I thought it would be easy for me and my family. I had been so happy when we moved to Italy. I had been truly happy when we moved back to America. So, a new adventure is what I thought I was ready for. I wanted it to be a new adventure living near family, in Utah possibly. But when we were assigned to Japan I imagined us loving it. Taking advantage of the travel and experiences. Learning things about the Japanese culture and people.
After a horrible experience traveling to Fussa for the first time I was ready for a bounce back to joy. That didn't happen right away.
I had to deal with moving farther, so far, away from our families when what I wanted was to move closer. I had to deal with moving to a country with a different culture when what I was prepared for was staying in the states (America)!
And I had the added stress of an unmotivated 5th grader. Despite Ster and my efforts to make Luke successful in his education and schooling he has sunk. Once in school on base in Fussa he slacked off until his unfinished assigned piled high and he became overwhelmed.
Ster and I had to meet with the teacher and faculty to make a plan on how to get Luke ready for middle school. The administration wanted to know if Luke was struggling because the move has been hard on him. But the reality is that his last school had a much lower expectation for education from the children and Luke was struggling there. Here the school expects so much! Luke is way behind in his education! But, as far as I know, Ty is doing great. Ty doesn't seem to be behind at all (except in Spanish and Japanese class because he just joined at the end of the year).
We also had to work work work with Luke at home every day after school and the entire weekends until Luke caught up on his missed assignments.
The stress was too much for me. I felt like a failure as a mother.
My friends (Jenn and Laura) via Marco Polo told me that his currents grades don't matter. That I should not stress out about this.
Then I stressed a while longer before my breaking point. At that time my mom also told me that this does not matter and I should not stress out about it.
I admitted to Sterling that I was not happy. About being here. About Luke's situation. But I also told him I just needed time, and prayers, to get back to being my normal self.
The next day I was able to start feeling like me again.
School had two weeks left. One of which won't be graded on (the final week of school). That helps me to de-stress.
Luke, Athena and I went on a tour of the middle school. Luke will have like 6 classes, one of which is time for him to work on homework and class assignments he might be behind on. I imagine him wasting that whole hour and getting nothing done. That's just how he rolls. :(
Currently Luke hands a day planner to his teacher every day. She writes what assignment he needs to work on at home that day and I check it off when he does. If Luke fails to do his part in this he does not earn Wii time on Saturday. This is working perfectly! Unfortunately I don't know how well it will work in middle school when he has 5 or 6 teachers.
I have a lot of things to do this week to prep for next school year. Luke and I have to go get him registered to ride the bus for middle school. He needs an ID badge for it.
Luke needs to get signed up for the Avid program. A program that helps kids who need extra help just to pass their classes.
I want to go check out the base teen center to find out what fun activities there are for Luke for the summer.
I have to sign up for schoology...whatever that is.
During the summer Sterling and I are going to homeschool Luke to make sure he has the education he needs to start middle school. If he's been ignoring the lessons at school then he doesn't know what he should!
We will do a 5th grade curriculum all summer long. Luke has to learn how to pay attention and take notes this summer!
I also want to sign Athena up for swim lessons on base. None of my children ever took swim lessons. And I think Athena should. She would love it and it's something for her to do before she starts school in the fall.
There are two base pools. One indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor pool looks awesome. And both pools are free and open to families! I don't like to be in the pool but...I will have to take the kids some times. And maybe the heat and humidity will change my tune this summer.
We are loving the spring! It's so warm and light breezy. So fun for outdoor activities!Memorial day weekend: Sterling asked me what I wanted to do on Saturday. I said "Stay home." But by Friday I had other ideas. I said to Sterling "I keep hearing how great Showa Park is. We should go on Saturday." It's suppose to be huge, great for kids and only ten minutes away from base.
Sterling said "I was thinking the same thing!"
My plan to stay on Saturday turned into "8am tennis practice, Showa Park with the family then 5pm movie theater with my husband." For my birthday I wanted to celebrate by seeing the new Aladdin movie.
Saturday morning Ster and I took the kids and we went to play tennis with the Kartchner family from our ward. One other woman showed up to play with us. So, with the oldest Kartchner boy playing we had six partnerships. We met at 8am but it got hot oustide fast! I guess next time we should start playing at 7:30am.
After a fun morning of tennis we found out there was a free military family event happening starting at 11am. We decided to postpone Showa Park and go to the event just up the street from our house. We were so glad we did! It was a blast! Free hot dogs and drinks for the kids. Free popcorn and cotton candy for the kids.
Bouncy house, fighting arena and obstacle course. Carnival games. Live music and the playground.
We brought the kids' friends (neighbors) Brandon and Lumin to the party with us.
Afterward we walked back home and set up the slip and slide. Add a few water balloons and they had hours of fun. The Wii inside the house was their other play option during that time.
At 3pm I took my kids back to the event where we played at the skate park:
Tiberias was the only one of my children to dare getting painted.
I love May! I celebrate me all month long. :)
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