We had an eventful week, starting with some bad storms and many tornados on April 3. At least 17 tornadoes ripped through the Dallas-Fort Worth area from mid afternoon into the early evening. This caused much damage yet no deaths - wow, so lucky! There was massive news coverage, tornado sirens soundings, and many phone calls and text messages between loved ones. I was at work on the 10th floor in North(ish) Dallas. We evacuated the floor, descending the 10 flights in the stair well. A co-worker stayed with me. I went slow, waddling all the way. We were cleared to return to our floor after about 15 minutes. I took the elevator back up :). Rick was also at work. They evacuated to the basement (not common to have these in Texas) twice, I think. And little Guinny was with Grandmama very close to a few strikes! They stayed in the closet for over an hour, and then returned to cover in the bathroom for about 20 minutes. We were texting at least every 10 minutes to check on each other. We are very lucky - our entire extended family down here remained unharmed in body and property.
Guinny's Birthday was Friday and I got to spend it with her since I had the day off for the holiday. We slept in and watched cartoons. We played until after lunch, and then she helped me clean and bake. Though I was hoping to get more done, we had a nice day at home.
The following day we had dance class in the morning then her birthday party at the park. This was a little tricky for multiple reasons.First, Guinny was again not following along in her class. When we popped our head in, she participated for a short time then sat in the corner. Instead of repeatedly disrupting the class we decide to remove her and leave early (for the second week in a row). Arg! I'm glad she's not cripplingly shy, loud and obnoxious, or violently hitting or biting! But this misbehaving is tricky to address and correct. Sometimes she's happy and dancing, walking laps around the whole room and when told what to do or not to do (by the teacher) she tends to pout with crossed arms and lowered head. We told her she needs to listen and not to be sassy. Trying to give her examples of both. Explaining that in dance class we listen to the teacher. We are learning how to dance while having fun, but it is not playtime. She seems to understand a great deal in conversation but we have yet to see behavior improvement. When we leave early we follow up with an additional punishment for a few hours if not the rest of the day. For example we've taken away the privilege of cartoons, sweet treats, playdough or the like. And if/when she asks for the restricted item(s) we remind her of what happened in dance class. We ask her to explain back why we can't have that item. And what we can do to earn it back. She repeats it back and actually explains it in her own words vs. exactly how it was told to her. We think being around other kids and understanding and listening to an instructor (that she is not related to) is great for her. However we are brainstorming if maybe there is an activity better suited for her activity level and attention span. After briefly sharing with Misty, she told me that Sophia seemed to have a very similar experience and they switched her to a tumbling/gymnastics class. Sophia is thriving! So we are planning on completing this season with dance and brainstorming for next year.We'll see if she's able to participate in the recital coming up. I sure hope so!
Anyway, after getting home we changed Guinny out of her dance clothes explained no cartoons... she sat in her room until she apologized. Then we quickly packed up the truck and headed to the park. We were trying very hard to separate her earlier behavior from the picnic at the park. We didn't want it to come across as a reward. I think we had just enough time to make it clear and separate the activities. Anyway, we got to the park just at 11, when the party was starting. Many of our friends and family arriving along side. So we recruited help unloading and quickly got into party mode. We provided BBQ from Rick's favorite local place. Guinny asked for purple cupcake and sprinkles so I had made chocolate cake with homemade butter cream frosting decorated with star shaped sprinkles, and mixed berry cupcakes with homemade mixed berry cream cheese frosting decorated with fresh blueberries, a blackberry, and a mint leaf. The kids and adults seemed pleased with the spread. Much was eaten! After food there was roaming around the pond, blowing bubbles, playground activities, and sandbox fun. Guinny didn't even get a chance to open her gifts until we returned home. There was food, sun, laughs, and fun! The party was a success!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYikes, I was really scared about the storms and staying in the closet didn't seem to tricky after I got Guinny involved in play... Going to the bathroom for cover never worked because Guinny wanted to peak out the window in the living room at the storm! We went back to the closet... She loves to "decorate" my closet dresser with my clothes and even takes my clothes off the hangers pretending they are blankets or telling me they have to "relax" (lol). We indeed were all lucky to escape any harm to ourselves or property. I received concerned e-mails the next morning from Aunt Janet in Michigan and too Uncle Ron, who works for CBS in California. He was viewing the Dallas storms from a very unique perspective, from a news room! I assured them all were okay and thanked them.
ReplyDeleteI hope to see Guinny in her dance class soon, and too, hope she participates in her class recital. I think maybe tumbling/gymnastics may be worth a try, but the discipline a child learns in a dance class is terrific, even if it takes them a while or if it takes some at home explanation...
Guinny's b-day party was indeed a success and I enjoyed being outdoors; however, I wish I could participate in playing in the playground or walking in the grass and or even in sandbox play. I didn't realize there was a pond to walk around, but then I would have needed sidewalk to get to it and around it especially; I'm not sure if this were the case.
Easter Sunday was uneventful for me, I read half the day, at least, and did odds and ins the remainder: thus, a very relaxing day! I received no Easter baskets, the bunny wasn't so kind :( Guinny; however, shared a couple of chocolate eggs with me Monday :p, I enjoyed them too!