08/30/2013

One week down, 35 to go.  :-)
It was an OK first week of school.  There is room for improvement, but it was a good start.
Joseph and Brigham got braces on Wednesday!  Oh, were they ever excited.  I took pictures of them just before leaving for the orthodontist-- their last braces-free smile for who know how long.

Of course neither boy likes to smile with his mouth open, so I'm not sure the difference will be that noticeable.  :-)   Poor boys!  The first couple of days with braces was not so fun.  And probably won't be much fun until they are off.  Here's to hoping that will be very soon!

The first week of seminary was something of a mixed bag.  I think I have a better idea of how to put together a lesson, but dang, 5:40 AM is *early.*  The first day (Tuesday) was pretty good.  Lots of kids came, everyone was alert, I think my lesson was pretty good.  Wednesday and Thursday saw progressively fewer students, although not too bad, but the level of alertness decreased dramatically each day.  5:40 AM is *so* early.  And these kids are not getting enough sleep.  On Thursday I asked how many kids got to bed before midnight, and only about half of them had, which meant the other half was working off of 5 1/2 hours of sleep, or less.  And it's only the first week of school.  Of course, I really wasn't doing much better myself, sleep wise, so I'm not one to talk.  But I wasn't falling asleep in class, either.  :-)
I have a 7:00 class, too, for a pair of brothers who don't have any before-school activities.  Shockingly, this class has been far more effective!  I have had a "practice" lesson, there is actual daylight outside, and the boys are awake and participatory.  I'm really looking forward to when we're meeting at 7:00 permanently.  :-)
I'm not sure what my boys thought of our first week of school.  I need to ask them.  I do know that the amount of bickering and picking on each other has not yet started to taper off from the summer...  Man, oh, man.  My mother-in-law has a pillow that says, "Motherhood is like being pecked to death by a duck."  I always thought that was a strange saying, but I get it now. Every little snide remark and passive aggressive jab pecks away at my sanity.
Here are some of the awesome picks and pecks that my boys are so good at:
Clicking pens, tapping feet, flipping papers back and forth, breathing loudly, anything to make annoying rhythmic sounds.
Putting various body parts just close enough to a brother to bug him, but just far enough away to claim he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Going into diva-worthy dramatic hysterics during practicing over the audacity of their mother to ask them to play a difficult section more than one time.
Suddenly having no idea where the book is they have just been reading when a brother comes and asks for it.
"Accidentally" dropping things on the floor, over and over again.
Bickering and arguing among each other over the most inane things in the entire world.
And so on, and so on, ad infinitum.  :-)
Oh, it is sometimes so fun to be a mother.

On the other hand, we have had some good times this week, too.  We are doing logic this year, and it's been fun even with just the first few lessons to be able to joke around with each other about flaws in arguments.  The boys are going to be getting computers and so they've been doing lots of research into various computers, and it's been fun to listen to them talking and debating over all the intricacies of processors and RAM and gigahertz and all the other jargon of computer-buying.  The boys have also been getting up for my 7:00 seminary class, and that is pretty fun, too.  At least I think so.  :-)

Well, tomorrow is my birthday.  I think I'm going to stop counting how old I am.  :-)  All I want from the boys is a day of no bickering.  I think I may have better luck asking for a diamond bracelet, but I guess we will see.