Time For Some Changes

Oh my, it's been awhile since I've sat down to write!

I don't even know where to start with some of the changes that have taken place. Joey is so very grateful that the school year has ended and he is finally done with horrible teacher he had (honestly so am I). By some miracle the teacher passed him to fifth grade. I was really worried about what his report card would reflect having seen the grades that were given on daily assignments. I have never requested that my boys have or not have a specific teacher before this year; I requested that Jacob not have the teacher Joey had for fourth grade. Jacob passed third grade with flying colors, not that I expected anything less from my studious child. Jordan is kind of in a limbo state right now. He chose not ignore the warnings from his teachers and myself, and did not pass majority of his classes. In my opinion I think he really didn't think I would allow the school to fail him. I have to wait for the office staff to return from their break to find out if he will be repeating eighth grade or if they'll just shuffle him to the high school regardless of his grades. There were no notes on his report card as to rather he would need to attend summer school, repeat the grade, or was promoted to ninth grade. I'll keep you posted as I learn what his next school year will look like.

Joey is taking his "drug holiday" so he is full of energy ALL THE TIME. The only issue we have had with this holiday is that two of the kids we constantly play with are also taking "drug holidays" and the kids can not tolerate each other in the least. Actually I think my kids burnt out playing with the same 3 kids everyday before school let out (middle/end of May), so things were bound to change. My boys have been awesome since we took a break from our friends; their frustration is almost nonexistent, there have been none/minimal angry outbursts, and they enjoy playing with each other and the handful of other "non-trouble makers" in our little corner. My friend has said basically the same about her kids, that things have been better since we split up the kids. It is so wonderful to spend hours outside chatting with friends while the kids play without any of the kids fussing at each other. Before we chose to take a break it was literally less than 3 minutes of our everyday friends being out that fists were flying. I'm not talking about the kids roughhousing or fussing, they were out for blood. So a break was way over due. The only reason I waited so long to call a break from our 3 friends is because their mom is my best friend. I could not come up with a way to nicely tell her that my kids were not going to play with her's anymore without jeopardizing our friendship. I just started keeping my boys away from the neighborhood when possible, playing at more parks and taking more walks. I even had them playing in the backyard with other friends so not to cross paths with the friends they were having issues with. Then one night while talking with my friend, she broke the ice and mentioned that she has been keeping her kids away from the neighborhood when she knew we'd be outside playing. It turns out that her kids no longer wanted to play with my kids, more accurately Joey. The only issue we're having now is keeping the kids away from each other during church when they're in the same youth room together. I have talked to the youth pastor and we're trying a few things to see if we can resolve this.

Having split off from the same 3 kids we've played with almost everyday from the past 3 years (yeah, a break was needed) we have been spending more time with other kids in our little corner. Still no one Jordan's age but he enjoys talking with the dad next door and hanging out the the 3 year olds. He's surprisingly very patient with them and they absolutely adore him. One of our new neighbors has become best friends with Joey. Which is so awesome!! They are very much alike and are constantly knocking on each other's door. I'm so glad that Joey found a best friend after all the issues he went through this past school year with his peers. Jacob gets along with all of our "new friends" but still prefers to hang by himself (aka watching Youtube videos). I'm loving the fact that while the boys are outside playing I can duck inside and get dinner started or wash up the dishes without worrying there will be a dispute and I'll need to intervene. Also I know if we're at the park, beach, etc I can leave a kid (or 3) with our "new friends" and not worry there will any issues.

 There's one major drawback to the kids not playing together, I don't get to see my friend as much. We met every night to sit, chat, and smoke. We have done this for years; rain, snow, freezing temperatures, and under attack from mosquitoes we make a point of chatting without little ears around. Our evening chats are the only time we get to see each other. That said, we sit out there longer than we did a few weeks ago and I smoke more while I'm out there (not helping with my trying to quit smoking). I feel like despite trying to maintain our friendship while the kids are no longer friends is effecting our friendship. While we sit out there longer, neither of us have much to say. I don't want to talk about what we did that day with other neighbors, feels rude to me. She text messages her male friend as is their nightly ritual. It's just not the same as chatting throughout the day.

 While I'm updating about the change in friendships around here, I may as well include that we lost another friend (and fellow blogger) just a few weeks ago. It's bitter sweet for us, while we'll miss seeing them we are very happy about the adventure they have begun. Our friends at Growing into Me have moved to Florida!! We look forward to following all the fun things they discover while they are there, as well as their journey of homeschooling for the first time.