Friday, December 05, 2008

Mulligans DO happen!


My baby came home the other day! I got a mulligan! I can hardly believe it. Hubby pulled off a miracle and the day before Thanksgiving I got my little malibu back. And then I went and filled the tank. WOW! I filled the tank for under $20 AND I am still running on that tank of gas. DOUBLE WOW!

Also in November I received a certificate for having completed the Love and Logic course along with my daughter and my mother. The course was facilitated by Ann Bales, with ESD, and funded by the Commission on Children and Families. Eldest Daughter (ED) had asked that we take the course with her so we could decide if it was a tool we wanted to use and then all be on the same page in dealing with grandson. It is an excellent tool, although personally I am not overly fond of the guys who developed the L&L concept. They do the videos that go along with the series and, for me, are just plain corny.

Ann Bales is a very good facilitator of the course. She said the class that we took was one of the largest she had ever had with about 30 starting and 22 completing the course. It takes six-eight weeks (giving time to make up any missed sessions) to go through the course. Ann is thorough but not once did we go over the 8 o'clock deadline she set at the beginning. We started at 6 pm and even received dinner! That was followed by discussion of the chapter in the book (very brief 4-6 pg chapters that were more like outlines) and videos giving examples of behaviors and practices of using the Love & Logic techniques.

Some of the participants were there because of mandates from the court. They would mention visitations with CSD when relating how they were using a certain technique. Some were there because they were going through a divorce and had to show a parenting plan which included a parenting course. There were quite a few there from the different day cares in the area which use the Love & Logic techniques which was nice to hear and it was also nice for mom and I to hear what they charged (as we looked pointedly at my daughter) as well as some of their other techniques (like mandatory nap times for all toddlers four and under from 12:30-2:30 PM!!!) .

It is almost impossibly to get our three year old down at 8:30 pm we couldn't imagine how late he would stay up if he had a two hour nap in the middle of the day! ED questioned the daycare provider closely if ALL children HAD to take a nap. "No, but they have to stay on their mat and not make any noise for those two hours." A look of horror crossed her face. I kept thinking of the report I had recently read that said that the business industry was starving for factory workers and that was the next big push. Obviously the daycares had got that message.

For Thanksgving we had #4 and p come and spend four days with us which was wonderful. With her work schedule it is a rare occarance although she just lives up the freeway from us. Grandson and p really love each other and bonded tight during the summer's camping trip. It was great watching them together. Dr. Sis, (aka #3) was supposed to come over from Hawaii but she got tied up in prepping for finals and couldn't make it.

The newly weds did make it, though and looked as cute as could be with one another. We went down to the Seaside Christmas Parade and then some of us went on over to Ilwaco and saw a fantastic performance of Fiddler on the Roof put on by PAPA while others stayed at home for the Civil War, which played out in our living room as the trash talk on the television heightened the agitation at home! Three ducks and two beavers hollered for three insane hours. We only had to bear with an hour of it before we left. Yeah, beavers should have won for the Pac 10's best interests, but SWEEEEEEEEET that the ducks won at Reser's Stadium! Not that I was pulling for any side. Man, this mother-in-law stuff is HARD!

All in all, November was a pretty good month. Very busy with a dozen or four that I really don't have the time or inclination to go into. I really need more reporters in order to do this county justice in the news that they are currently not getting. Oh well, it will happen when it happens.

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