Crime and Punishment

I volunteered in Matt's classroom last Monday.  The kids and I worked with socks full of change - pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters.  We talked about what each was worth, we sorted and counted our change, and found other activities that allowed the kids to explore the value of money - for example, I gave them two quarters and asked that they give me the same amount of money using different coins.

When Matt came off the bus Tuesday, he shared that he 'found' four quarters at school... on the playground.  Having just been in the classroom (with a box full of money socks) the day before, I was immediately suspicious of his windfall.  He insisted that he just happened to find these four quarters at recess.  Told me that several times.

And then, an hour or so later, he cracked.  Admitted that they really came out of the socks in his classroom.

For me, this became one of those great teachable moments you both hope for as a parent and you are deathly afraid of.  Clearly the lesson is that we do not take things that don't belong to us and it's something that we've talked about casually many times over the years.  I immediately recognized that I needed the punishment to have meaning, to leave a lasting impression.  But at the same time, I didn't want to make it something that would leave him afraid to come to me and tell me the truth... I recognize there are much bigger battles coming in the years ahead.

While he lost the Wii and he lost time outside with his friends, I thought it was most important for Matt to take the money back to school and to let his teacher know that he took it from the sock.  As soon as I told him this, the tears started.  "I'll get in trouble."  Oh, buddy, you don't know what trouble is...

I find it interesting that he was more worried about the trouble he would get into at school than he was about the trouble he was in at home.  I'm sure that says something about my parenting skills, and not likely in a good way.

Matt cried for a good half hour.  Just sat on my lap, arms around my neck and cried.

While I felt bad that he was clearly scared about what he needed to do, I also thought I'd found the perfect punishment.  It's important that he learn to be accountable for his actions, even at a young age.  I am a bit of a softy though... I offered to drive him to school Wednesday morning and go with him to talk to his teacher.  I didn't want him to be afraid, but more importantly, I wanted him to know that even when he does something wrong, I still love him and he has my support. 

Ms. Clair was great.  She told Matt that she recognized how hard it must have been to come to her and tell her the truth and she was very proud of him.  She also let him know that it's important to tell grown-ups the truth and reinforced the idea that when you tell the truth, even when it's scary, grown-ups can help you.

When the kids got off the bus Wednesday afternoon, I packed them into the car and took them out to Fun Unleashed.  I wanted to let Matt know that I was very proud of him... that with crime comes punishment, but doing the right thing brings reward.

He was afraid.  But, he faced it.  He had a very scary conversation with his teacher not knowing what would come of it.  I hope that in the end, he learned that even the really scary things we face growing up are not as bad as we imagine they will be...

The Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK is in the books!

I have to begin by saying that ultramarathoners are phenomenal athletes... Sunday's Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK 50 mile relay and ultramarathon was such a fantastic experience, but I ached after running just over 10 miles, a fraction of the distance they would cover.  I remember thinking when we DROVE past the 26 mile mark that when the ultra-runners passed this point, essentially completing their first 'marathon' of the day, they (mostly) had another one left to run.  I cannot begin to imagine... 

I passed several ultra-runners during the final leg of our relay and made sure I told every one of them that I thought what they were about to accomplish was amazing.  And it was.  Everyone on the mountain encouraged the other runners around them, but I think they made an extra effort to cheer the nearly 120 men and women running the Ultra (114 finished in the allotted 12 hours).  The winning time (a new course record) was 5:33:46.  Phenomenal. 

Our team waiting for Janine at Transition Zone #1

While I am in awe of them, for me, the day was about running with seven other terrific women, having fun, and crossing the finish line before dark!  Start times were posted on Wednesday morning and our team was initially included in the 10:00am wave, setting off a moment of panic.  I love an outdoor run as much as the next girl, but we realistically thought we would need 8:30:00 to finish the course... meaning that late a start would likely leave me (as our final runner) coming down the mountain in the dark.  Plus, the course is officially shut down at 7:00pm meaning any deviation from our expectations, and we might not finish. When they moved our start time up by half-an-hour, I felt much better.

Coming into Transition Zone #4

I had two legs (of twelve) to run - the first, a 6.2 mile run that is described as "gently rolling, with several long hills".  The longest is just over a mile in distance and includes a roughly 500 foot rise in elevation.  I ran it back in September, when I was just getting my running legs back under me and it kicked my ass.

While it was still a tough leg for me, it went so much better than I expected... The run I thought would take 1:15:00 instead took only 1:04:13.

After my first run of the day was complete, I had a nearly five hour wait before my second run.  But it was such a perfect day... clear and sunny, temperatures in the high 50s, and I enjoyed every minute outside.  Cell coverage was spotty at best throughout the day, but I resisted the occasional urge to call and check on the kids.  In the end, they had a fantastic day.  Both Matt and Cathy got to and from all the activities on their busy schedules, they ate well, listened well, played nicely. 

Penn Roosevelt State Park - gorgeous fall afternoon!

I just love the light coming through the trees...

About to cross the finish line

We stayed nearly perfect on our target pace (10:00) all day thanks to some amazing runs by my teammates; when Allyson handed off to me for the final leg at 5:20pm, just 4.2 mostly downhill miles stood between us and our goal to finish before 6:00pm.
  
With the sun setting and cloud cover moving in, I was glad to be moving again.  All afternoon, we had our eye on a team called Obligated Eight and their final runner was in sight once I had the baton.  It took about two miles, but I finally caught and passed her, eventually crossing the finish line at 5:57pm... with three minutes to spare and with plenty of daylight remaining.   

We finished second in the women's mega category thanks to that pass on leg #12, 19 seconds ahead of Obligated Eight!

Even though I am glad this year's race is behind me, I am also anxious to go back out and do it again next year... I even thought of a good team name while we were still on the mountain... "Done Before Dark".  But now that I have had a few days to think about it, I've got an even better idea... "Drinking By Dark!".

Who's in with me???

A (very busy) day in the life...

I am looking forward to participating in this year's Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK - a 50 mile relay or ultramarathon through Rothrock State Forest.  Sitting here in bed, just a few hours before the event, I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all the planning, packing, and coordinating that has gone into the day, and I am so grateful to the many friends that will look after the kids tomorrow.

My relay team (Better Late Than Never) is scheduled to report at 8:15 tomorrow for a 9:30 start.  With Rich scheduled a half-hour earlier, I've got to drag two sleepy kids out of bed, throw them in the car, and drop them at the end of the block.  They'll come and go throughout the day, as I have somehow made arrangements to get the kids to all their activities on what has to be the busiest Sunday on record for everyone.

So tonight, a big shout out to some terrific friends:

To Craig and Laura - thanks for taking the kids so early in the day, and graciously offering to keep them until whenever we get off the mountain and just rolling with things as we have them shuttled in and out of your house all day.

To Brent and Cathy - thanks for picking my Cathy up and taking her to the last soccer game of the season.  Please cheer loudly for my little girl and remind her not to eat her shirt sleeve.

To Marissa and Paul - thanks for taking Matt to tomorrow's rocket launch.  He's been excited to do this since that first scout meeting and I would have hated to see him miss out.

To Lori - since you will be out on the mountain with me all day, thanks for arranging for your dad to take Matt to CCD with Owen.  Since we absentmindedly skipped it last week, I am glad Matt will not be missing two weeks in a row.  Also, thanks for coordinating our relay team.  I know we're going to have a great day tomorrow!

The bags are packed.  I am in bed before midnight.  I'm as ready as I can be.

Thanks, everyone, for making it possible!

Hersheypark in the Dark

Some time after I started the blog last summer, a friend pointed out that I'd been to a lot of amusement parks.  And while this year was probably not an amusement park record for the Cropp kids, it was a pretty fair assessment of our Summer of Fun.  But for all the parks we visited, we skipped over Hershey Park, choosing to wait until Matt reached the magical 48" height requirement for the park's wooden roller coasters.  Well, sometime between then and now, he made it!

After getting his feet wet on coasters at Idlewild and Soak Zone, Delgrosso's, Lakemont Park, and Knoebels this summer (I told you it was a fair assessment), I was certainly excited to head down to Hershey this past weekend... after many, many years of paying too much money to ride carousels, trains, and other rides not meant for people taller than a yard stick, we're finally turning a corner on the amusement-park experience...  thrill rides!

Not all thrill rides, mind you, but enough to make me Hersheypark Happy!  The wooden coasters, the superdooperLooper (SDL), and Trailblazer were all fair game and I was sure we'd ride them all.  Cathy even promised to go on coasters she was tall enough to ride - the Comet and Trailblazer.  We didn't even make the SDL an option.  

Clearly, this would be a much different trip than my last to Hersheypark in the Dark back in 2006 - the year that Cathy was born.  Rich and I took the kids for opening weekend, just three weeks after Cathy had started taking Trileptal.  I remember riding with her on the carousel, thinking that it was likely not a good idea to bring a little baby with a seizure disorder onto a ride that spins (quickly) in circles.  In the end, the day went well and I think Rich and I started to trust that we could have some semblance of a normal life despite all the things we were afraid of. 

Then...

... and now

Thinking of that first trip five years ago, I can't help but marvel at how much they have grown, how much they have accomplished.  And I can't help but be thankful for every day I get to spend in this normal life... this life where my little girl can do all the things that her big brother can do.  Five years ago, I didn't know this would be possible.  Now I know the possibilities are limitless.       

Now...

... and then

While Matt was initially excited about his new status as a "Hershey Bar", in the end he didn't take full advantage of it.  I expected he would line up for each of the park's wooden coasters, but instead , I got him on only one - the red racing coaster (which beat the green coaster on our ride).  

Even without lots of wooden roller coasters (though I got on two) there were many great things about the day including cousins!!!  Coupled with absolutely fantastic fall weather (no jackets required for most of the day), it was a perfect day. 

 

Matt, Cathy, and their cousins Alex, Cadence, and Tori

The kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins (Matt and Cadence typically pair up, as do Cathy and Tori.  Sorry Alex, but you are on your own in this crowd) and it makes me miss family... that's always been the hardest part of living here in Central PA.  In the early years of marriage, the distance seemed like a blessing - everyone is close enough that we can get home quickly if we need to, but nobody could just drop in for dinner - but as Matt and Cathy get older, I wish we had family close by.  That's one of the reasons I've started rethinking our approach to the holidays.  And it's one of the reasons that I sometimes consider broadening my job search out of the immediate area.

All stories for another day.  For now, back to our FUN, FUN day...

Aside from a slow entrance into the park (where I have finally learned the importance of pre-purchasing tickets), I couldn't have asked for a better day.  We had two very important Cropp family firsts: this marked our first trip to Hersheypark without a stroller.  Cathy walked like a champ until late in the evening, and quite honestly, even I was a little tired of walking by then.  This is also the first time we've stayed until any park has closed... 10pm. Of course, by the time we walked back to the car, returned to the park to go to the bathroom, put pajamas on and started to drive, it was nearly 11pm.  But the kids handled it great... Hooray!

Toward the end of the night, the kids decided to ride Trailblazer.  A pretty mild steel coaster that I remember from my very first trip to Hersheypark back in the early 80s.  Matt and Cadence rode it over and over and over.   Cathy rode once... she did great, though I am certain she would have enjoyed it more if it were still light outside.  There were places around the track where it was pretty dark and she's not always a fan of that.

I don't have many great pictures from the day, but here are two of my favorites... the first, Cadence, Matt and Cathy on our second train ride - this one at night because the kids were sure it would 'freak' them out in the dark.  It didn't.  But we did notice different decorations in the dark, so it was certainly worthwhile to ride twice.

Cathy's looking a little sleepy here... it's after 9pm.

This second picture, the kids with the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was taken just before closing.

So, Halloween activities are in full swing now.  Pumpkin carving has begun.  We've got a haunted trail and activities at Shaver's Creek on Saturday, trick-or-treat night at the All-Sports Museum Tuesday, classroom parties at school, and obviously Halloween night all to look forward to.

And then it will be time to start thinking about Christmas (and to think, we're only a month behind the big box stores!).

The Zoo Follows Parent/Teacher Conferences...

Fall parent/teacher conferences were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday (Matt on Monday morning, Cathy on Tuesday) leaving us with two days off from school.  The conferences themselves weren't earth shattering, but I think we walked away from each with some really great information.

Matt, not surprisingly, still talks too much and too loudly.  But he's making great progress with both.  For the first time, he was asked to set goals before the conference and these became the basis for much of our discussion.  These goals centered around reading, writing, and math, each chosen specifically by Matt.  We talked about each goal and what Matt would need to do to achieve them.  If you've read Goodbye, Reading Club, you know that Matt's making fantastic progress in reading; with the gains in reading skills, writing is expected to follow suit (because for some reason, he wants to write about birds).  Already, he's spacing words, using sound spelling for words he doesn't yet know, he's mostly using correct letters (capital vs. lower case) and he's beginning to use punctuation in his writing.  

Math, it turns out, is Matt's area of strength.  His goal: to learn to tell time and to learn multiplication (something I remember really learning in the third grade, as songs set to Christmas tunes such as Frosty the Snowman's '5 ones are 5, 5 twos are 10', etc... if you went to St. Philip Neri with me, you'll probably remember this).  Later this year, a select group of kids will head off for math enrichment - stuff that is above and beyond the current curriculum - and Matt will be joining that group.

At Cathy's conference on Tuesday, we talked about how Cathy has been coming out of her shell.  On the very first day of school, I let her teacher, Mrs. Bruening, know that my little girl was nothing like her brother, that it would be work to get her to share things in class, and that was certainly the case.  She'll never be the kid who comes home with behavior warnings for talking in class, something Matt did more often than I would have liked.  She's a rule follower, through and through.

We were told that all the kids love Cathy, and for that I am so very grateful.  I've worried endlessly how Cathy would do with a new group of friends, especially when you consider that she's often a quiet child.  But socially, she's thriving.  I've had the chance to volunteer in Cathy's classroom and so I know that there are some really nice kids there... it's nice to be able to put a name with a face as Cathy starts to talk more and more about what she does in school each day.

Mrs. Bruening expressed concern over the way Cathy writes her letters, a concern I have shared and so I was glad she addressed it first.  Cathy can write most letters, at least as capitals, but her hand is sometimes shaky and that can make the letters somewhat indecipherable.  Mrs. Bruening asked if she could have the school's occupational therapist evaluate Cathy and I could not be happier about this.

When Cathy aged out of the birth to three Early Intervention program, we lost occupational therapy despite the efforts our therapist and I put into trying to keep it.  In the preschool program, the eligibility requirements are much different and the bottom line was that Cathy was never delayed enough to qualify.  We consistently asked our neurologist for prescriptions for OT services and he gladly wrote them, but living in Central PA, it was impossible to find a pediatric therapist taking private patients.  As part of the school system, Cathy will now have access to those types of services.  I'm already looking forward to the great progress I am sure she'll make with just a little extra attention.

Outside of that, Mrs. Bruening let us know that she'll have the reading specialist keep a close eye on Cathy and we shouldn't be surprised if Cathy finds her way into the kindergarten Reading Club come January (when the kids will be evaluated again with higher standards than in September).  Meantime, we'll work with Cathy on her writing skills and read and read and read with her to help her develop the skills she needs.  As I said the other day, my follow through is great as long as it's clear to me what I need to do to help the kids along.

After Tuesday's conference, with a pretty good weather forecast for mid-October, we piled in the car and traveled to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium for the day... our third trip to Pittsburgh in the last few months (see Pittsburgh Children's Museum, PNC Park, and A Trip to Pittsburgh for Preseason Football).  

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out some of our pictures from the zoo...

Watching the Jaguar...

Love this... had us all looking up!

I could watch the Elephants all day

The Giraffes too

The kids crawling under the sting ray exhibit

Target feeding the sharks... more on this in a minute

Eating lollipops

Polar Bear (our kindergarten mascot)

One of the highlights of the trip, other than perfect temperatures and the spectacular colors of fall, came during our visit to the Aquarium.  We watched an employee feed one of the larger tanks of fish - as he climbed down the ladder, he told the kids that if they watched the ladder and made sure everyone stayed off it while he moved to another location to continue the feed, he'd show them something special.  

Included in our "special" behind the scenes tour of the aquarium, several tanks holding fish not yet ready to go out on display (including a male stingray, currently too small to be out with the older, larger women, that would eventually become part of what they hope will be a successful breeding program).  Next up, a trip upstairs and to the top of the largest tank - this is the one that holds the sharks.  We arrived in the middle of a target feed... in a target feed, an employee uses a yellow disk to attract the sharks.  When their nose touches the disk, they receive their food.  This becomes a very powerful tool in caring for the fish as they can easily track how much each fish eats; they also use this technique to monitor their health... for example, the fish will touch the disk, allowing staff to lift each shark out of the tank and weigh them.  We were told that the sharks are very tolerant of anything the staff wants to do simply because they've been conditioned to expect food at the end.

It was a very cool side trip, and something that we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to do.

We stayed at the zoo until closing time, grabbed dinner on the way out of town and arrived back home by 9:30pm.  It was a long day, but oh, so much fun... it reminded me of what was so great about my summer with the kids and it's so nice to know that just because school is back in session, there are still days to spend together and memories to make and share. 

Goodbye, Reading Club

In mid-September, Matt came home with a note from school letting me know that he was eligible for their Title 1 reading program.  Knowing that he's a pretty bright kid and what I thought was a strong (though sometimes a little lazy) reader for his age, to say I was surprised would be an understatement.  I just happened to be at a PTO meeting that night, giving me access to the school's principal, and started asking questions so that I could better understand what Title 1 was and why Matt was "eligible".

Title 1 was established by the U.S. Department of Education to improve the quality of education and support students performing below standard in reading and math and currently serves more than 12 million students each year.  Generally speaking, the program is designed to ensure that all students, regardless of their backgrounds and regardless of what school they attend, have the skills needed to succeed in school and in life.   

The principal told me a little about the expectations for first grade students and suggested that I reach out to the Title 1 reading teacher, which I immediately did.  The Title 1 teacher, Cindee Lago, told me that Matt has "great letter/sound knowledge" but struggled with words he did not recognize.  By joining Reading Club, the expectation was that he'd quickly learn to use that letter/sound recognition to figure out the words that he was not identifying at first sight.  I spoke with a guidance counselor who assured me of the value of the program and suggested that I should take advantage of any extra help that was available and so I signed the required forms giving permission for Matt to participate.

At back to school night a week later, we had the chance to talk with both Mrs. Lago and Matt's first grade teacher, Ms. Clair.  We talked about what Matt misses in the classroom during his one hour of Reading Club (it's writing) and the ways writing is incorporated into Reading Club.  I felt better knowing Matt wouldn't be falling behind in some other area because of the extra attention he required to get his reading skills caught up to his peers.  Both teachers also shared their expectations that Matt likely needed just a little boost; they didn't expect that he would stay in the program for the full year.

Once I know what's expected of my kids, I like to think I do a great job of reinforcing what they are learning in school, of providing extra practice.  This became almost routine to us as we moved Cathy through the Early Intervention Program; I always insisted that the therapists see her both at home and at school (even though most would have preferred to see her only at school) because I wanted to be involved in the things they were doing with her.  How could I practice and reinforce skills if I didn't see the ways in which the therapists worked with her.  The point is, if you give me a to-do list for my kids, I'm all on board and will make it a priority to help them as best I can.

Flash forward just a few weeks.  Matt has been coming home with extra reading materials, progressively harder books that are ahead of where they are in the reading curriculum.  He reads through them easily and eagerly, which is nice to see.  He has learned to slow down, to point to the words on the page before he says them rather than just filling in whatever he thinks the words should be.  He's doing a much better job of sounding out words that he doesn't recognize.  And when he struggles with a word or two in a sentence, he'll read it again after we've helped him out with it because he wants to get it right! 

This afternoon, I got an email from the Title 1 teacher:

"I have spoken with (Ms. Clair) and we both feel Matthew is quickly learning to read!!!  I am recommending that he be monitored by me instead of coming every day for Reading Club.  We are going to tell him this on Monday and Tuesday will be his last day coming for the hour long program."

I'm very proud of my little boy.  He's worked hard and it shows.  And while we expected that Matt wouldn't spend a full year in Reading Club, both Rich and I were surprised that he would be discharged from the program so quickly.

He'll still come home with extra books to read and spelling words to work on each week, but starting Wednesday morning, no more daily trips to Reading Club.  I haven't told Matt yet, but I suspect he'll be a little disappointed.  I think that's a great reflection on Mrs. Lago who is one of the most enthusiastic teachers I've ever met and someone who is so good at and loves her job.  Considering she's been at it for the better part of 40 years, I find that simply amazing.

Thanks, Reading Club, for getting Matt started on what I hope will be a lifelong love of reading.  And Goodbye!

Getting ready for the Mountainback

I've been away from the blog for a while, though I don't really have a good excuse for that... perhaps after such a busy, adventurous summer, I am afraid that the everyday aspects of life may not be as exciting to read about.  I've read through some other 'mommy blogs' the last few weeks and am finding that the most popular ones seem to rant, swear, and complain about something - kids, work, spouse, celebrities, you name it.  And even though I could probably find a list of things to complain about myself, I prefer to focus on the positive things in life.  If I thought too much about the other stuff, I doubt I would get out of bed.

The biggest 'negative' in my life right now is unemployment.  But even that, in many ways, is a blessing.  One thing that has been really nice about all this extra time that I have (the time that I am not looking for a job, caring for the kids, volunteering, etc.) is that I am out running again.  A lot.  Between my Warrior Wound back in June and a busy schedule with the kids, I don't think I logged more than 50 miles all summer.  But in September, I logged 65 (you can check out my running progress via RunKeeper).  Not a record by any stretch, but it sure is nice to get my running groove back again!

I try to schedule a handful of running events throughout the year so I have something to motivate me in my training; right now, the goal is the Tussey Mountainback 50 Mile Relay and Ultramarathon.  Now before you start thinking I have completely lost my mind over the last nine months, I am NOT running all 50 miles myself.  But, I will be doing 10.4 of them... and I am really excited about this race.  I've had friends run this race before and I've heard many good things about the experience.  I almost entered last year with a group from work, but we somehow never got our act together in time.  I am glad things worked out this year (though with a different group of people) as the event benefits one of my favorite local charities - the Bob Perks Fund.

The Fund was established in memory of (surprise) Bob Perks back in 2005... Bob was just 42 years old when he lost a three-year battle with cancer.  I worked with Bob for years and his death hit me hard, not just because he was young, but because he had such young children.  As a mother, I grieved for what his two sons lost.  And even now, I will sometimes think about how lucky I am to be here with my kids, to watch them grow, to create memories with them.

Bob was very active with Penn State's chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer and always wanted a way to make an impact locally, but he was never really able to do that.  His wife, Doreen, started the fund to provide financial assistance to local families struggling to make ends meet while in the midst of their own fight with cancer.  The organization provides money for basic necessities - things like rent, utilities, groceries, gas, etc. that patients often cannot afford because their treatment has taken them away from work or depleted their savings.  Last year, they allocated more than $130,000 to roughly 130 families.  If you are a resident of State College or the surrounding area, I encourage you to check out the charity, donate your time or your money (or maybe even both) to this worthwhile cause.

This year's run will be on October 23... just two weeks from today.  I am excited for this, but I am intimidated as hell too.  The first of the two legs I am scheduled to run is considered "difficult".  It is 6.2 miles long and includes a roughly 600 foot rise in elevation, most of it over a brutal one-mile stretch.  I ran this as part of the Discovery Series about a month ago and thought that I was going to die right there on the side of the mountain.  I've spent much of the last few weeks attempting to train for the run, though I am not really sure how much better off I am now than I was a month ago.  A friend suggested I could probably power-walk the hill as fast as I could run it, and he's probably right.  But I will give it my best shot.  If nothing else, I figure I have a leg up now on training for the Nittany Valley Half Marathon (which features a mile-long climb starting just short of the 12-mile mark).

My second leg, the final leg of the Mountainback is "easy"... 4.2 miles, mostly downhill.  With eight of us running an expected average pace of 10 minutes per mile, I just hope I reach the finish line before dark.  Every day is shorter than the one before it, so if we don't get one of the early start times, that's a legitimate worry.  Of course, it may also help me turn in the fastest 4.2 mile run of my life... the last thing I want is to be alone in the woods in the dark, no matter how good a cause I am running for.