Self Portaits

So...Issa announced she was going to photograph our clean up efforts on Sunday. However, her photo journalism soon turned into a self portrait session. The many faces of Issa:

Happy Issa:
Kissy Issa:

Issa's Grubby Feet (there were many of these):

Elvis Issa:

Crazy Issa:

I Don't Know What to Call This Issa:

Winking Issa:

Purple Toe Nail Issa:

Ta-Da Issa:

She is so funny, and these pictures just cracked me up. She had a blast taking them, and I am so glad to be looking at them again this morning.

You see, yesterday was a dicey day for this mommy. Issa convinced me we should walk to school. My usual sense of spatial relation struck, and I said we could. We left early, and I thought this could be a fun thing to do while the weather is so gorgeous. Yeah. Thank goodness Daddy was working from home. We got about 3/4 of the way there and Issa was tired and this was no longer fun. He came and rescued us. We clocked it on the way home. Um...our "short" walk would have been 1.1 miles if we made it the whole way. Oops.

When I picked Issa up, her teacher handed me her pile of work from last week--that I was supposed to pick up on Friday. I didn't even know to look for it. Oops.

In that pile, there was a form that was due last Wednesday. In my defense, I know I turned that one in! They got all the other forms that were in the same envelope, and they readily admitted they probably lost it in the move. Still--oops.

Then, Issa proceeds to tell me she almost fell asleep doing her spelling. She told her teacher it's because she didn't sleep well because she was cold. Fabulous. Mind you, this was the first time I'd heard of this.

So...I was feeling like pretty much the worst mom on earth last night. I was thoroughly convinced her teachers think I am terrible. My brain knew better, but my heart just wouldn't hear of it. Thank goodness for great friends. I sent an email literally titled "needy moment" bemoaning my day, and within minutes I had the response I needed. I'm really trying to rely less on external validation, but yesterday I needed to hear it from someone else. Wondrous thing that girl.

I think the bigger situation is that I'm adjusting to big girl school. I've been spoiled by daily reports and teachers that tell me every detail of their days. Now, my primary source of information is Issa, and the details are plentiful but not necessarily the ones I'm looking for. Tonight, we have our first open house, and I'm praying for some reassurance and a better idea of how she's really adjusting and how she spends her days. If not, I'm on the fast track to neurotic. Brace yourselves.