A Day In the Life and Colored Rice

As a teacher, I got to experience the best of both worlds: working mom and SAHM. I was a SAHM for 9 weeks in the summer with my son, Derek.  After having our second child, Brooke, in April, I am now officially a SAHM.  Derek still went to daycare part-time until mid-June and is now home with me ALL.THE.TIME.  Love him!  But he is three. And a boy. An active boy. Who doesn’t nap.  So I like to come up with fun activities to keep him entertained. 

In a previous post, I talked about the calendar I made for him that keeps his activities straight.  We don’t have an activity everyday, but it is nice for him to count down to soccer or to a beach trip.  On the days that we don’t have something planned outside of the home, I try to plan fun things to do at home.  Especially on days that are 100 degrees with a heat index of 105! (Like the past two days).

Today.  A day in the life of a SAHM with a 3 year old and a 2 month old.

My day began at 6:15am.  Today I managed to shower, take Brooke to the doctor (Bryan met us there) do 3 loads of laundry, fold 6 loads of laundry (I had 3 sitting there from about a week ago), play with Derek, cook with Derek, consol a screaming baby after getting shots, make dinner, and begin reorganizing my craft room (furniture moved and floors cleaned).  Now I just want some ice cream and we are out!

Colord Rice Sensory Box

I found this on Pinterest after my friend posted about it on Facebook (what would we do without social media?)  I made the rice yesterday but did not follow the exact directions on the website.  Fun for indoor play on a super hot day like today!

 http://shareandremember.blogspot.com/2011/06/rainbow-rice-garden-sensory-play.html

Here is what I did…

1. I got a 10 lb bag of white rice (store brand was about $7)

2. I put 4 cups in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and added 3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and one small bottle of food coloring (you know the kind you buy in a 4 pack at the grocery store?)

3. I sealed the bag (well, I thought I did, the yellow and the blue not so much, there was some spillage on the kitchen floor) and mixed it all together. 

4. I lined baking sheets with foil and spread the rice on the sheets. I put them outside in the sun to dry (it was 100 degrees out so this didn’t take long).

5. After they were dry, I put the colored rice into piles in a large plastic tote.  This way Derek would see all of the colors and he would get to mix them up.

I was able to make 5 different colors with just a little rice leftover.  I added dinosaurs and cups to the rice and he played with it for over an hour!

S’mores Croissants

http://homemade.tipjunkie.com/smore-croissants-edible-gifts/

use crescent rolls and add chocolate chips and mini marshmallows then bake!

Next time I will add more chocolate!

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

http://realmomkitchen.com/9318/oven-baked-chicken-fajitas/

I managed to get Brooke to sit in the bouncer and fall asleep long enough to prepare dinner.  I put it in the refrigerator so that if I was occupied when it was time to cook it, Bryan could put it in the oven or I could manage to do it quickly.  It was very good and very easy to prepare.  Even Derek ate it! (He’s pretty picky but he ate it wrapped up in a tortilla!)

If only I could be this productive everyday! 

Doctor Notes

As I prepare to go to Brooke's 2 month appointment, I think about the questions I have for the doctor and write them down in my "Doctor Notebook"...

I wanted to keep track of my kids weight/height and percentile rankings through the years.  At first, when I had only Derek, I had developed a table to keep track of questions and answers I had when visiting the doctor for well baby or sick appointments.  This also helps me keep track of his illnesses.  Every well baby appointment comes with a packet information that explains the shots he is getting at that time and developmental milestones that he should have reached and should be working on. 

After three years, Derek’s folder was very thick and I now had Brooke’s appointments to keep track of as well.  So I decided to make a Doctor Notebook.  I made a section for Derek, one for Brooke, and miscellaneous information.  At the beginning of each section a inserted a table that keeps track of age, weight, height, and percentile rankings.  Now I was able to toss all of Derek’s information sheets. (I’d be getting new ones for Brooke anyway!)  Behind this table I placed the sheets that I use to keep track of questions and answers.  This way I still have information from sick appointments.  Now I am only keeping the most current information sheet on each child.

Cover to my doctor notebook 

Derek's sheet that keeps track of his height/weight/percentile rankings from the past 3 years.

Brooke's note page, yes at 2 months she has been that many times. She had jaundice.

Miscellaneous...this is a dosage chart that I received at a clinic and I keep it in here to help me know how much Tylenol and Motrin to give based on age/weight.

***Before I had kids I had made a notebook like this for my cats.  It helps to keep track of each of their weights and of Bay’s surgery and recovery.

What Are We Doing Today?

As a teacher I was used to being off in the summer and home with my son anyway.  But now that I am a SAHM, I will be home with him and his sister every day.  He will not be going back to daycare in mid-August so it’s more than 9 weeks to keep him occupied.  Preschool starts in September and is only two mornings a week.  I like to be organized and have a plan.  I decided to make a calendar that shows the different things we will be doing through pictures.  This started in May when I made one showing when he would turn three and when he was going to have his party. The calendar is on our refrigerator and we cross off each day as it ends so that he can easily see what, if anything, we are doing the next day.  I used different icons to mean different things.  Things that I indicated are soccer, story time, the beach, birthdays, camp, fireworks for July 4^th, a ferris wheel for carnivals, Giant for grocery day, and I have a school icon for when school starts.

He really enjoys looking at the calendar and seeing when things are going to happen.  It’s also a great way for him to start building calendar skills beyond just knowing the days of the week and being familiar with the months of the year.

End Of An Era

When I was 7 years old, in second grade, I had the best teacher.  She inspired me to want to be a teacher when I grew up.  After years of babysitting, working in a before and after school program and summer camps, and being a nanny for a few summers, I graduated and got a job as a kindergarten teacher.  In 2002 My dream had come true.  Through my years of working with kids from ages 3-17, I decided early childhood was where my heard was and I was now going to teach 5 year olds.

I spent only one year at my first school before being involuntary transferred. I interviewed at the job fair and went to another school where I would teach for the next nine years.  I had completed part of my student teaching at Ronald McNair Elementary and was now going to be teaching there with my mentor.  Three years later, my mentor decided to move on to another school after 16 years at McNair.  So I decided that I too needed a change and requested to move up to first grade where I would spend the next six years. 

Over the course of those six years, the first grade team changed a few times.  We acquired teachers new to our school and teachers that moved down to first grade from other grade levels.  A new special education teacher came on board and I was so lucky to get to work with her for two years.  Our students made such great gains and it was because of her and our collaboration with each other and our paraeducators.

In April of this year I had my second child, a little sister for our big boy.  Another dream of mine was about to come true.  Not only had I always aspired to be a teacher, but also a mom.  Now, I was already a mom, but I wanted nothing more than to stay home with my kids.  And now that dream has become a reality.  Today, I packed up my classroom at McNair, which has been my home away from home for 10 months out of the year for the past nine years.

Goodbye McNair and all of my coworkers and former students.  You have been such a big part of my life.  But it’s time to say goodbye and to move on to the next chapter: SAHM.

My empty room.

My reasons for leaving.