Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Prodigal Blogger

It is me! The prodigal blogger. It has been entirely too long since I have written in this blog. My life is just very busy right now. I would like to say that I am enjoying the busy-ness. I would like to say that hard work and a busy schedule is proof that I am living a full and rich life. I would like to say that my lack of blogging is symptomatic of immense happiness that is impossible to express in mere words. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

In reality, I am just too damn tired to blog. The words do not flow from my weary brain the way they used to flow. My kids still amuse me. They still utter the craziest, most bizarre phases, but I can muster little more than a grin in their direction. I don’t like it. Writing used to be my saving grace. The final, thin thread linking me to sanity. Now that I am not writing as often, I miss it terribly. If the time does not exist in my schedule, I need to make time to write in this blog. It’s that important to me.

So…rather than putting you through any more melancholic drivel about a writer’s need to write, I will update you on my life.

Work is going well. It is keeping me much busier than I imagined. I have been skipping lunch and working non-stop from the minute I sit my butt down in the morning until I leave late in the afternoon. It’s probably not a healthy habit, but I have to find my rhythm. My supervisor will be leaving for her 12-week maternity leave in two short months and I will be stepping into her shoes in her absence. Am I prepared? Ummm…no. Not even close. But I am sure I will get there.

The children are doing well. Nicholas, my little savant, is reading up a storm. He reads constantly. Street signs. Cereal boxes. Commercials on TV. He reads anything and everything he can find. It borders on nauseating, but I admit to being a bit smugly proud of his aptitude with words. He’s a chip off the old block.

Sophie is also doing quite well in school. Whereas Nicholas is reading everything, Sophie is reading all of the words she’s been taught in school. She gets upset that Nicholas is able to take it a step further and apply his knowledge of a few words to a multitude of words. Though doing extremely well, she’s not able to expand on her word lists the way Nicholas does. She compares herself to Nicholas, which really isn’t fair at all. He’s always been freakishly adept at picking up on things quickly. Reading, math, computer games…you name it. He sees or hears something once and is an instant expert. Sophie, on the other hand, is a normal five-year-old. Granted, she is also extremely smart and does well in school. I have a feeling that Sophie is going to be my child who works incredibly hard and gets straight A’s, whereas Nicholas will be my child who puts forth absolutely no effort and sails through with B’s. We shall see, but I suspect we will have some academic rivalries in their very near future.

Lucas is still struggling a bit in school. Mostly with reading and writing. And his attitude about school, in general. He hates school. He hates reading. He hates homework. He was, however, put into an advanced math class this year. He is quite good at math. Finally, in third grade, he has a teacher who is focusing on his strengths rather than his weaknesses. So that’s a good thing. He is still struggling with reading and writing and gets extra help at school. I have finally accepted the fact that my son will never be a lover of books. I seriously doubt I will ever find him holed up in his bedroom reading the day away. It’s kind of sad when you discover that your children are not interesting in the things you hold most dear. But I suppose that’s life, huh? They are ours to raise, but they belong to themselves. He’s an amazing little boy….even if he chooses math and computers over reading and writing.

Ruanita is also doing well. She’s studying very hard for her upcoming licensure exam in April. I bought her an iPod for Christmas and we put all of her study CD’s on her iPod. She listens to it constantly. Walking the dog. Cleaning the house. Taking a bath. It’s been well over ten years since she was in graduate school, so she has had plenty of time to lose a lot of what she learned. She is intent, however, on hammering that information into her brain. I am vey proud of her.

So there you have it. An update on every member of my family. We are all doing quite well. I plan on making the time to write in his blog more, as it is my sanity. Sad, but true. Stay tuned for more crazy stories from the Pierce-Ralph household…

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the update. Reading will catch on for all I am sure. Both my sons were not crazy about reading but they saw me doing it all the time. I have one who is never without a book and the other who every time he reads a book he says he should read more. My twin grandsons are like your Sophie and Nicholas. One being much better and the other catching up. It is amazing when in first grade it is all changing and the slower one is catching up. It is great you focus on their wonderful qualities and accept the challenge in their weaker ones. Keep writing. If you didn't watch 7 hours of Downtown Abbey you could have written a few blogs. :)

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