Life, it's going to settle down...please

To say that the last several weeks have been busy would be, well, putting it mildly. Since I last blogged, on May 25, we had Kid Jedi's IEP meeting, I've been subbing a lot, we had this nasty sore throat/cold that never leaves come into the house, a great Memorial day gathering at the little sis's (also known as the favorite aunt) house, my parents came back to NJ from FL (I'd say home, but there real house is in FL), I took my Praxis II exam for K-5 to get my CE to start my Alternate Route teaching (also known as I'll soon be an unemployed teacher instead of a Substitute Teacher), and we've been trying to prepare for the end of the school year...and my nephew's graduation.

So, I'll start with the IEP meeting, we got to keep Kid Jedi's aide for next year, and he got a fidget to play with to keep him focused on lessons. They will also be keeping up on the OT consultations which involve the school's OT talking to the teacher to see what Kid Jedi needs...we'll see how it works out next year.

I do understand that I picked a really bad time to decide to work on my Alternate Route Teacher's Certificate in NJ, but I did it anyway, and I'll be looking for a job in about a month, figuring I passed the test. I will still be subbing next year, hopefully I'll find a maternity position which will get me a Standard cert and let me start on my Special Ed cert so I can get closer to working with Autistic kids.

And, my nephew...well, I can't believe he's graduating High School, it seems like just yesterday he was born, but in October, he got his Eagle Scout award and next Thursday, he'll be a High School graduate. He'll be going to York College next year to study Mechanical Engineering. I am very proud of my nephew. He's an amazing young man and I'm sure he'll do wonderfully at college.

Kid Jedi will be done school on Thursday, the same day my nephew graduates. He's so looking forward to the end of school. I'm not sure why it seems like they go so much later than we used to go to school, but it does. I know this year is longer because of all the snow we had here in NJ, but I still remember being done earlier than the 18th when he was originally scheduled to be done.

Hopefully things will settle down over the next week or so and then...

Top Ten Things I like About Subbing

Top Ten list time again...I've been MIA because of a lot of substitute teaching, so I figured I should do a top ten list on what I like about substitute teaching.

1. You meet some great children (teachers too).

2. You learn a lot about the learning differences of children.

3. You don't have to deal with grading.

4. You are done work by 3:30, though you may start as early as 7:30.

5. You come away with some great stories.

6. You get to teach all grades. This is great for someone like me who is working toward becoming a teacher.

7. Work is never boring!

8. If you have a difficult class, you get to say no next time.

9. You are still free to do things with your child's class.

10. You get to touch a lot of children's lives.

Check out other top ten lists at Oh Amanda.

Top Ten reasons ADHD is a blessing

ADHD is always treated as a curse, you always hear about the problems, here are my top 10 reasons I choose to see ADHD as a blessing.

1. Every day is a new adventure, literally Kid Jedi has daily adventures fighting to save the universe from some evil force.

2. You learn everything there is to know about a subject, even the minutest detail because obscure questions come up about everything.

3. You know all the different types of Lego bricks, and how many sets you are "missing".

4. You are always challenged to run, whether you want to or not.

5. You hear stories that amaze you at the creativity, like the one I have about an Alligator named Lorraine who eats piranha (Kid Jedi is in Kindergarten).

6. You collect complete sets of things: books, Lego series, sticks.

7. You get to spend lots of time outside.

8. You get lots of stories to tell and blog about.

9. You are challenged to make simple things like homework really interesting...we play a game to learn spelling words.

10. You learn patience, love, tolerance and most of all you learn that sometimes your brain just moves too fast for the rest of the world.

Not to say that ADHD doesn't have it's downside, it definitely has that, but that's another list...

Check out other Top Ten lists at Its Come 2 This

The Eco-friendly AD/HD Child

One thing to love, and hate, about having AD/HD in our life is the ability of Kid Jedi to feel passionately and unwaveringly about something. In our case it is the environment. Kid Jedi thinks it's his personal calling in life to save the Earth. We went to HersheyPark yesterday for their Springtime in the Park celebration. He wanted to pick up all the trash people left on the ground and more than once was heard saying "these people don't love the earth, they are ruining it because they leave their trash everywhere". My DH told me that when they were getting on The Howler, he said that "HersheyPark doesn't love the Earth, the plants they have aren't from here, they took out plants from here and put these plants here, that isn't good for the Earth."

I will take full responsibility for his overzealous opinions toward littering and recycling, but I have no idea where he learned about native plants being better.

He was also upset with the poor guy making the Kettle Corn because he threw the empty oil bottles into the trash instead of recycling them...we must give him the benefit of the doubt that he may normally recycle, but when they have a line that keeps growing and he has to refill his oil, popcorn and sugar, efficiency is his priority, not recycling.

I love that my son is so concerned about the environment, but I never realized how much he sees and understands about what is good and bad for the environment.