keeping those tasks, I have a reminder that goes off on my phone so I don't have to spend any extra energy trying to keep it all straight. Laundry - Wednesday and Saturday. Trash - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. Groceries - Saturday. Change sheets and towels, refill medication, upload pictures, switch the air filter, setting different alarms, etc. Everything that needs to be done, has a time, and I have a way to remember it. One of my podcasts says: something that can be done at any time is often done at no time. I use the app Due. I went through a lot of apps before I landed on this one . It has been worth whatever small amount I paid for it.
I am no superwoman. Any of us in this situation would be able to do IT. But I will say to do IT with a smile, feel successful, and have pretty happy kids, IT does take a lot of "doing". I am not doing anything other families have not had to do, but I will admit, most days I feel like I am doing IT pretty well!
Once we have sured up that Jacob is still gone, they check in with how we are doing, then they say "I don't know how you are doing IT." I have a fleeting moment where I think, I should laugh it off, and maybe even have a response like " I don't know either". But in all honesty...
I know how I am doing it.
I know all of the hours of prep work that went into this deployment flowing well. I know how much thought and energy went into thinking of the many scenarios of the what-if's and creating a clear path of simplicity (or at least how simple we could make it).
First off I know every family is different but I have taken most of these ideas from other families and changed things just enough to work for our family. Maybe something that is working over here might help someone else.
Second, my personality is a to-do list lover, color coded calendar fanatic, and I naturally lean on the minimalist/organized side. Although in life situations such as this all of these traits help, remember there are I-am-ruining-my-kids-futures moments on the regular, and being so type A is very hard with the abundant negative inner thoughts that carve their way through my mind daily. There are always pros and cons to how everyone is wired, and finding a balance (even though I hate that word and don't believe there is a true balance in life) that you can go to bed feeling good is what my goal is everyday.
One of the big things I think assisted with the transition to deployment was that we have always done the same routine with the kids if it is mommy who is home, or daddy is home, both of us or even sitter. We try to keep the routine the same no matter who is here. So when all of a sudden one day daddy is gone, for a long time, nothing really changes in our everyday routine.
First, the day starts the night before. Lunches are packed and in the fridge. Dishes are out of the sink and in the dishwasher. Showers are done the night before. Right now we are not picking out kid clothes the night before but we have done that, however, my outfits are picked out the night before. Kids' and mommy's backpack/purse/workout clothes are packed and set up on the table ready to be grabbed on the way out of the door.
I am a strong believer of waking before the kids. And my kids wake early. School days my alarm goes off at 4:30a, so I have plenty of quiet time to workout, read, pray, watch the news (if I am watching it), or fold laundry all before the kids wake up. I do not have time to do all of those things everyday but more of combination of some things I know I enjoy starting my day with. I even wake before the kids on the weekends, as I find it helps me center myself and have a few clear thoughts before I am bombarded with kid jabber.
We have a morning routine. M-F is the same routine every day. Wake at the same time, move through the same motions. It takes the kids 30 mins from the time they wake, to complete their morning tasks, and be in the car. Saturday mornings have their own routine, and then Sunday has its own. If there is going to be a change, it is discussed the night before.
Our evenings are very similar and follow a consistent nighttime routine, but depending on outside events the order may change. But for the most part as soon as we get home it is homework time, while I cook dinner. We eat as close to 5:30 as possible. That leaves time afterwards for a little play time. Kids in the shower at 6:30, and if they have earned cartoons they get 20 mins of cartoons from 6:50(ish) to 7:10. Then it is reading in bed, and lights out by 7:30p. That leaves me a little time to get some school work done, get the kitchen cleaned up, and pack everything for the next day. My goal every night is to be in bed by 9p.
I am a planner, and I have plans set up by month, week, and day. I revisit the plan for the month at the start of each month by creating a large calendar in the kitchen. When Jacob is here it helps us stay on track with what is going at a quick glance, and we plan our meals by the month, which help us make weekly grocery lists. We use Google Calendar and everyone is color coded. This is very helpful when Jacob is here as I can see what he has planned and he can see what I am doing. It is also helpful for me as I can put in events months in advance and not have to try and remember them all. I have a child care plan for the whole month done at the start of the month. Every weekend I do a look over the next week. It is at this point I put in the unplanned events in the calendar to make it fit; like workouts, library visits, school projects or special days, stores we have to get to, etc. Every night after the kids are in bed I run through what needs to be done the next day. If there is something out of the ordinary, I write a sticky note with what needs to be done and I stick it on my car audio display, so I can't miss it.
And the last thing that I think that allows things to run as smoothly as possible is everything has a time for it to be done. And, to clear my brain of keeping those tasks, I have a reminder that goes off on my phone so I don't have to spend any extra energy trying to keep it all straight. Laundry - Wednesday and Saturday. Trash - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. Groceries - Saturday. Change sheets and towels, refill medication, upload pictures, switch the air filter, setting different alarms, etc. Everything that needs to be done, has a time, and I have a way to remember it. One of my podcasts says: something that can be done at any time is often done at no time. I use the app Due. I went through a lot of apps before I landed on this one . It has been worth whatever small amount I paid for it.
I am no superwoman. Any of us in this situation would be able to do IT. But I will say to do IT with a smile, feel successful, and have pretty happy kids, IT does take a lot of "doing". I am not doing anything other families have not had to do, but I will admit, most days I feel like I am doing IT pretty well!
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