Kindergarten Graduation

Wow life has sure changed a lot from a year ago. Last year I was freaking out about sending Tyler to Kindergarten. I was anxious about him being in a new environment without Mommy and Daddy. I was concerned that he had to go to an all day Kindergarten program. I was sad to think we would not see him all day. I was excited for him to be able to make new friends.

The year brought all of that, and alot more. Tyler did fine in the all day program. Maggie and I managed to occupy our time. Tyler made an unexpected best friend, Lindsie, on his bus. Tyler's best friend moved away. We encountered our first bully and his very mean attack on our son. We struggled to make a 6 year old understand why kids are mean and why you can't just retaliate in kind. We had another unexpected change and had to move schools in the middle of the year. We moved 1000 miles away from our home and family. Tyler started a new school, became the minority, and encountered new bullies.

Thru it all Tyler has been resiliant, kind, loving and sweet. He is also full of energy, imagination, and inquisiviness. A year ago he could barely write his name. Now he is reading full sentances and writing letters to his friends. We give thanks every day for what a wonderful child we have been given. Congratulations Tyler! You did an awesome job this year.

The Good and the Bad

I have to admit, I didn't expect my day to day life in Florida to be so drastically different from what I was used to. I mean, sure, it would be hotter. Sure there would be more ethnic diversity. Sure there would be more people in general. However what I didn't expect was the little things to be different. So here is "The Bad" or probably more appropriate "The Weird" of Florida:

1. Grocery Stores: First, the grocery stores down here don't have customer courtesy cards. I just find this weird. I figured it was a national thing. Of course, there is no Kroger down here. :( I really miss my Kroger. There are no weekly 10 for 10 sales. When a grocery has a Buy One, Get One free sale it is BIG news. They actually advertised this sale on TV!! And, while we are on the subject of cost, WHY oh WHY do groceries cost more in Florida?????? I mean, you would think at least produce would be cheaper. And why is milk more expensive? I know they have cattle here because there are some on about every corner.

2. Libraries: Ok at first I just thought I needed to pay more attention, but the library down here is just ODD. The online system looks really impressive, at first glance. But then you realize you can't actually find the information you are looking for and you realize the system isn't that great. I still told myself it was just me, until I actually tried to look for a book in the library. They have a fabulous "new release" section, but when I went looking for an older book it was nowhere to be found. This is what I found on the main floor: about 50 magazines, the new releases. mysteries and history. Ok so I went to the second floor, but all I found was the children's area. Where, oh where are the books????

3. School system: Ok in my naivete I figured schools were basically the same nationwide; some just had more resources than others. Not true. At first I was pleased that Tyler was going to attend a brand new school. I am still happy, but I realize that also means they sometimes are extremely disorganized. This does not apply to school dismissal as they have this down to a science, with numbers for every child and a microphone system to call kids to cars. Another strange thing about school: every Wednesday they dismiss an hour early. They also return to school about a week earlier than they do in Ohio. All the differences are mainly little (all the kids have an "agenda") but they are just strange little differences.

4. Preschool: Now I really didn't expect preschool to vary state from state, but this is probably the biggest difference. In Florida they have a state funded Voluntary Preschool Program, known as VPK. (Don't ask about "preschool" here, you will quickly be corrected) VPK is basically available to all kids who are 4 by September. It runs 5 days a week for 1/2 days! I was totally not prepared to send Maggie to preschool 5 days a week, so I am totally struggling with this. The only alternative is to pay for a private preschool, but that is actually more expensive, and harder to find, than in Ohio.

5. People: So, if it is true that up to 25% of the mid to northern population suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, then wouldn't you think that people in Florida would be happier? Well, I can tell you they sure aren't friendlier. From traffic, to impatient people in Wal Mart, the people in this area are really (insert bad word here). I don't know what their problems are, but the sunshine doesn't seem to be helping anyone.

So does the good outweigh the bad? I'm not sure yet, but I can tell you this.... Last Friday when Jeff and I decided to do something fun we were able to drive 10 minutes away to Downtown Disney and hang out for 4 hours. While walking backing to our car Tyler said "Mommy, this was the best night ever." I know we couldn't have done that in Ohio!