I suppose since there is no rhyme or reason to when I publish posts, all of them seem to be updates. I was really going to try to post once a week, but that got away from me. It’s more or less when something really interesting happens or when I remember. 🙂
Here is an update on our family:
Aaron- Well since my last post there has been some disappointing news. The trainer who held Aaron’s position previous to him left to go into the military. So, they hired Aaron to take her place. Even though she gave no inclination that she was planning on returning, she came back shortly after he was hired and demanded her position back. Since no one really wants to fight the military, she got it back. 😦 Aaron’s manager felt pretty badly about the whole thing, so they still allowed him to work one day a week at the front desk so that he could keep his free membership and still train individual clients at the gym. It was the best they could do I suppose. We were pretty bitter about the whole thing for a while as it just seemed really unfair. I mean, I understand that employers must allow military workers to have their jobs back once they return from active duty. It makes sense. But it also makes sense that there is a procedure they should have to follow in order to get that job back once they return…like notifying the employer in writing that they are leaving for duty and plan on coming back to their civilian job, so that when they hire someone to take their place the understanding is that they are temporary! Sometimes I think my thought process is just too logical for the way the world actually works. It drives me crazy sometimes. But anyway, Aaron is still working on building his own business and has a handful of clients he is working with regularly. We are hopeful that the trainer position at the gym will fall back into his hands if we stay patient.
Ben- We were able to attend parent-teacher conferences for Ben yesterday. Ben’s teachers say he is doing very well in school, right on track academically, and an all-around good kid. He participates in class and interacts well with other children. He excels at reading, spelling, and language skills but needs to work on his numbers (oh dear, he is already taking after his mother). The only problem we discussed is that it seems as though there some pretty rowdy boys in Ben’s class. Ben who is typically well-behaved is sometimes influenced by the rowdy boys and this gets him into trouble. We plan on discussing this with him, as both Aaron and I are unyielding to the idea that our children learn to think for themselves and make good choices, even with the friends they choose. All in all, I was pretty pleased with what his teachers had to say. Parenting is such hard work…I mean really really hard work, the hardest work I’ve ever done. Sending him out into the world and seeing your hard work pay off is one of the greatest feelings there is. I am very, very proud of my son.
Silas- Well, when talking about having a mind of your own and thinking for yourself Silas is the first child who comes to my mind. He doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to, no matter who is telling him, including his parents! I’m sure much of this has to do with the fact that he is two years old, but I’m starting to believe it is a part of his natural personality as well. Despite this, he is also doing very well in preschool. I speak with his teacher everyday he is there and she always has stories for me of how sweet he is and all of the funny things he says. He’s also doing very well with potty training! I have to give many kudos to his teacher for this as his refusal to do so at home has made us slack off a little. But he goes pretty regularly now and I can’t tell you how happy I will be to not have to buy diapers anymore…we’ve been buying them for five years straight!
Me- Things are going well for me. I am still satisfied with my job even though it has become more challenging. We have recently scaled down to two Advocates instead of three so my caseload has not only increased but I’ve also taken on some mentally ill clients. Challenging isn’t even the word. This is going to be a huge learning experience for me. I’m very grateful to have a lot of support from my supervisor and co-workers because I don’t know if I could do it without them. Believe me, I’m going to make this look beautiful on my resume!
These Precious Things 