It's been a while

4 months....it's been 4 months since I have had TIME to write a blog!!

It has been a CRAZY year!! I started working as a substitute teacher for District #91 here at home and I thought that this would be a perfect fit for our family as well as add some pocket change to our savings account which is always a good thing.
 I thought that for sure I wouldn't be working every day since I was a sub...I would just work every once in a while...folks...I can assure you that this was not the case!! I have worked every day Mon-Fri 8 am-3:30 pm at the latest...which isn't bad physically.

I think it has really drained me emotionally. And I'm not really sure why...maybe because I hear " That's not how our teacher does it". I mean you can only hear it for so long then I start to second guess myself...for that split second. Maybe this is TOO much for me...Maybe I should just look into something in the field that I went to school for..

Yes, I do feel guilty for not using my education in the capacity it was meant for..I hate trying to keep up on my CEU's to stay current and I'm not working in an office but  after a lot of prayers I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now.  In the beginning of the year...Sam was having a hard time adjusting to all the new changes in our schedule. He just started 1st grade and he was used to me being home when he gets home. Well some days...he and Leslie were home way before I was home. And he just started acting out at school.  He was getting into trouble...like Me, Him, Guidance Counselor meeting with the PRINCIPAL kind of trouble.

There was one incident in where another kid started it and had Sam in a headlock...well...Sam threw the back of his head into the other students head......needless to say...the kid had a bloody nose and lip. And this 2nd grader has learned to not mess with Sam like that anymore.

I was so overwhelmed and so frustrated I just didn't know what to do...we took away most of his Christmas and Birthday presents. He couldn't watch WWE anymore because he would try these wrestling moves on other kids at school. I felt bad that we were punishing him...but he had to learn that this behavior was NOT ok.  I am glad that Sam had the guts to stand up for himself, but on the other hand...I felt like the school was coming down a little harsh on Sam..

( He was talking to me 2 minutes earlier about staying up past 9 pm on a Friday night)

There was one week where I heard from the school counselor  EVERY DAY about his behavior...I hated going to work...knowing that in a few hours or even the next day I would get a phone call.


So 2 months later I was talking to my aunt who works with problem kids in schools...and she suggested that we make a sticker chart...and that way he can slowly earn his toys back or some kind of treat for his good behavior..

FINALLY!! A light at the end of the tunnel....WHY didn't I think of that....I mean I talked to his Pediatrician about it and I was constantly praying about it and I just came up blank...

This sticker chart has worked so well that his poor behaviors at school have stopped. He still gets into trouble for talking to his neighbors...but he's 7. The boy has the gift of gab...just like his 9-year-old-sister.
He has made so much progress that he was made a HAWK at school. This is where the guidance counselor

and teachers have selected a few students from each class and they get to go to a party! They get a treat and they get wings that they get to color. Also when you step inside the school there is a wall by the library that hangs up pictures of all the HAWKS and it comes in a little plaque thingy..

    It has been a very trying year...and I am so grateful for the knowledge that it does get better and that maybe next year it will run smoothly.