Home schools and Health Clubs

SO, summer is done. Finally. I have so much to say on the subject, however TIME is a huge issue, so I may not get it all in. Summer wrap-ups and final photo scrapbooks are being put on hold until our new FALL/WINTER schedule gets comfortable. Whenever Sophie and I go through a change it is usually a very slow process, and starting our home preschool is no exception. My new catch phrase is officially SLOW DOWN.

I decided to tackle the Montessori method of preschooling and it is turning into quite a thing. No problem, I like a challenge, but in the meantime, a schedule needs to be put in place so Sophie and I can re-connect and give us some time to get used to changes. Her and I have been butting heads again and her ego is picking fights with my ego and she is winning! I can't let this continue because I run the risk of spoiling her instead of teaching her and I don't want that to happen. Permissiveness is no way to parent a child. Neither are harsh words (yelling) and consequences and it seems that I have been going from one extreme to the other lately. It's been sooo crazy. Seriously, if I am not yelling at her for not listening, I am letting her do and have anything she wants because I'm done dealing with it. The terrible three's-ick. My fault though--I will make this better--now! (I have to admit, with my head hanging in shame, that Sophie has acquired 6 new dolls in the past 2 weeks! Oh yeah, must make changes NOW! This is nuts!)

OK, back to the home school. I need to set up a 'classroom' for her, schedule the appropriate time, and be available most of the day to help her through. Now, I need some time for this so for the past 2 weeks and for the rest of this week that is the goal. We will be starting our official 'school' schedule next Monday and starting today giving it a test run to see how it goes. I think it is going to go very smoothly and am very excited to try our new things--especially an earlier bedtime with a more structured routine--no more late night movies. Underdog has been fabulous, but sorry Pup, you need to go.

She's at a stage where she still wants me close, but wants to have friends too. I finally figured out this one--we joined a health club! It allows me up to 2 hours a day child care while I work out. This is no ordinary child care though. They have a play room, a giant climber thingy, an outdoor playground, a huge gym for sports and activities, and a computer room. They also pop in movies occasionally with a giant screen TV and they have a room for babies, should we get the chance to grow our family. This place is awesome! Sophie loves it. She gets to play and make new friends while being close to me without me actually being there. She has tested the system and has had me paged several times, but she is getting used to it and I think by now confident that I will always come and get her when she calls. Life is good.

To top it all off, I get to workout again. It feels fantastic! Of course, it'll feel even better when I actually lose the rest of this baby weight, but one thing at a time. I will also hopefully be able to enroll Sophie in some swim lessons this winter AND we get to swim whenever we want in the indoor family pool-it even has a giant water slide. This place rocks! Sophie has already said she wants to climb the rock wall too, so as soon as she's old enough I'll enroll her in that class as well.

So, while slowly transitioning to a new phase in this little ones life, we have been doing all sorts of things to get ready. Last week our big task was new clothes and shoes for her but before we shopped we had to measure to get an idea of what sizes to start with.

First I had to outline her whole body so we can see all the parts we had to measure.

Then Sophie had to outline bunny bear.

Then it was time to actually measure. I don't have a cloth measuring tape, so I used extra cable cords to wrap around her torso and just measured that on the metal tape measure. Sophie was having a ball measuring bunny. It turned into a fun little project.


Life size Sophie next to real-life Sophie~! She was so proud of her bunny sketch and measurements. She was excited to go shopping. I'm glad I did this first because it turns out that Sophie's waist is a 2T but her legs are a 4T and with her torso she measure almost 41" tall!!! She is one lean, not-so-mean, preschoolin' machine! She was happy enough with all of this that she even tried on clothes in the store AND let a stranger measure her foot! Wow, she really is getting big. **sniff**
The plan is to document our new journey together in the land of home schools and health clubs so more posts will be coming. I'm starting to get excited too because music class starts next week and Fall is officially here with chilly nights and warm, sunny afternoons. I LOVE FALL!!!!!!! Can't wait until the pumpkin patches open up--soon too!