And Now?

I truly believe in the Fourth Trimester.  I gladly put off doing things around the house, working out, making any pinterest concoctions, caring about what I was wearing, wearing make-up, etc. etc. for the first three months of Sean's life.  I held him.  All.  The.  Time.  and I enjoyed each and every minute of.  (I think, yeah, I think I did, even the times when he was crying and I was wearing him and vacuuming to calm him down - I enjoyed that.  Oh - I remember - I didn't enjoy the beginning stages of nursing a baby - but that didn't last long and we figured things out.)

Anyway - I've spent the last four months ignoring most of what I usually do.  Sure, the laundry got done.  I managed to keep up with Sean's scrapbook by wearing him and working on the laptop at the same time.  Luckily, Mike does almost all of the cleaning and we taught Quinn how to empty the dishwasher this past summer.  But the other stuff? 

It was as if I woke up from a very long sleep the other day.  I noticed how dirty the bathtub was.  Our basement play area hadn't been cleaned up in over four months.  I saw a goal on Liam's IEP that I'm not sure I agree with. 

And now with Sean sleeping on his own I don't know where to start!  Should I read a book?  Clean?  Catch up on some backlogged scrapbooking stuff?  Print Christmas pictures?  Finally pack up the last bin of Christmas stuff?  (Yes.  It is March and I still have one more bin.  This one houses all the Christmas blankets that needed to be washed first.  I thought it was ready to go and then I found another blanket downstairs that needs to be washed now.)  Figure out an at-home workout plan?  Clean out my closet?  Dust?  Mop?  Put make-up on? 

The thing with the sleeping is that Sean's at an age now where he really should be home for his naps.  No more trips to Trader Joe's while he sleeps away in his carseat.  So I'm going to have to figure out how to keep myself busy at home. 

Well Below Average

A few weeks ago Liam brought home results from the MAP testing he took in kindergarten. Thankfully, I met with his teacher the day before the results were sent home and she told me to ignore them. Also, I don't put much stock in this test that's done on the computer, especially after seeing Liam's lack of mouse skills. (The company should develop the test for iPads.)

Anyway... His test results all read "well below average."

Does a well below average child know the names of every person in a large facility? And also greet them with smiles?

Can a well below average child look at a very over tired mamma and ask, "what's wrong? Are you sad today?" And then follow that up with a kiss and a smile?

Does a well below average child ask his sick older brother how he's feeling? And then offer him the remote so he can pick the next show?

Does a well below average child manage to win a smile from even the most "standoffish" adult?

My well below average child may not be reading books yet (which, by the way I think is a totally inappropriate expectation for his age), but my well below average child has social skills well beyond his years.

And honestly. In the long run... I believe his social skills will serve him better than high test scores at any point in his education.