Cheetah School

Just as I was pulling out of the three month long morning sickness period that seemed to take over my life, I realized that Alexis seemed super irritated and kinda whiny.  Really not her personality and she was driving me crazy.  After a few days, the weekend hit, and Mike noticed the same thing - she would just nag and pull and strive for more and more attention.  I kept thinking, "jeez, she is driving me crazy, I can't wait until she goes to school all day!"

That afternoon Mike and Max were on an errand, Tayler was taking a nap, and she and I pulled out a game that we hadn't played in forever.  And she was like a different kid.

Then it hit me.

I had been driving HER crazy.

All at once, the last three months flashed past me and I realized we'd gotten into the worst rut.  We'd been playing with the same toys, the same art supplies, the same everything because it had been the easiest stuff to pull out.

She was completely BORED.

And so was I.

After spending the afternoon feeling guilty for not engaging her better, my better half told me to stop sulking and make a plan.

I pulled out my ideas from when Max was that age, went through our cupboards and found all the stuff we hadn't been using, thought about what she really loved to do best at preschool, and then spent some time on pinterest looking for a few ideas that would fit Alexis really well.

Our new school was born.  Sure we've played school plenty at our house but even that had become a bit mundane.  This needed a name.

I wanted her to come up with it, and after a few ideas of mom-and-me school, or Alexis' school, she remembered her favorite animal, and Cheetah School was born.

Every day we do something in relation to Cheetah School and she has LOVED IT.  And I have LOVED IT.  Some things are exactly what we did before, they just have new energy as they are encompassed in a "school" format.  My attitude has completely changed about her, and I realized so much of the day in and day out of parenting is perspective.  If it doesn't work, don't just be irritated, but make a change.  Invest some time in making a plan.  Nothing we do is overly complicated, fancy or technical, but it feels different to her (and me) every day.   Some of our projects together take a couple hours, and sometimes they are fun stations (or centers) that she will do independently.  And sometimes, it is just a few minutes of writing practice.  But it is something engaging for her to look forward to at home.  And that's definitely better from where we were before!

Below are some pics that I've snapped along the way the last couple of months.  I should take more (for memory sake)!

Her number line.  First, putting all the numbers in order, then writing them below.

 Headed off to one of our field trips.

 Getting ready to start on her valentines day project.

 She made me this note just after we started Cheetah School together.  Ahhhh, makes me feel good!

 Took a nature bike ride to pick up from school on a rare warm day.

 Painting shapes.

 Field trip to the pet store (it's been fun turning some of our regular errands into new adventures!)

 I made the girls a few new sensory bins (Alexis loves the ones she has at preschool).  She talks about her marble bin at school quite often, so we made one at home.  It's my favorite one too.

 Of course, we kicked off school with her own sign on her door.  Each day we trade out our word of the day with a little hide and seek.

 She made her own chain for a countdown to vacation.