Musical Beds

 

I have confessed before that I am okay with our little boys sleeping with us. I feel like I don't get to spend enough time with them in any given day, so if at the very least, we can lay in bed together, read stories, sing songs, laugh and then they fall asleep in the crooks of my arms, I am pretty content.
  Apollo was more or less evicted from our bed when Orion came along 2 and 1/2 years ago, but has still been in our room. We happen to have a single bed at the foot of our kingsize bed. Apollo has gone back and forth between his own room and our room, sleeping in the single bed, but I gave up on trying to keep him in his own room when he started to feel like Orion took his place.
  So here is the problem; my offspring are wild when they sleep. They toss, turn, kick, flop, flip, kick the covers off, head-butt, and scream out. All to Melanie's dismay I might add. She blames it all on my genetics and I will accept full responsibility for that. Now that Orion is 2 1/2, we have begun a transitional phase. Apollo is back in his own room, and he is really liking it. Orion, although he will sometimes fall asleep in Apollos bed, he does not like to sleep in the other room. That is okay for now, because he is sleeping in the bed at the foot of our bed, at least for part of the night.

  I can almost set my clock by their sleeping patterns. On a typical night, Apollo will arrive at the foot of our bed around 1:30am. He will grab my foot and shake it. This means, wake up and come to my bed. Which I do. I will follow him back to his bed, lie down with him for a couple minutes and if I don't fall asleep, I will come back to our bed as soon as Apollo goes back to sleep. At 2:30am, I will hear a smack at the foot of our bed. This is usually Orion kicking the foot board, or even hitting his head against it. I can hear the blankets being kicked around, and then feel Orion scramble over the foot board and crawl his way up between Melanie and I. Depending on his mood, I can sometimes scoop him up, take him back to his bed and crawl under the covers with him until he falls back to sleep. Sometimes, Orion will demand that I get in bed with him, and other times he will protest; "I want to lay with mama."
  Needless to say, I don't always get enough sleep, however, it is all worth it. In a blink of an eye, these two little boys of mine will be grown, and I know I will miss these nights.
  But I have to say, the best parts of my night, is when both kids are in their own bed, and I can snuggle up against my wife. Even when she tells me I am moving too much, or by moving the covers, I am letting the cold air in. Eventually, she too becomes content or should I say, I will stay motionless long enough that she will fall asleep in my arms.
  As for me; I will relish this fleeting moment of blissful rest in my own bed, before I begin my night of musical beds.

The hands and the blue ball

There are stories that I keep in reserve, either waiting for the right time to tell them or the right way to tell them. Often they are of the more personal variety or have deeper or spiritual type of undertones that are a little more difficult to convey thoughts and feelings about.
  There are those moments in our life that we can't explain. You know something happened, watched it happen, felt it, yet you are left to question what really happened if anything at all. I have learned while watching Apollo and Orion grow through their infant and toddler years that some things that appear to be totally random, may very well not be.
  It was early January, on a Sunday evening I believe. I was home with Apollo and Orion while Melanie was at a church function. Orion fell asleep earlier than normal, and woke up about 7:30pm and was completely inconsolable, to the point that he only wanted his mom. After a about 90 minutes, I called Melanie and she hurried home and took Orion to the bath. Within minutes, he was back to his happy normal self. I could hear him laughing and splashing in the tub and squealing with excitement. Moments later, a dripping wet, naked baby emerged from the bath room.
  "Brrrrrrrr...Dada I need a tow-w-w-w-wel!" Orion announced as he ran in place, bent arms to his chest and his teeth chattering.
  I wrapped a towel around him and scooped him up into my arms. Orion was smiling from ear to ear. I carried him down the hall with me to retrieve a diaper from the living room. The whole time we were talking about who knows what... idle toddle chatter I am sure. Upon returning with Orion to our bedroom, I laid him down on the the bed on his back. The lights in the room were off but the lights in the walk in closet were on and the door was open all the way. The room was fairly well lit and the light was to my back. I unwrapped the towel that surrounded Orion, and began to put his diaper on. Immediately Orion's gaze was drawn off from my eyes up to the ceiling above his head.
He pointed to the ceiling and asked, "Dada, is that your hands?"

"My hands?" I replied, "my hands are right here silly," blowing off the seemingly random comment from a 2-year-old.
"Dada, that your hands right there!" he insisted pointing towards the ceiling over my head. In that moment, I realized that Orion was really seeing something. I assumed that he was seeing a shadow on the ceiling, so I looked up expecting to see the reflexion of a moth in the light or something causing a shadow. There was nothing there.
"See dada, that your hands, right there," he said again.
"I don't see anything Mungie," I replied.
"Right there dada!" Orion pointed insistently.
  I began to think 'this is really weird'. I searched his eyes and face and watched his eyes follow something on the ceiling. In that instance, I had the realization that there were two possibilities; Either he was seeing something that I could not, or he was hallucinating. My heart sank a bit as I was worried something might be wrong with him.
"Dada! Is that your blue ball?" Orion asked with excitement, his face and eyes lit up.
"What blue ball?" I asked laughing, while fastening his diaper.
"That blue ball right there!" This time reaching with both hands towards the ceiling trying to grab something.
  I reached out and grabbed Orion's hands and pulled him up to his feet, while he rotated his head back not to loose sight of the "blue ball."
"Huh," Orion's eyes searched the ceiling, "Its gone!" he continued, "I want to see it again!" Orion closed his eyes tight, held them shut for a few seconds, opened them and searched the ceiling again."
I was chuckling out loud at his antics.
"It not working!" he went on, "I want to see it again!" Again he closed his eyes tightly for a few moments, opened them and once again scanned the ceiling.
  After a few moments, he gave up the search, looked at me and said, "Its gone. I'm hungry dada," climbed off the the bed and ran to the kitchen.
  A million  thoughts were racing through my head. I kept coming back to the fact that Orion was hallucinating. There ways no two-ways about it. It made me sick to think that there was something wrong with him. Brain tumor, epilepsy, some sort of mental disorder...my mind raced with all kinds of horrible things. I made the decision to keep it from Melanie until the following morning so only one of us was lying awake at night stewing about it and not both.
  I told Melanie early the next morning and had her set up an appointment with the pediatrician. With in a couple days we were awaiting the results of a full blood panel and scheduling an EEG brain scan (electroencephalogram).  It was a nerve racking couple weeks as we waited for the EEG and the impending results.
 I am happy to report that Orion is perfectly normal and healthy. But in the end, I am left perplexed. I was there and experienced this with Orion. I watched his face and his eyes and there is no doubt in my mind that he saw something, or shall I say hands and a blue ball. I am further perplexed by his reaction when I stood him up and whatever he saw disappeared. Why would he think to close his eyes tightly and then reopen them hoping that what he saw would reappear? At the time of this incident, Orion was 29-months-old. I feel that he has a better understanding of what happened than I do. In the months that have passed since, Orion often looks to the bedroom ceiling, searching for the hands and the blue ball. As recent as a week ago, Orion looks to the ceiling as he climbed into our bad pointed at the ceiling and told me, "Dada, I don't see your hands right there."

The Sweet Smell of Success...Part 2; Orion

6:00am. I step out into the cool, pre-dawn air. The street is silent and still. The sky is clear and dark and Mars is shining redder than I have ever seen. Venus is just cresting the hill top to the east of my house. I breath in the day and can't help but marvel at the celestial spectacle as I head off to work knowing that I may go all day with out a glimpse of the sun, which in and of itself, by contrast, makes me a bit sad.

  With some major changes at my place of employment, I have found myself in a precarious position. I have, by necessity, taken on the workload of a second person and suffice it to say, I have been working long days and 6 to 7 days a week. I am at the top rung of the company ladder and feel the weight of dozens of others dangling below me, knowing all too well that much of their livelihood is dependent upon me doing my job correctly and efficiently. Talk about pressure.
  The irony is that I left my company behind 4 1/2 years ago to leave that feeling and burden behind me by working for somebody else. I am not trying to sound prideful, unthankful, or arrogant; I know that if I left or if something happened to me, the company would be fine and there would be others happy to step into my shoes. I am thankful for my job and love the people I work with and work for. My point is that, sometimes I wish I didn't care so much. I work my ass off because I know that others are relying on me to land contracts that will ultimately give them the means to put food on their own table. It has been a rough couple of months for me as the company goes through this transitional period. I don't mind the long hours, the spread sheets, number crunching, problem solving, etc. , but what I do mind is the reduced amount of time I have to spend with my family. I would not be doing this if it was not temporary. There is no amount of money that is more precious to me than the time that I can spend with my family. I miss them and I know they miss me.

   While I have been busy with work, Melanie has been busy potty training Orion. This blog is long over due as we declared victory in mid January and now it is early March and I am just getting around to finishing this post. Yes Orion is potty trained and I have to give Melanie 100% credit for this. I think it was a 70%/30% effort with Apollo, but as busy as I have been, and with Orion refusing to wear diapers any longer, Melanie stepped up to the challenge and made it happen. I have to tell you that we had a few heated discussions about potty training this past December. Melanie was ready to throw in the towel and take a break for a few months, and I wanted her to keep going. Trust me, she did not bend to my will at all; through research she found that stopping the process of potty training would send mixed signals to Orion and possibly make potty training harder. So, Melanie bared down and spent the better part of three whole days sitting on the bathroom floor reading stories and putting on puppet shows for Orion as he sat upon his potty chair.
  She did employ one of my tactics though; bribery. It worked like a charm for Apollo. Offering up a small toy for each success. Apollo potty trained a lot quicker than Orion, but Apollo milked the prizes for months. Orion, on the other hand, realized that he was being bribed and after a few days he quit asking for a toy for every turd.
  It is almost like finding a stash of money once you are done potty training. We spent a small fortune on diapers and wipes. It seamed like every other week we bought a case of each. Diapers and wipes alone made a Costco membership necessary.
  The baby phase is done in our house. I have mixed emotions this. While I am glad to be rid of diapers, I really miss the little baby that was so easily held, took midday naps, and was happy to sit in the bike trailer on long bike rides. on the other hand, I am looking forward to all the things we can start doing now that Orion is older and more able.
  The surplus diapers have become a bed wetting safety net while the wipes are now for hands faces instead of wiping butts, and I am basking in the glory of the sweet smell of success.

  

The hidden beauty of time well spent

The late afternoon winter sun shinning through the barren, twisted, oak trees which line the road, cause a mesmerizing strobe effect reminiscent of an old projector playing home movies. The air is soft and cool, laden with the smell of moist earth, redwoods, and bay laurel. This is home. Or at least it has been for nearly 4 1/2 years now. We really do live in a beautiful area and it is on drives like these, to and from job sites, that I discover the hidden beauty that surrounds the area. It has been a hectic few months and often a drive to and from a job site is the only thing that keeps my sanity in check on work days. I may have never discovered some of these places had my job confined me to a desk for 8 to 10 hours per day, so I see this as one of  the perks of my job.

 A new year has begun. Apollo's Kindergarten year is half over. I am not sure how I feel about this new year. I am actually kind of numb at the moment. For the past 5 years, by the time new years eve has arrived, I have been more than thrilled for the year to come to an end. I have had some of the best times in these five years, but also some of the most stressful and trying. By the time the year is over, I am so done with it. I am hoping that 2014 is the turning point. I am ready for the pattern to be broken.

  One of my biggest concerns is how Apollo and Orion will view their childhood when they are older. I want them to always look fondly back at their youth and remember being happy and having fun. So far, I feel that we have mastered that aspect of it, but with great effort. Even when I find myself in the middle of busy time period, I try to think of fun things we can do with the boys. To make up for the long work days, and working part of the weekend, we try to fit in short afternoon or day trips to the beach, or on a hike, or even an evening "Picnic" in the front room so we can all be together even if it is just to watch a movie. I live for this type of quality time with my boys and Melanie, and I feel that sometimes it is the simplest things that they will remember the most.

   Apollo is doing great in school and enjoys it for the most part. He has really come out of his shell since the begging of the year. He started off as a shy, timid kid that would avoid eye contact with his teacher, and often look away and ignore her (rather than facing the discomfort of talking to an adult), to being almost extroverted at times. Some of his moms genes are kicking in I suppose. I am enjoying watching him make new friends and learning how to interact with other kids.

  From nearly the first week of school, Apollo has made one very special friendship; Jasmine. He was really taken by this animated and energetic young lady. For weeks when I asked him about his day he would only talk to me about Jasmine and what they did together at school. His face would light up when he talked about her.
   I was able to take Apollo to school one morning this past fall. I watched and waited as he lined up with his classmates, waiting for the teacher to come and lead them to class. Out of nowhere, this young girl ran up to Apollo and threw her arms around him, "Apollo! Your here!" She laughed in delight as she smothered Apollo in hugs and kissed his cheek. Apollo beamed. This was the first time I saw Jasmine and immediately knew that this had to be her. The other kids in the class laughed and giggled at the spectacle even though they see this happen nearly every morning. For me, it warmed my heart. I loved seeing this and I am sure I had a smile on face for the rest of the day.

 At Apollo's first parent teacher conference, I learned that Apollo and Jasmine were nearly inseparable and often, as a duo, they could be very hyper and disruptive. However, they were both also at the top of their class and were both respectful when asked to tone it down a bit by their teacher. In the months that followed, we have befriended Jasmine's parents and have had a few play-dates with our kids. On the first play-date, I learned that Jasmine had given Apollo a nickname; Marshy. We really have not been able to determine how Jasmine came up with that name for him, but it is very endearing to hear her call him Marshy. As far as first time school friends go, Apollo and Jasmine are about as tight as you can get. As time goes on, I hope Apollo maintains and nurtures these types of friendships. I want him to remember the special hugs, special attention, games, and fun times they shared with each other. I want him to realize someday what a special friendship he had with this wonderful young girl.

  Orion continues to grow like a weed. He is such a joy to be around and is so quick to share a smile. This kid is resourceful. There really is nowhere in our house that he feels is out of his reach. He is a climber and uses chairs and barstools as his personal ladder to reach anything that he wants inside the house and out. There is a sound we know all to well; a barstool being slid across the floor. That is a warning sign that Orion is about to get into something that he shouldn't.  His determination is commendable. It is interesting to me to watch how independent Orion is, and at the same time he wants to help and be a part of everything. He does not want you to help him, he only wants to help you. And an incredible helper he is. We have a front loader washer and dryer set, and Orion loves to unload the washer and stuff the clothes into the dryer. There is nothing cuter than seeing this tiny little guy reach his entire body into the washer to scoop up an armful of clothing and then shove them into the dryer. There is no stopping him either. You just have to step out of the way and let him do it. When I do maintenance on the vehicles Orion wants to help with that as well. We were working on the motor home this weekend and I had to stand Orion on the front bumper and then sandwich him in between my body and the front of the vehicle so he wouldn't fall. As I was working, Orion was picking up screw drivers and wrenches and trying every nut, bolt, and screw he could reach. He never loses interest and often I am done working long before he is. He was upset when I told him we were all done, so as a reward for all of Orion's hard work on the motorhome, I decided we should take her out for an afternoon trip to the beach. Orion did his ritualistic running in place and squealing with excitement dance when I asked him if he wanted to go to the beach in the motorhome.
  The coast here is always a gamble with the weather. It is typically windy and cold. But on this day, the weather was perfect; warm, sunny, and the air was still. We played in the water, built sand castles and volcanoes, played frisbee, and as the sun dropped low on the horizon we retreated to the shelter of the motorhome, changed into some warm clothes, and had dinner as we watched the sun set. The boys and Melanie were happy and content, as was I. We were only gone for 6 hours but it was such great quality time with the boys.
  With the last light of the day hanging on the horizon, we strapped the boys into their seats and left for home. The golden sky faded to orange, then to pink and grey in my rear view mirrors. Orion smiled as I looked back at him, his eyes heavy with sleep. Apollo peered out the window that his head laid against, watching the hills go by. "Dada," he began, "Don't forget to stop and get ice-cream."
 It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

  

No greater gift

 It had to happen; Orion has hit the terrible part of his "terrible-two's." Apollo definitely hit his at an earlier age and so far, I think Apollo was much worse, or at least when he would throw a fit, it was a lot more intense. Orion, by contrast, seems to have more frequent fits, but at a lesser intensity. Orion is also more demanding in what he wants and a whole lot more stubborn. It is incredible how strong his will can be. Melanie will most likely not agree with my assessment as she is with the boys all day long, but I stand by my claim based on the "in-public" embarrassment factor, in which case, Apollo reins supreme.

  Orion is loud! Very loud. "APOLLO! NOOOO!" is one of the more common phrases heard in our house these days. Apollo absolutely relishes the fact that he can get his brother fired up. All it takes is that special way that Apollo says his name, "Oriiiiiion,"...and Orion is in full on defense mode. He knows what is coming next, "….I'm gonna get your…" And it doesn't matter what Apollo says next, Orion instantly is trying to protect that person or thing; "Don't get my mama! That's my mama!" "Don't get my truck!! That's my truck!" He can be shrill in his protest and like I said, Apollo can insert any word or words in there, i.e., dog food, chicken poop, it doesn't matter, Orion will freak out and claim it as his own.
  I must admit, that I do find it slightly enjoyable to see what Apollo will get Orion fired up about next, but by the 10th time in the space of an hour, I am done listening to Orion yelling and screaming. We try to correct Apollo's behavior by offering bribes, punishments, incentives, deterrents…but he just can't seem to find a way to stop himself. He thoroughly enjoys himself while putting his brother into a tirade. After all, what are big brothers for. I am sure I was equally relentless with my brother Gooch.
  With Christmas upon us, we have tried to use Santa as an incentive for Apollo to be on his best behavior. This tactic has failed miserably. He usually offers up his usually bargaining, negotiating, and reasoning; "Well, I will just be nice to my brother for a little bit just before Christmas, and Santa will take me off the naughty list." I am so tempted to fill his stocking full of coal.

  The magic of having your own children is that as much as they might make you crazy, they still make you fall in love with them over and over each day. Orion is the master of this. He is incredibly sweet and everything he does is adorable. Yes, even throwing a fit. He is so passionate about everything. His little heart will break just by telling him, "No."

  Apollo, in all his rottenness, can make me laugh quicker than anyone. His take on things is quite impressive to me and comical as well. Apollo has blossomed since school has started. He used to be shy and timid. Now, he is the kid that likes to be naughty when the teacher isn't looking. Melanie observed him starting a food fight by tossing food and trash into the air and then quickly acting like he didn't do anything. All the while his friends were laughing and squirming in discomfort as if they were involuntarily part of an evil plot. I couldn't be prouder.
Ultimately, his charm will earn him the rite to get off of Santa's naughty list.

Apollo is into unicorns lately and out of the blue one night he said, "Oh! Dada! I know how unicorns make babies!"
"Really?" I ask thinking to myself that this will be interesting, "how?"
"They use their horn because it is full of magic," he replies.
"Wow. How did you figure that out?" I reply.
"My brain told me," Apollo said confidently, "It sent me a message."

 On another occasion, Orion was sleeping in his car seat. Melanie, Apollo, and I were sitting in the car in front of a house looking at there Christmas light display while talking to one another. Orion began to stir in his sleep, whimpered a bit, then sobbed for a moment. We all held our breath and watched to see if he would awaken. After a moment, Orion fell back to sleep.
  Apollo announced, "He's okay. He just felt his dream and that's why he almost woke up."
I cant imagine the thought process in this kids head that brings him to his conclusions.

During the school week, I am usually the one that puts Apollo to bed. Melanie will stay up with Orion to give Apollo a chance to fall asleep. At least twice a week, I will hear Orion breakdown and start crying from the other room. I hear his foot steps and sobbing growing ever louder as he makes his way down the hall to find me. Orion will climb in bed and melt into my arms.
"Dada," he sobs, "mama mean…you spank mama's butt for Orion."
"Did mama tell you, no?" I asks with empathy in my voice.
"Yeah," he replies in his most pathetic voice, "mama tell me no…mama mean…I lock door." And yes, Orion did lock her out of our room.

  As Orion's voice slows, and his breath becomes long and regular, sleep takes him. I find the perfect moment of my day has arrived; both boys asleep, one in either arm. I am grateful for them and the love that they show me, for their health, humor, and well being. They may grow to not remember these moments; falling asleep next to me, or in my arms, but I will cherish them as a collection of precious jewels. There is no greater gift for me.

A thirst for the holidays

It has been exceedingly difficult to find some spare time to write this past month. Our agenda seems to always be overbooked. Yet so much happens on a daily basis that I would love to write about it to capture a priceless memory.
  The holidays have plowed into us full force. I love this time of year, if only for the holidays. It gives me a chance to spend extra time with my family, and also enjoy a few of my holiday guilty pleasures; pumpkin pie, Christmas lights, Christmas movies, cinnamon and spiced cider, and the smell of a fresh cut fir tree in my house. As an added bonus, I now get to enjoy watching the building excitement  emanating from Apollo and Orion as the house is transformed into a Christmas display of its own.
  With the passing of Thanksgiving, I am late in expressing my thankfulness and gratitude for my life and those that share in its adventure with me. It is easy to loose sight of how amazing life is and how much I have right in front of me, when I find myself chasing the day-to-day mundanities of career, family, and social obligations. My cup is full in so many ways. Of course I want more…for myself, and for my family. But I am eternally thankful for every moment I have with Apollo and Orion. I am thankful for their health, their bright minds, their passions, stubbornness, individuality, energy, humor, and affection.  I am thankful to be their father. These two boys have given me more than I can ever hope to give them in return. I am thankful for my wife, who tolerates me, loves me and believes in me. I am thankful for Ian and Aden even though their teenage years have been challenging. And I am thankful for my life and my health and that I am able to provide for my family.

  I watch Apollo and Orion and I am still absolutely amazed by them. By watching I mean really stepping back for a moment and watch how they approach a situation, analyze it, scrutinize it, and then find a solution on their own. It is fascinating to me because I can almost see the thought process unfolding in their young minds. In these moments, I can see how they are part of me, and also uniquely individual. They are so smart and intuitive. They both speak very well for their ages and both talk non stop.

  Apollo had his first school performance. His class sang three Christmas songs entirely in Spanish; Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, Frosty the snowman, and Oh Christmas tree. Although it was fun to watch him preform with his class, I am more thrilled when he sings these songs around the house or when we are in the car. Apollo is really grasping the spanish language and for the first time, translated something that he heard in spanish and then relayed it to me. We were at the store together and two hispanic boys were talking to one another, having a dispute. They were about 8 and 10, most likely brothers. The older one turned to the younger one and said something like (and I am guessing here), "Usted es un bebé." Apollo started laughing, turned to me and said, "He called that boy a baby! That's funny! Hahaha!"

  Orion is incredible in his own right. He is so cognizant and aware of everyone and everything in this house. He is so easy to engage in conversation. He will always answer everything that he is asked. He is a great communicator for 28 months old. He talks nonstop and is very demanding. On days that he is not feeling well, the only thing we can get him to consume is chocolate milk. Which is fine because we don't put much chocolate in it and it is something at least, however, we greatly discourage bedtime milk of any kind. We have let our guard down once or twice when he was sick and it becomes a nightly battle for the next few nights until we retrain him. This week we are fighting that battle again. This is a sample of how clever this little guy is. Keep in mind that he is 28 months old;
 "Dada," Orion begins, "I want chocolate milk."
"Sorry, Orion. Its too late. Its time for sleep." I reply.
"I WANT chocolate MILK!"
  This exchange goes back and forth for several minutes, then he turns to his mom and has a similar exchange. Finally, Orion gives in and is quite for a while.
"Mama," Orion breaks the silence, "I'm dying."
"Your dying," Melanie asked alarmingly.
"Yeah…dying," Orion says solemnly.
"Why do you think your dying?" Melanie inquired further.
"I'm scared. I'm dying,"
"What scared you?" Melanie asked with real concern, "Why do you think your dying? Do you want to say a prayer?"
"Yeah prayer," Orion says very solemnly, then folds his arms and bows his head, "I'm dying…thirsty."
"Your dying of thirst?" came Melanie's relieved and slightly condescending voice.
"Yeah," he says, "I dying thirsty!"

  

A good beginning

 Being a parent is exhausting. Every moment is centered around your children. I dare not use the words "spare moment" as there never is. Every extra minute you find for yourself is stolen from time that could be spent with your kids, or it is stolen from the time you should spend sleeping. Alas, I find myself writing after everyone else is asleep. I am not complaining, although it may sound very much like I am. The rewards far outweigh the sacrifices. We put every bit of effort into our children when they are young, and the payoff may take years to see. You blame your self for their shortcomings, pat your self on the back for their successes, and smile when you see them think for themselves. But in the end, they are like a wind up toy; you wind them up for their entire youth, and then let them go and choose their own path.
 

It is the first work day after the end of daylight savings time. It is lighter in the morning on my way to work then it has been in weeks. The air is cool, the sky clear, and leaves blowing softly from the trees and landing in the road before violently being twirled back up into the wake of the cars headed towards me. I find that I am a bit anxious. On my mind is Apollo's first parent-teacher conference. I am nervous about what his teacher will say. I am worried that he will need improvement in so many areas. I am worried that there will be behavioral issues. I am certain that his mom will point the finger at me for all of his shortcomings.
  The day drags on and at 1:30pm, I race to the school to meet Melanie, Orion and Apollo. I check the time every couple minutes as it nears 2:00pm. I pace. Melanie mocks me. I pace some more. The door opens. We are greeted by Apollo's teacher and invited into the classroom. My heart races! This is it, the moment when all my sins will be exposed. Will it be his sarcasm?…name calling?…teasing or bullying?…maybe his teacher will recommend a tutor to get him caught up to the rest of the class. I take my place in the hot seat and wait for the condemning eyes to fall upon me.
  "Yes…Apollo…" Maestra Nelson begins to speak, "lets see here..." She shuffles some papers around and then pulls out his test results and progress report for the first trimester. My heart stops beating. I hold my breath, then slowly exhale. She begins to speak and tell us about Apollo's progress. For the next few minutes, while she is speaking, I find myself looking at the report to make sure it was Apollo's, as the teacher spoke to us about his test results.
  It would seem that Apollo is a rather bright young man. He aced every subject with flying colors. Keep in mind that he is taught 100% in spanish. Now I find myself feeling flush with embarrassment. I did not expect such a good report. I know my son is amazing, but I am certainly biased in my assessment of him, and I often feel that I am the only one that thinks he is as smart as he is. At one point his teacher, Maestra Nelson, asked if Apollo went to kindergarten last year, obviously impressed by some of his abilities. I could not have been any prouder than I was at that moment. Yes, I know this is only kindergarten and I know that it is only his first trimester, but it is nice to see that all our hard work is paying off. It is reassuring to see him start off his years of learning on such a strong note.

  Melanie has done such an amazing job with Apollo in the years prior to school, by reading to him, teaching him to write letters, and teaching basic skills that he would need for school. Now that he is in school, I try to do his homework with him every night, and try to keep it fun and interesting and praise him for efforts. On the nights that I work late, Melanie does his homework with him. It is a team effort to be sure. As parents, this is when we pat ourselves on the back. We have given him a good foundation and I hope we can continue to give him the tools he needs to succeed in school and in life.
  I would be remiss if I did not mention the areas that Apollo could use some improvement. Believe it or not, it is all in the behavioral area. He is not bad, nor overly obnoxious. Maestra Nelson pointed out that he can be very talkative at times, and can be a bit hyper, especially with his best friend Jasmine. Ah yes, Jasmine, I will dedicate another post to his special friendship with this delightful young lady. Next to the box that says, 'Listens to classroom instructions' Maestra Nelson wrote the comment; "Separate from Jasmine." His  teacher did say that when Apollo is out of sorts, all she has to do is ask him once to straighten up and he falls back in line immediately and stays that way. He really is a good kid and his teacher genuinely seems to adore him.

  Of course the entire time we are in conference, Apollo and Orion are playing together in the classroom. Orion yelled out a couple times. Maestra Nelson commented on how loud he was. At the end of the conference she made the comment about how different Apollo and Orion's personalities seemed to be. Orion at this point is climbing the cubbies and being obnoxiously loud.

I could tell she was in awe of his level of energy. He spends a couple hours in the class on Monday's when Melanie volunteers, but he is usually much more reserved during that time.
"How old is he?" she asked while watching Orion jumping around.
"He is two. Maybe you will have him when he starts kindergarten here in three years," I reply.
We are outside the class at this point and we are all watching Orion climb the hand rail while screaming in delight. Maestra Nelson's eyes grow wide, weary from over 30 years of teaching.
She concedes, "I think I shall retire before then."