Miss Manners

Tootle has been a bit more subdued than usual since her accident; just last night her spark started to reignite. At dinner last night, Doodle pinpointed the biggest change in Tootle. As Doodle said, "She got manners." Tootle has always done a good job with her "pleases" and "thank yous" and "excuse mes" in public, but at home, I constantly have to remind her to ask nicely rather than in a bossy tone, especially at the dinner table. Since the injury, Tootle's demands have been voiced in a quiet, well mannered voice. I hope this change sticks.

When Tootle went to the orthopedist yesterday, she chose a glow in the dark cast, just the thing for Halloween. She's excited about having her classmates sign it today. I'll post a picture tonight.

Fractured Tootle Tale

Tootle got through her first day well with no complaints about pain. Two things have surprised me about Tootle's reaction to her injury. When we left the soccer field, Tootle pleaded to go home rather than to the hospital. She begged so much that I decided to call the urgent care facility to alert them that we were on the way there. They let me know that five x-rays were pending ahead of ours and that they wouldn't be able to see us for two hours, so I decided to go to the ER despite Tootle's protests. That move saved us several hours because the urgent care facility wasn't equipped to do sedation or the reduction procedure so we would have ended up at the ER anyway. While she was brave, Tootle whimpered throughout the ER visit that she wanted to go home. Tootle has handled her cleft palate surgery hospitalization and ear tube surgeries well, but clearly they have left a mark on her. She never protests visits to the doctor's office but she now seems to be terrified of hospitals. It will be interesting to see how she reacts the next time she needs ear tube surgery.

The other surprise is that Tootle doesn't like being in the spotlight despite her outgoing, exuberant personality. Tootle became upset at tonight's soccer practice as I answered lots of questions from parents and Doodle's teammates about her condition. Tootle had the same reaction earlier in the day as I talked with neighbors and even to friends on the phone. Even when the well wishes came from Doodle's friends, Tootle clammed up, and I had to answer for her. She doesn't want to go to school tomorrow because she knows that her classmates and friends in other classes will want to know what happened. I tell her that it's a good thing because it shows that people care about her, but I don't think I've convinced her.

Injured

Tootle's monkey bars/calluses dilemma has been solved. She won't be on the monkey bars for at least a month because she broke her wrist in two places on Saturday. While playing soccer on the sidelines during Doodle's game, Tootle fell as she chased the ball up a hill. In putting her hand out to stop her fall, she managed to break two bones. I was chatting with two of the other moms and watching the game, so I only saw the aftermath: Tootle lying on her stomach and crying harder than I've ever heard her cry. I scooped her up, got her to tell me where it hurt, assessed the situation with a soccer mom/nurse, and quickly headed to the emergency room, located about 5 minutes away. We spent five hours at the emergency room, mainly because they wanted her stomach to empty before putting her under sedation to reset the bone. Fortunately the hospital has a pediatric ER wing, so the experience was as pleasant as it could be and a Dora DVD distracted Tootle for at least an hour or so. The arm is in a splint and will be put in a cast as early as Tuesday. They don't cast it right away because it will be swollen for the next few days.

Doodle was already scheduled to go home with one of her teammates for a playdate so she arrived home shortly after we did, much more concerned about her sister than her team's first loss. Tootle knew that Doodle would want to mother her and that a hug might hurt, so she greeted Doodle with "Don't hug me." That didn't stop Doodle from fawning over her sister until she went to bed about 30 minutes later. I woke Tootle at 2 a.m. for more Ibuprofen and icing and haven't been able to get back to sleep. Tootle is sleeping comfortably and it's probably time for me to try again.

Family FotoFun Friday Challenge: Sweet Tooth

Tootle is an ice cream fiend. She would eat it three times a day if I let her, and she has been known to ask for it for breakfast. Doodle prefers gummy candies and popcorn, the things that she can't have while she's in braces. They both like chocolate but not quite as much as I do. To see other adorable kids with sweet teeth, go here.

Spelling Bee

Tootle has caught the reading bug and is very interested in learning to read. Unlike Doodle, who entered kindergarten as a reader, Tootle has been disinterested until now. She particularly loves learning new sight words, and this morning she decided to quiz me:

Tootle: What does s-e-e spell?

Me: See.

Tootle: Very good, mommy! How about l-i-k-e?

Me: Like.

Tootle: That's right! How about y-o-u?

Me: You. You've learned a lot of sight words in the last few weeks. I'm proud of you.

Tootle beamed and then went off to brush her teeth. She's going to be a bee for Halloween. Perhaps she'll be a spelling bee.

Homework

Everyone is in bed, getting a good night's sleep in anticipation of another week of school. Tootle's kindergarten teacher recently reported that she will start giving the kids homework this week. Tootle can finally stop complaining about the lack of homework (she doesn't know what she wishes for). The teacher promises that the work will seldom be worksheets and is really designed to get the class used to homework so that they are prepared for first grade. It is supposed to take about 10 minutes a night to complete.

Doodle doesn't complain about homework too much, but both she and I wish that there wasn't quite so much of it in fourth grade. She seems to be spending about 90 minutes a night on homework, not because she is struggling, but because of the volume of the work. Here is her typical week:

Monday: piano lesson, math homework, study for spelling quiz, science or social studies homework, read for 15 minutes, write in reading journal (the assignment is to write at least three sentences about what they read but Doodle usually writes about a page), practice flute

Tuesday: Girl Scouts, math homework, science or social studies homework, read for 15 minutes, write in reading journal, practice piano and flute

Wednesday: soccer practice, math homework, come up with five spelling words to add to the standard list of 12 words for the class, science or social studies homework, read for 15 minutes, write in reading journal, practice piano and flute

Thursday: playdate, math homework, write sentences for each of the spelling words, study for science quiz, read for 15 minutes, write in reading journal, practice piano and flute

Friday: playdate, practice piano and flute

Saturday: soccer game, work on monthly poetry presentation or book report, practice piano and flute

Sunday: church, soccer practice, practice piano and flute

I'd like Doodle to take yoga to help her deal with stress but ironically there just isn't time. Maybe when soccer is over, although thus far she is handling the stress of her workload better than she did last year. She loves music and writing so at least some of the work is enjoyable, and the science curriculum this year is a lot of fun. If she could get over her aversion to math (one that I share, unfortunately), she probably wouldn't need yoga.

Down by the Bay

I can't get that kid's song out of my head after spending yesterday with Doodle and her classmates on a glorious all-day (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.) field trip to the Chesapeake Bay. The kids spent part of the day at an archaeological museum and the rest of their time seining in the bay (fishing in waders with a big net) and collecting fossilized shells and shark teeth. I didn't even need to take Tylenol because I did not get a spot on the buses so I rode in a car with three other parents. Those bus rides are noisy and don't involve a stop at Starbucks.