How to Get a Girlfriend

M brought a book home with said title for her reading today.  How kindergarten reading material has improved since Dick and Jane!  The book is actually written and illustrated by 3 elementary school boys, so it is a real hoot.  It's full of all kinds of useful advice such as reminding boys of the need to brush their teeth, shower, and go to the potty before playing with the girl.  And resisting picking one's nose during wooing.  C grabbed the book immediately and read it to us--by far the most enthusiastic he has been about reading anything...ever.    He took the above suggestions in stride but was offended by the recommendation to "do a writing workshop so you can write her a letter of love."  It was unclear whether the offensive part was taking a writing workshop or writing a love letter.  But then came the page with the drawing of a boy and girl...kissing!  C denounced such a scene immediately and loudly in his 4th grade for-public-consumption outrage, declaring the idea to be DISGUSTING.  It was so bad, in fact, and it was so critical that we heard it, that it was worth repeating (loudly) three more time.  And then the clincher, C proclaims:  "I have a girlfriend too, but she hates me."  I'll have to check with T on how you would rate that relationship status on Facebook--probably "it's complicated."  Well, all of this is going to be DISGUSTING for a few more years and then it will remain complicated for a good while longer.  So in the meantime, I'll abide in the good advice of those precocious kids and continue to brush my teeth, shower, and go to the potty just to impress T.

Frozen on Ice

That would be the ice skating version of the movie Frozen for those who look askance a repetitive titles.  Disney on Ice has developed yet another way to cash in on the Frozen phenomenon--complete with $15 snow cones!  (In commemorative cups, of course.)  T got tickets for us to go in Greensboro.  We all had a great time.  E danced along most of the show.  M stood and watched (except when the snow cone was more compelling) the whole show.  And there is something endearing about thousands of kids (and a few parents too) singing "Let It Go" at the top of their lungs to accompany the choreography.  The next day M asked 4 times if we could see it again.  When I offered to let her watch the movie instead, she replied, "I don't like the movie anymore, I only like the ice skating." 

And speaking of Frozen, we enjoyed Thanksgiving in PA with snow!  The kids got to go sledding on Wed and Fri; C and Opa made snowmen.  Opa's was oddly tilted.  His friends would probably say it was tilting to the left, I think it had osteoperosis.  At one point, Oma noted that Opa probably hadn't washed his hands because "he thinks he's allergic to water."  M responded skeptically, "Mommy's allergic to everything and even she's not allergic to water."  Can't slip one past her!
 
There have been several recent discussions at the dinner table of several fourth graders and one kindergartner who are Santa skeptics.  At one of the discussions, C called for a vote and delivered a unanimous pro-Santa landslide.  C and M agreed that their skeptical classmates were at great risk of not getting Xmas presents.  Definitely not a risk worth taking.  And I've heard it's even worse--if you don't believe in Santa, you have to buy presents for everyone else.  Bummer!

We put the Xmas tree up on Thursday evening.  C wanted to do it every night of the week but then didn't want to help on Thurs.  Of course, once we finally got him to put up of some of "his" ornaments, he had a good time.  M and E had a blast hanging ornaments.  E had earlier helped me put up the stockings and window ornaments.  She's been asking me to pick her up so she can see the ornaments higher on the tree.  And gives me instructions on when and where I should move so she can see the next section of the tree.  She tells me whose ornament each one is and if she doesn't like where it is, who put it in the offending spot.  So beware of our crew at Xmas--not only is Santa watching you, but so his little enforcer.  

The Pizza Quota

School is off to a grand ole start for everyone except Dad--who is on research leave this semester.  T loves it so much she is doing double time--teaching at Wingate and starting doctoral classes at UNC Greensboro.

M had her first day of Kindergarten.  Everything went fine.  She was excited to ride the bus in the morning and C gave her tips and offered to sit with her.  She's in a new Spanish immersion program called "splash"  in which the class is in Spanish one day and English the next.  She seems to like doing Spanish and shares her new words and songs with us each day.  She is very proud of getting green character "letters" above the line every day.  She explains that yellow is "danger" and red is for bad behavior and that she wants green letters.  She expresses shock that there have been a few kids who have earned red letters and she doesn't understand why they don't try harder to make better choices.  Ms. N at Kids Plus has shared her pleasant surprise at how well M is doing in afterschool. (Ms. N got to know M well over the past few years as M would inevitably make a dramatic entrance when we arrived to pick up C.) In her words, "M hasn't beaten up her brother yet!"  M has two good friends from class who join her in afterschool and she enjoys playing with them.  M bought lunch at school for the first time last Friday because it was pizza day.  After school, she complained that they only gave her one piece of pizza and still wouldn't give her another after she asked for more.  It's right out of a Dickens' novel!  I failed to warn her about the no seconds rules for school lunches.

C seems to be enjoying 4th grade so far.  He gets to his homework every day when he arrives home and hasn't fussed about having to do reading.  So far.  He's playing on a soccer team this fall and is having a good time.  He was invited to join the choir which practices after school on Mondays and seems very excited about that.  T took it as an opportunity to sing scales with him.

E told me in the car the other day, "I like going to preschool!" She's proud of having an Elsa and Anna backpack and lunchbox to take to preschool.  Just like Mena's.  Because packing two backpacks and lunchboxes that look exactly the same and getting them to the right person in the morning isn't confusing or anything...  At least they match their Elsa and Anna dolls, shirts, dresses, pajamas, socks, shoes, coats, (how did they miss pants?), Halloween costumes, plates, cups, silverware, place mats, sheets, pillow covers, blankets, bed spreads, and beach towels.  They can't wait for Xmas when there will be even more Frozen merchandise. In more important news, in the past month, E FINALLY has been using the potty consistently and using her big girl panties day and night.

They'll miss the pool as we spent a lot of time there again this summer.  The all made major progress in swimming.  C has no problem in the deep end, swimming around with his friends.  M and E love to swim underwater and to swim from the ladder to Dad standing about 10 yards away.  We won't need to be in the shallow section very much next summer.

The Cherokee Pincer of Wet

C and I had a camping weekend in Cherokee with Pack 24.  We got wet.  It rained on Friday and Saturday morning.  It has rained on all of our camping trips with Pack 24 and the tent had worked in the rain on previous outings.  This time I put a towel on the floor by the door because there was already some water on the floor when C went to bed at 9:30.  By the time I went to bed @ 10:15, the towel was already soaked.  There's a bad sign!  Our pillows and the bottoms of our sleeping bags got increasingly wet as they would touch the tent walls and wick the water through.  So we got caught in a pincer of wet.  By morning, our sleeping bags were soaked, our jammies were mostly wet, and there was a puddle of water on the tent floor.  But other than that we were dry!  Fortunately, I had left the backpack with the packed clothing in the car so our clothes would be dry regardless of the condition of the tent.

We helped make breakfast.  The plan was to go to the Indian Village but given the weather, we went to the Cherokee Museum instead.  We had packed lunch and went to a park pavilion in Cherokee to eat.  The pavilion was on an island in the middle of the river and the high river provided something to watch (in addition to the rain).  By the end of lunch, the rain had stopped, so we tried the Indian Village.  It was closed due to a walkway partially washing out.  Onward to the Visitors Center of Smokey Mtn National Park, where we heard a Ranger's presentation on the local aquatic indicator species and then toured the farm museum.  That evening we went to a bonfire where the Cherokee told some of their stories and did a dance.  Given the state of our sleeping bags, camping was out of the question so C and I found a 1950s drive-in motel, complete with brilliantly white wicker furniture and ill-fitting mini-golf style carpet.  But it was clean, the bed was comfortable, and the shower had hot water.  So it was a weekend of finding plan B, going with the flow, and it all working out.

Though the life jacket in the picture below fits with this weekend's activities, it is actually from Pack 24's canoe trip on the Catawba River in May.  We actually had sunny, hot weather for that trip!

Last night, part of the beam of M's bed (an antique from Aunt Helen and Uncle Elmer) split, dropping the right side of the mattress to the floor.  C was sleeping in the bed when it broke (still scared from the ghost stories at the Cherokee bonfire so he was staying with his sisters) but he slept through it!  T reported that M and E had been jumping on the bed earlier in the day which apparently weakened it to its perilous condition.  I had always used the "I broke my collar bone" story as the sage (but inevitably ignored) warning about jumping on the bed, but here's a new one for the catalog of warnings:  don't jump on the bed because you might break it.  The beam split pretty cleanly and the along the whole length of the beam so it may be fixable.  For now, M's mattress rests on the floor.  We'll see if that gets her to fall asleep any faster.  Nothing else has....

End of Grade Dental Exams

Ok, EOGs and dental exams are really separate issues but it's hard to devise a title that includes end of grade exams, field day, an honor roll ceremony, the big dance performance, end of 3rd grade, a trip to the Speedway, and a dental visit.  And the title Miscellaneous End of School Year Stuff is even more boring than the existing title.

So C has been a busy boy the last couple of weeks.3rd grade is the first time they take end of grade exams in reading and math.  From here on, they take them every year and add more subjects.  C was nervous about it but survived.  He got 4 of 5 in math and 2 in reading.  Fortunately, he met the other criteria in reading so that the EOG score alone didn't determine his proficiency.  Still we'll have to work on reading consistently this summer.  His class had a number of fun events in the days between EOGs and the last day of school:  field day, game day, the honor roll ceremony--C made the A/B honor roll for the quarter and was honored for achieving it in all 4 quarters. They had a Hawaiian luau party on the last day.  Then that evening, the kids were given tickets to the Speedway to see bus races and other events.  C went w T and his friend G.  Unfortunately, the buses didn't do so well--one wouldn't start, one was dragging a pipe and creating sparks, one tipped over (!) on the steep curves. But flames and toppling buses are fun too...

The big end of year dance performance was last weekend and the boys once again were a big hit with their energetic dance.  This time they wore soldiers' costumes. C's face showed his concentration and his lips showed him keeping count.  Mr. Sarkis complemented C afterwards and told him he needed him to be a leader in the class next year to help the younger boys.

And then there's the dental visit for all 3 kids at once.  C has had an upper tooth coming in above a baby tooth so we knew that one would require removal.  The dentist decided to take out both upper baby teeth to give the new one more room and because the same thing was likely to happen when the other upper tooth descended.  For some reason, C's adult teeth aren't following the same route as the baby teeth.  When they hit the baby tooth, they angle out and around rather than pushing them out and dissolving the baby tooth.  Then M's X-rays came back and she has 3 cavities on the surfaces between the teeth--ie, the kind that are especially difficult to remove and cap.  Those appointments are coming up.  E is probably the worst brusher of the 3 but came thru unscathed so far.  Thank goodness we have dental insurance thru Wingate to cover most of it.  C didn't eat anything yesterday after the extraction but made up for it today slurping down a Frosty, yogurt, mandarin oranges, soup, and watermelon.  He also seemed to be a much better mood once he realized that he could talk normally. 

After all that, I think we're all ready for summer break for a while!  Especially not having to get up to catch a 6:40 school bus!

Pre-K Graduation Day, 2014 style

Miss M's preschool graduation ceremony was today.  Two done!  Though it doesn't quite bring the sense of relief that I expect having two done with HS or college will bring.

The ceremony was very nice.  The kids were all dressed in Lewisburg High School green robes and mortarboards.  Miss Stephanie and Miss Sharon had nice personal observations about each of the children.  Miss Stephanie reported that Miss M wants to be a doctor like Doc McStuffins.  She was the most ambitious of the bunch (though one girl wanted to be a princess and I guess that requires ambition if you are not born into the post).  Most of the boys want to build things or blow them up.  Miss Sharon related that Miss M is one of the children who has been with the preschool since being an infant and that she has always called Miss M "Peanut." In fact, when Lil E talks to Miss Sharon about M, she also refers to M as "Peanut," so that Miss Sharon will know exactly who she's hearing about.  Miss Sharon also shared that M's more recent nickname is Sassypants.  That name needs to be recorded here for all of history, not that I think any of us who know M will forget!

M seemed a bit anxious about having to graduate preschool in the last week, but was fine during the ceremony.  She used the rolled-up diploma as a spyglass to survey the room while Miss Sharon spoke. She didn't even make her sourpuss face. When it was time to perform for us, she sang and danced...except when her mortarboard fell off.  She was stalled until Mommy returned it to its rightful place.  Then the dancing could resume.

In the previous weeks, M has been very excited about her 5th birthday, telling everyone she met about its impending arrival.  Her party is coming up this Sunday.  Lil E is always concerned about who's birthday is next (she is always hoping it will be hers).  Lil E loves to play with her brother or sister but is also content to play by herself, especially at the big doll house in the playroom.  She is still not interested in eating or using the potty (much to Mommy's chagrin). 

On Monday, C received his Cub Scout Bear badge.  He's nearing the end of third grade and is taking the EOG (end of grade exams.)  He's been enjoying the late arrival of spring weather with his friends, Caleb, Jalen, Jordan, and TJ.  They ride bikes almost every evening.  C was never previously interested in riding a bike.  This spring, his training wheels literally fell off as he rode.  He hasn't needed them because he taught himself how to ride (positive peer pressure, eh?).

Sleepin' with the Fishes

means something different in Atlanta than NJ.  C and I went to a sleepover at the Atlanta aquarium this weekend with his Cub pack.  We got backstage tours of all the sections and got to see the public areas without having to fight through 543 other tourists.  We saw the Cold Water exhibit (buluga whales, penguins), freshwater exhibit (alligators, piranhas), Tropical (all the brightly colored fish and funky jelly fish), and the dolphin show. We also got to see the pump rooms, the animal hospital, and the scuba divers cleaning the tank.  The highlight was sleeping in the auditorium with the football field-sized window of the ocean tank, complete with whale sharks, huge manta rays, and lots of other fishes making their rounds.  If we hadn't spent the day driving to Atlanta and in the zoo and facing a 6 am wake up and return drive to CLT on Sunday, it would have been tempting just to stay up and watch the fish most of the night.  Sunday morning we got to watch the feeding of the whale sharks--which they do from rafts they pull across the top of the pool.  We watched first from the tunnel and then from the auditorium.  The whale sharks just swim behind the boats with their mouths open and suck in all the shrimp that are dumped out. C seemed to enjoy it all.  He asked and answered questions of the guide.  And fell asleep immediately in the car and slept until near the SC/NC border (about 3 hours).

The Atlanta zoo was small, but had a good panda exhibit--@4 adults and 2 babies--chomping gleefully on bamboo branches.  The boys took their time and genuinely seemed to enjoy watching the animals.  And the virtue of going in Feb is that kids do not constantly ask for ice cream or slushies!

Tomorrow we're supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow.  So we may have snowman pictures to post.  Then again, late in the day, snow is supposed to turn to sleet, so it may just be a mess.  In any case, we're likely to be holed up at home for a few days.  Pray the electricity stays on!

Mena on Parenting

Out of the blue, as is her usual practice when offering her gems of wisdom, came this one tonight:  "Dads are awesome!"  E:  "Really?  How are they awesome?"  M:  "Well, Moms give lots of instructions and everybody listens to them.  Dads give instructions but nobody listens to them."  [I had noticed that and suspected others had as well...]  E:  "Well that doesn't sound so awesome!"  M:  "Dads are really good at driving, but they drive a different way than Moms.  [Yeah, presumably the wrong way...]  But do ya know what Dads are really awesome at?  Dads are taller than Moms.  They can reach things that are really high."  [That's the big closer?!  Given my ability to reach things that are really high, we should have declared victory at driving differently!]

In other news, E's interest in potty training has picked up in the past week.  She picked out a little potty for herself that sings when you pee in it and lights up, makes a flushing sound, and has another song when you "flush" it.  E sings along.  Now maybe if we got spoons and forks that sang, she would eat more...

C was probably happy to go back to school after Christmas break, as he was "bored" at home.  All his hours on Wii, the ipad, and the computer apparently were insufficient to keep him entertained.  In fairness, one of his Xmas presents never arrived, and two others don't work.  One of M's doesn't work either.  But on the bright side, we can leave phone and email messages for the companies since no one hires people to talk to customers--or apparently make products that work--anymore either.