My forgotten introduction

How absolutely rude of me ;)

I am always unsure how much information to put into an introduction post. Do you need my whole life story? Skip to the funny parts? The crazy parts?

I have been reading through various mommy blogs and noticed that 99% of them are written by the moms of itty bitty kids. I get that. It's such a sweet time of innocence and funny and partly a time of complete and total frustration. With that said, my kiddos are much older. I have an 11 year old who thinks she is going on 20. She has the total teen attitude locked on. She is also the sweetest, most generous kid, particularly when her sister is being a pill. She has totally mastered the art of sucking up.

The other kid is a newly designated teenager. She turned 13 in September, is in her final year of middle school and is so much fun...most of the time. She also is on the autism spectrum. She is high functioning. She will live on her own one day and she enjoys a lot of what other kids her age enjoy. I try to remember that when I get frustrated with her ever-expanding littlest pet shop collection that I keep hoping she will outgrow. I try to keep in mind how lucky I am when dealing with IEPs and getting her through her homework, and more importantly, trying to help her organize enough that she actually turns it in. She is an absolutely amazing artist with an extreme love of cats (she wants to be a cat breeder someday...oh yes...my daughter the future crazy cat lady) and dragons.

I am also a substitute teacher working on getting my certification to teach high school science. I just finished up my student teaching, and I had an absolute blast. I LOVE working with high schoolers. They are funny and sarcastic and endearing, and most importantly, not bouncing off the walls. After spending several years working daycare, working with teenagers is a total breath of fresh air. They can be moody and frustrating, sure. However, they are absolutely my favorite age group.

Please remind me of that once in a while...