What a month this has been! I’ve blogged quite a bit less than usual, but have lived quite a big more than usual.

Though I should be doing other things, I feel the need to take a little time to process, especially since this coming weekend promises to be quite busy.

I am really delighted with my new job. I am still trying to settle into a comfortable rhythm of each day, balancing my “free time” (Ha!) with my preparation time for the job. I have to figure out a way to be more efficient, because each week I seem to spend most of the mornings getting some portion of either snack or materials ready for the afternoon. Reminder to self: this is a half time job, not a full time one.  You can’t be spending all morning prepping for the afternoon and still expect to keep your business running as well.

In spite of my sense of frustration with my own continual squandering of time, I am very happy with the job itself. I have received so many kudos from parents and teachers about how good a job I am doing, that I have completely lost count. The initiatives that I have put into motion seem to be well received, and the only complaints I’ve had so far are from kids who want to play their hand-held video games or watch movies.  I’ve decided to limit the video games to one half hour period during the first choice time of the after school program.  This means that some of these cute little addicts are at times seriously jonesing for their games. Too bad! We have other things to do!

Some of the older kids really crave movie watching. I do not have movies on my schedule for the after school program at all. When I do, it will be something short — 30-45 minutes — rather than a full length feature film, and I will be choosing the movie in advance. The no-movie policy that we had this past wednesday caused quite a bit of whining, but we made it through somehow.  The fort we built out of newspapers and fabric swatches was more fun than a movie, as was bouncing on the trampoline. Plus the popsicle sticks and puffball crafts were really creative and interesting. On different days, we have made muffins, grilled cheese, and hummus. We have planted seeds in planters, begun planning a quilt project, and did magnet experiments. “You can watch movies at home; we have so much to do here without movies distracting us,” I told them. Mean teacher!

I also am trying to get a period of QUIET to happen. As a parent of a kid who stays in my own program, I’m a little frustrated with how hard it is to get her to do her homework. By the time we get home from after school, she’s really tired, and the next morning there is never quite enough time for homework. It’s a good thing her teacher is so understanding. But I wonder what other parents feel about getting kids to use some of their afterschool time to do homework. I have to think about how to accomplish this– it is not easy to manage a diverse group of kids AND have them be quiet enough for a handful of kids to sit and do homework. Hmmmm……

On the home front, we all seem to be adjusting well to live with Cammy. She is a treasure, really she is! I feel so lucky to have her helping me, it’s just such a relief. As time goes on, I am sure I will find more ways to help her, too. I love being able to help people– and when it works in such a way that it helps me too, well, it seems almost too good to be true. It’s like in the olden days, when extended families lived together and helped one another along. There is a lot of good in that kind of system.

It took me a while to figure how to introduce Cammy to others. “She’s my husband’s first cousin who moved here from Florida” is kind of wordy. “She’s our new nanny” is kind of snotty sounding and not really that honest, since she means so much more to me than that.  But now I have figured out what I will say when I next introduce her: “This is Cammy, she’s part of my family, and lives with us now.”

This month was probably the nicest February I’ve had in a long time. I usually just can’t wait to escape from February.  We even got to have a snow day — one of those lovely surprise snow days that are just snowy enough for good fun, but not so snowy that you actually need to dig the car out. I didn’t even touch a shovel, as I knew it would warm up the next day and clear the walks for us. Cammy got to sled for the first time in her life! Yay! Fun!

Even  though it was quite a good month, I am much looking ahead to spring.  Welcome, March.  I am waiting to see my snow follies pushing up through the earth.