summer to fall transition

I'm full of emotions right now. So full that I wish I could go out into the woods like a mama bear and let out a primal scream. I am not too sure it's a good idea to do it in the middle of the city because people might think there's an emergency. Or worse, nobody will say or do anything, nobody will notice, and then I'll be terrified that in case of a real emergency nobody would come to see if I needed help.

My baby has made the transition from preschool to public school. He's in a play-based transitional kindergarten, which is a way to provide free child care. It's a new thing. So new that LAist did a series of stories about it. among the parents with kids enrolled in CSUN's Children's Center, where Albert went last year, there was a huge amount of confusion. Nobody knew if it would be best for their child to stay at CSUN or to migrate to TK. The kindergarten program is not a full day, so there are various options for after-school care. It was the main topic of conversation at every child's spring semester birthday party. Parents were frantically swapping names, dates, locations, details, phone numbers, and websites and planning to piece together a full workday of childcare for as little money as possible or at the highest quality possible, according to the family's priorities.

For us, it was a pretty easy decision. We were having to take a half-day every week to drive across town for Albert's speech therapy. At the public school, he can get his therapy on-site, and during the school day, so we don't have to leave work to take him to an appointment. And he won't have to sit in the car and have all the hassle of knowing another school's layout (including the location of restrooms).

Schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)

• 6am wake up time
• 7am get ready to leave (use the restroom before going to school)
• 7:45am gates open
• 8am school starts
• Breakfast in the classroom, Morning business (attendance, lunch orders), Calendar
• 8:30am Language arts & independent work time
• 9:45am Clean up time
• 9:50am Snack time
• 10am Recess
• 10:20am Quiet / story time
• 10:35am Math
• 11:05am Center time
• 11:40am Lunch time
• 12:30am Quiet / story time
• 12:45am English language
• 1:15am Exploration, Science, Social Studies, Art, Health
• 1:45am Outdoor exploration & Social emotional learning
• 2:20pm Clean up / Pack up / Dismissal
• 2:30-2:40pm Check-in
• 2:40-3:15pm Snack
• 3:15-4:00pm Homework Time
• 4:00-4:30pm Arts & Crafts (Indoor Activity)
• 4:30-5:15pm Outdoor Play (if weather permits < 90 deg F)
• 5:15-6:30 Centers?

I'm writing this for myself, so I can imagine where he is at any given moment and think about all the great things he is learning. Tuesdays will be adjusted slightly due to early dismissal at 1:25pm. Sometimes the outdoor time and the language arts will be switched, such as at the start of the year, due to hot temps. Then they have some random days that are "minimum days" where they get out at 12:40am. I don't think this will effect us because we have an afterschool program already in place. It's half the cost of the daycare we had before. So not free. But less expensive than what we were paying.

I have a feeling I'm going to love my new schedule. The department sent me over a contract and I signed it. So I feel comfortable adding stuff to the course Canvas shells. Hopefully, there won't be any more shuffling of classes at this point.

I'm beyond excited for run club to start up again. I'm going to try not to get carried away in the excitement and stay focused on grading stuff for CSUN. We'll see where the holidays in the semester impact the lab schedules. I'm hoping there will be some "easy" weeks where I can get caught up. I assume there will be lots of "hard" weeks where I will be struggling to keep up. I have three races this semeseter:

• Week 1 = Aug 26-30 followed by Labor Day Weekend
• Week 2 = Sep 2-6 where Monday is Labor Day & Santa Monica Classic is on Sunday 9/8
• Week 3 = Sep 9-13
• Week 4 = Sep 16-20
• Week 5 = Sep 23-27
• Week 6 = Sep 30 - Oct 4 where Thurs Oct 3 is an Unassigned Day (NO LAUSD SCHOOL)
• Week 7 = Oct 7-11
• Week 8 = Oct 14-18 and the Mission Inn Run is on Sunday 10/20
• Week 9 = Oct 21-25
• Week 10 = Oct 28 - Nov 1 also known as Halloween week
• Week 11 = Nov 4-8
• Week 12 = Nov 11-15 where Monday 11/11 is Veteran's Day
• Week 13 = Nov 18-22
• Week 14 = Nov 25-29 also known as Thanksgiving week (NO LAUSD SCHOOL)
• Week 15 = Dec 2-6
• Week 16 = Dec 9-10 where the Holiday Half Marathon is Sunday, 12/15
• Finals Week = Dec 11-17 where 12/16 is the start of Winter Break (NO LAUSD SCHOOL)

nebraska adventure 2024

Yes, I'm back from my time in Nebraska herding goats. Lots of things happened. Richard Simmons died. Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential election. Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. My husband got into a big fight with his brother-in-law and mother. Kamala Harris was endorsed by Joe Biden as the presidential nominee for the Democratic party. I guess I'm leading off with politics because it's so controversial to mention it elsewhere (in real life). And this is my private space where I can say that I'm hopeful for change in America. I hope women go to the polls and vote for Kamala. It's going to be an interesting Fall semester.

One good side-effect of the Nebraska trip is that now I'm back in California, and I'm willing to get rid of a bunch of stuff cluttering our house. I'm implementing strategies for organizing the stuff we're keeping, and I'm ready to part ways with stuff that we don't use. But along with that, I'm also buying new stuff that I think we need. I often get to this part of summer where I realize what projects I won't be able to finish. It's about acceptance. There are only two weeks until Albert starts school!

As for the trip debrief: it is always joyful to see my parents on my birthday. I appreciate now more than ever how much work is involved in raising a child. I also appreciate what a gift it is to spend time with someone. Being present together, allowing others to know you intimately, like all parts of your day and night, all the moods good and bad. It can be challenging though, to have that much contact and to give up control over things like the thermostat, light levels, what you will eat and when and how much. But here is a brief rundown of what we did and how I felt about it at the time.

July 5 - major travel day. arrived at Burbank airport before sunrise and arrived in Burchard near sunset (with a two-hour time difference and at a different latitude)

July 6 - recovery day and my actual 44th birthday.

July 7 - cousin Camp craft #1 (4th of July) suncatchers and the kinesthetic activity was a parachute.

July 8 - waterpark! This was so fun.

July 9 - playdate at Black ranch house. I had a tough night. Lot of coughing and grandma turned the AC off.

July 10 - Cousin Camp field trip to Arbor Day Farm. Monster truck pajamas might just be part of Albert's skin now. Super fun, super hot, super buggy. Got lots of mosquito bites here.

July 11 - Sitting on the floor. Doing my stretches and self care. Not really upset. Feeling like time is passing like molasses. It is slow, thick, and sticky. I'm not really missing home (California) yet. And this environment is not really the Nebraska where I grew up. Not the place, but the people for sure.

July 12 - cousin Camp craft #2 (Christmas) salt dough ornaments and fake snow. Grandma and Grandpa were not impressed with the polymer. They were super worried about how it would effect their septic tank. And it made a huge mess. We also built Elsa's castle out of Magnatiles and put flameless candles inside.

July 13 - AM Cousin Camp (Easter) Craft #3 Bunny Garland with spray painting and wax resist. Activity: Easter egg hunt. PM Cousin Camp (May Day) Craft #4 Tissue Paper Flowers and insects. Glue is fun. Kinesthetic Activity: Ribbon dancing.

July 14 - AM Cousin Camp (Halloween) Craft #5: Yarn Pumpkins, glue was less fun today. Kinesthetic Activity: Costume parade. PM Cousin Camp (St Patricks Day) Craft #6: Coffee Filter Shamrocks Kinesthetic Activity: Scavenger hunt for hidden "pots of gold."

July 15 - We didn't do a track, we did a trail...it was good. Albert mostly stayed in the stroller today. I think he is kind of worn out from Cousin Camp. They're so territorial about stuff. They are constantly whining. Yesterday was very busy. And stressful. We went to the waterpark again. The weather forecast was 107 deg F.

July 16 - It was great to have a nice long chat with DH. I can't let myself think about it too much because then I will start getting homesick. Cousin Camp Craft #6 (Labor Day) was footprint vehicles. The boys had a great time painting their feet and mine. Today Albert and Theodore were stringing beads with emojis on them and then turning their bead strings into a story. It was absolutely so cute. Cousin Camp Craft #7 (New Year's Eve) the craft was rock painting. We painted the rocks with symbols to represent all the other holidays of the year, to represent a year in review. Mentally, I'm hanging on by a thread. In the evening, we went over to pet the goats on the ranch.

July 17 - We finished up some of the earlier crafts, such as the salt dough ornaments. They needed paint. 

July 18 - We just woke up and immediately Albert made his grandpa start reading books.  It was family picture day, which actually went very well. We got some cute mother/child shots, a nice group photo and some really cute pics of the grandkids all together. For Cousin Camp craft #8 (Valentine's Day) we used marbles to paint hearts. I had some foam letters which I stuck on there to make them conversation hearts.We went to the County Fair parade, bounce houses, and the chicken dinner. It was very chaotic.

July 19 - I felt like the end was in sight. The childhood trauma was bubbling up. I had to parent myself this week. I love my family and I don't think we will be able to do this again. I want my kid to know and love his aunts, cousins and grandparents so badly. But I am realizing that I also need to protect my child like I wished any adult would have protected me. I need to set more boundaries. I feel that I need to write out how I am feeling so that I can remember next year. It feels so yucky to go "no contact" full stop. But also I don't want my child to hear my mom just abusing everyone around her and nobody stepping up to say "that's not okay." Cousin Camp Craft #9 - Pinata suncatchers. We put on the Coco soundtrack while we did this craft, which was fun and got me some Disney feels. We went to the waterpark in the afternoon and it was another great choice.

July 20 - This track has been saving my life. Cousin Camp Craft #10 (Fall) we made yarn pumpkins and corn cob windcatchers with pony beads. The craft was supposed to be fall leaf painting with bubbles but somehow we didn't get to it.

July 21 - Last day with all 3 cousins together. Albert rolled himself over on the couch and fell asleep without me right before 8pm. Also he transferred to the bed without contact from me so he must be EXHAUSTED!

July 22 - neighborhood walk with Steph and the double stroller we found on a curb alert. We tried all the configurations of the stroller with the two cousins. And got to walk through "big house land" which is always nice.

July 23 - downtown Omaha adventures with Aunt Steph.

July 24 - another great neighborhood walk and a visit to Hot Shops. And a long travel day to get home.

Final thoughts: There's going to be coffee in hell, but it will always be too hot to drink. There's more I could say about this trip but I don't have the time. I gotta release this into the universe.

Packing list 

Carryon

Baby trend stroller

🎧 Albert's headphones

cheez-it crackers

oreos

m&ms

cherrios

🧻 flour sack towel 

🩲 clothes for Albert

✈️ CARES harness

🫧 bubble fidget toy

Fruit pouches 

Checked bag

🩲 underwear (8)

🧦 socks (7)

walking shoes (wear it)

🩴 flip flops

👖 yoga pants (1)

🩳 shorts (5)

📷 sweat pants / jeans (1)

🎽 tops (7) 

👙 lounge bras (2)

🧴 toiletry bag

🎧 headphones 

🏖️ swimsuits

🤠 hats

💊 Nsaids/vitamins 

👕 long-sleeved shirt (1)

⚡cable for versa 3

😎 Goodr sunglasses

👝 garment bag for washing

🧺 large wetbag for laundry

💰 small wetbag 🌞 Think sunscreen bag

👟 Running shoes

🧦 running socks

✨ Running skirt

⏳ Running belt

👙 Sports bras

🧂 Electrolyte tabs

🪄 Anti-chafe

👛 Park bag/purse

⚡Phone charger 

🤹‍♀️ LM rompers (2)

🕯️Fake candles

Albie

🩳short outfits (7) 

👖 long pants (2)

🌛 pjs (7)

🧦socks (7)

shoes (wear it)

👲 hat

🩲 swimsuit

👢 mud boots

🩴sandals 

Packing List:

🎀 Evelyn’s bows

❄️ Instant snow

💎 Beads

🛹 Skateboard/helmet

👕 Cousin Crew shirt

🩲 Swimsuit

🐣 Easter eggs

🧲 Magnatiles

🏖️ Beach rocks

💯 Stickers

🍜 Buckwheat Noodles

As usual, I brought way too many clothes for Albert; he lived in three pairs of PJs. As usual, I crammed too many busy activities into my carryon, we didn't use ANY of them. I didn't need to bring any snacks, it was a totally fun activity walking around the airport terminals looking for and buying food. It was wild flying home without a stroller. I had four checked bags on the way there and just three on the way home. There's no way I would have been able to get to and from the plane by myself without another adult helping me roll the checked bags / stroller. I should have brought the scooter instead of the skateboard. I think I lost the necklace with his name on it. The fake candles were great as nightlights.