Swine Flu craziness

This was the hysteria that was the swine flu last week. It has died down a bit. No pun intended.

There is a panic happening among many of our students at school regarding swine flu. We had several kids gone today because parents wanted to keep them home in hopes that they will not be exposed to the flu virus. They are washing their hands like crazy. I had a couple kids wearing masks today when i walked onto campus this morning. I had some who asked me if they could have some rubber gloves to wear b/c they were so freaked out. The media has really spun this out of control--so out of control that my kids can't even concentrate on learning b/c they are all obsessed with the swine flu. I keep telling them that there was a report that came out this morning indicating that the s.f. was not as bad as they once thought. And it sure makes it difficult to have a due date for a big project when 5-7 kids are gone from the class. Good Grief. I realize many of the kids do not have health insurance, but, it's still frustrating.

One child made a mask for himself out of tissue but then sneezed in it and ruined it. They are starting to get creative.

I will say one good thing that has come out of this is that the kids are SO crazy about washing their hands constantly. Before whenever I asked them to b/f they used a computer, they always asked me why I had them wash their hands. I would tell them b/c I don't want it to be germy in my room. NOW they totally get it and there's no complaining.

Let's just hope this hysteria dies down and we can all move on. Dj saw a family riding in a van yesterday all wearing masks. Some of them in the fan were wearing dust masks. Now that is funny.

check up

Baylen, (but you can call him TANK) had his 1 year check-up a month late on Thursday. He weighed in at 26 pounds, 12 ounces and is 32 1/4 inches tall. This puts him in the 90%ile for weight and 95%ile for height. If he continues to maintain his growth, he will be between 5'9 and 5'11. Here's to hoping we have at least one tall child. :) Dr. D. said he is very proportional in height and weight, which is good...he's a solid, big boy. Don't we know?! :) He is now officially heavier than his sissy!

We have tried to find some cute sandals for him to wear for summer and I wanted to get him these CUTE leather flip flops with backs to slide on his ankles, but the tops of his feet are so fat that I couldn't even get it on. I couldn't even slide it on over his foot! It looks like Crocs will be one of the only kinds of shoes that will fit him this summer. We need to go to Stride Rite and see what they have for sandals. He needs double extra wides! :) Thank goodness I have a girl who can wear all sorts of cute shoes. She and Baylen both wear size 6!

Things you should never say to middle schoolers

I am sure there have been more than two instances I can think of, but one of them happened today, which is the reason for this post.

The first story is something I said about 6 years ago to my class...

Example 1: the kids were working on colonial letters. I was showing them how to darken their paper and make it look "old" by taking a tea bag, soaking it in water and then coloring the paper until they reached the darkness they were seeking.

Me: So when you are tea-bagging it, make sure you soak the bag for only about 10-15 seconds"

Student: Ms. Fitz, you sure you want us to tea bag it?

Kids: die laughing

Me: you guys are nasty!



Example 2: This one happened today. I handed out the letters regarding swine flu to all the students. It went a little something like this.

Me: It is really important that you take this letter home to your parents. You also need to know this letter lists all the possible symptoms of the flu and if you have any of them, you should probably stay home and go see a doctor. It's also important that you keep washing your hands often: after you go to the bathroom, after you eat, before you use the computers and especially after you've played in the gym at lunchtime with those dirty balls!"

Conner: starts giggling and just loses it. some other kids laugh too.

ME: I start laughing so hard I start crying.

Me: Get your minds out of the gutter!

Kids: laughing and laughing

Conner: haha she said dirty balls!

gotta love middle schoolers

Mister Mister

you are growing up too fast on me. He now runs around and says "nnnnnoo!" "No! No!" It is really cute, but now he's learning how to say it when I tell him, "Baylen, come here." "NO!" he says smiling as he runs away. So funny!

Audition update

Brynn had her audition this morning and it did not go well. The guy who wanted to talk to her was nice, but she is not always keen on talking to strangers. As soon as Dj went back to try and film and the guy asked her to sit down and talk with him, she started crying. We're guessing that they will not call her back. She had fun and talked about it and when I picked her up from school today, I asked her how it went and she said, "No mommy. I don't like that guy." So, that tells you how she felt and that's that! :) Needless to say, Dj and I were not surprised, and not disappointed. We know our little girl pretty well.

Movie Star?

Brynna has her first movie audition tomorrow morning. For real, I'm NOT lying! They are filming a movie here in Seattle at the end of June and looking for a young toddler to fill a role. We'll see if she will talk to strangers or if she'll clam up. More on this later! (P.S.: Thanks, T. for the lead!)

Arghhhh!

In case you had a bad day today, hopefully these pirate pics will cheer you up. Dj found these in his archive and I forgot how funny they were when we were taking them. Pure awesomeness.