Why I need more coffee.

Our house saga continues. Ok, it's not so much a saga anymore. We're still dealing with the tenant issues~the loads of junk they left had to be stored and we had to send them a letter telling them that they have 14 days to come get it. Yes, we actually had to do that by law before we could toss it. Rather than risk a lawsuit in case we tossed something of "heirloom" quality, we complied. LOVE knowing lawyers who help me out. We had a neighbor with a lawn business clean up the yard (as the tenants never even bothered to rake the leaves!), our friendly painter repainted the most heinous rooms, and we had a cleaning service come last week to clean the rugs and the kitchen and bathroom (thank you Mom and Dad). Our open house on Sunday yielded a prospective tenant/buyer, and we have decided to work with her. She loves the house, her two kids love the house, and being there allows her kids to stay in their current schools come fall. I am hoping in the next several months to report that we're under contract to sell the home to her. That is our common goal, so I am breathing a little bit easier about it.

I became "that parent" yesterday. You know the one I mean. The one that the teachers cringe at because you take an interest in your child's eduation. The one that wants the best for her child and wants answers when it seems that isn't happening. But, sometimes you have to be "that parent". Megan has been evaluated on and off this year by the Gifted and Talented teacher at her school. We were not informed of this prior to her first meeting last fall. I don't know how many times Megan saw this particular woman before she even mentioned it to me very off-hand in the car one day. I didn't even know there was a Gifted and Talented teacher at the school. But anyway, I emailed Meg's teacher about it back then to see what the scoop was, and was happy to hear that they thought Meg warranted the evaluations. I mean, what parent wouldn't be excited? And of course we think she's incredibly smart and we're not at all biased (cough cough). Then one day Meg came home crying because the work with the teacher was hard and she didn't finish it. She told me she felt stupid. How do you explain to a 7 year old that they aren't stupid? That they just need to try, and all we ask is that they try? The invitations to work with the G&T teacher stopped coming after that. We were a bit frustrated, but what can you do about it? Then last week, the G&T teacher came to Meg's class to work with her G&T group individually and had Megan read to her. She told Meg that maybe she could come again this week (yesterday). No invite yesterday, again. Meg didn't say anything, but I could sense she was sad. So, I emailed the teacher. I wasn't harsh, just concerned that she is toying with my child. Her response to me today was quick. I won't bore you with the details of her response. Now I have some thinking to do. Do I let sleeping dogs lie, get Meg through the rest of first grade, and not make an issue out of it? Or do I push them to give her another chance, because I think she's matured over the course of the year? It's a hard issue for me, because I loved to learn (until I went to law school and it beat the love of learning out of me) and I want her to love it too. I want her to try her hardest and be proud of her work. She is of course only in first grade and maybe in another year she'll be a bit more mature and understand more of this. Sometimes I think I push too hard, and other times I think that I baby her too much. I don't know where to draw the line. And of course having three other children who need me means that I can't give her the 150% attention that she wants. Oh what fun this will be when all 4 of them are in school.

I am supposed to be working on my big scrapbooking day for Saturday. I have 13 customers coming to scrapbook. I am not at all ready. I have been spending what free time I have playing baseball with Drew, or hanging out with the babies, or going to softball games, or stressing about the other home. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do things. I'm sure it will pull itself all together, but since my plan was to be all ready by now, I'm a little freaked out.

On the upside, Izzie was better this morning. She ate and drank and didn't cry the minute I put her in the living room. Hooray!