Hello and welcome to my blog for any new readers!
This summer has been busy busy busy! I probably put a hold on this blog from the time when things began to pick up and get busy for the summer. I wanted to take this post to give a quick update, so be sure to look out for more reads within the next couple weeks or so as I reflect and share more in detail with all the different things we have been experiencing!
Next week, I go back to work again! I work at a school as a psychologist intern, so here we go with another year of assessments, IEP meetings, counseling, behavior management, and all that good stuff.
School Psychologist Praxis Exam
As soon as the last school year ended, I took about 1 week to rest, reset, and recharge, then I went straight into heavy duty studying everyday. I’m lucky enough to have my mom around to help me throughout the week because she was able to give me about 1-2 days a week for me to focus on my studies. I also feel grateful that my husband has been working so hard everyday that we could afford for me to be on part-time intern pay for the last year and no work for the summer so that I could focus on studying and getting everything ready for my graduation.
Pretty much this whole praxis exam has taken up most of the summer! As I read through the material everyday, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of material and little time I had to review and study. On a normal day without help from my mom, I was able to use day naptimes and the time after the boys go to bed to study. Still, I felt like it wasn’t enough and I went into the test feeling all anxious and unprepared. I gave it my best with what I could do. I’m waiting for my results that should come out by the end of this week and hopefully, I passed! If not, I’ll probably have to retake it and hopefully will be better prepared.
Either way, I’ve come to peace and I am only looking ahead and know that I am on a pathway to success because I’m finally beginning to see the end of this grad school journey! Graduation and begining my practice officially is not to far!
East Coast Trip
My cousin got married last month! My husband wasn’t able to join due to work, but the rest of our family all flew out to see her get married to her love! We went to Boston/Holden for the wedding, then took a road trip up to Niagara Falls. It was the boys’ first time flying on an airplane and travelling. It’s safe to say that it was difficult at first. I almost regretted coming, but the boys adjsuted well very quickly and overall it was a trip that was so worthwhile! I can’t wait for our next big adventure with the boys!
Daily Outings
My twinnies are now 14 months, which means that they are incredibly active. These guys began walking at 10 months, so their balance has improved tremendously that they are now running. We set up our apartment so that they have enough space to run around and be free. We have made certain areas restricted (our bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen), but we have set up our balcony area so that they have a nice play area. The boys love to run, throw and kick a ball.
Though we have pretty good setup at home, I figured they need to explore a little more, so we have been going out pretty much everyday after lunch. Sometimes, it’s a trip to the store or mall, and sometimes, it’s a fun trip to the splash pad, library, park, or to meet friends. I think that it’s important to expose the kids to new environments because it allows them to explore and learn new things! It also helps them to warm up quicker so that they’re not used to the same ol’ things all the time. To be honest, the extrovert in me cannot stand to be at home. I totally feel like I’m drowning if I don’t go out, so it all works out for us. Perhaps, the boys will be extroverts too, I don’t know!
Summer is coming to an end!
We do have one more little birthday trip for my husband this weekend, and it’s definitely a new thing to conquer as well because we will be camping! I get anxious about these things, but am also confident and excited at the same time.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this summer because last year, I felt like I was stuck at home, and quite literally I was. The boys were born in the summer, and I usually would love frequent trips to the beach or the pool, but I definitely didn’t do any of those fun things. I was at home for about 3 weeks, and though we slowly went out, I could never do it by myself. I’ve seen a lot of first-time mamas who would go out by themselves with their kiddo, but I was jealous, but I felt like I could never do it with the two. It took so much energy to just feed them and then depleted everything I had when I was surviving on so little sleep. How was I supposed to do any of that by myself if I were to go out. Let me tell ya, I love my boys and they are the cutest little guys on the planet, but that newborn stage was not easy! My parents-in-law also came to visit and it was definitely a lot going on during that sensitive time. Actually, I also had a lot of craziness and anger in me throughout that summer, because it was so damn hard.
Now with the boys being mobile, it’s a different hard (chasing them around, teaching how to communicate and use language, discipline and temper tantrums, respecting their independence, and watching out for safety), but it’s so much better fitted to my personality because at least now we can go outside and they don’t need my constant care and attention. They are quite independent and lead each other in play. I feel so so thankful that I have twins, because my boys will always have a friend to play with and learn with.
This summer, I went from working/stay-at-home mom part time to being a full time stay at home mom. And I have to say, I give mad props to all those full time stay-at-home mamas, especially the ones with multiple children and/or children with disabilities, because it’s not easy managing a household. When I go back to work, it will be again part-time, so we will still be doing our outings out in the community, but it’s time to gear back up for another school year and we’ll see what happens! Wishing all the other educators out there the best of luck!
