Thursday, January 15, 2009

A proud parenting moment & general update

It is fun watching your little boy grow up! We had another example of his creativity and problem solving abilities tonight as we were getting him ready for bed. We were in his room, when Jess asked him if he could reach the light switch and turn the light off. He walked over, stretched as high as he could, looked at us, then left the room. We just sat there dumbfounded looking at each other wondering where he was off to.

It wasn't long after hearing the bathroom door open that he reappeared in his doorway with his little step stool in tow! He couldn't reach the switch but had figured out a way so that he could. Talk about good problem solving abilities!



Not much else is new around here.
We've moved to the phase where we are crossing our fingers and hoping that we are both still employed this time next year. Seems that in these tough times, not even the education field is safe from layoffs (referred to as RIFs). Because of budget shortfalls and (most likely) cuts from the government in the upcoming year, my district may RIF up to 10% of their current teaching staff. This wouldn't be a big deal if I weren't in a small district comprising of only 400ish classroom teachers. The one good thing I have going for me is that the initial cut is made by seniority which is based on total years teaching not just years within the district. Whew. This does not make me feel a whole lot better, however I will have accrued 5.83 years experience by the end of June. That does take some of the stress off, but not entirely. As for Jess, he works for the big B. It's a waiting game to see what happens.

3 comments:

McHop Adventures said...

You have every right to be proud of your creative son. What a guy! Future engineer or crane operator??

Hope you are both safe and sound during the budget cuts we will all have to live with. You are both such an asset to your respective employers! They'd be crAAAAzy to RIF either one of you.

Devon

Rob and Shannon LaFontaine said...

We can relate with the budget crunch worries! We sure hope all is well and you both are able to keep your jobs when all the cuts are said and done. Keep us posted!

Oh, and on a side note - I did buy a crib set that is pink and chocolate brown. We still haven't made a final decision on the name however, so I'll keep you posted there. I know you were wondering about these things, Christel, so hopefully that helps a bit. :)

Stephanie said...

WAY TO GO ELI!!!! Isn't it wonderful when they have those moments of figuring things out for themselves?!?! Awesome to say the least!

And we are thinking of you guys! Hope you both survive this horrible season of layoffs! Love ya!!!