First Grade

JAM has completed another year in elementary school and by the looks of this 116 degree weather, summer has arrived in full force. I don't know about JAM, but first grade was definitely a different experience overall compared to Kindergarten (P.S. You can read my tips for kindergarten here). I mean, yes, I expected to have a different experience since first grade would be his first "real" elementary school grade with actual homework, subjects, and testing. However, there was a lot of unexpected stuff that occurred throughout the year. I could ramble on for days on crazy things that happened, but here's my overview on JAM'S year in first grade and what I learned:

1. JAM convinced me to let him ride the school bus for the first time. I was completely against it not only because of what happened in kindergarten, but also because that meant releasing the reigns a little bit and trust a stranger of a bus driver to take care of my most prized possession. Long story short, it ended up becoming convenient for me to not have to drive him to school every morning and JAM had fun sitting with his BFF on the bus. The yellow school bus is something kids looked forward to when starting school!

2. A lot can happen in a short 10 minute bus ride to school. JAM got bullied twice on the bus and all I could see was RED once I found out. (2a) FYI even though schools promote all this anti-bullying stuff sometimes that isn't enough. YOU are your child's voice. If mama bear didn't raise hell in the school to get the situation resolved, my kid would have ended up being another invisible bullying statistic. SPEAK UP and FIGHT for your child's safety. It doesn't mater the area you live in or how fancy the school...kids can be cruel anywhere.

3. Sometimes I have to remind myself that certain life experiences are a first for JAM. He's never had to deal with unfriendly kids really so I have to be patient and teach him the difference between a friend who's joking around and an unfriendly child who is taking advantage of him. With that said, sometimes I have to just step back and I guess you can say, let him get hurt so he learns. As long as he's not getting hurt physically of course. This also gives me an opportunity to teach him other life lessons like everyone isn't always your friend and that's ok. It happens and it's definitely not your fault. Here's how you handle it.....etc. etc.

4. No matter how much communication you try to achieve between you and the school and/or teacher, sometimes the best route is always in-person communication. Many things didn't seem to get executed until I was physically present to make sure it got done. It's a pain, but sometimes it's necessary.

5. Volunteering is still a great thing to do for your child. Not only do they love it, you become a familiar face around the school and there are definitely benefits to that.

JAM and I are ready for his Fall Festival!

6. This year JAM had a lot on his plate from school to religion classes to soccer practice to just trying to be a kid....sometimes mom has to make executive decisions to make sure certain things stay #1 on the list.

7. JAM has always been a bright student but first grade was a little different for him. Parents are a child's number one teacher. They can only learn so much at school so most of it MUST be reinforced at home. His teacher gave him a lot of independence in the classroom as far as when to complete certain assignments and he tended to slack off a bit. Creating a visual like a white board or a chart at home helped him see what he needed to get done at school and the benefits of completing it. Learning responsibility and independence was a big thing this year. People at school aren't hovering over their shoulders as much as they were in Kindergarten so it's important to check-in with them every so often to make sure things are still getting done.

8. JAM picked up a lot of not-so-great behavior from his peers at school. There was a lot of reminder this year of what the morals and values of OUR family were and why we choose to live by them. Again, these are first time life experiences for him, but it still needs to be nipped in the butt right away.

and just like that...from August to June.....we were all done.

*sigh* I can't believe my baby completed another year in elementary school! Where has the time gone?! Every year I cry a little inside as we complete his school scrapbook. Mahal and I just give each other this stare when JAM hands us the paperwork to enroll him for the following school year. JAM finished the year receiving awesome academic awards! His favorite subject is math (he definitely didn't get that from me hehe) so it was no surprise that he earned an award in that, as well as in writing. He also received an award for perfect attendance for the whole year and was 1 of 10 first graders to receive an award for straight A's for the whole school year! Because of his straight A's he made the honor roll and received a letter from President Obama and a Presidential award. How awesome is that?! Another year gone and 2nd grade on the way. We're trying to cherish these moments every chance we get, but whether we like it or not, our big boy just keeps getting bigger. Bring it on 2nd grade! We're ready for ya! Until then, nothing but sunshine and swimming pools for the next 2 months.

What is a piece of advice you'd offer to fellow parents who have school-aged children?

Fresh Start

I've been keeping things a little hush hush about new things that have been going on with Mahal and I because I was afraid to hear people's criticism and comments about it all. Now that everything is starting to unfold for the better I'm excited to share our "fresh start" moments. Due to certain financial circumstances, we usually buy our cars used through private owners. This is helpful since we never have a car note but of course the unknown about the car is always there. So, we usually end up fixing the cars we buy. I think since my grandparents gave me my first car when JAM was born in 2006 we haven't gone a year without fixing SOMETHING on one of our cars. With JAM's busy schedule and my school schedule, Mahal and I decided to buy a second car in February 2012 because sharing a car amongst the three of us started to become a hassle. We bought it from a local used car dealership this time around, but the car would be bought as is. Go figure not even 2 months later the issues began. We came to find out that there was multiple things that needed to be replaced including a new transmission. Lovely. Because of all the work that needed to be done we decided to baby the car as much as we could until Mahal got his income tax refund to fix the car. We started off the new year by finally fixing my car and we couldn't be happier. We had enough money to  buy a new bed too after sleeping on a 10 year old bed that caused so many back pain these last couple years. Things were slowly falling into place but there were a couple things that were still bothering us: work and school.

My baby, Emerald :)

Mahal is one of the most hardworking and dedicated people I know. Since finding a job locally in 2010, he has given the company 110%. Everyone around him thought that he deserved a raise to become full time, but certain circumstances on corporate's end prevented that from happening. He tried to be understanding since he hasn't been with the company for that long, but it became hard watching other co-workers get promoted when Mahal was putting in more work and effort than they were. Although the financial stability was great to have if he got promoted to full-time, that wasn't the thing we wanted the most. We were more concerned about him getting paid vacation time off. The company he works for is only closed on Sundays so unless his one off day a week is scheduled on a Saturday or unless there was a holiday that fell on a Monday, we would never be able to even take a weekend vacation somewhere because that's one less day Mahal didn't get paid and every paycheck counts nowadays. We haven't gotten the opportunity to visit Chicago since 2009 because of it and it's something we've been wanting to do. There was talk amongst the managers that he might get a promotion this summer, but there's always secret talk about Mahal getting promoted and I know he gets bummed when it never happens. I guess someone finally listened because Mahal just got promoted! I'm so proud of him and so excited because I know that it's something that he's been wanting for awhile. Now let's see if we can finally book this trip to Chicago so we can show JAM his hometown!

As far as my school progress has been going, a lot has changed. For those of you who didn't know, the medical field has always been a field I knew I wanted to work in since I was about 10 years old. I always dreamed about being a cardiothoracic surgeon, but once I graduated from high school I realized how expensive med school was, how long it was going to take, plus I gave birth to JAM. All those factors weren't what I was looking for so I found the next best thing, becoming a nurse practitioner. The first step to achieve that was to become a nurse so since moving to Las Vegas in 2008 that is what I've been pursuing. I was already knocking at the door of the nursing program when I realized that becoming an RN wasn't for me. Along with many other factors, I realized that I liked teaching the material, organizing study groups, creating projects about the material, etc. I honestly wasn't sure what else was out there for me because medicine was always in my face. I did some research and stumbled upon a business degree. It was something I never really explored, but my little sister was always amazed with this field. I looked into the different degrees and there was only ONE school in Las Vegas that offered the degree I was interested in. I set up a college visit and this school is AWESOME. The staff is soooo helpful and you can tell that they'll do whatever it takes to help you succeed in your desired field. They are a private school so the tuition was A LOT more expensive than what I was used to and the school runs a little differently that what I have been accustomed to, but it all looks like a great fit for me. I signed up for classes and just attended the school orientation this past weekend, and I'm so excited to have a fresh start at my new university! I admit, I'm honestly a little scared. I never thought I'd be the college student who'd change their major like a lot of classmates I know, but I'd rather change my major now than continue to do my first pick which I started to dread. My first day of class is a week from today and I can't wait to see where it takes me! You're looking at a student who is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Technical Management with a specialization in Business Information Systems.

Change is always a scary thing, but sometimes it's something that is very necessary. I'm so happy that things are working out for us and that we're staying focused on the path we know we want to take. 2013 is looking so positive so I hope that it continues throughout the rest of the year. I can't wait to see where else this new year is planning on taking us. There's nothing like a fresh start to change the mood of things for the better.

How has your 2013 been going so far?