Kiss My Knits!

So it’s not all doom and gloom, my daughter’s report card came home today, and she did improve in most every area. Her teacher says “she did extremely well on math quarterly testing” which was a concern for us, and her words-per-minute fluency jumped from 44 to 76 wpm.

So that’s good.

I finished Emily’s doll, and it looks good. I put it in the car next to her seat so she’d see it when I picked her up from school. I was looking forward to seeing her reaction.

Unfortunately, when I got to school, Emily’s teacher was waiting in the car line with her. Emily got in and was entranced with her doll – or so I think, because all I really got was a vague happy and excited vibe and something about how her shirt was finished now, because I had to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. Which wasn’t good.

Apparently Emily didn’t wash her hands after using the bathroom on the way to lunch. The bathroom monitor reported this, so Emily was sent back in to wash them, which she did angrily, jerking her hands and doing a perfunctory job. Afterwards, she had a huge screaming crying fit that had her on the floor multiple times in the hallway on the way to lunch. The teacher had to call the vice principal to take the class down to the lunchroom while the teacher took Emily to her resource classroom.

She didn’t calm down there, but stayed upset for a good half hour of continuous full-on hysteria. During that time, the principal and the school psychologist were also called in, to no avail.

Obviously, we didn’t go to Starbucks, which is reserved for good behavior days.

Her teacher says that’s the first time something that major has happened this year. Which, considering years past, I suppose is progress, but it’s not as much as I’d like. I’ve put in an e-mail to find out what finally calmed her down, since I didn’t think to ask at the time. Usually it’s time and solitude that help, so if they were calling in more and more people, I can see how the situation could escalate. It’s understandable – I think anybody would naturally want to call in more people to help. I’m curious to see if they know what finally got her to break out of her cycle and relax.

I’ll post about the doll later. I’m a little discouraged at the moment.

My Personal Dna Report

The tough thing about quizzes like this is that while my personality requires very little notice before going to a party, my life requires a great deal more. So if I answer questions honestly about what I would do in a given situation, I come out more staid than one would expect.

However, I think they’re probably spot on about me trusting people to such a high degree. What can I say? I’ve led a charmed life where the people around me are good and kind and honest. I’m very fortunate!

Emily: “Why do you have to hold onto a bicycle’s handlebars?”
Me: “So you can control it. That’s how you steer the bicycle. Do you think you’d like a bicycle for your birthday?”
Emily: “Yes. Also, a can of snakes.”
Me: “What would you do with a can of snakes?”
Emily: “I would open it and they would fly out!”

She gets that from her Grandpa. No doubt about it.

This kid’s on a roll today.

In which Emily loses a tooth and is greatly relieved.

The snowman has finally melted away. There was enough last night for me to pick up a pinch of snow, make the world’s tiniest snowball and throw it at the house. It was a nice last hurrah.

And speaking of world’s tiniest things, my dad’s birthday was Tuesday. No, that’s not a “short” joke! A while back we were talking about this Charlie Brown sweater, and I said I couldn’t understand why the giftee had never acknowledged receipt. I figured any baby would love to have one! Dad quickly said, “Or any adult! I mean… I know I’d wear one. It’d be fun. You know. If someone… were to… make me one. You know.”

Hee hee! Okay! I think he forgot about it, but I filed it away. I didn’t have time to make a complete full-sized sweater by his birthday, and I didn’t have his measurements even if I had had time. Instead, I made this, put a tape measure inside it and presented it in a little bag. And that was his gift. I’ll be taking measurements later for the real deal.

I’ve finished up another project, this one for a baby. It’s too big, but I like to knit big for babies because they grow so fast. The parents get all this tiny stuff at baby showers, and then six months later the kid has outgrown it all. However, I have to mail it to its receipient, so I can’t show it just yet. But it’s really cute. It’s hard to hold off posting it.

The hubby has to work today. Emily says that I can go to the store and get bagels by myself and bring them back. I’m pretty sure Child Protective Services would have a different opinion on that. We’ll see if she wants them badly enough to stop lounging around in her pajamas and come with me. I may insist, because now that she’s mentioned it, a bagel sounds great!

SNOW DAY!!

Emily had to run around to all the windows to make sure it was actually snowing on all four sides of the house. And no school today! I’m not feeling that great today, but you know what? It’s all okay, because it’s SNOWING! Snow is magic; it makes everything better! YAAAAAAY!!

Did I mention that by correcting the issue at the shoulder to follow the pattern exactly, another issue cropped up? That you’re increasing to the same number of stitches on each side, but you’re starting from a different number, so you have to do more rows on one side than another?

This pattern is a giant pain in my tuchus.