. . .

Periods.  Yes, let’s talk about those because that seems like a totally appropriate thing to mention as a third EVER blog entry, right?

Seriously though, I got thinking about those little things after my husband told me I should maybe edit my first post.  As a writer, I don’t like them so much…they seem so…final.  Periods are supposed to go at the end of a complete thought.  But I’m hardly ever done thinking about something.  I keep thinking about it and thinking about it and thinking about it ‘til it darn near drives me crazy!

And then I think about it some more. 

I much prefer ellipses…if you haven’t noticed; semicolons will work too if I’m feeling fancy---and dashes are a great way to add flare!

As a teacher of six- and seven-year-old writers, periods are the bane of my existence!  “That’s a great story, Jonny, but here…let me read it the way you wrote it:

I like to.

play with my friend we.

go to the park it.

 

is fun it is really.

 

really fun. "

Student laughs and agrees, yes, that sounded nuts.  However, even after skillfully differentiated instruction from yours truly, Jonny continues to struggle distinguishing between the end of a thought and the end of a line.  It’s okay really, I don’t blame him; I’m just excited to see periods that are the size of a crumb instead of a Cheerio!

As a reader, I get it.  You NEED periods and reading can be exhausting and confusing without them.  Teaching kids to read with fluency and expression is one of my most favorite things!  I love pointing out authors’ punctuation choices and what they tell us readers to do with our voices.

My favority-favorite author for demonstrating and practicing expression is Mo Willems.  The Pigeon books are awesome, but I am especially fond of his Elephant and Piggie tales.

Speaking of teaching kids to read with fluency and expression, I have (what I think is) a great way for students to practice Fry High Frequency Words while simultaneously becoming more fluent and expressive readers.  I’ll show you someday when I get it all web-ready.

 

 

………………Switching gears from the education-side to infertility issues……………….

 

As a teen, periods were just plain inconvenient and, let’s face it, pretty weird.  But, I think most teens eventually recognize their period as a fact of life and a necessary evil.  We get why it happens…sort of.  Back then, my erratic and infrequent cycles thrilled me rather than scared me!  "The less of that wacky business I have to deal with the better!" I thought. 

I didn’t even know how in the dark I was about my cycle until I had trouble conceiving and read Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

You see there were a couple times, back as newlyweds, when I’d slip up on my birth control and spend the rest of that month in a complete tizzy about what I would do because obviously I was going to have a baby in nine months.  (Big change for Scaredy Squirrel!)  I mean, it only takes once, right?  That’s what we were always told anyway.  And we all grew up believing that “late”=pregnant.

Well, no surprise then that when we decided to try to get pregnant and my cycles were 38, 48, 56, 67, 78, etc. days longs I was convinced each time that I must be pregnant.  It really didn’t dawn on me that my increasingly distant cycles were a sign of annovulation.  The BFNs have been tough, but there is always a little sliver of hope: maybe I peed on that stick wrong...maybe I'm just a tiny bit pregnant...maybe I'm too well hydrated...maybe the test is a dud.

It's been awhile since I bought an at home test, what with routine blood work now to measure my progesterone levels and see if I've ovulated.  The blood results are tougher even than the BFNs.  Instead of a little line on a stick telling you that you aren't pregnant, you have a real -live nurse telling you that you never even had the chance.

That pesky little Hope Gremlin still sits on my should though.  "Haven't had the chance YET, is what she meant to say.  It's possible you just haven't ovulated YET.  Or maybe they mixed up your blood with someone else's...there was that old guy who got his blood drawn right before you..."

So, BFNs=tough.  Negative blood work=tougher.

But the toughest of all is that damn little “.”  It’s so final.