a few good things...

6 gets a weekly report from school. It lists a few expectations for behaviour and lists how the student manages against each item. We have never had a report that said she had a good week - UNTIL yesterday!! Every item was checkmarked and the comment was "A good week". The note was stapled to a certificate celebrating extra effort. 6 was commended on her effort to work independently and success last week. She was thrilled. Showwed the certificate to fellow students and their parents alike. It was great that the teacher took special note of her efforts!

On top of the good week at school, 6 also managed to get herself added to the list of karate promotion candidates for this month! She has attended regularly for the past 2 weeks and is now on the promotion list! Amazingly, so is her sister!

4 has her own karate technique. A punch is usually a strong, tight fisted movement executed from a strong stance. In 4's theatrical world, a punch is a movement where you swing your arm out front with your wrist bent and your hand in a loose fist. While swinging your arm, you drop your weight onto the opposite leg, sitting into your hip. A bored expression is also a requirement of this move. People are so amused by this child that parents of kids not being promoted are planning to attend the promotion ceremony to see the '4 show'! Unfortunately, J will be away that weekend - boxing up some of her godmother's possessions.

For me, yesterday was a cleaning day. I took every piece of paper in my office that was not current or historically relevant and tossed it in the blue bin. (threw all the crap away). I was hoping that this purging would make working manageable for the coming few months. ..Also got a doctor's note to be off for the next 2 weeks - until reassessment. Aloong with the stress from work, it turns out the pain in my right hand for the past 3 months is due to tendonitis. No wonder it has been getting increasingly difficult to even hold a pencil. The remedy for this ailment? Rest. I was up last night from 3 - 5am tossing, turning, thinking, worrying, rationalizing, planning, chastising myself. I am not sure I can actually take 2 weeks off. Too much to do at work - but at least now I have a legitimate option...