Discussion: Pre-school

A few months ago it was potty training.

And you pulled through for me.

So lets talk again.

And this time...

Lets talk preschool.

Brookie-bear (can we still call her that when she's 16?) is turning the big 3 this summer, and even she is already talking about getting to go to school.

So, we have some options:

Option 1): Ward or community c0-op Preschool

OR

Option 2): Paid Preschool through some type of organization

Now there are pros and cons to both and I happen to know that many of you who read this blog actually feel strongly on doing preschool and some don't.

Well, I'd love to hear your opinion, what has worked for your kids, what you think is most important and most valuable, and your overall feelings on the whole subject.

Here are some of my thoughts...

Brooke would know and be familiar with the kids that we would do the co-op with. I might feel better about not sending her out into "the world" at such an early age. She will be a young 3 year old preschooler since she turns 3 in July. It would be a lot of fun for me to get to teach every 5 or 6 weeks. But would it be better for her to be socially exposed with lots of different children and get used to a more structured class setting and will it prepare her better for kindergarten? If I did the co-op this year and the other kind of preschool next year would she have a harder time adjusting? The co-op is obviously free and one day a week and the other preschool is 2 days a week from 9-12 or 9-2:30 (rest time included). After visiting this particular pre-school, I feel like Brooke would absolutely thrive in that kind of setting, and I got so excited for her! Because after all, this is for HER.

BUT, more questions... should I feel guilty about sending her off letting someone else teaching her things that maybe I should be teaching her at home?

I also should mention that if we do the co-op, we would also start either dance or gymnastic lessons, whereas with the paid preschool, it would be too expensive to do both. Does that matter or should it have any baring on my decision? Am I getting in way over my head about my little soon-to-be three year old?

So, what'll it be?

Get on your soapboxes.

Ready, set... go.

All things Potty

One of my favorite things about blogging is getting to hear ideas, comments, suggestions, advice, or what have you, from my friends.

So friends--

I need your help.

I know this isn't the most exciting post in the world, but I also know that there are way more of you that have way more experience with potty training than little 'ole me.

So how about this?

I'll tell you where we're at.

And you tell me what we need to do next?

Deal?

Great!

Happy on the potty

Experimenting with different sitting positions....Ha!

Contemplative

Brooke went #2 in the potty for the first time last friday. We rewarded her big that first time and ever since she has gone every day, twice a day, on her own, rewarded with a dove chocolate heart (her choice at the store). I would say that other than naps and nighttime, she is fully trained to go #2, although she hasn't done it anywhere but home, and I guess I don't want to be overzealous.

And here's the thing with #1: About two months ago, she saw me go, and said she wanted to try. She got on the potty and went like it was no big deal. Since that time, she has gone if she sees me, or if it's right before she gets in the bathtub. I'm worried that I have missed a great window because I didn't start the actual training with her right after she went that first time. We went to Utah for 3 weeks right after that, and I didn't think it would be a good time. But, since she has made such great strides with #2, we have spent most of this week at home. I've put her in underwear, without pants, and about every 30 minutes, I ask her if she needs to go, and most of the time she'll say no. If I try and get her to do it, I feel like I'm forcing her, and she doesn't respond well to that. She did it one time, and I rewarded her, but we've had MULTIPLE accidents since then. It's almost like since she's learned to do #2, she is no longer interested in #1, or she doesn't think she needs to be. Does that make sense? Is that normal, or am I jumping to conclusions? Do I just need to keep doing what we've been doing? Will the accidents start happening less?

Send your suggestions my way, girls!!

I have some questions

HELLO. It's Monday afternoon and we had a nice weekend. Brent had to work on Saturday (but he gets this friday off) so Brooke and I laid low, as usual. Did some more painting, got $60 in free groceries that Brent won at work, enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday and Stake Conference in the afternoon, and talking to our families via Skype and video chat (our new favorite Sunday night pastime). Monday is never my favorite day, though. Honestly - I'm having a hard time getting going! So, some questions...

1) Is it usual for your house to be a disaster after the weekend? This is common for us. And it's weird because I usually clean on Saturday but something about Sunday just creates messes EVERYWHERE. Come Monday morning - I'm not in the greatest mood when I wake up to it!

2) What is your method to menu planning and how do you choose to make dinner? I have a sister in law who puts her monthly menu on the fridge. I have a friend who does it twice a month. My sisters and I used to send our weekly menus to each other and it was great because it was all laid out, grocery list, recipes, and all. Also, how often do you try new recipes? Or are you a comfortable enough cook that you have enough "go-to" meals for your family or are you constantly trying new things?

3) Is it normal for me to be exhausted from one 15 month old and get tired just from cleaning up after her? Is she just really messy and busy or am I a total WIMP here?! Sometimes I feel like I clean up the exact same mess 5 times a day - no exaggeration here. I can't believe I used to worry as much as I did about a clean house before we had a child! I suppose you could say I'm looking for some validation. :)

4) We have a few fun Halloween events that we could potentially dress up for? We aren't really BIG into dressing up, but I think it could be fun. Brooke is going to be a ladybug. Any ideas for what Mr. Brent and I could be?

OKAY! I realize there are a lot of questions up there! Answer any that apply, all if you have some fab ideas for me, or none if you're as tired as I am on this Monday afternoon.

I'd love a little advice here..

I usually like to keep anything going on in our personal lives more private. It's not that we have lots of secrets to keep or interesting things going on, it's just that I prefer using this blog as a means of getting pictures and trivial news out to family and friends who'd like to see what we're up to. That said, I'm making an exception today. And this news that we have isn't even really that personal, so maybe that whole introduction I just gave was sort of silly. OK-Brent got a job offer in San Antonio!! The thought of this is scary, exciting, fun, crazy. etc. If it weren't for us spending two years in Berkeley, I would feel so hesitant to go anywhere. But I kind of feel like if you live in Berkeley and do ok, you can be happy anywhere. In other words, it's a great prep city to enter "real life." It's a good offer, a good company, good industry, and a good position. But, neither of us have ever been to Texas! All I know about San Antonio is that it's cheap real estate:

This particular house is going for $165,000. Are you kidding me?

The Riverwalk: known for lots of awesome restaurants

And the Alamo: which I'm embarrassed to say but what is the alamo?

Should we really move clear from California to Texas?