So this was to be the big happy easy appointment because my husband would be there with me. First I need to say that this one appointment with the nurse turned into another appointment with the doctor the next day due to me having some small issues (Ill discuss those issues later).This "easy" appointment turned out to be a bust. I found that after a few months of freedom of speech and understanding it was more frustrating to me to have him around. You see unlike Alanas teacher these people normally dont have a choice and must communicate with me. So speech is slowed and they let me take my time explaining things. When the nurse started talking I felt my head spin around in a circle she was talking so quickly. And because Issac knows how "well" Iv been doing there he was a little frustrated or confused about me constantly asking for translation. (He never said this but I could tell). And more than once I was stopped in what I was trying to say in spanish and told to let Issac tell them. GRRRR.... yes I'm showing my teeth...and squinting my eyes just remembering.
So now I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment without him. Funny how and why your feelings about something can change.
Aside from the annoyances of language barrier the appointment went as usual sort of. Because she established early on that she wanted me to visit the doctor she did no vitals checks, or sized the baby. Basically my gall bladder has been presenting itself as more of an annoyance and because of that causing other minor irritations around the bum region. I wont go into more detail anyone who has been pregnant knows what I'm talking about. But apparently this is enough for me to actually talk to the doctor about. At first I wasn't really sure why but the next day.. yes you read that right they got me an appointment the very next day and in the evening no less SO THAT MY HUSBAND COULD ACCOMPANY ME!!! Ok really I'm glad they are so accommodating about having him come with me I'm just being and independent snob. We then discussed our birth control plan with the nurse. As Iv said before they are very preoccupied with this and we discuss it almost every appointment. Our plan is for hubby to have surgery. The nurse simply wrote up a requesto or a request for us to bring to the hospital for them to make Issacs appointment. She told us it would be best to plan it for the same time as I have the baby that way he gets some extra days home with me. This was such a great idea. She explained that he would only have pain for about a day but that the seguro can grant him 3 days off work. (so we are quickly adding it up and with his 2 days he gets for having a baby and his normal one day off in the week he gets almost a whole week to stay home with us. She scheduled the date for a few days after my due date (which is back to Dec2). And if it happens that I have the baby sooner or later he just has to go in to see her and she will change the date. She did tell us to come see her the next day after we talked to the doctor and fill her in how things went.
So the next day we visited the doctor she did all the vials and some measurements of the belly and poking around in other areas. She then wrote me some prescriptions. I see that this is the reason I was sent to her. She also further restricted my diet and now Im banned from red meats, and oddly enough things like tostadas. When they write you prescriptions at the seguro its not like when another dr writes you one and you think ok which ones can I afford to get. Everything they write you is give to you of no charge. My gosh we always feel like we just hit the jack pot when we leave the seguro pharmacy with loaded arms. For free I got a box of Metamucil, a cream, some suppositories, three things of vitamins, tylenol, buscapina (its an antiinflamitory that is geared towards you digestive tract and is a blessing to me). I stuffed my purse full of the medication and we were on our way. Oh I forgot to mention that we did go back to the nurses office after the doctor and didn't get much done back there. Because the appointment was so late the nurses secretary was already gone so they couldn't actually schedule my next appointment nor the appointment for Issac. She also wants me to get some blood work done but for her to fill out the requesto she had to know the date of my next appointment so they get me in before then. So I get to go back on Monday to set up my appointment and get mine and Issacs paper work to bring to the hospital for our blood work. Sometimes going through the seguro is a pain in the butt but I just have to remind oneself I'm not really paying them for their service.
When leaving we were excited to be on our way or so we thought, the truck was out of gas and after all that Issac had to walk to get gas. The good thing is I think this gave us both time to blow off our steam about the whole translations/language barrier thing. So there it is folks there should only be two or three more of these posts before I get to tell you about the hospital.
Oh some really good news is that I booked my moms flight and her passport is on the way. She will be arriving November 10th which will give her a few weeks to get adjusted before I will need a lot of help and she will be here till Jan 19th (the day after my birthday). We are all so excited about this. She will be our first family visiting since I moved here.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Junta General
Yesterday was the meeting with the whole school to pick the board members and go over general stuff. Things started off well and the girls were sitting quietly and eating their snacks so I was able to keep up. My husband was of course there with me and if I didn't get something he told me. Basically the superintendent over a few of the schools was there and giving a bit of a lecture on how parents should be involved with their kids. Its a huge problem here that parents just dont talk to their kids about school and seem to not care if they are even going. She also explained what the board was and that it had to be all parents and not teachers. Part of that is to make the parents be more involved. Then the picking got started. Finding people to volunteer for the positions like secretary, and treasury were easy but when they got to the president things stopped. Absolutely no one wanted to do it. This was so upsetting to me because I would love to do it but cant. Many times the moms would suggest someone and that person would decline. Including my husband... yes one of the ladies from our class looked at him and said, "cant you do it." He said he wished he could but he works a lot and wouldn't be able to commit the way he should. Again a huge "sigh" from me (on the inside of course), and I was trying to remember his words to me after the last junta while I was in tears, "its only her first year of kinder, you'll be doing all the things you want to be in a year or so, just hang in till then." As they kept asking and the director and superintendent kept repeating what the presidents roll would be, Issac could see me squirming and whining inside myself. He finally said, "Well if I agree to do it will you do most of it but Ill just join at the meetings for the translations." I wanted to kiss him right then and there. I would have never suggested it because he really does work a lot and I know the last thing he needs is a school meeting every time he is off work. As we discussed it a lady finally agreed to do it. He just smiled at me with a "next year." look.
Oh but wait now they need a vise president and no wanted that one either. So my (handsome lovely night in shining armor) hubby stood up (and you could see some of the ladies relax a bit) and said, my wife and I could do it together, and my only day off is wed so meetings would have to held then or you would have to work with my wife's language ability. Everyone was shaking their heads yes and in agreement and then he went up front with the others that had been "elected". For now I of course stayed in the back with the girls but I'm so happy that we are going to be involved and know whats going on and have some say so in it all. For the rest of the meeting I was kind of in and out with the girls but I got the gist of what was going on. First they talked about payment for the school. So here we were thinking even though it was gov school we would still have to pay a hefty inscription and monthly payment (the private inscriptions are like 1-15thousand pesos and a monthly payment of 500p) Here the total payment is to be 550p. The issue is that sometimes people just dont pay when going to gov schools and others have to pick up the slack. A gov school can not prevent a child from coming to class if their parents haven't paid (whoo hoo for that, its not the kids fault). So there was like an hour discussion over all this and thanks to Issacs wonderful idea I think the left it where everyone was happy. He suggested that they could have a few payment plans, one is that you can pay the whole amount before mid December and if you do you pay only 500p. Then if you want they can split it up so that you pay little by little each month (50p), and if you dont pay by a certain date each month you will have to pay more (60p) and the amount you pay will keep going up until you pay. This was a great idea and I'm glad I'm not the treasury who has to keep up with it all. But she was even in agreement so I think its gonna work out. This money will go to hygiene, utilities and safety and we will get a read out of what all it is spent on.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that at the junta with the teacher she gave us yet another form to fill out about our children. This form had the normal personal info about name, parents, contacts ext but also asked in depth questions about the child's behavior and how the parents normally respond. Apparently the reason classes were only 2 hours the last couple weeks was because the teachers were suppose to have an interview with each parent after class and go over these questions. Instead we just got the paper last Friday and were told to bring it back filled out. The superintendent said she noticed this and that she was going to suspend the 3 hour classes for the next 2 weeks again and make them 2 hours so the teachers would do the interviews. Are the teachers going to do it? We dont know yet. Alanas teacher was still collecting the papers from the parents and stating that this is how she had done it every year. I wish she would do an interview because I think its a great interaction between parents and teachers but we shall see.
We were also informed that there would be a total of five holiday parties that would be held at the school and the total year cost of these classes is 150p.
We were also given their menu's which is the food we are to send with them each day. We will be getting these every Friday and the kids are expected to have exactly what is written or it will be taken away. They waited till after the first two weeks to do this just to see what the parents were sending. Sure enough parents were sending their kids to school with sugary snacks and chips. So now we get to be regimented, I'm fine with this though because now I dont have to try to get creative with her lunches. ;)
Total cost: 1628p
Parties 150p
School maintenance 500p
School materials 300p
pencil bag 20p
New book bag (Im not sure on the price yet, we have been using a small one she had but her book wont fit in it once she gets it so we will have to add this on later)
Uniforms:
Sweets (can only be bought at the school) 250p
shoes and undergarments (soriana) 185p
Falda or skirt (made by neighboor) 65p material 70p for 2 dresses made
2 pair socks (downtown) 12p
sweater (downtown) 95p
A few more things that were not at the junta. Today it looked like rain so I drove Alana to school. We picked up our new friends on the way (we have friends, lol). Then when I was talking to the teacher I was trying to explain that I wrote up some recipes for the moms and that I would bring copies sometime this week. She looked utterly confused so I laughed and said I was like talking to a kid. Well that's what I think I said, although from her response I think it came out more like, I'm like talking to my daughter. Because the teachers reply was that it was not at all like talking to Alana because Alanas spanish was really good. Although I'm laughing about this I kind of like dang my baby has already surpassed me I need to get on this.
Well I also picked up the same friend on the way home because I got carried away writing this post and left the house a little late and had to drive to pick her up also. On the way home my new friend explained how her sister lives in the states and her kids (my friends sobrinos) speak only English. My friends son wants to learn English so he can talk with his primos. I told her to come over any weekend for some coffee and we could let the kids play and let Alana tell him some words, and that also I had some videos that might help him learn words. I explained that after he learns some words then I would start communicating with him only in English and I would also ask Alana to do the same. But I feel he needs to have a grasp on some words before the communication starts.
Oh but wait now they need a vise president and no wanted that one either. So my (handsome lovely night in shining armor) hubby stood up (and you could see some of the ladies relax a bit) and said, my wife and I could do it together, and my only day off is wed so meetings would have to held then or you would have to work with my wife's language ability. Everyone was shaking their heads yes and in agreement and then he went up front with the others that had been "elected". For now I of course stayed in the back with the girls but I'm so happy that we are going to be involved and know whats going on and have some say so in it all. For the rest of the meeting I was kind of in and out with the girls but I got the gist of what was going on. First they talked about payment for the school. So here we were thinking even though it was gov school we would still have to pay a hefty inscription and monthly payment (the private inscriptions are like 1-15thousand pesos and a monthly payment of 500p) Here the total payment is to be 550p. The issue is that sometimes people just dont pay when going to gov schools and others have to pick up the slack. A gov school can not prevent a child from coming to class if their parents haven't paid (whoo hoo for that, its not the kids fault). So there was like an hour discussion over all this and thanks to Issacs wonderful idea I think the left it where everyone was happy. He suggested that they could have a few payment plans, one is that you can pay the whole amount before mid December and if you do you pay only 500p. Then if you want they can split it up so that you pay little by little each month (50p), and if you dont pay by a certain date each month you will have to pay more (60p) and the amount you pay will keep going up until you pay. This was a great idea and I'm glad I'm not the treasury who has to keep up with it all. But she was even in agreement so I think its gonna work out. This money will go to hygiene, utilities and safety and we will get a read out of what all it is spent on.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that at the junta with the teacher she gave us yet another form to fill out about our children. This form had the normal personal info about name, parents, contacts ext but also asked in depth questions about the child's behavior and how the parents normally respond. Apparently the reason classes were only 2 hours the last couple weeks was because the teachers were suppose to have an interview with each parent after class and go over these questions. Instead we just got the paper last Friday and were told to bring it back filled out. The superintendent said she noticed this and that she was going to suspend the 3 hour classes for the next 2 weeks again and make them 2 hours so the teachers would do the interviews. Are the teachers going to do it? We dont know yet. Alanas teacher was still collecting the papers from the parents and stating that this is how she had done it every year. I wish she would do an interview because I think its a great interaction between parents and teachers but we shall see.
We were also informed that there would be a total of five holiday parties that would be held at the school and the total year cost of these classes is 150p.
We were also given their menu's which is the food we are to send with them each day. We will be getting these every Friday and the kids are expected to have exactly what is written or it will be taken away. They waited till after the first two weeks to do this just to see what the parents were sending. Sure enough parents were sending their kids to school with sugary snacks and chips. So now we get to be regimented, I'm fine with this though because now I dont have to try to get creative with her lunches. ;)
Total cost: 1628p
Parties 150p
School maintenance 500p
School materials 300p
pencil bag 20p
New book bag (Im not sure on the price yet, we have been using a small one she had but her book wont fit in it once she gets it so we will have to add this on later)
Uniforms:
Sweets (can only be bought at the school) 250p
shoes and undergarments (soriana) 185p
Falda or skirt (made by neighboor) 65p material 70p for 2 dresses made
2 pair socks (downtown) 12p
sweater (downtown) 95p
A few more things that were not at the junta. Today it looked like rain so I drove Alana to school. We picked up our new friends on the way (we have friends, lol). Then when I was talking to the teacher I was trying to explain that I wrote up some recipes for the moms and that I would bring copies sometime this week. She looked utterly confused so I laughed and said I was like talking to a kid. Well that's what I think I said, although from her response I think it came out more like, I'm like talking to my daughter. Because the teachers reply was that it was not at all like talking to Alana because Alanas spanish was really good. Although I'm laughing about this I kind of like dang my baby has already surpassed me I need to get on this.
Well I also picked up the same friend on the way home because I got carried away writing this post and left the house a little late and had to drive to pick her up also. On the way home my new friend explained how her sister lives in the states and her kids (my friends sobrinos) speak only English. My friends son wants to learn English so he can talk with his primos. I told her to come over any weekend for some coffee and we could let the kids play and let Alana tell him some words, and that also I had some videos that might help him learn words. I explained that after he learns some words then I would start communicating with him only in English and I would also ask Alana to do the same. But I feel he needs to have a grasp on some words before the communication starts.
Friday, September 3, 2010
First school meeting
Today was the last day of the second week of school and we and the school are finally getting some info. Wednesday when I dropped Alana off I saw a poster up that said Attencion. Thankfully as I was reading it I heard another mom asking about it because it kind of didn't make sense to me. Apparently it was written weird and even those who know spanish well were a little confused. So I listened in on her questions to the director (I guess that's what I should call her)and I got what I could out of it. I then approached the ladies who have sort of "taken me in." They live right on my block and helped me find someone else who lives on our block to make Alanas uniform. Also they are always sure to slow their pace if they know I'm behind them or ask me if we want a ride if they see us walking to school. One of these ladies actually has a daughter in Alanas class so she explained things to me and offered to come by and explain to my husband just to be sure I was not misunderstanding anything. This was a major relief to me. Well she wasn't able to come by and explain things to my husband because she came down with a bug and here is how things played out.
From what I could understand we were to have a junta (meeting) with the teacher on Thursday morning at nine and the kids would be having class that day, and then next Monday the whole kinder would have a junta with the director. Thursdays are a very busy day for my husband and we decided I would go and do my best and hopefully our neighbor could fill him in on everything. I hated the idea and so did Issac but we didn't have much of a choice. Walking to school that morning I was a little nervous but had my pen and paper and was ready to do what I could. But when I showed up the teacher handed me a paper and "reminded" me of the junta tomorrow. Opps I got jueves and viernes confused again, I do this a lot for some reason. But the good thing is that it was no big deal for Issac to switch to evenings for Friday so he could go to the meeting with me. The paper she sent home with me was one to fill out information on Alana. It was all information that we had already filled out for her inscription, and on her first week of school that I gave again to the director. I'm assuming this is the teachers personal copy of the info on each kid. It was simple things like the CURP, ht, wt, domicillo ( address)with this they want to know not only the street you live on and your house number but the streets that you live between also, I find this odd. Anyway also they ask for the parents names and jobs and phone numbers. I also find this interesting considering so far I had not been asked for my phone number. We did give it to them on a piece of paper the first day of school but that was our own idea and was not requested. In a lot of cases I like the laid back style here but in this one I feel it was dangerous for all those kids to be at school for two weeks without any emergency numbers on file. Anyway I came home and filled it out, mainly just to prove to myself I could do it, and because I was annoyed at the fact the teacher specifically told me to have my husband fill it out. I know I should be able to let this stuff go knowing how my spanish isn't great but being the independent person I am it gets to me. So once I had fluffed my ego by filling it out I had Issac check everything on it the next day ( I did good!! lol)
This morning we got there a little before nine and the teacher told us to go on in with Alana. When the bell rang they had only the parents go into the class room and brought the kids out and the teacher had some class time with them during the first part of the morning. I was expecting this to all be a brief overview of what they do in class and a quick vote on if we should buy the materials individually or give the teacher money. Oh boy was I wrong and completely unprepared (we didn't bring diapers for Joslin nor food). I should have known better from reading blogs such as Leslies.
First we sat through about and hour and a half of lecture and questions on proper nutrition. I'm so glad they did this because its one of my pet peeves down here. I'm also glad they did it because it gave me a new perspective on things. I thought people just ate and feed their kids the way they did because well they just dont care or its just the way things are or eating right is just to much of a hassle. But seriously these ladies seemed like it was the first time they were hearing any of this information. I realize I take my education and my quest for learning for granted. What I didn't learn in school I have self taught through many hours of reading. I actually told a few of the ladies I would bring in some healthy recipes because they were talking about how they wanted to try to eat right but didn't know how. They actually asked the nutritionist if they could make it a school project to get recipes together to send home with the kids. So there appeared to be a real interest and this was exciting to me. During my years of nursing, teaching this type of thing was drilled into my head and the importance of jumping when you see the willingness to learn. So I'm ready to jump and I hope I can help in the way I want to be able to. I'm thinking about putting the food guide pyramid on the back of the paper I use to type up the recipes. Most of the women were doing their best to jot it down during the lecture but I could tell they were not quite getting it. I couldn't believe some of the questions that were being asked and how many of the mothers were agreeing that they didn't know these different things. But again I'm just excited to see that they were eager to learn and were listening with interest. During this whole thing the few things I didn't catch Issac was sure to whisper to me and no one seemed to mind.
Next the teacher came back (apparently the class was now watching a movie with another class) and was ready to do her part. I missed a lot of this because due to a wet diaper and a hungry belly and it being nap time poor Joslin was getting a little restless so I was standing outside the door rocking her in the stroller and Issac was standing near enough to explain things to me randomly. Basically the teacher went over that at times she had to be fuerte (strong) with some of the kids if they didn't listen that she intends to not grita or yell at them but that she does sometimes talk strongly to them. I'm thinking well no kidding but some of the moms seemed like they were not sure this should happen and asked to be sure she didn't hit the kids. The teacher explained that she nor any other teacher in the school hits the kids and mothers who had other kids that had been at the kinder a couple years agreed with her. She then talked about the uniforms and dates that we had to have them by, thankfully we have till the 13th because the lady who is making Alanas has not let us know they are ready yet. And of course the debate about materials. Issac and I were all for her taking money up and the teacher buying it all herself. This would insure all the kids had the same stuff and that one person didn't end up supplying for other kids. After her explanation of the same thing and lots of questions everyone agreed on collecting money. The teacher didn't want to be the collector and one mom agreed to do it. So we have to give her 300p before next Friday and the teacher will go to Guad over the weekend and buy all the stuff. Other than that all we have to buy is a clear pencil holder or bag and put Alanas name on it. And finally we got the fun part and talked about the fiesta for Independence. I have to say that getting to be involved in this kind of stuff is one reason I'm so glad Alana is in school. We have missed out on a lot of the culture over the last couple years because we cant ever figure out whats going on. Here is the best part, since hubby was the only dad actually inside the class room (their were two others but they were hanging around the door and in and out the whole time) and he was also a good participant the whole time he got asked to dress up for the party. I'm so excited and for sure you all will see pictures. Seriously my husband is the best man I know, he accepted with a smile and will love doing it. And here comes the worst part. None of the women wanted to dress up and I told Issac I could do it. He proudly said, "Mi esposa puede." And all the women looked at me and were excited. But then the teacher is like, that might not be a good idea. She explained to Issac that there will be a short camio for whoever dresses up. While Issacs explaining this to me the teacher is explaining to the rest of the moms that my Spanish sucks. Ok I know that's not how she put it (shes very nice and works well with me when I do talk with her) and I know the horrific scene of 15-20 moms shaking their heads and doing an "oh ok we see now" face prob wasn't as bad as it seemed... but... well... I have no words. I know this is only the beginning and I'm trying to brace myself but the more I think about it the more I'm getting irritated by it. I'm a doer, I'm involved, I'm active... and damn it I cant be now. As we were picking up Alana from the movie room Issac suggested that Monday I should stay at home with the girls and he could go to the meeting alone. I know what he was thinking was for the girls sake but this hurt. And of course instead of saying anything, I got snippy with him on the way home and just briefly mentioned that the language barrier sucks. Iv since talked to my sister and and I think I need to be at that meeting. I need to feel that I'm doing all I can to understand and be involved even if I have to tote along the girls and ask Issac to explain constantly.
I really cant explain to you how bad it sucks to not be able to jump in and say what I want and be as involved as I want. It may be prego hormones and it may not be but I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. I'm hoping after writing this post and talking some more about it with my husband (poor guy) that I will be able to walk back into the school with a renewed since of confidence on Monday.
I'm starting to feel that my Spanish needs to move to the next level but I'm not sure how to get it there. I do really well with a one on one or two conversation now but if there is more than two people I just cant keep up unless its people who know me well and make sure that I do (like Issacs family). I cant expect people to cater to me forever and I need to step it up... but how?
All in all the meeting went well and we got all the information we needed. I hope I added enough of that in with my sob story for those of you who may be looking to enroll your kids someday. If I left anything out about the school you want to know please ask!!!
From what I could understand we were to have a junta (meeting) with the teacher on Thursday morning at nine and the kids would be having class that day, and then next Monday the whole kinder would have a junta with the director. Thursdays are a very busy day for my husband and we decided I would go and do my best and hopefully our neighbor could fill him in on everything. I hated the idea and so did Issac but we didn't have much of a choice. Walking to school that morning I was a little nervous but had my pen and paper and was ready to do what I could. But when I showed up the teacher handed me a paper and "reminded" me of the junta tomorrow. Opps I got jueves and viernes confused again, I do this a lot for some reason. But the good thing is that it was no big deal for Issac to switch to evenings for Friday so he could go to the meeting with me. The paper she sent home with me was one to fill out information on Alana. It was all information that we had already filled out for her inscription, and on her first week of school that I gave again to the director. I'm assuming this is the teachers personal copy of the info on each kid. It was simple things like the CURP, ht, wt, domicillo ( address)with this they want to know not only the street you live on and your house number but the streets that you live between also, I find this odd. Anyway also they ask for the parents names and jobs and phone numbers. I also find this interesting considering so far I had not been asked for my phone number. We did give it to them on a piece of paper the first day of school but that was our own idea and was not requested. In a lot of cases I like the laid back style here but in this one I feel it was dangerous for all those kids to be at school for two weeks without any emergency numbers on file. Anyway I came home and filled it out, mainly just to prove to myself I could do it, and because I was annoyed at the fact the teacher specifically told me to have my husband fill it out. I know I should be able to let this stuff go knowing how my spanish isn't great but being the independent person I am it gets to me. So once I had fluffed my ego by filling it out I had Issac check everything on it the next day ( I did good!! lol)
This morning we got there a little before nine and the teacher told us to go on in with Alana. When the bell rang they had only the parents go into the class room and brought the kids out and the teacher had some class time with them during the first part of the morning. I was expecting this to all be a brief overview of what they do in class and a quick vote on if we should buy the materials individually or give the teacher money. Oh boy was I wrong and completely unprepared (we didn't bring diapers for Joslin nor food). I should have known better from reading blogs such as Leslies.
First we sat through about and hour and a half of lecture and questions on proper nutrition. I'm so glad they did this because its one of my pet peeves down here. I'm also glad they did it because it gave me a new perspective on things. I thought people just ate and feed their kids the way they did because well they just dont care or its just the way things are or eating right is just to much of a hassle. But seriously these ladies seemed like it was the first time they were hearing any of this information. I realize I take my education and my quest for learning for granted. What I didn't learn in school I have self taught through many hours of reading. I actually told a few of the ladies I would bring in some healthy recipes because they were talking about how they wanted to try to eat right but didn't know how. They actually asked the nutritionist if they could make it a school project to get recipes together to send home with the kids. So there appeared to be a real interest and this was exciting to me. During my years of nursing, teaching this type of thing was drilled into my head and the importance of jumping when you see the willingness to learn. So I'm ready to jump and I hope I can help in the way I want to be able to. I'm thinking about putting the food guide pyramid on the back of the paper I use to type up the recipes. Most of the women were doing their best to jot it down during the lecture but I could tell they were not quite getting it. I couldn't believe some of the questions that were being asked and how many of the mothers were agreeing that they didn't know these different things. But again I'm just excited to see that they were eager to learn and were listening with interest. During this whole thing the few things I didn't catch Issac was sure to whisper to me and no one seemed to mind.
Next the teacher came back (apparently the class was now watching a movie with another class) and was ready to do her part. I missed a lot of this because due to a wet diaper and a hungry belly and it being nap time poor Joslin was getting a little restless so I was standing outside the door rocking her in the stroller and Issac was standing near enough to explain things to me randomly. Basically the teacher went over that at times she had to be fuerte (strong) with some of the kids if they didn't listen that she intends to not grita or yell at them but that she does sometimes talk strongly to them. I'm thinking well no kidding but some of the moms seemed like they were not sure this should happen and asked to be sure she didn't hit the kids. The teacher explained that she nor any other teacher in the school hits the kids and mothers who had other kids that had been at the kinder a couple years agreed with her. She then talked about the uniforms and dates that we had to have them by, thankfully we have till the 13th because the lady who is making Alanas has not let us know they are ready yet. And of course the debate about materials. Issac and I were all for her taking money up and the teacher buying it all herself. This would insure all the kids had the same stuff and that one person didn't end up supplying for other kids. After her explanation of the same thing and lots of questions everyone agreed on collecting money. The teacher didn't want to be the collector and one mom agreed to do it. So we have to give her 300p before next Friday and the teacher will go to Guad over the weekend and buy all the stuff. Other than that all we have to buy is a clear pencil holder or bag and put Alanas name on it. And finally we got the fun part and talked about the fiesta for Independence. I have to say that getting to be involved in this kind of stuff is one reason I'm so glad Alana is in school. We have missed out on a lot of the culture over the last couple years because we cant ever figure out whats going on. Here is the best part, since hubby was the only dad actually inside the class room (their were two others but they were hanging around the door and in and out the whole time) and he was also a good participant the whole time he got asked to dress up for the party. I'm so excited and for sure you all will see pictures. Seriously my husband is the best man I know, he accepted with a smile and will love doing it. And here comes the worst part. None of the women wanted to dress up and I told Issac I could do it. He proudly said, "Mi esposa puede." And all the women looked at me and were excited. But then the teacher is like, that might not be a good idea. She explained to Issac that there will be a short camio for whoever dresses up. While Issacs explaining this to me the teacher is explaining to the rest of the moms that my Spanish sucks. Ok I know that's not how she put it (shes very nice and works well with me when I do talk with her) and I know the horrific scene of 15-20 moms shaking their heads and doing an "oh ok we see now" face prob wasn't as bad as it seemed... but... well... I have no words. I know this is only the beginning and I'm trying to brace myself but the more I think about it the more I'm getting irritated by it. I'm a doer, I'm involved, I'm active... and damn it I cant be now. As we were picking up Alana from the movie room Issac suggested that Monday I should stay at home with the girls and he could go to the meeting alone. I know what he was thinking was for the girls sake but this hurt. And of course instead of saying anything, I got snippy with him on the way home and just briefly mentioned that the language barrier sucks. Iv since talked to my sister and and I think I need to be at that meeting. I need to feel that I'm doing all I can to understand and be involved even if I have to tote along the girls and ask Issac to explain constantly.
I really cant explain to you how bad it sucks to not be able to jump in and say what I want and be as involved as I want. It may be prego hormones and it may not be but I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. I'm hoping after writing this post and talking some more about it with my husband (poor guy) that I will be able to walk back into the school with a renewed since of confidence on Monday.
I'm starting to feel that my Spanish needs to move to the next level but I'm not sure how to get it there. I do really well with a one on one or two conversation now but if there is more than two people I just cant keep up unless its people who know me well and make sure that I do (like Issacs family). I cant expect people to cater to me forever and I need to step it up... but how?
All in all the meeting went well and we got all the information we needed. I hope I added enough of that in with my sob story for those of you who may be looking to enroll your kids someday. If I left anything out about the school you want to know please ask!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Christmas in August
The longer I live here the less I think about what I miss from the states. The great thing is that even though I dont miss things when they do show up I'm so excited about them. For example Issacs mom sent us a huge jar of Jiff PB. This is sold in the larger cities in Mexico but around here all you can get is some junk called Aladine or sometimes they have a very small container of Jiff that is so over priced its not worth buying. So that was supper exciting we got it about 3 weeks ago and its almost gone. But then about a week ago I received a care package from my sister. I have the best sister in the world, in case I hadn't said that before. She has sent me things and done more running around in the states for me than anyone should ever be expected to do. We decided that she should try out the regular mail service this time around because we seem to have a lot of bumps in the road with the other mail services. Also we found out recently that packages go through the same random red light green light as people do as they cross the boarder. So I'm thinking the smaller and less conspicuous (because I still doubt the randomness of the red light green light) the better. So she got the Medium flat rate box and packed it tight and sent it on it its way. I GOT IT 5 DAYS LATER!!!!!! That is so much faster than any of the mail couriers we have used. She sent me two prego shirts, some magazines, shorts for hubby, fun bath markers and color changing tabs for the girls, happy meal toys for the girls, cars for the new baby and other random things for the girls. We are loving all of it and is so nice to have quality cloths from the states. I do really miss Kohls. Then this weekend we were privileged to have our friends Rebbecca her hubby and their son stay with us at our house. She comes in like Santa and gave my girls all kinds of toys, cloths and shoes and all new stuff. I was so shocked.. when she had asked for sizes I was thinking she was hitting up some yard sales which would have been great also, but these were all new. This is a big deal here, you see cloths cost about the same here as they do their except they are made cheaper and there are fewer sales. I refused to buy cloths unless they are on sale here because they are never even close to worth the original prices. Anyway the girls loved all their stuff and are still playing with the toys and are so excited about the cloths. She also brought me lovely books and magazines. I'm so excited because as usually this came just in time. I am currently reading the last book on my shelf that I hadn't read and its not one I'm liking all that much. One of the best things ever is that she helped me to set up a magic jack. A few months ago I went on a rant about not being able to connect with certain family members the way I wish I could. A lot of you wrote me with different ideas some of which I was already using. A lot of those ideas were just out of our cost range but this one was not thankfully. Thanks to this I have already spoken to a couple friends who haven't had time to sit in front of their computer to skype and I can communicate more frequently with my sister and mom. I cant imagine how much it could have helped and lightened my sisters load if we would have had this two years ago but hey its better now than never. Also because were pretty sure this new baby coming is a boy she brought us some of her sons old cloths. This helps a lot because I have girls and dont have boy anything.
During my walks to and from Alanas school I try to take that time to reflect on God and my relationship with him and so on and so forth. These last couple days of walks have just been full of thanksgiving. God has always put such great people in our lives and has always taken care of us. I'm so thankful for where we are in our lives and things are going so well. I actually love living here now. I love that before 10am I have said good morning and smiled at tons of people most of which I barely know or do not know at all. I love that I am getting to know my neighbors and feel so safe and cared for. Really this could go on for some times so Ill stop now and leave this blog with how thankful I am for the Christmas in August. ;)
Thanks Suegra... Thanks Burkharts.... Thanks Rebbecca and family.
During my walks to and from Alanas school I try to take that time to reflect on God and my relationship with him and so on and so forth. These last couple days of walks have just been full of thanksgiving. God has always put such great people in our lives and has always taken care of us. I'm so thankful for where we are in our lives and things are going so well. I actually love living here now. I love that before 10am I have said good morning and smiled at tons of people most of which I barely know or do not know at all. I love that I am getting to know my neighbors and feel so safe and cared for. Really this could go on for some times so Ill stop now and leave this blog with how thankful I am for the Christmas in August. ;)
Thanks Suegra... Thanks Burkharts.... Thanks Rebbecca and family.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Primer dia de Kinder
Today was the big day, Alanas first day of kinder and my first time leaving one of my kids somewhere with out me or a loved one close by. But really I must start this post with a story from yesterday. You see Alana was daily showing me signs that she was ready for school. We do a class time almost every day and she has been doing so well and learning so much. Yesterday I was laying on the couch while Joslin napped and Alana was playing quietly on the other couch. I knew she was looking at my scrapbook from our visit to the states and then I hear it.....
I wish you could hear this in her sweet voice, I hear her sound out the letters..." V-I-S-I-T," this part didn't phase me because she is always trying to read and often will sit and sound out the letters to words. But then I heard her put the sounds together and say the word, Visit. I could hear the surprise in her voice as I opened my eyes and we both got all excited. She read her first word all by herself and understood what it was she was reading. I cant tell you how proud I was and still am. She is so smart and and it was so cool to see the recognition of what she had just done on her face. I'm so glad that happened at home and not at school. I have frozen that moment in my mind and hope to never loss it.
This morning started out as every other morning does except that she had a dry bed which was a plus. So we all got chocolate milk and lots of whoohoos this morning. Then I sat and watched them play or held them while I drank up my morning cup of vitamin C (my coffee that is). Around eight we did our normal get dressed and clean up routine except this morning I had to throw together a little bite for Alana to eat at school and Tia Irma was here with us also. I find it funny that they want you to bring them a snack when they are there only two or three hours. I think its because most people here eat breakfast at like nine or ten AM so these kids are used to having something during the time they will now be in school. I was so thankful even last night that Tia Irma came to help. For one I wouldn't have sent Alana with food and two I would have sent her in an dress that would not have been as comfortable as what we later picked out. Also this morning before leaving she called us all together to pray over Alana and her first day of school. Which I think is a great way to start out the new school year but was to preoccupied to think of doing it myself. (Side note to Alice, I hardly ever used the word preoccupied before I learned Spanish.)
We headed out around 830 because like a true Mexican I waited till today to make a copy of the paper we got from the SEP office (thanks Theresa). I waited in the truck with the girls and did a cute little video of Alana while my tia made the copies. I went ahead and drove the rout we would have walked just to show Tia Irma where we would be walking every day. She agreed that it is almost an easier walk than drive because at one point you have to double back on yourself when driving. I know she will give Issacs mom the full run down so I was trying to show her everything. We got to the school a little early but the gate was open and we went to the building that was obviously the main office. There are only three buildings two of which are just one room classroom buildings. The principal (not sure if that's what they call them here, but the lady in charge) was a little gruff but totally helpful. She gave us a list of documents that I needed to bring copies of when I came back to pick Alana up today. She informed us that for the first two weeks class would only be from 9am to 11 instead of noon and on that third week times would go to noon. She showed us which building was to be Alanas class and told us to show the paper we had to the teacher so she could put Alana on her list. We walked over to the building (class room) and I fallowed Tia's lead. She not only has done this with her kids but also with a lot of kids from the childrens home. We talked to the teacher from outside the door while she was busy doing things inside the classroom. To me she didn't seem to be hearing much of what we were saying but did eventually take the paper we had and asked what the Alanas name was. We told her and she wrote it down in a little note book she had on her desk. Tia also explained that sometimes when Alana doesn't understand something she says, "no quiero." (I dont want to) I forgot to teach her to say no intiendo (I dont understand) until like a week ago and for some reason she keeps switching them up. I didn't want the teacher to think she was being a little brat when really she just didn't understand what was going on. We also were sure to tell the helper because like I said the teacher seemed a little to preoccupied to pay any attention to us. During all of this Alana kept saying, "Im ready mom!" Finally when we were all let in the classroom Alana found herself a cubby for her jacket and backpack as if she had been doing it every day of her life and picked a chair at the table and sat down. She then looked up at me like, "Oh your still here?" So I reminded her again to listen to her teacher and to be a good girl, and that I loved her and could I have one more kiss. SHE GAVE ME HER CHECK!!!!! (Seriously what am I in for). My Tia was waving me that it was time for us to leave so I gave Alana her peck on the check and hugged her tight and walked out. At the door I turned to wave at her and of course she wasn't looking my way so I said, "Adios Alana." And she turned and beamed at me like she was totally in her element.
Tia Irma and I headed from there to see Papi at the store so she could relay everything and be sure I didn't miss something. Papi was a little sad but after seeing Alana beaming in the pictures I took his spirits were lifted. You just cant be sad about something that your child is so dang happy about and ready for. I ran Tia for a couple errands and dropped her off downtown so I could go make the copies of Alanas paperwork. I did come home and try to look online for Alanas CURP number which is the only thing I'm missing but didn't have any luck. Issac will have to look it up and print it off for tomorrow. Joslin fell asleep on the way home so when I got home thankfully I only had about thirty min before I needed to leave to go make the copies and pick her up. After keeping myself busy on face book and being sure I had all the documents I needed, I put sleeping Joslin in the stroller and headed out. One quick stop at the papalaria for the copies and we were on our way. Its only about a 13 min walk with Alana is with me so it only took me ten to get there. I was happy to see I was not the only mom there 20min early. When we showed up the kids were playing outside and I was trying to be sure and find Alana so she didn't see me. I found her sitting under a tree watching the kids play. I was kinda sad but then she quickly got up and started chasing some of the kids around. All the kids are from our neighborhood so they most likely already know each other. I know it wont take her long though it never does. Then they bell rang and for the last 15 min you could hear the kids singing a song in the other building (which is the third year kinder) and Alanas building was pretty quiet. I dont know how these teachers do it there are at least 30 kids in Alanas class. During all this wait I'm feeling more and more like an outcast because all the moms seem to know each other which I'm sure they do. And I couldn't catch up with any of the conversations quick enough to try and jump in. So I just sat there and talked with Joslin. Right before the wait was over I saw a familiar face coming towards me. It was our old pastors wife (this was the church we went to before we moved). We got to talking and their youngest son will be in Alanas class. Issac and I are both a little unsure about this because this is the most unruly kid you will ever meet. Alana not playing with him every Sunday was one of the upsides to us moving and finding this other church close by. I'm really not exaggerating here this kid listens to no one including his parents. Maybe being in school will calm him down a bit we shall all see. But it on the other hand it is nice to already know one of the other moms. I was happy to find that instead of letting the kids all just run out and find their parents the teacher stood at the door with them and called out the kids name. The parents then went up and got their child. Alana came out happy to see us and tell me what all went on. I was the only mom there with a camera but I didn't let that stop me, as you will see below. Im sure this wont be the first time. lol
We walked over to the little park and I gave Alana her bubbles and a doughnut as a first day of school surprise. Our walk home was actually kinda crowded with others who live in our neighborhood. I ended up asking one of the moms about how they got the little girls uniform and was able to chat with them a bit. The funny thing is that once they realized I was "not from around here"... actually once I said, "perdon me español no es muy bien." The one lady was like Oh I know who you are, your friends with my friend .... yep I cant remember her name. This lady apparently knows one of the ladies I go to church with. Im so bad with names anyway and no living here its worse so I'm not sure exactly which lady. Well one of the ladies knows of a lady in our neighborhood who will make the dresses for cheap. She is going by there tonight and was going to ask how much fabric I would need to buy and how much to make the dresses. So all in all I think we all did a great job today, and I still might let a few tears fall tonight. ;)
I wish you could hear this in her sweet voice, I hear her sound out the letters..." V-I-S-I-T," this part didn't phase me because she is always trying to read and often will sit and sound out the letters to words. But then I heard her put the sounds together and say the word, Visit. I could hear the surprise in her voice as I opened my eyes and we both got all excited. She read her first word all by herself and understood what it was she was reading. I cant tell you how proud I was and still am. She is so smart and and it was so cool to see the recognition of what she had just done on her face. I'm so glad that happened at home and not at school. I have frozen that moment in my mind and hope to never loss it.
This morning started out as every other morning does except that she had a dry bed which was a plus. So we all got chocolate milk and lots of whoohoos this morning. Then I sat and watched them play or held them while I drank up my morning cup of vitamin C (my coffee that is). Around eight we did our normal get dressed and clean up routine except this morning I had to throw together a little bite for Alana to eat at school and Tia Irma was here with us also. I find it funny that they want you to bring them a snack when they are there only two or three hours. I think its because most people here eat breakfast at like nine or ten AM so these kids are used to having something during the time they will now be in school. I was so thankful even last night that Tia Irma came to help. For one I wouldn't have sent Alana with food and two I would have sent her in an dress that would not have been as comfortable as what we later picked out. Also this morning before leaving she called us all together to pray over Alana and her first day of school. Which I think is a great way to start out the new school year but was to preoccupied to think of doing it myself. (Side note to Alice, I hardly ever used the word preoccupied before I learned Spanish.)
We headed out around 830 because like a true Mexican I waited till today to make a copy of the paper we got from the SEP office (thanks Theresa). I waited in the truck with the girls and did a cute little video of Alana while my tia made the copies. I went ahead and drove the rout we would have walked just to show Tia Irma where we would be walking every day. She agreed that it is almost an easier walk than drive because at one point you have to double back on yourself when driving. I know she will give Issacs mom the full run down so I was trying to show her everything. We got to the school a little early but the gate was open and we went to the building that was obviously the main office. There are only three buildings two of which are just one room classroom buildings. The principal (not sure if that's what they call them here, but the lady in charge) was a little gruff but totally helpful. She gave us a list of documents that I needed to bring copies of when I came back to pick Alana up today. She informed us that for the first two weeks class would only be from 9am to 11 instead of noon and on that third week times would go to noon. She showed us which building was to be Alanas class and told us to show the paper we had to the teacher so she could put Alana on her list. We walked over to the building (class room) and I fallowed Tia's lead. She not only has done this with her kids but also with a lot of kids from the childrens home. We talked to the teacher from outside the door while she was busy doing things inside the classroom. To me she didn't seem to be hearing much of what we were saying but did eventually take the paper we had and asked what the Alanas name was. We told her and she wrote it down in a little note book she had on her desk. Tia also explained that sometimes when Alana doesn't understand something she says, "no quiero." (I dont want to) I forgot to teach her to say no intiendo (I dont understand) until like a week ago and for some reason she keeps switching them up. I didn't want the teacher to think she was being a little brat when really she just didn't understand what was going on. We also were sure to tell the helper because like I said the teacher seemed a little to preoccupied to pay any attention to us. During all of this Alana kept saying, "Im ready mom!" Finally when we were all let in the classroom Alana found herself a cubby for her jacket and backpack as if she had been doing it every day of her life and picked a chair at the table and sat down. She then looked up at me like, "Oh your still here?" So I reminded her again to listen to her teacher and to be a good girl, and that I loved her and could I have one more kiss. SHE GAVE ME HER CHECK!!!!! (Seriously what am I in for). My Tia was waving me that it was time for us to leave so I gave Alana her peck on the check and hugged her tight and walked out. At the door I turned to wave at her and of course she wasn't looking my way so I said, "Adios Alana." And she turned and beamed at me like she was totally in her element.
Tia Irma and I headed from there to see Papi at the store so she could relay everything and be sure I didn't miss something. Papi was a little sad but after seeing Alana beaming in the pictures I took his spirits were lifted. You just cant be sad about something that your child is so dang happy about and ready for. I ran Tia for a couple errands and dropped her off downtown so I could go make the copies of Alanas paperwork. I did come home and try to look online for Alanas CURP number which is the only thing I'm missing but didn't have any luck. Issac will have to look it up and print it off for tomorrow. Joslin fell asleep on the way home so when I got home thankfully I only had about thirty min before I needed to leave to go make the copies and pick her up. After keeping myself busy on face book and being sure I had all the documents I needed, I put sleeping Joslin in the stroller and headed out. One quick stop at the papalaria for the copies and we were on our way. Its only about a 13 min walk with Alana is with me so it only took me ten to get there. I was happy to see I was not the only mom there 20min early. When we showed up the kids were playing outside and I was trying to be sure and find Alana so she didn't see me. I found her sitting under a tree watching the kids play. I was kinda sad but then she quickly got up and started chasing some of the kids around. All the kids are from our neighborhood so they most likely already know each other. I know it wont take her long though it never does. Then they bell rang and for the last 15 min you could hear the kids singing a song in the other building (which is the third year kinder) and Alanas building was pretty quiet. I dont know how these teachers do it there are at least 30 kids in Alanas class. During all this wait I'm feeling more and more like an outcast because all the moms seem to know each other which I'm sure they do. And I couldn't catch up with any of the conversations quick enough to try and jump in. So I just sat there and talked with Joslin. Right before the wait was over I saw a familiar face coming towards me. It was our old pastors wife (this was the church we went to before we moved). We got to talking and their youngest son will be in Alanas class. Issac and I are both a little unsure about this because this is the most unruly kid you will ever meet. Alana not playing with him every Sunday was one of the upsides to us moving and finding this other church close by. I'm really not exaggerating here this kid listens to no one including his parents. Maybe being in school will calm him down a bit we shall all see. But it on the other hand it is nice to already know one of the other moms. I was happy to find that instead of letting the kids all just run out and find their parents the teacher stood at the door with them and called out the kids name. The parents then went up and got their child. Alana came out happy to see us and tell me what all went on. I was the only mom there with a camera but I didn't let that stop me, as you will see below. Im sure this wont be the first time. lol
We walked over to the little park and I gave Alana her bubbles and a doughnut as a first day of school surprise. Our walk home was actually kinda crowded with others who live in our neighborhood. I ended up asking one of the moms about how they got the little girls uniform and was able to chat with them a bit. The funny thing is that once they realized I was "not from around here"... actually once I said, "perdon me español no es muy bien." The one lady was like Oh I know who you are, your friends with my friend .... yep I cant remember her name. This lady apparently knows one of the ladies I go to church with. Im so bad with names anyway and no living here its worse so I'm not sure exactly which lady. Well one of the ladies knows of a lady in our neighborhood who will make the dresses for cheap. She is going by there tonight and was going to ask how much fabric I would need to buy and how much to make the dresses. So all in all I think we all did a great job today, and I still might let a few tears fall tonight. ;)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kinder
In February any child who will be going to kinder in August is suppose to get what they call here their inscription. I had no idea what I was doing and really no one was of any help around here. The problem comes in that there are tons of private kinders and at least 50 public or government kinders in my town. This is a good thing in a way because you are sure to find one close to home. I visited a few on my own and ended up with more questions than answers. Also in February we knew we would be moving before August and didn't want to put her into a school and then end up living far from it. Thankfully Issacs mom was staying in a town not far from here with his grandma and said she could get Alanas inscription for that town and when Aug came would could let the school know we moved but that she at least had her inscription somewhere so she should be let in. I actually just gave his mom Alanas papers and she took care of all of it for us. This was such a huge blessing. To prove how hard it is to figure anything out here my friend who is Mexican but not from this town was having as hard of a time of things as we were. About a month ago because we were now settled into our new house Issac and I decided we needed to check out some of the schools close by. Thankfully after all this mess from before Issac decided he should go with me this time. After the second school and our questions getting more precise a lady told us that there is an office that knows all the kinders, which have openings, and could help us to find one that is close to the house. We were thankful for this information and at the same time a little irritated that this was the first we had heard of this office. We quickly went to see the place and where told that we needed to wait until the second week of August and call for an appointment. She was helpful in telling us it was a good thing Alana had her inscription and that when the time came she would help us find a good school for her. A couple weeks ago we called the office and were told to show up on the morning of Monday the 17th at 9am. When I brought to Issac attention that there was no Monday the 17th he decided it must be Monday the 16th. So on that Monday he went into work at his normal time and then came to get me and the girls around 830. We had been told there may be a wait but when we got there it was empty. The guy told us it was the next day and that we should show up a lot earlier because there were a lot of people that would be in line. Well we knew Issac wouldn't be able to leave work two mornings in a row so I was on my own the next day. I showed up with both girls in tow at about 815 and the line was almost a block down the street. Around 9am when they opened they handed out fechas or numbers, I WAS 56, I cant imagine how long some of those people had already been waiting. Thankfully around 930 a friend of mine (the same one earlier mentioned) meet up with me there in line. She did go up and get a fecha which was 108 but stood in line with me so she could help me if I needed it. We waited in line outside until eleven. At the door we didn't mention her fecha and they helped us both. They simply asked what colonia we lived in and found that page. There are at least 10 Colonias and each page had at least five schools on it. They thengave us the school they thought was closest to our house. Thankfully me and the girls have been doing some walking every day and about a week ago had ran across the very kinder they picked for Alana. I was glad because this one is only a 12-14 min walk from the house. We dont have school buses here and although we have the truck its nice to know we can get there if something is wrong with it. We then were told to go sit in a row of seats and wait in line again. By about 1130 we were finally at the desk where they lady put the girls info in the computer and gave me a print out of the paper I need to bring to the school on Monday.
From what I understand on Monday Alana will be able to participate in class and I will be given the list of school items and what type of uniform to get her. I'm a little nervous about this because Issac will not be able to take off work to go with me. I have asked his aunt if she will be able to come into town to help me out but I'm not sure if that will happen yet. Anyway it was a headache and took more than three hours but in the end turned out ok and heres wishing next year will go smoother.
From what I understand on Monday Alana will be able to participate in class and I will be given the list of school items and what type of uniform to get her. I'm a little nervous about this because Issac will not be able to take off work to go with me. I have asked his aunt if she will be able to come into town to help me out but I'm not sure if that will happen yet. Anyway it was a headache and took more than three hours but in the end turned out ok and heres wishing next year will go smoother.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Seguro: Six month appointment
My appointment yesterday was set up at 330pm so my husband was again unable to go with me. Upon arrival they always give you your next appointment right away, I had to request a later hour and she said she could but that the date may be off a bit. Next month is my 7th month appointment and Issac is suppose to come with me so they can schedule him for his procedure. This was fine it ended up being only a few days earlier than it should have been and is at six in the eve so Issac will have no trouble making it. The girls and I got there about 320 and were not called in till almost five. They were nice enough to come out and tell us that there had been some emergencies and they apologized that they were running late. By the time we got in there though the girls were pretty restless and due to me not getting a nap that day I was pretty tired. I think this was all apparent and the nurse asked one of the student nurses to help with the girls and to get them toothbrushes to play with. There where two nurses in training and the one main nurse. She asked me a few questions and then I got on the table. The one male trainee who measured my stomach is the same one I dealt with last time. He also measured the babies heart rate and before giving it to the main nurse asked me if I had been exercising. I explained that me and the girls take walks every day and other than that running after the girls is exercise. Then he is like, no I mean just now. I thought, seriously!?!?!? Iv been waiting in the waiting area for the last hour and a half with a four year old and a one year old. Thankfully the more experienced nurse was feeling my frustration and asked for the heart rate. It was normal and she told him that. When he explained that my rate was faster than he thought it should be, she was quick to explain that I had been in the waiting room with two active kids. This would not be the first time I was thankful for her. This kid will be a good nurse some day due to his attention to detail but there is a time and a place for everything and being sensitive to where people are is a big part of being a good nurse. He then grabbed the teaching chart and I'm thinking Oh God not again. Normally Im all about the teaching and I like to hear what it is they are telling women. On this day I was just not up for it. He was reviewing what we had gone over the last time. Ok here is a part I didn't divulge last time because it could make some readers uncomfortable but I have to this time it was just to much. He read through a whole thing that was recommending agitating my nipples so they would not be to sore to feed when the baby is born. He also recommended and showed me a picture of a bra that had the nipples cut out of it to give room for swelling. The last time I was just sure I had misunderstood something and that the picture was meaning something else. Surely they dont expect women to cut up their bras. (I also dont agree with the agitating part either but I wont go into all that, I know some people even in the states feel this is a good idea). So when he got to that page he is like have you been doing this, and I lied and said yes. Then he pointed to the cut up bra and asked if I had done that and I said no. He then goes on to tell me to be sure and get an old bra or one I dont like and to be sure and do this. I'm thinking dude this is the worse time in the world for me to be wearing old bras. So not only does it need holes it doesn't matter if its supportive and comfortable. So I just nodded my head so we could move on. The next page was the food guide and he wanted me to repeat back to him what he had told me the last month. Ok like I said I´m normally all for this stuff, but for one I'm tired, two I had already been there an hour longer than expected and was getting hungry and with these two items I could not think clear Spanish. It was only after eating and telling my husband about this next part that I got the giggles about it. So although in the situation I was frustrated please feel free to laugh at this. He apparently wasn't excited about me simply saying that I needed to eat from each of the food groups and was asking me to tell him what foods I should eat with ice (hielo). Not until much confusion and him deciding to list the foods for me did I realize he was saying hierro (iron). As soon as he started with the legumes, spinach, red meats bit I'm like ohhhhhhh hierro. And he looks at me like Im crazy and says yes. I was to tired to explain what I had thought he was saying so I quickly called off a few other foods that had hierro. He then decides to explain to me why this is important and I'm sad to say at this point I cut him off and said I already knew. I haven't told them yet that I'm a nurse and I felt now would be a rude time for it but it was coming close to my lips. Thankfully when he flipped the page and asked if he had talked to me about baby care and I said no the other nurse stopped him. She said that I still have two more visits with them and that he should spread out his teaching. I hope she saw the gratitude on my face, and I explained that the next time would be better anyway because my husband would be there to help clear up any confusions. It was then my turn to ask questions and as always they were patient with my round about way of explaining what I needed to know. I was asking about the labor and delivery process. After talking to a few people I was starting to think I had some confusions about how things would go at the hospital. And I was right thank goodness. The labor room and recovery room are general rooms set up with up to 6 women. But when your actually ready to deliver they take you into a private room for the birth of the baby. So as long as we wait long enough Ill just go right into a private room until after the baby is born. This was a huge relief an I will be praying that God will help us to know the right timing. Let me know if I left anything out or if anything is confusing. I just wrote this in like 4 settings. I want this to help out those of you who may be needing the seguro for treatment in the future or now.
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