On the Bright Side

Ok, here's my effort to at least occassionally post about something positive.

1) I wasn't going to discuss the election here, since this is not a political blog, but for me the result of yesterday's election is just too fabulous to ignore. While I'm sad, angry and discouraged by the votes on the same-sex ballot measures across the country, overall I feel hopeful about our government and our country for the first time in a very, very, very long time.

2) Throughout my protracted illness* my husband has been wonderful. He was already so stressed about the pregnancy (I really think he's more worried than I am), the election, and stuff at work that he hasn't been sleeping well for weeks. Nevertheless he's been taking great care of me and our daughter. Given his own stress, I wouldn't have been surprised if pulling all the weight at home AND taking care of me for a week made him a little grumpy (I probably would be), but he's been truly terrific.

*As I type this my throat is still sore, but all in all I'm feeling MUCH better!

3) We had my daughter's parent-teacher conference the other day and it went very well. I love my child and she is funny and sweet and full of life. She can also be a pain in the a$$ and we continue to work on her behavior and listening skills. In addition, she is the youngest kid in her class and NOT mature for her age. Also, in kindergarten last year, she seemed to be having trouble with math. Anyway, the preliminary assessment we got in the mail did not look good regarding her behavior and it was pretty hard to tell about the academics. So I was pretty apprehensive about the meeting. Anyway, turns out that yes, we do still need to work on the listening skills, being quiet when others are talking, etc. BUT her teacher said a couple of things that greatly put my mind at ease. 1) She's already seen improvement in our daughter's classroom behavior since school started; and 2) The behavioral "issues" are well within the range of normal and nothing to be concerned about. And lastly, her reading and writing skills are well beyond what they expect for first graders and her math skills are perfectly on track. For reasons I can't explain, I'd also been kind of worried that the teacher didn't really like our daughter. It was pretty clear from our conversation that I was way off base and she actually told us several times (with anecdotes) how much fun she is and how much she enjoys having her in her class. A mom's mind put to ease is worth millions!