Lessons Learned

1. I've heard the saying that you shouldn't go grocery shopping when you're hungry because you'll buy too many things on impulse. I am not sure if that is true for me, but I did learn last week not to take a child to the grocery store when she is hungry. Nadia usually is in a good mood when we shop because she loves to say "hi" and "see ya" to people that we pass in the aisles. Well she hadn't eaten much for breakfast and so I should have given her a snack before we left because she was sooo fussy. Every food I put in the cart she was begging me to give her. I refused to give her the grapes since #1 you pay for those by the pound and #2 they weren't washed, but I did end up letting her eat a cookie as I realized it was my fault she was so fussy.

2. My knee is very hardy. On Monday night I fell as I was heading out to class. My right knee hit the concrete step going into the garage and my right elbow and my left shin hit the concrete garage floor. I have a lot of little scabs on my left shin. I am hoping they heal up asap as it looks awful and I can't shave that area. My right knee has been killing me. It's bruised and swollen, but I don't seem to have done any serious damage. Whew.

3. It's really important to students that exams are graded ASAP. I am one who always tries to grade papers as soon as possible, but I admit I didn't start grading yesterday's exams until this afternoon. One student came to see me at 2:45 today to ask when I was going to grade them as he'd been checking the website constantly. Sometimes being known for being a speedy grader can be a bad thing, but it was a reminder to me that students do appreciate a quick turnaround. I posted his grade within an hour, but I haven't finished yet.

4. I have learned many ways to get Ian to laugh - splashing water on him in the bathtub, having him "jump" with his legs on my lap, giving him an airplane ride above my head, tickling him, etc. Here's a little video of his laughter. It would be better if I wasn't the one holding the camera. You might want to only listen (not watch).

5. I learned today that you shouldn't go to Walmart to get a watch battery unless you already know what kind of battery you need. They won't take the back off of your watch OR give you the tool so that you can do it yourself. Sadly this was the main reason I went shopping today. The other stuff could have waited. My battery died yesterday, and I felt lost at school yesterday and today without a watch. Unfortunately my to do list is really crammed tomorrow - grading, mowing the lawn, packing, filling out the form at the Post Office to have our mail held, etc. Hopefully I'll have time to make it to the mall to get a watch battery at a jewelry store.

6. I was reminded this week that even graduate students don't always listen to important instructions that their professor emphasizes. One student on Monday night went to the university's library for our field experience although it was being held at the public library. I've done this field experience for 5 years and never had a student miss it because she went to the wrong place. Then yesterday I had two grad students show up for the final exam at the time our class meets, which is not when the exam was scheduled. The rest of the class came at the appropriate time (earlier in the day). I let them take it today with my other class.

7. I learned that if Ian sleeps long enough (PTL he had his best night in over a month last night as his first stretch was 9 hours and his second was 1.5 hours) not only will I have clogged ducts, but when Ian stops to take a breath, the stream of milk will shoot over his body, over the boppy, and land on my knee. It was quite the sight, LOL! Since he ditched the shield a couple of weeks ago he doesn't nurse nearly as long each session. However at 4:00 this morning he nursed 30 minutes on one side and 15 on the other. Lots of milk! Even with all that he still needed some milk in a bottle to be able to get back to sleep.

8. I wrote about Mommy guilt recently, but I have been taking more notice of how often this happens. Sometimes it's justified. I should feed Nadia more vegetables (I did today!), and she should watch FAR less tv. Sometimes it's not justified like when I felt badly that Nadia hadn't ever played with Playdoh when I saw a picture on a friend's blog of her niece (who is maybe 1 month younger than Nadia) playing with Playdoh. I felt badly for depriving her of that. So I bought some today at Walmart. Actually I bought it to help with the tv situation. I got out the chair that can attach to the kitchen table and plan to have her sit in that and play with playdoh while I nurse Ian instead of letting her watch tv. Well I am not trying to go cold turkey with the tv. One 30 minute episode of Curious George would be fine, but she's been watching way toooo much. I don't ever plan to let Ian watch so much tv. Unless God surprises us with a third child...