Yesterday was the Pookie's kindergarten orientation! This was a first for us, since the Pumpkin stayed at the Montessori school through kindergarten. The Pumpkin started elementary school in first grade, and they are both so excited that they will be going to the same school next year!
After walking the Pumpkin to the bus stop in the morning, I talked with the Pookie as we walked back home. I reminded him that we were going to his kindergarten orientation later that morning, and answered some questions he had.
He asked if he was going to start in kindergarten tomorrow (everything in the future is tomorrow to him), and I once again described the seasons and how it was spring and soon would be summer and then it would be fall. And that's when he would start school. In the fall. And then he asked, "So I get to go tomorrow?" Sigh. We are working on the concept of time.
He asked if he would be in the Fives' room with the Pumpkin. His current preschool/daycare has their rooms by age, and he goes into the room with the five-year-olds in the afternoon, where his sister also goes after school. So I explained to him that he'd be in the Fives' room at the new school, which is called kindergarten, and the Pumpkin would be in a different room--the Sevens' room, which is called 2nd grade. But, I told him that he would get to ride on the bus with his sister every day!
After walking her to the bus and watching her ride off in the bus every day for the last 9 months, he is REALLY excited to ride the bus. Especially with his sister! In his words, "I want to sit next to my beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL sister on the bus!"
When we got to the kindergarten orientation, it started with the Pookie writing his own name on his name tag! (He learned that in the last few months, and he's getting really good!) I had brought the Pumpkin's lunch with us, since I was in a hurry in the morning and figured I would just bring it in when we got there. So while we waited for the orientation to begin, the front office called the Pumpkin to the office to get her lunch. It was so cute to see them both in the elementary school hall together! They were excited and hugged each other.
Then the orientation started. A group of the future kindergarteners went into one room, and the parents were to go into another room. The Pookie suddenly shied away, saying he was scared. Neither of my kids is great with transitions, and the Pookie has an especially hard time going into groups or classes on his own. And he is especially clingy to me. So I started to ask a teacher if I could just go in with him, but I was hesitant, since I knew once we were in he would not let me go easily. Thankfully, Londo knew all of the issues going on, swooped the Pookie up in a fun way, and got him into the classroom, pointing out the cool carpet and other things as they went.
I went into the other classroom to submit the paper work and register the boy for kindergarten. Londo met me after just a minute, letting me know that the Pookie was in the room and doing fine, listening to the book a teacher was reading to the kids.
We registered the Pookie, and then we went into another area where the principal talked to us about the school and starting kindergarten and the Core 2.0 Curriculum they use at the school. While she was talking, the kids came into the other side of the room and were coloring. The Pookie was as happy as could be, chatting with the other kids and having fun coloring. When they came over to us, he was so excited! He was LOVING everything about it!
Best of all? The next thing we did was take a ride on a school bus!!! We went out front and got on a bus that took us around the neighborhood. It was so cool! And it'd been so long since I'd been on a school bus!
One other cute thing: When we were leaving the last classroom to go to the bus, there was a box of legos sitting on the floor with quite a few legos left out on the ground. My little guy went over, saying indignantly, "Someone left the legos out!" He started cleaning them up! I told him to leave it so the kid who left it out could clean it up and so we could go on the bus. But what a neat guy! He was ready to clean up and keep the room neat, which gives me hope for him and what he's learning in his preschool!
It was a really neat experience for him, and for us. It will be hard to wait for the elementary school to start, but we still have to finish spring, then summer and then start in fall. Which I know I'll have to explain many more times until school starts, and I plan to show him on his calendar and we can mark off the days, if need be. But that's okay. He's learning so much, and I know he'll understand that soon, too.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
The Beauty of My Children in Two Poems
Poem from September 2012
Shine of Moon
Her beauty amazes me...
Her long curls
spiral
down
her
back.
Her pale skin that elegant
shade of white and rose
that women bleach and
paint to try to attain.
The sprinkling of freckles
across
her nose and checks,
light
brown and soft looking.
Her almond eyes, my shape eyes, crinkling
when she smiles her engaging
smile, laughs her infectious
laugh, grins in her incorrigible way.
Her long, lean
body is steady
sure
strong
balanced.
Her expressive face
announces her intentions,
determined in her goal or
anxious in her need, tight
with anger or free with love.
She has the beauty of the moon,
pale and engaging,
bright and interesting,
so lovely it's hard to look away.
Glow of Sun
His beauty enchants me...
His face and eyes are round with apple dumpling cheeks.
The hazel of his eyes are becoming the same rainbow as mine,
brown, green, yellow and blue melding together, shining bright.
His curls spring close when his hair is short, loop large when
his hair grows to droop below his ears, soft and silky.
He smiles that smile, stares up with those eyes, charming
everyone who benefits from his attention. He gives a devilish
smile, almost taunting with his eyes, face shining with naughty
excitement, daring you to say no, turning back on the charm
when you do say no. New freckles occasionally appear, on
his chin, his arms, his legs. His body is growing leaner, longer.
His bottom is still round, his hands are still full, but his body is
no longer little and padded. He shines like the sun, warm
and full, strong and gorgeous, so handsome it draws you in.
Shine of Moon
Her beauty amazes me...
Her long curls
spiral
down
her
back.
Her pale skin that elegant
shade of white and rose
that women bleach and
paint to try to attain.
The sprinkling of freckles
across
her nose and checks,
light
brown and soft looking.
Her almond eyes, my shape eyes, crinkling
when she smiles her engaging
smile, laughs her infectious
laugh, grins in her incorrigible way.
Her long, lean
body is steady
sure
strong
balanced.
Her expressive face
announces her intentions,
determined in her goal or
anxious in her need, tight
with anger or free with love.
She has the beauty of the moon,
pale and engaging,
bright and interesting,
so lovely it's hard to look away.
Glow of Sun
His beauty enchants me...
His face and eyes are round with apple dumpling cheeks.
The hazel of his eyes are becoming the same rainbow as mine,
brown, green, yellow and blue melding together, shining bright.
His curls spring close when his hair is short, loop large when
his hair grows to droop below his ears, soft and silky.
He smiles that smile, stares up with those eyes, charming
everyone who benefits from his attention. He gives a devilish
smile, almost taunting with his eyes, face shining with naughty
excitement, daring you to say no, turning back on the charm
when you do say no. New freckles occasionally appear, on
his chin, his arms, his legs. His body is growing leaner, longer.
His bottom is still round, his hands are still full, but his body is
no longer little and padded. He shines like the sun, warm
and full, strong and gorgeous, so handsome it draws you in.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
In Truth, It's Not Easier
I've been a parent for just over 7 years now. It's been wonderful. And a pain in my butt. And rewarding. And madness-inducing. And everything in between.
I've strived to be honest about what parenthood has been like to me. On this blog, I spent years writing about the good, the bad and the ugly. In real life and on Facebook, I share the joy and the pain. After all, being a parent is not easy, and anyone who says different is either a liar, delusional, a bad parent or extremely lucky (possibly all of those).
During the early years, the baby years, I struggled. But I kept thinking that it would get easier. That we'd get through the developmental and growth spurts and make it to the other side. The thing is, there is no other side. Just as life itself is really a circle, a roller coaster, full of ups and downs, so is parenthood.
I now have a 7 year old and an almost 5 year old. It's not easier to parent them, but it is different in so many ways. Their personalities don't change, but what they are dealing with and how they act do change.
There are different challenges to having a 7-year-old girl who gives me sass than the challenges of her looking at me defiantly while doing what I just told her not to do when she was a toddler. There are different challenges to having an almost-5-year-old boy who says I'm a mean mommy because I make him take a bath than the challenges of him throwing a tantrum and trying push me away when he needed his diaper changed.
What I've come to realize is that it's all variations on a theme. Their themes. So it doesn't necessarily get easier to parent them as they get older, but the challenges changes. The dynamics change. The tricks and techniques I and Londo use as parents have to adapt.
And though I believe it is so important to talk about the difficulties and not paint parenthood in some unrealistic way, I also believe it's vital to keep in mind the wonderful aspects of being a parent.
My daughter still is an amazing communicator and loves to snuggle up to us, just like when she was a toddler. My son still tells me how much he loves me and is great at puzzles and putting like things together, just like when he was a toddler.
We still deal with developmental regressions (and corresponding leaps forward) on a quarterly basis with both kids. And though the regressions are and always will be frustrating, the leaps forward are incredible! The things they can do now! It's just amazing!
So, no, it isn't easier. But it is still absolutely worth every second of the ups and downs to watch these wonderful kids of mine grow, develop and learn.
I've strived to be honest about what parenthood has been like to me. On this blog, I spent years writing about the good, the bad and the ugly. In real life and on Facebook, I share the joy and the pain. After all, being a parent is not easy, and anyone who says different is either a liar, delusional, a bad parent or extremely lucky (possibly all of those).
During the early years, the baby years, I struggled. But I kept thinking that it would get easier. That we'd get through the developmental and growth spurts and make it to the other side. The thing is, there is no other side. Just as life itself is really a circle, a roller coaster, full of ups and downs, so is parenthood.
I now have a 7 year old and an almost 5 year old. It's not easier to parent them, but it is different in so many ways. Their personalities don't change, but what they are dealing with and how they act do change.
There are different challenges to having a 7-year-old girl who gives me sass than the challenges of her looking at me defiantly while doing what I just told her not to do when she was a toddler. There are different challenges to having an almost-5-year-old boy who says I'm a mean mommy because I make him take a bath than the challenges of him throwing a tantrum and trying push me away when he needed his diaper changed.
What I've come to realize is that it's all variations on a theme. Their themes. So it doesn't necessarily get easier to parent them as they get older, but the challenges changes. The dynamics change. The tricks and techniques I and Londo use as parents have to adapt.
And though I believe it is so important to talk about the difficulties and not paint parenthood in some unrealistic way, I also believe it's vital to keep in mind the wonderful aspects of being a parent.
My daughter still is an amazing communicator and loves to snuggle up to us, just like when she was a toddler. My son still tells me how much he loves me and is great at puzzles and putting like things together, just like when he was a toddler.
We still deal with developmental regressions (and corresponding leaps forward) on a quarterly basis with both kids. And though the regressions are and always will be frustrating, the leaps forward are incredible! The things they can do now! It's just amazing!
So, no, it isn't easier. But it is still absolutely worth every second of the ups and downs to watch these wonderful kids of mine grow, develop and learn.
Monday, September 2, 2013
A Week of Firsts
The Pumpkin just stared 1st grade this past week. For the other 6 year olds in the neighborhood, this means going back to school in the next grade up. For the Pumpkin, this means starting in elementary school for the first time. Last year, we had a bit of reprieve because she stayed at the Montessori school in the classroom that was ages 3 through 5 and included a "Kindergarten Class" for the 5 year olds. So we didn't deal with the OMG-my-kid-is-going-into-kindergarten-and-leaving-the-nest that all my other friends with 5 year olds went through. But the Montessori school only went through Kindergarten.
So, we had a reprieve, but that ended this year.
The Pumpkin was very excited to go to the elementary school for the first time, to ride a school bus for the first time and take the daycare's bus to aftercare for the first time! The local elementary school is excellent, and I was looking forward to gathering at the bus stop with the other parents. We meet the teacher at a back-to-school sneak peak the Friday before school started. She was warm, friendly, funny and great with the kids. We are very hopeful about the Pumpkin's transition to the new school.
The first week has gone really well. The Pumpkin loves the teacher, has a friend in her class that was in her class at the Montessori school (I requested that they be in the same class on the sheet in the admittance paperwork), gets excited about the bus, and she even got to get food in the cafeteria (hurray for no more peanut allergy!). By day 2 or 3, the Pumpkin was a bit sad about not making a bunch of friends already. She is so outgoing and friendly that I think she expected to make a ton of friends immediately. Londo and I both talked with her about it and explained that making new friends does not always happen right away. That other kids may be nervous or shy and that all the kids need time to adjust to the new class. Those talks seemed to help a lot.
Her teacher called parents on Friday to give an update about how the children are doing so far! She talked with Londo, and she said that the Pumpkin was doing well so far. How awesome is that for a 1st grade teacher to do?
She is aware of the Pumpkin's previous school and that we were worried about her transition into the non-Montessori environment, and she agreed that is an area that the Pumpkin needs to continue working on. Based on what I've seen and what the teacher said, I do believe she'll fully transition soon.
This is hard, though. This letting go of my child. This letting her out into the world without my supervision in a school with older kids. This is not sending her to a carefully picked daycare/school and letting her spend 3 years there with the comfort of knowing the kids and teachers and administration. She is in a new environment with new rules and new kids.
I just want it all to go well, to go smoothly. I want everyone to love her and think she's fun and funny and realize how wonderful she is. I want her to make friends easily and enjoying learning and study hard even when it's difficult. Isn't that what all parents want for their kids? But we don't get to make that happen. Instead, we have to let them go and see how they do on their own. It won't all be easy and there will be ups and downs. But I know that she will be able to stand up for herself, she'll be friendly and nice to other kids, and she'll always have us as a safety net.
First grade. Where did the time go? The nights may have been long, but the years have flown by.
So, we had a reprieve, but that ended this year.
The Pumpkin was very excited to go to the elementary school for the first time, to ride a school bus for the first time and take the daycare's bus to aftercare for the first time! The local elementary school is excellent, and I was looking forward to gathering at the bus stop with the other parents. We meet the teacher at a back-to-school sneak peak the Friday before school started. She was warm, friendly, funny and great with the kids. We are very hopeful about the Pumpkin's transition to the new school.
The first week has gone really well. The Pumpkin loves the teacher, has a friend in her class that was in her class at the Montessori school (I requested that they be in the same class on the sheet in the admittance paperwork), gets excited about the bus, and she even got to get food in the cafeteria (hurray for no more peanut allergy!). By day 2 or 3, the Pumpkin was a bit sad about not making a bunch of friends already. She is so outgoing and friendly that I think she expected to make a ton of friends immediately. Londo and I both talked with her about it and explained that making new friends does not always happen right away. That other kids may be nervous or shy and that all the kids need time to adjust to the new class. Those talks seemed to help a lot.
Her teacher called parents on Friday to give an update about how the children are doing so far! She talked with Londo, and she said that the Pumpkin was doing well so far. How awesome is that for a 1st grade teacher to do?
She is aware of the Pumpkin's previous school and that we were worried about her transition into the non-Montessori environment, and she agreed that is an area that the Pumpkin needs to continue working on. Based on what I've seen and what the teacher said, I do believe she'll fully transition soon.
This is hard, though. This letting go of my child. This letting her out into the world without my supervision in a school with older kids. This is not sending her to a carefully picked daycare/school and letting her spend 3 years there with the comfort of knowing the kids and teachers and administration. She is in a new environment with new rules and new kids.
I just want it all to go well, to go smoothly. I want everyone to love her and think she's fun and funny and realize how wonderful she is. I want her to make friends easily and enjoying learning and study hard even when it's difficult. Isn't that what all parents want for their kids? But we don't get to make that happen. Instead, we have to let them go and see how they do on their own. It won't all be easy and there will be ups and downs. But I know that she will be able to stand up for herself, she'll be friendly and nice to other kids, and she'll always have us as a safety net.
First grade. Where did the time go? The nights may have been long, but the years have flown by.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The Intricacies of Language
My kids are now each of an age where they are learning new concepts in language. The Pumpkin is 6 (almost 6 and a half! those halves count!), and the Pookie is 4. They have each just come through another leap in development, and I can see that language was part of those leaps.
For the Pookie, he is now able to explain himself, and he is able to state words more clearly. Although his little lisp has been adorable, it has also lead to frustrations for himself and us. Now, he is able to explain "smah gitah" is not the "big gitah [we had just been talking abut]. He played the smah gitah" which was actually the violin, or "fiddle" as the Pumpkin explained.
Conversations with the boy are lengthier and have more details. When we ask him about his day or what they did in Soccer Shots, he actually tells us about an actual thing that happened. This is WAY better than the previous "I don know." And lately, I've been reading the kids chapter books at bedtime, and when I ask each kid what happened when we stopped reading the night before, he is able to remember some details and answer! This is really neat for me to see develop.
Unfortunately, he still likes to push his boundaries using words. I think we've finally gotten him to stop saying "bam your face." This was more annoying that you might think. At first, it was an occasional answer to an innocuous question, "like what do you want to do?" "I want to bam your face!" And then it morphed into random answers to EVERYTHING just about ALL the time: "Do you want a bagel or cereal?" "I want a bam your face!" Or even replies to statements: "Stop doing that, Pookie!" "Stop bamming your face!" I'm sure you get the picture. Ah, the fun of boundary-pushing four-year-old boys. "Bam your face" took a LOT of reminding and reprimanding to get him to stop, but he still adds "blah blah bloo blam" and other nonsense words in random sentences.
However, one of the cutest things he says is 45. It is so cute because we realized that the Pookie thinks that is the highest number evah! We could be talking about how much or how many of something and saying there are thousands or millions, and he'll say there are "FORTY FIVE!" And we all (the Pumpkin included), go "wow! That's a lot!" cause we know he thinks it's the highest number.
As for the 6 (almost 6 and a half!) year old Pumpkin, she has been learning language at the next level. Specifically, we've been working on sarcasm and figures of speech. Londo and I can be sarcastic at times. It helps keep us sane. And though we've read the research that says kids don't understand sarcasm until they are about 7, we give pretty good facial cues and flat out say when we're being sarcastic so she can learn. (I believe the research also said that they can learn a bit earlier if they are around it and it's explained to them.)
For example, if I say, "I really love it when you don't listen to me, Pumpkin." She knows enough to look at me, and I raise a single eyebrow, and she says, "That was sarcasm, right?" Yes, yes it was, Pumpkin.
I have been really enjoying teaching her figures of speech and sayings! I think it started with "it's raining cats and dogs!" That's a pretty crazy image, if you think about it--or if you are a kid just hearing it. That's when I explained that it was a saying and what that meant. A few days later at bedtime, I said, "What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" And then I realized that the last thing we needed was for her to have some nightmare where a cat was getting her tongue, so I quickly explained that it was a figure of speech, and what that meant, and how silly it was, and gave her a few more examples.
It's pretty neat to see how their language skills are evolving. Since Londo and I were both English majors for undergrad, we are very interested in language and teaching them about language. In fact, just the other night, I introduced them to poetry with the Shel Silverstein book I had as a little girl--Where the Sidewalk Ends is still a favorite of mine, and I LOVED introducing them to it. Language is beautiful and fun and interesting and frustrating and hard to understand and wonderful. Getting to watch and listen and teach my kids as they learn the intricacies of language is definitely a highlight of this parenting gig for me.
For the Pookie, he is now able to explain himself, and he is able to state words more clearly. Although his little lisp has been adorable, it has also lead to frustrations for himself and us. Now, he is able to explain "smah gitah" is not the "big gitah [we had just been talking abut]. He played the smah gitah" which was actually the violin, or "fiddle" as the Pumpkin explained.
Conversations with the boy are lengthier and have more details. When we ask him about his day or what they did in Soccer Shots, he actually tells us about an actual thing that happened. This is WAY better than the previous "I don know." And lately, I've been reading the kids chapter books at bedtime, and when I ask each kid what happened when we stopped reading the night before, he is able to remember some details and answer! This is really neat for me to see develop.
Unfortunately, he still likes to push his boundaries using words. I think we've finally gotten him to stop saying "bam your face." This was more annoying that you might think. At first, it was an occasional answer to an innocuous question, "like what do you want to do?" "I want to bam your face!" And then it morphed into random answers to EVERYTHING just about ALL the time: "Do you want a bagel or cereal?" "I want a bam your face!" Or even replies to statements: "Stop doing that, Pookie!" "Stop bamming your face!" I'm sure you get the picture. Ah, the fun of boundary-pushing four-year-old boys. "Bam your face" took a LOT of reminding and reprimanding to get him to stop, but he still adds "blah blah bloo blam" and other nonsense words in random sentences.
However, one of the cutest things he says is 45. It is so cute because we realized that the Pookie thinks that is the highest number evah! We could be talking about how much or how many of something and saying there are thousands or millions, and he'll say there are "FORTY FIVE!" And we all (the Pumpkin included), go "wow! That's a lot!" cause we know he thinks it's the highest number.
As for the 6 (almost 6 and a half!) year old Pumpkin, she has been learning language at the next level. Specifically, we've been working on sarcasm and figures of speech. Londo and I can be sarcastic at times. It helps keep us sane. And though we've read the research that says kids don't understand sarcasm until they are about 7, we give pretty good facial cues and flat out say when we're being sarcastic so she can learn. (I believe the research also said that they can learn a bit earlier if they are around it and it's explained to them.)
For example, if I say, "I really love it when you don't listen to me, Pumpkin." She knows enough to look at me, and I raise a single eyebrow, and she says, "That was sarcasm, right?" Yes, yes it was, Pumpkin.
I have been really enjoying teaching her figures of speech and sayings! I think it started with "it's raining cats and dogs!" That's a pretty crazy image, if you think about it--or if you are a kid just hearing it. That's when I explained that it was a saying and what that meant. A few days later at bedtime, I said, "What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" And then I realized that the last thing we needed was for her to have some nightmare where a cat was getting her tongue, so I quickly explained that it was a figure of speech, and what that meant, and how silly it was, and gave her a few more examples.
It's pretty neat to see how their language skills are evolving. Since Londo and I were both English majors for undergrad, we are very interested in language and teaching them about language. In fact, just the other night, I introduced them to poetry with the Shel Silverstein book I had as a little girl--Where the Sidewalk Ends is still a favorite of mine, and I LOVED introducing them to it. Language is beautiful and fun and interesting and frustrating and hard to understand and wonderful. Getting to watch and listen and teach my kids as they learn the intricacies of language is definitely a highlight of this parenting gig for me.
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