Update

If you were reading the blog a few days ago about Jack making fun of the boy at church who had a speech impediment, well I had a breakthrough on the subject yesterday. It seems that Jack really truly thought the kid was talking funny on purpose just to be silly. And it makes sense because I really don't think that he has ever encountered anybody like him before. He brought it up yesterday morning as we were getting ready for school. He told me that the big kid was talking really funny. I told Jack that the boy had an accident by falling off his bike and hurt his brain and that is why he talks like that all the time. He is not doing it to be funny. He can not help it. I watched Jack take that information in and try to digest it. At first he argued with me saying that the boy did not have an accident quite emphatically. But when I argued back that yes he indeed have an accident, I saw Jack crumple in tears right in front of me. I think he finally got it. He understood that the boy could not help how he talked. A lesson learned about being sympathetic...hopefully.

Random Bites

Jack has chapel on Thursdays at school. Here he is with his chapel uniform. So cute. However he did end up breaking the clip off the tie on the first day. Last week, I used a paper clip to hold it on, sorta. But I need to get another one for this Thursday for picture day. This could get expensive if he continually breaks his ties!

Can you say spoiled? Jim picked up a tv at a garage sale for really cheap and put it in Jack's room. The cable thingy doesn't work, so he can't actually watch tv, but he can play his PS2 games and watch dvds. Yeah he is spoiled, but Jim and I have the family room tv back!

In other news, Jack went to the dentist today and again the boy did not have any cavities. I swear he does not have my teeth because I get cavities really really easy. They took x-rays and the dentist said that Jack's teeth are "perfect". He also said that Jack should be losing his bottom front teeth within the next few months. How is it that my baby is losing his baby teeth? Anyway, he walked out with his prize, a monster truck, just what we need in this house is another monster truck.

Not Fair!

The new Planet Fitness gym opened up near me a few weeks ago. So Jim and I signed up and to tell you the truth I was dreading having to start working out. I am at my basic core lazy! The idea of sweating and hurting is just not for me. Yuck.

But when Jack started back to school two weeks ago, Jim and I started working out. I usually do 30 minutes of the circuit training and then 30 minutes on the treadmill. I have actually come to shall I say, enjoy it! Who woulda thunk it. And I am feeling better and thinking clearer than I ever did before. So it is a good thing.

I am also following the Weight Watchers diet of counting my points. I am not going to the meetings because I have been there, done that already. But I am following the diet and eating what I should to hopefully lose weight.

And the results after two weeks of working out almost every day and eating right? I have lost two whole pounds! Yippie! It is so not fair. I am convinced it is because I am in my 40s and pre-menopausal and my body is holding on to the fat for dear life. Sigh. But I will not let it get me down. I am enjoying the results from the exercise, but I just wanted to say - NO FAIR!

Church...The New High School?

I have been thinking lately just how alike church congregations and high school are alike. At least in my church.

For the past almost three years, we have been getting together with a group of people almost every Friday night for a small group experience of fellowship and bible study. When it started it was only four couples who had small children, so we all had a lot in common. Well it grew and grew and grew to where it became a small church gathering with close to 40 people every Friday night. And that is where the problems started.

First of all you have those people who think they are the most important, do the most for the church, the church couldn't run without them. One person even told me that she was a "mover and a shaker" of the church. They also believe that their poop don't stink. Among these types, it seems like there is a contest to see who can do the most "stuff" at church.

Then you have the "cool kids" and some of these people are also in the group I just described above. They are the ones that "everybody" thinks are so fun to be around. They are the "life of the party" and have all the other "cool kids" over to their house for all the "cool parties". You know like the jock or the cheerleader in high school. But they only associate with the "cool kids" that they deem are "fun" enough for their little "cool kids" get-togethers. They also feel that actually doing a bible study where you have to actually open a book and read is beneath their "coolness".

There is also those who are the "cool kid" followers, but never actually are elevated to their status. They are so thrilled like a puppy dog to be allowed in their circle every now and then, but are talked about behind their back by the "cool kids" when they are not around, mainly because they just don't measure up in the "coolness" factor.

Then there are the "Nerds" of the church. These are the people who are normal, but may have a deadly "flaw" in the eyes of the other groups. One may like to talk too much about her disease (Multiple Sclerosis) or made the deadly mistake of opening up and sharing a painful part of her past that could be used to gossip about by the other groups. Or there is the guy who was born with a defect and therefore not like the others, making him an easy target of more gossip.

There is the "older" group who basically is anybody above the age of 50 and not to be friendly with because they have nothing in common with this group. As one person said "I am just not going to be friends with an 80-year-old".

And lastly there is the "floater", who befriends everybody, no matter what group you belong to. And this is the group that I like to think I am a part of. In high school, I was a part of this group also, so I guess it just goes to figure that in High School part Two, I would be in the same group.

You are probably wondering why I am going through all this. And it is because we started a new small group formation this week. We split up into smaller groups and started to meet in the homes again. I am hosting one in my home. In this new small group, there is a mixture of "nerds" and "floaters."

There are now three different small groups to choose from and the "movers and shakers" and the "cool kids" have formed their own group. They are not actually going to be studying anything bible related, just getting together for "fellowship" as they call it. I call it a "gossip and I-am-hotter-than-you" session.

But I guess the final straw for me was when all this "church high schoolness" started showing up on Facebook with statuses that are so juvenile and petty. In fact, they are not even high school, they are more like junior high playground worthy.

And in all of this, you noticed I never mentioned God, the most important reason to even have a church. That is because there is no God in all this mess. And I am sure he is very disappointed in his humanity that call themselves "Christian".

Teenager at Five??? Or a Demon Seed??

Alright I don't know what has happened lately with the boy, but I swear he has turned into a teenager in the last two weeks at the age of five!

At school, he is graded on his behaviour each day by either a smiley face or a frownie face on the calendar. Well it was the third day of school and he came home with a frownie face! I ask him what was the deal with that and the first thing I get out of him was "do we really need to talk about this?" Well at that moment, I instantly went from a little perturbed about the frownie face, to an 8 on the richtor scale!

It seems that while they were lined up, he reached over and hit and scratched another boy in line and it was totally unprovoked by the other boy. When I asked Jack why he hurt the other boy, he comes up with "because I don't like to stand in line." aye aye aye.

The next day, his teacher told me he had a better day, he "only hit one time". But thankfully he has had smiley faces for the past week.

And then that brings us to tonight when we were at church. There was a teenage boy there who was in a motorcross bike accident a few years ago that resulted in brain damage. He has a bad speech impediment and speaks very slowly. While this boy was talking, I caught Jack sitting there and making fun of the poor boy! I immediately took him outside, gave him a spanking, and a lecture about not making fun of others. When we got home, I was putting him to bed and he looks at me with a defiant look and tells me that he was mad at me for yelling at him. Of course that made my blood pressure raise to sky high levels. I took his stuffed animals away from him and he proceeded to cry and scream for the next 15 minutes.

There are a few things that I will not put up with and being cruel and mean to others is one of them. I do not want Jack to become one of those kids. I know that kids will be kids, but I hope to instill some empathy into him.

The Day Is Here...First Day of Kindergarten!

I could not let this day go by without blogging about the boy's first day of kindergarten! This is the day that I have been both looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. I have been excited because now that he is in school all day long, every day, I can now devote some of my time to me. I have plans to start back at working out at the new gym around the corner. I have plans to organize this house (can you ever be truly organized) and do some projects around the house. I am also debating in my mind about going back to work. Just the possibilities are very liberating in knowing that I have the hours of 8 am to 3 pm dedicated to me!

But I have been dreading the day because it means my little boy is not my little boy anymore. I do enjoy Jack's company. He actually is very fun to be around and I treasure our time together. When he was in preschool last year, I would pick him up at noon and it would be Mommy and Jack time and we went to lunch at least once a week. But now he eats his lunch with all his friends at school. He now has his own life that does not involve me for seven hours a day.

He was so excited this morning as Jim and I were driving him to school. He got in the car and yelled out "kindergarten here I come!" I tell you that kid cracks me up all the time by the things he says. We decided to put him in the private christian school that he was going to for preschool. Yes it is a fortune, but for right now, we think it is worth getting that christian foundation and not to mention the better academics than the elementary school that is in our district.

It was so chaotic this morning when dropping him off. He has quite a few friends he made during preschool in his class, so that was a good thing. His teacher is great and the classroom looked like such a fun place to be. It was fun watching all the other parents with cameras in hand sending their kids off to kindergarten, and yes I was one of them!

When we picked him up, he was still all pumped up with excitement. His teacher sent home a note saying that starting next week, the kids will have homework sent home on Monday and they have until Friday to finish it. I think homework consists of one or two worksheets, but it gets them in the homework mode for the future. And Jack is thrilled to have homework to do. We shall see how long that lasts.

I couldn't get much out of him about what they did today, other than he enjoyed lunch and recess. Typical kid.

So that's it. The big day has come and gone and I survived it with very few tears. I know it has been a long time since I have blogged and for all those people who have mentioned it to me, I apologize. The summer was a bit traumatic in the Jackaroo house. But I am back and will be posting again on a regular basis.