Congratulations!!
(side note) I wondered why @BunsenBurner was lucky enough to have cake by her name…apparently it’s your CC anniversary date!!! Tell your H he has to take you out for wine tonight!!! LOL)
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Thanks! Lol, he used to roll his eyes when I mentioned “my people,” but not anymore - especially after me making some dinners using recipes from CC posts! The path to a man’s heart truly lies through his stomach. 
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My D and family have been visiting at the beach this week. SIL WFH all week, D WFH Mon-Wed. So those three days H and I had the kids all day. We went to zoo, playgrounds, ferry boat watching, arcade, did art together, hung out in garden, etc. (Not too much beach as it’s been cloudy/rainy.) Today was the first day D was off, and more running around, including afternoon/evening at the Wildwood boardwalk. Four more days of fun to go. I may be crippled by the end of it, lol!
But having loads of fun. S and his GF coming down tomorrow night for the weekend. I love having all my people together!
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Sounds like a wonderful time with family! Love Wildwood. Watch the Tram Car Please! Fond memories of Wildwood (we stayed in North Wildwood), also Cape May.
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There’s a new, modest-sized but definitely real, roller coaster called “Watch the Tram Car” and GD, 4.5 is absolutely enthralled by it. Rode it several times!
Oh, this was almost awful but turned out fine–GD and GS2 were waiting on line for a tiny-kid ride, and GD was holding the card with the tickets loaded on it. Well, that is until she dropped it, and it went right through the boards to the netherlands below the pier. Momentary hysterics because she felt so bad, but Guest Services apparently has records of every card, as long as you have a receipt, which my OCD daughter had held onto. Got a new card with all the tickets reloaded. Crisis averted. Much fun was had!
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Have an update, as DD1 called me today - she applies for her Master’s program by Jan 2024 and then starts in the fall 2024 - WHEW, baby will be older and hopefully their household routines will be running well 1 year in their new location/new work assignments. Also SIL is up for a promotion and most likely will be away for a month of training, maybe Feb 2024. Interesting that he would have known about this last Sunday when he was very territorial about me coming for a visit – but they will NEED me to come when he is out of town.
I am overlooking a lot of negative behavior that arises from SIL - and now realize that as soon as I know he has ‘a beef’ I need to call him and get clear communication back and forth. He get run away thoughts and believes his ideas, instead of factual and relevant occurrences.
So I look forward to seeing the grandkids, being involved with their new situations (school and daycare). Rejuvenating DD1 during a stay.
The family’s new location (establishing new friends and helpful ‘networking’) has somewhat rattled SIL. Maybe he is feeling some kind of loss of control or disorientation with his work and family demands. DD1 returns to her new job perhaps sometime next week - HR has handed off DD1’s transfer paperwork to a 3rd professional to complete the transfer.
Well I guess I don’t have to worry about babysitting my grandson for the next 10 days due to SIL having Covid and D working. I tested positive this morning, and shortly after my D and grandson did as well. I just sent them a link to Sly and the Family Stones “It’s a Family Affair.” 
Turns out, we did go out for dinner because husband’s former colleague was in town and wanted to meet. I did get a glass of wine! 
Little Miss String Bean survived her first cross country airplane flight! She and her parents are en route to visit her other grandmother.
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Turns out juggling multiple grandchildren is going to be a challenge. Out of town son-in-law has multiple 5 day work trips for the next three months. My daughter wants me to come help with the 8 month old granddaughter. I’ve been watching my other daughter’s son one day a week. Now my son and daughter-in-law would like me to watch their 4 month old one and a half days a week when she goes back to work at the end of September. Add to that my oldest local daughter is expecting her 2nd in late October. Trying to help as much as possible while also having time for my gym and volunteering.
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Congratulations, @2VU0609!! Exciting news!
Congratulations, @scmom12!! Welcome to ‘grandparenthood’!
GS is officially a first grader. He started last week. We hope that his wonderful experience from kindergarten continues. His teacher is very experienced and seems to really enjoy the kids and teaching. GD will start her last year of preschool. Her teacher has the best smile and is well respected, a favorite of many families. This Nana will miss them, but will enjoy a little more time to spend with girlfriends, reading, volunteering, and relaxing.
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Oldest grandkid is about to turn 6. She missed the birthday cutoff so did prek last year and is in kgn this year. She is already reading and doing math (multiplication, figuring out how old I was when her dad and uncle were born, knowing my age and the age difference between her dad and uncle, counting by 3’s, etc). She is going to be a handful.
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deleted for privacy reasons
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D1 and her husband are very nice to me because I am their best on call babysitter. They get my favorite food and wine when I visit.
I do remind myself that I have my own personal life - travel, seeing my fiends/mom. My younger daughter also has a dog that she asks me to take care sometimes. My kids know they can’t always assume I am available to take care of their kid/dog.
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We were fortunate in how our DDs birthdays fell (Feb and Mar), and all DD1’s children will not have an issue on missing a cut off. GS2’s BD is 8-31, so he ‘nipped it closely’ for a 9-1 cut off. But the school his older siblings are, he will be fine when the time comes (he just turned 2).
I know in our state, and for the private school here, they are concerned with age going into K and 1st with the Sept 1 cut off. But if one is home schooled and has completed the work through 1st grade, they can go into 2nd w/o an issue.
During HS years, one typically wants their children to be able to drive at 16 (and for some that may mean as a HS senior).
I was young in my class (cut off was Nov 1 or Dec 1, and I had an Oct BD), and started college at 17. It was good for me, as I had a brother 12 1/2 months older than me who was quite smart, and I personally pushed myself to be a good student. I was an excellent student in college - kind of a projection upward. I was also the middle child of 5, and ‘kept a low profile’ in middle school/high school at home to avoid drama (bi-polar mother, undiagnosed until her late 50’s).
We all went to the beach for Labor Day weekend. Rented a house where you opened the back door and you were literally ON the beach. The weather didn’t cooperate–it was overcast and cool Saturday and Sunday, but the kids loved it anyway.
Twin A wanted to go into the ocean even after she had gotten knocked down by the incoming tide a couple of times. I don’t swim so we walked along the shoreline collecting shells and wading in the water. Twin A is one tough kid–she was shivering so hard you could see her whole body shaking, but she refused to go up to the house to warm up and get a snack because she wanted to go back into the water. I had to carry her up to the house with her screaming no! no! no! the whole way. Her sister Twin B was happier being buried in the sand and spent a lot of time making sand castles then stomping them flat.
The baby loved the beach and was determined to crawl head first Into the waves. He tried to do every time we took him out on the beach. D took a video of him trying and captioned it as “Baby turtle attempts to reach the sea” when she sent it out to other family members.
And one bit of exciting new–Baby GS took his first two steps on his birthday. He’s going to mobile soon–and heaven help us! There will be 3 of them!
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GD will be 5 in November, so she misses the cutoff. She’ll be doing TK (Transitional Kindergarten) in the same place she went to Pre-school, and then regular kindergarten next year. It’s all day, so it will still feel like moving on from her previous classes, but I think she likes the comfort of staying where she knows the teachers and routine. Not reading yet (not that she needs to be) but very into abstract concepts, math, sounding out, and generally in pre-reading mode.
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Nashville GD was here with her parents for dinner on Sunday night. She’s 3 1/2 and talked to us about how her teachers taught them to get in the bathroom as their safe place. The world is scary and infuriating. 
Both my kids are NOV babies and and both short and light for their ages. Both had great vocabulary and S had been reading since he was 3. The preschool and his pediatrician recommended we hold S back for socializing, so we held back both S and D (2 years apart). D was very social but had trouble with mean girls from 2nd thru 8th grade until finding her tribe at private Has.
We have no regrets, tho admittedly S was very bored intellectually until private HS, but did a lot of supplementing on his own via library and computers. D also extensively supplemented similarly but in different interests.
New GS arrived yesterday just after noon. Hoping to get a grandmother snuggle later today when they get home from the hospital. I have been keeping 3 year old and round trips to daycare are 50 minutes - 1 hour each and then meals, baths, bedtime, etc. and I am a little pooped. I am going to try to make a quiche to take to them later today when I return GD’s clothes/toys/etc. and get to meet baby. Working on getting GD’s laundry done right now. Her daycare is big on experiential learning and that means that some days she comes home extra filthy. Tuesday was one of those days.
GD is just a little bit whiny staying with me as she misses her mommy & daddy and her house/routine. SIL told her baby’s name on FaceTime yesterday and she was immediately upset. She has been insisting throughout pregnancy that his name would be Cookie and she is not budging. Overall, she has been good throughout these last few days.
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