There and back again.
Sep. 3rd, 2009 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburg"Do the flies bother you?"
Honest. I'm at the Mira Loma warehouse, just off Milliken...folks, down the street is major storage facility for hamburger cows. I lived four exits back down the freeway for over 15 years. FLIES DO NOT BOTHER ME. Really. Wee collars and leashes, and hey - free pets! They even die quick so there's no time to get bored - okay, that's harsh.
People are having to suffer the GAPE as I survey the neighborhood that used to be home turf and failing. So much has been built - granted, most of it big box stores and chain markets...but whoa. So big. So many. And I tell my coworkers to do their grocery shopping out here because it ends up being about 16-18% cheaper. Why? Different county, and you're not in richville anymore. We get gas and I'm immediately proven right. It's twenty cents a gallon cheaper and that's before the incentive promotion is taken away as well (another twenty cents a gallon).
And I'm pulling stuff out of my ass left and right - first, my tenure in a print shop, then my tenure in HR...I'd get dizzy except I'm scaring myself.
"If someone is off work for three days, do they need a doctor's note to come back to work?"
"Depends," I say. Then rattle off three different scenarios that involve being away from work for three days and the possible reprecussions. Then mentally slap myself. I work with databases...and bits/bytes and so on. I'm not supposed to know this stuff.
Life in a small company in a tough economy. You wear a lot of hats.
And I will be making trips to Mira Loma once a month for the forseable. I'll be able to drop presents on Sis' doorstop and stuff. And I'll be teaching safety classes. Yes, me. I plan to buy lunch - and no, it won't be pizza.
Something to note in passing - kid is having his first few days in his new class in preschool/daycare, and the changes are impressive. He's bringing home worksheets instead of random collage art. And he's PROUD of them. So busy and so excited, he hasn't taken his nap either - which is its own problem. My kid has nowhere near exhausted (that's intentional) his need for an afternoon nap - miss it, and he's a wreck.
Which is what I ended up with yesterday. Kid comes home, kid is fed dinner - watching television - and frankly? Too tired to do both well, and doesn't really prefer eating fresh apples over Phinneas & Ferb. Mom is clear on the matter, though - apples > Perry. And warns him many times that if he can't handle doing both, the television is going to be turned off.
Guess what. And then what. Yup. Bereft wee boy. Crocodile tears, the works. My kid doesn't really lose it completely - he can protest rather forcefully - but once started on Getting Something Back that has been lost, it's a closed loop. We sat at the table. We sat in a time-in - and it became clear that this wasn't going to resolve without sleep. So, he got showered, towelled vigorously dry and dressed for bed - you guessed it - still bereft over the loss of television.
This is something of an issue - I have to go out for two hours, and really soon too.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catsonmars is on the way, and one of two things had better be for me to leave. 1) Calm or 2) Sleeping. I'm not leaving a kid in tears like this - leaving at daycare is one thing. This is home, and nobody gets left in tears at home. Not like this - he's only four and very tired, period.
I managed to get him *just* asleep as we had to walk out the door. Sitter had a very quiet two hours.
But we weren't in the door half an hour when I hear "MAMA!" This is not plaintive. This is a command. "I WANT MY MAMA." Full voice. You've heard of night terrors. This kid has night demands. Very clear what the issue was - he'd gone to sleep mad as heck at me and now where was I? Come tell me I'm okay and you still love me I was bad - RIGHT NOW.
All it took was a big snuggle, I don't think he ever was completely awake to begin with and that was that. But this morning was a clingy goodbye and I expect another tired boy tonight - if he gets a nap today, I'll be surprised.
I've got two years before kindergarden. Boy, this is going to go fast.
Honest. I'm at the Mira Loma warehouse, just off Milliken...folks, down the street is major storage facility for hamburger cows. I lived four exits back down the freeway for over 15 years. FLIES DO NOT BOTHER ME. Really. Wee collars and leashes, and hey - free pets! They even die quick so there's no time to get bored - okay, that's harsh.
People are having to suffer the GAPE as I survey the neighborhood that used to be home turf and failing. So much has been built - granted, most of it big box stores and chain markets...but whoa. So big. So many. And I tell my coworkers to do their grocery shopping out here because it ends up being about 16-18% cheaper. Why? Different county, and you're not in richville anymore. We get gas and I'm immediately proven right. It's twenty cents a gallon cheaper and that's before the incentive promotion is taken away as well (another twenty cents a gallon).
And I'm pulling stuff out of my ass left and right - first, my tenure in a print shop, then my tenure in HR...I'd get dizzy except I'm scaring myself.
"If someone is off work for three days, do they need a doctor's note to come back to work?"
"Depends," I say. Then rattle off three different scenarios that involve being away from work for three days and the possible reprecussions. Then mentally slap myself. I work with databases...and bits/bytes and so on. I'm not supposed to know this stuff.
Life in a small company in a tough economy. You wear a lot of hats.
And I will be making trips to Mira Loma once a month for the forseable. I'll be able to drop presents on Sis' doorstop and stuff. And I'll be teaching safety classes. Yes, me. I plan to buy lunch - and no, it won't be pizza.
Something to note in passing - kid is having his first few days in his new class in preschool/daycare, and the changes are impressive. He's bringing home worksheets instead of random collage art. And he's PROUD of them. So busy and so excited, he hasn't taken his nap either - which is its own problem. My kid has nowhere near exhausted (that's intentional) his need for an afternoon nap - miss it, and he's a wreck.
Which is what I ended up with yesterday. Kid comes home, kid is fed dinner - watching television - and frankly? Too tired to do both well, and doesn't really prefer eating fresh apples over Phinneas & Ferb. Mom is clear on the matter, though - apples > Perry. And warns him many times that if he can't handle doing both, the television is going to be turned off.
Guess what. And then what. Yup. Bereft wee boy. Crocodile tears, the works. My kid doesn't really lose it completely - he can protest rather forcefully - but once started on Getting Something Back that has been lost, it's a closed loop. We sat at the table. We sat in a time-in - and it became clear that this wasn't going to resolve without sleep. So, he got showered, towelled vigorously dry and dressed for bed - you guessed it - still bereft over the loss of television.
This is something of an issue - I have to go out for two hours, and really soon too.
catsonmars is on the way, and one of two things had better be for me to leave. 1) Calm or 2) Sleeping. I'm not leaving a kid in tears like this - leaving at daycare is one thing. This is home, and nobody gets left in tears at home. Not like this - he's only four and very tired, period.I managed to get him *just* asleep as we had to walk out the door. Sitter had a very quiet two hours.
But we weren't in the door half an hour when I hear "MAMA!" This is not plaintive. This is a command. "I WANT MY MAMA." Full voice. You've heard of night terrors. This kid has night demands. Very clear what the issue was - he'd gone to sleep mad as heck at me and now where was I? Come tell me I'm okay and you still love me I was bad - RIGHT NOW.
All it took was a big snuggle, I don't think he ever was completely awake to begin with and that was that. But this morning was a clingy goodbye and I expect another tired boy tonight - if he gets a nap today, I'll be surprised.
I've got two years before kindergarden. Boy, this is going to go fast.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-04 12:52 am (UTC)I had to read that and I had a smile, and then I was a little sad too. A smile, because you are mama now, and I had to concentrate not to cry because yep... It's right there. "I woke up and I see this person who I know, but it's not my mommy person that likes me and I like her. Was I a bad kid? Did I go somewhere else again?". Poor little one. :(
My suggestion is to talk to the new teacher and ask exactly what he's doing during nap time. More importantly, if the kid in the next sleeping mat also has trouble falling asleep. I remember that when I'd supervise the 4 year olds at [old day care], you would basically have 2-3 kids that had to be separated from the group at nap time or they made sure to keep everyone else around them awake. If that's the case, then probably just asking gently to have your child moved next to some sound sleepers will do. If it's just him, you'll have to put your heads together with the teacher and strategize.
It's also just possible that this particular routine is unfamiliar to him and he needs something safe to fall back on. Does he have a toy or other soft object that he really loves? Because it might be worthwhile to let him bring it to "school" and bribe him to nap by making a deal that he can hug it to sleep (but only at nap time). I've seen that work with little kids before. With other kids? The teacher has to get tough and tell them they don't have an option to stay in the room and not sleep: either they sleep or they go to a different classroom. That seems to work too (of course every once in a while it backfires on you when a kid decided he likes the other room better anyway).
no subject
Date: 2009-09-04 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-04 11:07 am (UTC)