Category: Blog Spot

Social media sure has a way of taking you back!

Apparently, three years ago I posted about my daughter’s anxiety as she was preparing to enter SECOND grade. My poor child was worried she would not understand the material. WHYYYYY??? It has gotten better since, but man oh man, we need to ensure our kids understand what is truly important. Sure, having a high ranking college or university accept you into their school due to high academics is great. But if they choose not to accept you, you are still worthy and you are not a failure academically or personally. I need more parents and educators to get and enforce that at an early age!

In this house, it isn’t about the grade. It’s about effort! If you put your best foot forward and didn’t get the letter grade outcome to show for it…Ok. Let’s take the necessary time outside of the classroom to truly “test” your knowledge. So much is learned OUTSIDE of the classroom and children get a lot of anxiety just trying to make the grade. Not here! I use the “grades” to show me where my child needs more support so that she can still thrive and not feel stunted in her learning. Lose the battle, but win the war!

Three years later, clearly my little stress ball got it and had nothing to be worried about. She even made Gifted Education in Math starting her 4th grade year. Mamma is PROUD! At the same time, though, I told her, “The second math is no longer fun I am pulling you out!” You see, I am not setting my kid up to be discouraged. That makes room for self-doubt in her abilities. Again…NOT HERE!

I cannot wait to see it, though…both girls will go on to do extraordinary things no matter the grade!

Last Monday, our School Board made the decision to go from Choice Learning (in person or e-learning) to Remote for All for the 2020 – 2021 school year. FINALLY…something we can agree on!

The start of the school year is now delayed a bit, but that just gives me more time to transform the girl’s bonus room and the guest bedroom into “classrooms!” Sidebar, the girls had desks side by side in the bonus room. It was perfect….until it wasn’t. I decided to do a trial run of a typical school day with both girls in a video call. I even splurged on some noise-cancelling headphones. Well, the girls can still be distracted by each other…SHOCKER! Soooooooo…separated they shall be.

I put the youngest in the guest bedroom. Let’s be real, she sees squirrels on the daily and if I left her in the room where the toys live she would treat every day as show and tell. Then, I put my crafting skills, Michael’s ordering skills, and imagination to work. I even spent quite a bit of time with my craft boos, the Cricut Maker and Cricut Easy Press.

It is a work in progress, but I am crafting the girls’ way to a fabulous school year!

Here’s a sneak peek of my current progress…

The little one saw an article on the Alexa again. This time, it was a story about the astronauts in space. What I anticipated after she started reading the article, was a conversation about how cool it would be to be in space. I even expected some planet talk since she just learned all about them in first grade.

What I got…”Space is the safest place to be right now! I bet the coronavirus isn’t on the moon! I wanna go!”

Ummmmm…She’s not wrong!

All I could say was, “Me too, child…ME TOO!”

Today is the hubby’s birthday! In true Kawandra fashion, I had a trick or two up my sleeve. I planned a surprise parade with all of our close family and friends. I also planned to let the world know it was his birthday via a yard sign. And not those cute yard signs that say, “Happy Birthday, Enter Name Here!” Nooooooo…it had to scream, Lady K did this! Oh…and it did!

The kids and I got the yard sign up without getting caught. Us girls went on our normal bike ride. Then, at the end of the bike ride, I spied a car that looked like the hubby’s. The car pulled over to wait for me to come down the street on my bike. Yeah, it MUST be him…and him must have seen the yard sign. Hee Hee! The hubby just wanted me to know he was getting his free birthday coffee and we can continue the yard sign conversation when he got back. HA! There is NOTHING to talk about. 😜

Fast forward to the parade. I created a Facebook event last week to let folks know the plan. Let me tell you, we ARE loved! The crew showed up at the school ready to shower the hubby with birthday love! For the first time, he had NO CLUE. The lie to get it to happen? I found a buyer for the fish tank hose and I had to meet her at the school. HA! He bought it! I don’t ever lie good! Then, my Pooh Bear got it all on video and had her sister FaceTime his mom and sister! She rocked it out! Sidebar, I DID NOT tell little sis the plan. See, I learned early, if you want the person who should not know to not know…don’t tell Syd Syd! That girl will flat out ask you, “do you want me to tell you about your surprise?” I guess I should have, though…she missed it all! It was so hot, she FaceTimed her grandma and TT, then left the iPad sitting on the back of a patio chair and went in the cool house. My poor child!

When the parade was over, we all masked up and had some casual conversation. It was the most social interaction most of us have had in months. It just felt good! To be surrounded by those that truly care and love you is THE greatest feeling! We are so blessed for our blood family and the family that came into our lives, saw the chaos, and decided to stick around anyway!

Happy Birthday, Honey Bunch! 1-4-3!

Soooooo, I had an interview today!

As many of you know, I ended my 13 year career at AT&T last December. It was bittersweet. On the one hand, I knew it was only a minor setback and that I would recover quickly, but on the other hand, what if I don’t? Uncertainty sank in and I had periods of just wondering if things would turn around for me.

Then, COVID hit. That is when I realized I was not supposed to work right away. I was right where I was “supposed” to be…being the support system my girls needed educationally as we navigate through e-learning and everything else that was being thrown at us. I dived right into being a home-school teacher. While some days were challenging, the entire journey has been a blessing. I got to be with my girls…conference call free. And there is nothing like being with someone where you are 100% present, no distractions. #Winning

As COVID numbers are increasing again and us making the decision to do e-learning in the Fall, I had given up on my career and the thought that I could have one right now. Then, an email from a job that I applied for months ago came in and interviews were being scheduled. #SayWhatGod

Fast forward to today, interview day! I think it went very well! While the questions were complex, I feel like I gave them the very best of me. Now, usually when I think I did well I did bad and vice versa, but something about getting off of this meeting had me worry-free. I felt like I was already a part of the team. Now…I wait!

The beauty through all of it, even if I don’t get picked, I will be ok. I will not doubt myself or my ability to do the job. But what I will do, is know that it was not meant for me…because whatever is meant for me…is for me!

For Christmas last year, the hubby and I were supposed to re-purpose the girls’ picnic table and turn it into a Lego table. Needless to say, we didn’t get around to it. It has been on the Honey Do List ever since.

I have realized, in my time off, I am able to tend to the things that I couldn’t make time for. I am truly getting a sense of accomplishment, one project at a time. And a bonus, the girls weren’t playing much with their Legos. Now that their table is complete, I have reignited their love of building and creating. I may even jump in there with them one day!

Yesterday was a great day! Nana, the girls, and I went on our bike ride, the girls earned their device time with very little lip, I got to play some Overcooked with my brother and sister, and I got to have an overdue FaceTime session with my Pow Wow Crew! My FaceTime session was equipped with the wine of our choice, so much laughter, and some much needed mommy-time…like, close the door and forget everything on the other side of it mommy-time. I polished off 3/4 of a bottle of wine during my mommy-time session. I came out renewed and reset.

I finished the night at 3a. Yes, 3AM! I couldn’t sleep and so I decided to watch some more Black Lightning. I only had 2.5 episodes left in season 3, why not? Welp, 3a was my cutoff, I guess. The wave I was riding was over. So, I allowed my eyelids to kiss and it was lights out! Then, it happened…

My bladder woke me up! I didn’t know what time it was, but I did know I wasn’t ready to wake up. So, I fixed my bladder and jumped right back in bed, knowing that if I just kept my eyes closed, I would eventually fall back asleep. Then, it happened again…

A noise! The first noise was like someone was downstairs, but I kept trying to imagine I was hearing things. Then, I heard someone say, “Alexa.” I popped my head up (because the kids camped out on my room floor) and looked for 2 little bodies. I only saw 1…the 1 that I had hoped it was downstairs so that I could lay back down and go back to sleep. But NOOOOOOOO! That little one was down there by herself. *Sigh!*

I’M UP! When I got downstairs, my little-big girl was fixing herself and her sleeping sister breakfast. She had the Alexa playing music just low enough not to disturb the ones who can sleep through anything, but just loud enough that she would summon me. I was greeted with the biggest hug and smiling face. “Good Morning, Mommy! I’m just making some breakfast.” Oh, you’re so sweet when you want to be! I made my way through the kitchen and happened to catch a glimpse of the oven clock and it had the audacity to cuss…EIGHT THIRTY! Needless to say, as cute of a moment as it was…that little one…she and I GOT BEEF! Let me just eat one of these pancakes first since they’re nice and hot! 😜

Today, we made the very difficult decision to not allow are kids to return to in-person learning in the Fall. There was no winning in this situation. My kids will benefit a great deal from getting out of the house, being in a classroom, structured learning, and having social interactions with their peers. And yet I made the decision, the career-pausing decision, to have them continue their learning at home. I can’t risk their health, not even for learning.

COVID is unpredictable. It started off that it did not appear to effect children. Now, it effects a small percentage of children, but not necessarily in the ways it effects adults. And children are often asymptomatic carriers, which means they can bring it home. Did I mention, while rare, child deaths have been reported? This is not ok! If I can protect my children, even from the unknown, I will.

It wasn’t easy, but we broke the news to the kids. Syd couldn’t be bothered to care, but I broke Pooh Bear’s heart! This is her last year of elementary school. The last year with some of her peers, her teachers, and the building that has been her school home for the last 5 years. All she could see was the rest of the year at home (even though I told her we will take it 1 trimester at a time). She wanted to cry. I saw it in her eyes, but she is too much like me. She doesn’t like to show her emotions.

At this point, all I can do is pray. Lord, I know this is all a part of Your purpose and Your plan. I pray that the plan is to rid this world of COVID and give my baby the last hoo-rah she is looking for before her Junior High adventure. Amen!

SHE DID IT!!!

After falling and losing interest in the journey to two wheels, Syd finally mustered up the courage to try again! She got back on her bike yesterday and figured out how to get moving on her own. Now, there is NO STOPPING this kid. She is a lean…mean…biking machine!

During quarantine, we had to find a way to channel all of the girls’ energy AND get some much needed exercise in. My mom was getting lonely by herself all day and so we decided to go on daily ”socially distanced” walks with the girls. We all enjoy the journey. We each rotate a day to lead the route. Nana enjoys being fashionable during her walks too…as only Nana would. She tries to match her mask with her workout outfit. Needless to say, that has rubbed off on Pooh Bear. I don’t know what I am going to do about these twinsies!