I'm Special Because... I'm Different

Getting through the mountain of grade school 'mail' is sometimes a feat at my crazy house. I look at every paper, because it's important to the girls and should be just as important to the parent. This week Miss R brought home a little packet of papers that her teacher had them fill out.  It's the regular beginning of school things about what they like and what they want to be when they grow up.  I always love to see what the kids put.  As I flipped through the pages I came across this one:

I'm Different

I stopped and smiled. Because countless times I've told Miss R it's ok to be different and often that's how I describe her to people.

Sitting doing homework at her brothers football game,
she created an 'inspiring spot' to focus on Math, she said.

I'm excited that she is embracing it and knows that is good not bad.  She just looks at the world through eyes that I only can pray she never looses. She finds joy and laughter in so many interesting things because of the angle she observes them.

Some people spend their whole life trying not to conform and I find that sad. I want my kids to embrace who they are and love that.  I think that's the big secret to life.  Be who you are and love yourself for it. I found that at an early age and know I'm very lucky to go through life happy.

I've reflected a lot this past month about finding the rewards of being a parent.  Let's face it when you're in the trenches everyday it's hard to find the rewards.  Between the reminding everyone to brush their teeth, being asked for the zillionth time where something is (that I didn't wear so how I would I know), breaking up stupid fights, and worrying if they are eating right, being good people, laughing enough, praying enough... you name it, I worry when it comes to my kids.

I said to my dad just the other night, when does the rewarding part of parenthood come?  He looked at me and said right now, when they are adults. So, I look forward to that time, but for right now I better keep my nose the grindstone so that I can relish in those big rewards. This simple little note that Miss R wrote helped remind me that I'm on the right path. The path to help my kids just be happy with being different.

Small School Big Opportunities

I’m sure some of you have heard me say that I thought I grew up in a small town until I met My Cowboy.  He came from a town of 600 people I had more then that in my high school. Cowboy had 14 people he graduated with, I had nearly 180. 

When we chose to return back to My Cowboy’s small town, I have to admit I had my concerns about the school experience for our children.  My perception was that in small schools you don’t have as many opportunities for a well rounded education.  I soon learned there are plenty of  opportunities, they’re just different.  Turns out, small schools are better then I could have ever imagined. 

In a small town school the first day jitters are not the same.  After all, by about 4th grade, everyone knows you and you know them- really well.  At least that’s what Miss O told me.  She didn’t need to worrying about who will be in your class those things are not a surprise. So, it’s not a big deal to have a new outfit the first day of school. 

In a small school you certainly already know your teacher, there isn’t a concern about which teacher you will get. One teacher per grade or class. We’re extremely fortunate to have amazing teachers in our school who care and go the extra mile to help the kids. I know that not all teachers are created equal and that’s not as easy to pass over in a small school. 

In a small school we may not have a full time art teacher. But our community knows the importance of creativity and we have an amazing arts council. In the coming weeks our school has an artist in residence that will work with our youth to help paint a mural downtown.  I will share that progress in a blog soon. 

In a small town the Senior boys drive their semi and stock trucks to the first day of school.  Yes, the lot has enough space for truck parking. I’m so proud of those boys and their clever showing of agriculture pride. 

In a small town school when your team makes it to the playoffs, the entire town attends the event not just the sport families! The team pride is felt throughout the community and everyone is included. 

I will be honest and say there are times I think my kids would enjoy some of the things a big school has to offer.  But then I think of the benefits we've experienced and those are important to making them who they are. So, yes it’s different then what our friends who go to big schools experience but different isn’t bad it’s just different. 

Pirate Day

I left last Saturday for a 7 day trip. I try to avoid these long trips but sometimes I just can’t. I’m an organizer so I try to have everything planned before I leave so the kids can continue to function without me. I put together crock pot meals for my Cowboy to start and I have all the favorite clothes washed up and a post on the fridge of what days need what- like Thursday is library day. 

Then on Monday I get the email that Friday is pirate day at school. Ugh- Pirate Day- really of all the days to have while I’m traveling! Cowboy could pull off princess day or school spirit day or even a specific color day (last week was strips- he could have done that) but not a complicated costume experience like pirates...

I talked to the crew on Tuesday and we discussed our options.  Miss O said she was fine with not dressing up like a pirate.  Miss R said she didn’t even like pirates.  So, I felt better with the whole experience and didn’t even bring it up to Cowboy. I checked again with the girls on Wednesday night and same story.  Yesterday I made the decision to grab an earlier flight and get home Thursday night instead of Friday night. Well the good Lord had other plans and we ended up missing my connecting into home last night.

To divert here- I was traveling with my cousin Kelli and a woman on our plane started to experience seizures and Kelli being a nurse was able to be with the woman while we had to make an emergency landing in Madison, Wisconsin. I had been shocked how easy we were able to switch our flights to a whole day earlier and now I why- we needed to be on the flight for Kelli to provide her gift to this woman. Thank God for his interference, Kelli was amazing and I believe made a difference for this woman and certainly the passengers of the plane.  

So, that all means no pirate costumes at school on Friday.  Now I’m sure my girls are not the only ones who were not dressed like pirates and they weren’t sad. But certainly this traveling mom feels bummed that I failed and no eye patches left my house. 

I have no pictures of my beautiful kids from Friday morning (forgot to ask Cowboy to take them).   But they probably fit in just fine - hair not combed, dirty wrinkled clothes and bad attitudes- Cowboy has been in charge for a week.  Maybe he is good at pirate costumes...

Celebrating National School Lunch Week

To celebrate National School Lunch week, I had school lunch with the girls.

Waiting in Line

I've talked about school lunch before and my concerns about the lack of protein and calories that our children are getting.  Since my last post (School Lunch Changes...) I've talked to many people in our school system, other parents and the kids who eat the lunch. For this post I am going to break down my lunch observations for this day. I plan to share the information I've gathered from my discussions in a different post soon.

The girls were thrilled I was joining them again for lunch. I picked a random day that worked for my schedule last week- Wednesday. The younger kids start lunch at 11:15. The menu: popcorn chicken, broccoli, fruit, milk & juice. Bread was also served with the meal.   Each child was asked if they would like broccoli and bread with their meal. They were not given a choice if they wanted fruit but what fruit they wanted: apricots or pineapple both from a can.  Observing the 8 kids in front of me none of them knew what apricots were- all took pineapple. They also could have juice and milk, that must be to get the full servings of fruit.

My Trey

I counted that 4 out of 25 in Miss O's class took broccoli and 5 out of 21 in Miss R's class tried the vegetable.  My girls didn't take the vegetable, at home they always eat broccoli. (In fact last year Miss R identified broccoli as her favorite food on her pre-school questionnaire- I achieved a Mom of the Year star). As you can see from my trey- I took the broccoli.  I love broccoli and there was cheese on it- bonus! Except there was no taste to the vegetable.  The girls informed me that they had tried the broccoli in the past and that is why they wouldn't make the mistake of taking it again.  As I forced myself to eat it, I kept thinking this would taste better if I had salt.  I had remembered one student I talked to being upset about not having salt to put on things anymore. She was going to start bringing her own to school to use.  Salt is the new bootleg item at school?

My Trey....Miss O's Trey

This picture gives you the comparison of my trey and Miss O's. She did take the bread, which according to the teacher is very popular item with the kids.

As I look at these treys, I don't see how this is promoting kids to eat more fruit and vegetables.  Miss O's trey was very representative of the others on her table. So, the kids are not getting filled on protein and are simply not taking all the fruits and vegetables offered so bottom line is they are going hungry.

Miss O ate all her food.  I could not choke down all of my broccoli but did eat the rest. By the time the kids got out of school that day I was starving. I now understand how come my kids come through the door ready to have a snack before we have our evening meal.

Go have school lunch and see what our kids are eating. We've got to stand up for them and let the ones who are making these rules in Washington DC know that their meals are leaving our kids short and being full is the cornerstone to learning.

Hello Routine, My Old Friend...

This marks my first day of having routine back in my life for fall 2012.  I said goodbye to routine in late April and sure have missed her.  Summer always forces routine out of the house- there is just no room for her with the kids home.  I look back on the craziness of summer and I sure enjoyed it but because routine was absent, I felt like I was missing something. 

So, here I sit today on a Monday hanging out with routine again.  So far we've got through almost my whole to do list and a little more.  In fact I've done so well with routine this morning that I had time to do this blog post!

So the trade off of welcoming routine back into my life means that all three Hadrick children are in school this year.  Yep my baby is in Kindergarden!  

There she sits at her little kindergarden table, the last Hadrick kid to join the school ranks. Now, I have to share that this mom didn't get emotional this year as I got her settled at her spot. I'm not sure why there was no tears on my part, but more of a feeling of relief and excitement for her.  My cute little Kindergartner didn't really show emotion either. Not excited or sad, just accepting of her fate as full time school participant. 

Now, after her first 3 days, the verdict is still out about her new adventure. Her teacher indicated that she was the only child that didn't raise her hand when she asked at the end of the first day when she asked the students if they had fun.  When I asked Miss R why she didn't raise her hand. She said we had to raise our hand all day long I was just too tired to raise it again.

I believe Kindergarden will grow on her...because one things for sure, I really like routine hanging out with me and I'm not giving her up! 

School Lunch Changes- Are Kids Getting All They Need?

The start of the school year brings excitement and anxiety to the Hadrick house. After all we have all three of the Hadrick's starting school this year. There is a lot to be thinking about; everything from first outfits to leaving my baby at her first day to getting ready for 4th grade homework! 

The one thing that is on my mind that shouldn't be a concern is if my children are going to receive a school lunch that fulfills their nutritional needs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)  which administers the federal school lunch program has come out with new guidelines on what children participating in school lunches this year can eat. Please take the time to look at the new guidelines. I would also encourage you to check out the before and after menu suggestions from these guidelines. 

The thing that stuck out to me the most is that Meat has been decreased in the school lunch program. I support eating a variety of foods in moderation. In my house we eat fruit and vegetables at each meal along with a healthy source of protein and calcium. But I know not every house is like mine. I've been in many schools across this country to know that for some children the school lunch program is the only opportunity they have to get the food they need for proper development of their brain and body.  

Meat has been cut out of the breakfast program all together and the lunch program has 8-10 oz per week for a children in grades K-5. My son is 9.  He is one of the tallest kids in his class and is within his ideal weight. For this active child, I know 2 ozs of meat in his school lunch is not going to fill his calorie needs. I also know that hungry kids don't perform as well in school. 

This week Trent Loos did a radio interview with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He is the head of USDA when Trent asked him about the new school lunch program guidelines he was unaware of the changes to the school lunch guidelines.  When Trent specifically indicated no protein is in the breakfast program, Secretary Vilsack dodged the issue. Please take the time to listen to the interview.

1/3 of the kids in school are obese or at risk for being obese. I don't think the answer to helping obese children is to decrease the amount of protein they receive. Yes, providing them balanced meals and helping them to get and stay active is important. I'm fortunate that my children love a variety fruits and vegetables, not all kids are like that and I'm concerned that just because they have more fruits and vegetables on their plates they will not eat it. Yes, the answer is to have engaged parents reinforcing this at home and unfortunately that is not always the case. 

I've relied on the school lunch program to provide my children lunch and I will still continue.  The change I'm making for my children is to be sending them with healthy fulfilling snacks that they will be able to use to supplement the lack of food they are getting at lunch. 

Oh, and I will be letting my legislative representatives in Washington DC know that when it comes to my children's nutritional health, USDA school lunch guidelines are missing an important component- MEAT!

Our Favorite Animal

Last week Miss O had her school open house. The kids showed off their work and skills they had accumulated so far this year. One of the things the kids did was to draw a picture of their favorite pet and write something about what it does. In the Hadrick house we don't have pets. I'm an anti pet mom- let's face it I can bearly handle 3 kids let alone throwing an animal into the mix. My Cowboy and I agree and we're fine without a pet. But it's times like this that I feel for my kids because everyone else has a pet to talk about. But I was proud of Miss O she did what any good young cowgirl would do and drew this picture of "Baldy" her bucket calf and wrote a darn good supporting sentence with her picture.

She added important details like his white head - note that's why his name is 'baldy' since he has a white head and his white belly. She loved taking care of baldy last spring and summer. Every day she helped feed him and take care of his water needs. She felt an amazing sense of pride with this animal and I think it's really great how she loves to work on our farm and take care of animals.

I'm not sure if you know it or not but the Department of Labor has proposed rules regarding Child Labor laws that would restrict children under the age of 16 from working on a farm and ranch. The things that children will not be able to do is shocking for example kids will not be able to work with animals over 6 months of age- which would include 4-H show animals. They also could not build fence or operate any type of equipment from tractors to power tools.  I think how this will effect my family and our community. Our kids have pride working with us on the farm I don't want it to be illegal for me to have them help work cattle or harvest crops.  This will also effect our community- what are the kids who live in town and come out to spend summers working on ranches in our area going to do? So my call to action: Let the people in Washington DC know how this will effect you. I know I know - who contacts their legislators...you should. I want Miss O to be able to tell people her favorite animal is a cow because she is able to go out and work with them everyday.

For those of you still upset that we don't have a pet. Don't tell the kids but we're considering a dog more and more...you know something that we can hunt with.