Knee update and the honesty of 5 year olds...

Things have been busy around here as I try to recover from knee surgery. My dad is out and helping tremendously with the kids, I don't know how I would have managed without him. 6 days after surgery I still can't walk across the room without significant pain unless I use the crutches. My knee is still really swollen, and I am not up and around as quickly as I hoped I would be. They did quite bit more than they thought they would, but Istarted physical therapy today so now I have a plan to get mobile! One of the major downfalls of having me out of commission is that the house is far below it's normal standard of clean. Matt and my dad are doing their best to keep things picked up and the kids happy, but the deep cleaning I normally do each week has been neglected for almost a month now, and it's driving me crazy!


On Monday I couldn't handle it any more so I pushed myself to come out of my room and start a whirlwind cleaning mission. I picked up the playroom, threw out trash from all over, then headed into Meredith's room, unprepared for the disaster I would find in there. Stuff was strewn about EVERYWHERE, junk under the bed, cracker wrappers and old cups lying around. I lost it and started piling everything together and sorting through it. After about 10 minutes of frantic cleaning, Mere came in and I started handing her things to throw away, put back in the playroom etc. She sighed and said "Actually, I just came in here to watch you clean, not to help." Gotta love the brutal honesty of a 5 year old! I got the house back into liveable conditions, my dad and Matt helped clean the counters and table etc. and I hope I can get back into my regular routine again soon.


Meredith's parent teacher conference was yesterday afternoon and Mrs. Gregg said that she is doing very well. She is at the more advanced end of the class, and is very sweet and a good friend to everyone. Apparently she is the little mother of the class. She worries about everyone in the class having what they need, and won't start her project until everyone has glue, crayons etc. She is always willing to help Mrs. Gregg and reminds her what is going on during the day. I can totally see this, and I was happy to hear that she is helpful and respectful, not pushy and bossy, which we sometimes see at home. She is friends with everyone and the only problem she has is completing assignments on time. Sometimes Mrs. Gregg will let her choose to spend an additional 5 minutes completing a project instead of starting centers when everyone else does, and most of the time the perfectionist in Meredith chooses to finish, even though her work is already far more detailed than most of her classmates. It was nice to hear what she has been doing in class, and I think Matt was surprised to hear that Meredith is perfect at school and not a challenge at all.