Better Late Than Never: Weeks 3 & 4 of Summer

            Better late than never, “coming in hot” (as Jana likes to say) with our Weeks 3 and 4 summer report. On Father’s Day, Jana enjoyed a lazy afternoon with her daddy playing at the house—her favorite thing to do I’d say! I had a box of free products I’d earned from my PaperPie business launch and she had fun playing with a Tiny Art kit on the porch. They’ve got some cute ones! I would say they are better suited for their intended age- 8+. Jana was a little frustrated by some of the small pieces. Check out all the Tiny Kits here. 

 

            On Monday, we ventured to Walnut Cove and tried their swim club. Even if you aren’t a member, you can swim there on Mondays for $7/person. The girls absolutely loved it, especially the diving board. It was Jana’s first time on a diving board but she took right to it. We even had a mermaid sighting (IYKYK and if you know me in real life, please do ask next time you see me).

 

            We had a lazy day on Tuesday, but we did work in a trip to McDonald’s PlayPlace in Walkertown. The girls asked if they could take their walkie-talkies (affiliate link) from Jana’s playroom and being in my fun summer yes, why not? mood, I agreed. It was funny how this one little addition made them love playing there ten times more. We also took in our own bottled water because I hate gathering them up to go to the drink station. A couple of pro tips there for perhaps my least favorite place and one of Jana’s favorites…

            Wednesday was our favorite day yet this summer! We went with some of our friends to High Point’s City Lake Park and checked out their new-ish water park. Admission is $15 but it is SO worth it! They have a splash pad, a kid’s play area, a lazy river, three huge water slides and an Olympic-sized pool. The moms pitched in for a group effort picnic lunch and everything about the day was summer perfect. Definitely check this place out if you’re local! *We did reserve our entry online in advance as it does sell out most summer days.*

            When we got our mini goldendoodle, Wilson, he had just been to the vet with the breeder the day before. So we finally took him ourself that Thursday. It was Jana’s first time in a vet and she soaked it all in, asking so many questions and comparing and contrasting it to the pediatrician’s office. Wilson got a clean bill of health and weighed in at 16 pounds and only 13 weeks old. So we will see how “mini” he turns out to be! Side-note: We love our vet, Hopkins Road Animal Hospital! It's the only one our family has ever used in Kernersville.

            Last week was totally different because I was away as a leader for our church youth group’s summer camp at Fort Caswell. I think it was my twelfth time chaperoning at this camp and it is an amazing experience every time. Click here to learn more about next summer if you are interested for your church’s youth group. 

            Jana spent a lot of extra time with family last week (shout out to Nay and Nana!) and she also attended her first camp at Kernersville Dance Company. She absolutely loved it, even not knowing anyone in her class. They still have some availability for camps later on in the summer- click here for info. Jana will be attending the Barbie’s Beach Party and Frozen Friends Adventure!

            Thanks for keeping up with our summer adventures. Stay cool this week!

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From Book Jackets to Yellow Jackets: Summer Week 2

    In true teacher mom fashion, last week started out all about reading! We met friends on Monday morning at the library for story time. It was advertised from 10-11:30 and my newbie status as a SAHM shined right through because I thought it would be floating. We got there at 10:30 and missed the story entirely but luckily our friends snagged us craft supplies to make a kite! I had my niece with us too and they said they were glad they didn’t have to sit and listen to the story (lol). Local friends- this was at Central Library and it had a really nice children’s area! Jana likes to go downtown and says she will live in the city one day even though she knows her dad will never live in the city. Ha. 

  

 

            After the library, we had lunch at Mayberry, a childhood favorite of mine. It wasn't as shiny as I remembered it, but the girls still enjoyed it. Then, we headed to Publix to pick up snacks for a Book Tasting party I hosted on Monday afternoon. The girls loved checking out this Publix on Miller Street in Winston-Salem because you park below the store and take an elevator up to the store. It doesn’t take much to impress them! When you’re in the need of party food, I can’t recommend Publix enough. It’s affordable and so cute! Their cupcake icing colors are perfection, and my personal favorite is the yo-yo (icing filled cookie sandwiches) platter. 36 yo-yos for $28.99! 

  

 

            I’ve recently launched a small business with PaperPie (formerly Usborne Books and More) as I’ve realized I already had dozens and dozens of their books and they’re my go-to in my classroom and with Jana. So Monday afternoon we hosted a party for family and friends to come sample my vast collection and get an idea of what they might want to purchase for their own families. It was so much fun—for me, it doesn’t get better than books, snacks and friends.

 

    

 

           

     On Tuesday, we mostly recovered from Monday, but Jana did have her regular Tuesday afternoon with her Nana and Papa. They took her to Walkertown Community Park, where her favorite thing is the monkey bars that are just the right height for a five-year-old. She also enjoyed her favorite science kit (affiliate link) which was a birthday gift from Amazon. 

    

 

            Wednesday’s plan went awry, but turned out to be a fun day anyway! We met up with some friends and tried to go to a splash pad (see list of local ones here) but unfortunately it was inoperable. So we scrambled for a plan B, and our neighbor saved the day by letting the kiddos swim in his pool.

 

            I had a doctor’s appointment on Thursday for routine bloodwork so I let Jana tag along. She loved playing pretend while we waited. It was surreal having her there with me on hot summer morning just like the one six summers ago when I snuck in to have bloodwork done to confirm that I really maybe might actually finally be pregnant. 

 

            Jana and I spent Friday with my mother-in-law taking her to her hair appointment, lunch and, of course, Hobby Lobby! If you haven’t checked out their classroom aisle lately and you’re a teacher, do yourself a favor and get there or visit their website ASAP! They have got the CUTEST stuff this summer! 

      

            

            Lastly, we helped Jana’s grandma around the house and I got my first ever yellow jacket stings. I’m just grateful Jana did not get stung—I’m not sure how because she was right there with me. I’ll leave you with a home remedy: Brent’s mom immediately gave me ammonia on a cotton swab to hold to the stings. It took the pain right out and you’d never know I got stung besides a little mark at each place. It never even itched! I’ve got ammonia on my grocery list right now to have on hand for when my outdoor-loving girl inevitably does eventually get stung.

 

            Right after Shirley handed me the ammonia, she ran out the door with a can of Raid even as I was saying, “Let them settle down first!” As I picked on her later that night about her lack of caution, she simply said, “I got them, didn’t I?” May we all take on the world this week like my 80-something-year-old mother-in-law against a yellow jacket’s nest! 

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My First Summer as a SAHM

    I was a married teacher for 15 years before I had Jana. She’s five now, but most days I’m still reminded that I have way more experience being “Just Mrs. Jones” than being Jana’s mom. As such, I still sent her to childcare in the summers up until now. I worked on TPT and church stuff (summer camp and VBS) to assuage the guilt but admittedly keeping a toddler entertained for 40 hours a week intimidated me. (I see you, SAHM, and I’m in awe!) 

            This summer all that has changed. I told Jana it would be a little anticlimactic to graduate from preschool with a full-fledged ceremony and go back on Monday. So, I switched her to the 10 month plan and she became my official full-time responsibility as of the end of May. School-aged kids are definitely my jam compared to little ones, even when they’re my own, so I’m quite excited to spend my first summer with her. 

            I do rely heavily on a friend of mine who moms way harder and better than I do to keep me on track. The last several summers, she has run a Facebook group called Let’s Have a P L A Y D A T E (local friends, look it up!). Last weekend she hadn’t posted yet so I asked her on Sunday what we were doing this week?? She had a schedule up three hours later which is why she is the real MVP of moms. She gets a lot of the credit for our successful first week of summer! 

            We kicked off Monday with a “stay home” day. Jana loves to sleep late and is loving being able to get up whenever she wants. I, on the other hand, am up at 6 am each day with our new mini golden doodle puppy (he deserves his own post soon!) and Jana is loving the puppy snuggles when she does finally stir each morning.  

            Tuesday we met friends at Oak Ridge Town Park to play and ride bikes. Well, they rode bikes, and Jana rode her scooter. One of our summer goals is to get Jana riding on two wheels, so the training wheels are off, but she has not yet mastered it. If you have any tips, leave them in the comments! The park was crowded because classes from the nearby elementary school was there for a visit. We got out of school on May 23^rd, but the neighboring county doesn’t get out until next week. This is the first year our district has used the early calendar, and we love it! 

            On Wednesday, we visited a nearby small town to see the original Moana at the classic Palmetto Theatre.  Again, if you’re local, this is something you should check out. They play old movies regularly there. Admission is free for ages 0-12 and 65+ and $5 for the rest of us. Jana insisted on having their photo taken by the “movie poster” like she does at the regular movie theater. 

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            My father-in-law has been having some health problems so on Thursday Jana and I went to Virginia to help my mother-in-law with some things. Jana always loves visiting their house but it just got a whole lot sweeter. Grandma and I introduced her to B&B Produce where you can buy mix and match candy by the pound (and a whole lot more). Daddy is going to be out of luck from now on since we pass it every visit. New pit stop!

            We wrapped up the week with one of our favorite activities- play groups (open gym) at Old Town Gymnastics. This is an activity for kids 6 and under, and the cost is $8 for admission from 9 am-noon any weekday. It’s about a half hour drive for us, but totally worth it for this clean, fun facility. Jana has been watching My Perfect Landing on Netflix so she was particularly entertaining this visit. Anyone have suggestions on other gymnastics shows for kids? The one season of this one is etched into my brain. 

            We are working on a couple of kindergarten workbooks to keep Jana's brain sharp this summer. They're a great deal on Amazon if you're looking for something like this! Check them out here (affiliate links): 

            I’m planning to post a wrap-up of each week throughout the summer, so if you’re looking for ideas for your kiddos, keep a lookout each weekend. And a big thanks to those of you who keep the mom bar raised high so I’ll keep reaching. I couldn’t do it without you!   

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An Open Letter To My Students

An Open Letter To My Students:

Two more days. That’s all we have left. Two more days that you’ll bound through my door, maybe popping over to my desk to share something before you even put your bookbag down.  Two more days that I’ll remind you to be quiet after the bell rings. Two more days to read and work math problems together. Two more days that you’ll cut in front of each other lining up for lunch, and I’ll move someone to the back of the line. Two more days to learn more about each other, to talk and to argue, to listen and to laugh. One more day when I’ll say, “See you tomorrow,” and then the next day, our time together will be done.

We have two more days that I probably would have taken for granted before. This school year, for all the experiences that have crept by, slowly and sometimes painfully, this last day of school has come way too fast. There was so much more that I wanted to share with you—strategies we haven’t explored, books we didn’t read, discussions we haven’t delved into, lessons we haven’t yet learned. This year, I’m left feeling (knowing) I haven’t done enough.

When the accident happened, that first week in the hospital I didn’t cry much, if at all. It took too much energy and it hurt a lot to move, so I just did what I had to do. Crying wasn’t a must, so it didn’t get done. But the last couple of days there, when the therapists and doctors came by more often, when they started talking about home and my prognosis and the future, I kept asking, “How long until I can go back to school?” I didn’t like the answer, so I asked again and again. “Weeks.” “Months.” “You don’t plan to go back this school year, do you?” I was shocked. I was indignant. I was in denial. And that was when I finally cried.        

I cried because I was afraid you couldn’t make it that long without me. I would have said I was crying for you, but really, I was crying for me. I cried because I love being your teacher, and while I was so grateful for your substitute teachers, I was sad it wouldn’t be me there to teach you. I cried because I missed you, and because there is nowhere I’d rather be each day than with you. Then, I didn’t know when (if at all) I’d be back at school, and I hated that feeling.

The bright side was that we’d already had one-third of the school year together. You knew my expectations, you knew how to run our classroom, and you stepped up and helped the teachers who filled in for me while I was gone. You picked up where I left off, running your own morning meetings, working so hard in all your subjects, trying to behave and get along with each other, all the while wearing little purple ribbons, a reminder that my heart was right there with you. You took field trips, hoped for (and enjoyed) snow days, performed in our holiday play, and exchanged Valentine’s cards, all the while wondering when I’d be back. I was wondering too!

I was doing more than wondering though. I was working hard, not only writing lesson plans, grading your work, and answering your weekly letters, but doing exercises every day, determined to be back as soon as possible. You ended up having 64 school days without me—one-third of the school year with those ladies who stepped up and filled my shoes, and you made both them and me proud. Because of what happened to US, you learned more than reading and math this year; you learned life lessons. You learned that sometimes bad things happen that are out of our control, and it’s up to us to make the best of difficult situations. WE learned patience, perseverance and perspective.

I’ll never forget how it felt to finally be back with you in our classroom. For the last one-third of this school year, we’ve grown so much together. You are the reason I was able to come back as “soon” as I did; I knew you would help me, and you have so much.  You’ve jumped up to do anything I’ve needed you to do and you’ve been flexible when I’ve changed our routines to make things easier on me physically. Sometimes I’ve felt guilty about how well-behaved you’ve been since I’ve been back—this job isn’t supposed to be easy, and you’ve made it so easy for me. You’ve cheered me on, telling me not to be embarrassed about my limp and encouraging me as it’s starting to improve. Most of all, from the beginning, you’ve given me a reason to want to get better each day. 

I hope none of us ever have another school year quite like this one, but I also hope none of us ever forget what we’ve felt and learned going through this together. Because of that fall afternoon when I said, “See you tomorrow!” and didn’t see you until almost four months later, we know that we can never take a single day of our lives for granted. Whether or not you remember anything else from this school year, I hope that lesson will stick with you forever. 

For now, we’ve got two more days. Let’s make the most of them!

Love always, 

Mrs. Jones

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