Lacey Hits Double Digits

Today is Lacey's 10th birthday.  The past year has been full of many adventures because Lacey meets each day with happiness and enthusiasm.  She can turn every situation into fun.

Eating Pizza

 Look what happened when I asked Lacey to help me clean the bird's cage!

 

Lacey wants to be the first one finished, no matter what activity she's completing.  She wants to be the first one finished with her school work and the first one to make it from the car to the house.  If there's a door, she needs to be the first one through.  If there's a staircase, she needs to be the first one up or down.  An elevator?  She needs to be the first to push the buttons. Last Saturday she was in a ballet recital.  Of course, she wanted to be the first one finished with the dance.  Who needs to follow the music?

Lacey getting ready for her recital

Lacey is not afraid to try anything.  Here are a couple snapshots.  In the first, she's wearing a suit of armor at Jamestown.  In the second, she's discovering that snow angels are best made on your back, not face down.

We spend a lot of time trying to get Lacey to slow down and appreciate process, not just product.  We read together, encourage her to observe, and question her about everything and anything.  We try to help her apply what she's learning to new situations.  Lacey is always quirky and funny and unpredictable.  Here's an example of a typical day.  On the way to school we passed a family walking a gorgeous poodle.  Trying to make conversation I said, "Wow.  Look at that beautiful poodle.  Do you think it's a boy or a girl?"

"What do you mean?" laughed Lacey.  "All poodles are girls."

 "Are you sure?" I prompted.  "What would happen if all poodles were girls."

"Nothing.  They're already all girls."

I tried another approach.  "What would happen if there were only girls in the world?"

"I don't know," responded Lacey.

"Well," I sighed.  "What would happen if there were only men in the world?"

"Whoa!" Lacey shrieked.  "It would be creepy and disgusting!"

"I see your point," I laughed.  "But, seriously, what would happen if there were only men?"

"I guess there would be no more babies," she finally responded.

"You're right," I praised.  "Now, are all poodles really girls?"

"Maybe," Lacey said.

She must have thought about the topic some more because at dinnertime she decided to try her new knowledge on Cassie.  "I wonder if Cassie's ever going to have children?" she queried.

"I'm going to adopt," Cassie answered.

"Then you're going to have to renew your passport!" Lacey said.

As Lacey continues learning how to be part of a family, she spends a lot of time trying to keep up with Cassie.  The results are always funny.  When Lacey's class put on a play of "The Three Little Pigs,"  she played the part of the wolf.  For her costume, she chose to wear one of Cassie's PE shirts.

Lacey knows that Greek history is one of Cassie's favorite subjects.  So, after spending some time reading about the ancient Greeks, she was ready to impress Cassie.  "Cassie," she said, "If we were living in ancient Greece, you'd be getting married now."

"Yes," replied Cassie. "And, if we were living with the Native Americans, you'd be running around naked right now."

Lacey has made a lot of progress in school.  After several years of watching Cassie get academic awards, Lacey got her own.  She received awards for making the Principal's Honor Roll and for attendance.  She also graduated from the English as a Second Language Program. I pointed out to her that this was something Cassie will never be able to do!

Lacey, Cassie and Gaby with "Heinz"

Sisters

One of my favorite "sisters" snapshots

Thursday

Thursday was one of those days that will haunt me until I blog about it. It started as I was taking Lacey to school.  As we stood in the garage looking at the rain Lacey asked, "Do you think I need my umbrella?"

"You have to take about six steps to get from the garage to the car," I pointed out.  "Can you make it that far without an umbrella?"

"Let me see," she began as she stepped outside.  "Hmmmm," Lacey continued as she stood outside staring up at the falling rain.  "Maybe I do need my umbrella."  She bent over and began stirring through her backpack.  The only problem, as she eventually realized, was that her umbrella was in the garage.

As I finally backed out of the driveway, wondering if we should have gone back for dry clothes, I tried to explain, "Do you remember that we checked the weather last night when we laid out your clothes?  And, the forecast said 100% chance of rain?  We talked about how you needed to set out a jacket and have your umbrella ready?  Did I just say 100% chance of rain?  Ah geez.  That means Cassie's field hockey practice will be cancelled.  I already told Taekwondo she won't be on the after-school bus.  Now, I'll have to figure out how to pick her up . . . "

My day at school was just fine except for my departure.  I had requested several hours of leave because I had an appointment with the middle school counselor.  If I left exactly at lunchtime, ran to the parking garage, and had a traffic-less commute, I would get there just on time.   BUT, just as I was getting ready to leave, two girls asked if I could help them apply their new eye makeup.  Because I'm the one who consistently says, "Ladies, putting on makeup is something kind of personal that we don't do in the middle of class," and because the girls had actually chosen the right time to apply makeup, I felt compelled to stay for a few minutes.  

However, my commute was exceptional.  I even had time to call and reschedule an eye doctor appointment that conflicted with an orthodontist appointment.  I pulled into the parking lot with 2 minutes to spare.  The counselor was expecting me.   BUT, someone had just brought a student to her office.  During the next 15 minutes, I could think of nothing except how if I had known that a student was going to have a crisis I might have stopped somewhere for a sandwich.

I spent the next 20 minutes learning what Cassie will need to do to apply for the high school fine arts program.   In January, Cassie must submit an art portfolio that should include artwork resulting from class assignments.  The first bit of reality sank in here.  Because Cassie is in the foreign language program, she hasn't been able to enroll in middle school art.  I will have to find art instruction over the summer.  I also learned that the middle school art teacher is happy to review portfolios of the foreign language students, understanding that they haven't benefited from her instruction because of the foreign language scheduling conflict.  Nice. . . except that she does this in September.  That means that I will have . . . June, July and August to help Cassie get ready.  Then, we will have October, November and December to make changes to the portfolio.  Now, reality really sank in as I realized that I might have to start an entirely new blog to deal with this portfolio preparation process.

As I left the school office, I stopped to verify that field hockey practice was still scheduled.  I headed for home thinking that I might have 15 minutes to myself.  I walked in the door and tripped over Cassie's field hockey gear.  Oh great, she had either forgotten it or decided that it would be cancelled because of rain.  Whatever the cause, I knew that at this moment Cassie was standing outside school waiting for me.  I got in the car and headed back to school.  As I joined the half-mile line of cars trying to get into the school parking lot, she called.  "Why don't you start walking down the street toward my car?" I suggested.

When we got home, the cable TV repairman was there.  I remembered that Les had scheduled an appointment for the installation of new boxes.  Les had assured me that the repairman would only need to access the TV in the family room.  BUT, of course, the guy needed to work on the set in the master bedroom.  And, of course, I hadn't made the bed and there was a pile of laundry strewn everywhere because SOMEONE had been searching for her ballet tights.

"Did you at least explain to the guy that we have boxes stacked all over the house because of all the stuff we got from my parent's home?" I asked Les.

"No," he answered.

As my head filled with visions of Child Protective Services accusing us of hoarding, I realized that it was time for Lacey's bus.  Should I drive down and meet her bus and deny her the opportunity to use that umbrella?  It was raining pretty hard so I took the car to meet her. Fifteen minutes later,  Lacey got off the bus, unfurled her umbrella, and splashed right past me.  Yes, it was turning into one of those days.

We had just enough time to help Lacey study for her Social Studies SOL before I had to take Cassie for a haircut appointment.  I know this blog is getting long.  But, I'm sharing this especially for those of you who have never helped a child study for an SOL in the state of Virginia.  The school sends home review books that contain page after page of listed facts.  If these booklets contained questions and answers, it wouldn't be so bad.  But, the parent is supposed to somehow formulate the right questions.  Here's an example from the "Economics" section:

"Goods are things that people make or use to satisfy needs and wants.  Some examples of goods are cars, food, and clothing.  Services are activities that satisfy people's needs and wants.  Some examples are policemen, teachers, and hairdressers."

I begin by asking the logical, "What are goods?"

"I don't know. My teacher never asked us that question."

I try again, "What are services?"
"We didn't learn it that way."

So I try again, "What are things that people use to satisfy their needs and wants?"  Oh good Lord.  Did I really just ask my 9-year old daughter that question?  

I spent the next 30 minutes watching Lacey spin around and around on an empty salon chair as Cassie got about six inches of hair snipped off.  When we got home, all the exterior doors were open because the cable TV guy was now working outside and Les wasn't sure which door would be most convenient for him.  The good news was that we could smell dinner from outside.  Les had cooked a pot of soup!

We made it through dinner and, as I got ready to take Cassie to ballet I told Les that I thought I'd stop and pick up a few groceries.

"Can I go?! Can I go?!" asked Lacey.

I turned to Les and asked, "Do you remember that Episode of 'Modern Family' where Claire told everyone that she was going to Yoga class but she was really sneaking away to the shooting range?  Well, that's kind of how I'm feeling right now."

At the end of the day, I realized that maybe getting another dog wasn't such a bad idea.  After all, I'd have a lot of alone time because I would be the one walking it.