12/18/09 The Statue

Today I attended Katrina's preschool's holiday party. I love these things because the kids practice singing for weeks ahead of time, and it's so fun listening to Katrina sing at home, to herself and to us, all the time.

But not at school.



She moved her mouth for the first few words, but that was it. She looked shellshocked the whole time. I'm starting to wonder if she's actually a little shy, and doesn't like crowds, even though the indications of that are subtle. She's overall confident and social and relaxed in large groups -- not at all intimidated at the CDC surrounded by older kids for instance -- but I don't know...she doesn't thrive on attention among her peers.

It took her a while to warm up after the performance too, but a cupcake helped that along. I love the Santa beards her class made, and wore.


Waiting for her to wash her hands, I noticed that her hair is getting long in the back again. Pretty, but getting harder to handle.


I've done so, so much baking this holiday -- I love that, but I had an awful pang today when I saw other kids at the preschool handing the teachers gifts. Of all people who should get recognition and a note of thanks, it's our three teachers. It slipped off my plate this year, and shame on me. Not again.

Last day in the office today! I have work to wrap up this weekend, but then that's it for me as a contractor. I'm looking forward to some time "off" -- if being home with all three for 2 weeks is "off!"

12/18/09

12/17/09 The Feast

Today Gabriel's class had an "international feast," in which every kid brings a dish representative of their culture to class for lunch, and parents are invited to attend.

I'd talk to my Mom about an easy French dessert, but it turned out that the idea was to use a recipe that the kid had to write down for homework some weeks ago. So, we made banana bread. Really, I made it, because I went to a cookie exchange party last night, and didn't have time to make it with Gabriel -- though he did mush up the bananas in a bag.

As it turns out, I did exactly what most other parents did: bring something I make at home all the time anyway. I'd have been one of the few who had to dig deep to find something representing my ancestral "culture," since the (mostly) Indian dishes that (most) Moms brought are daily fare anyway!

One Dad brought PIZZA. That was a huge hit.

Though I'm incredibly pressed for time at work, this was one thing I wasn't about to miss. I was a few minutes late though, and couldn't get the image of Gabriel's longing face out of my head, the one that was standing by the door of his kindergarten classroom, searching for me while the rest of his class celebrated the last day of kindergarten inside the room with their parents. I was 20 minutes late that day, and the guilt still follows me. Gabriel is so emotionally independent, but I've learned these things mean a lot to him, and it was important I be there. And I really wanted to be.


He insisted I sit down next to him, and when I didn't get any food, he insisted again I go get some food too. I got a little, then he got up and got me a few things he liked and wanted me to try.

He wasn't all business, of course. He and his table pals found a way to be silly with tortillas (or whatever these are).


I really had a good time, it's always fun to connect with other parents and see how the kids are in the class. One-on-one time with each kid is pretty rare these days, so it's a nice treat for both of us. And the banana bread was very popular -- one Indian mom even asked me for the recipe.


Tomorrow at work there's a big holiday potluck thing, and I have a reputation to maintain now with baking. I'm baking tonight, but I'm quickly getting baked out. And, Katrina's school is having a holiday party and performing songs, so I'll leave work early to watch her stand in a group and stare at the teachers and refuse to sing. And then I get to scramble to pick up all the food for Julian's party on Saturday.

I need a vacation from holidays!

12/17/09

12/16/09 Cookie overload!

Attended a fun cookie exchange party tonight at a 2006 mom's house...but came home and baked again for Gabriel's International Feast tomorrow. Then there's another event Friday to bake for (at work, not essential, but now I have a reputation to uphold), and then Julian's party on Saturday. Which I'm not baking for, but I still have to get ready for.

This is all a ton of fun, but that fun is being delivered by steamroller right now, and I'm exhausted.

12/16/09

12/15/09 Pills

Two of them today. Pills, that is. Katrina: one fuss and resistance and fit after another. Gabriel: rude, belligerent, attitude when asked multiple times to do something. Plus he got in trouble at school today, saying to a "teammate" (someone at his table) that her mother was stupid, and then that he wished she were dead. Two days lost recess for that, plus a note of apology to both the teammate and the mother. Which he refused to do tonight, so, more trouble.

Meantime, it seems our most recent top pill has retired from troublemaking, and is all about being sweet and helpful. Julian even half-jokes in response to my asking him to do something, "yes, ma'am"! It's been really fun getting to know him again; with the fortress of pestiness falling down around him, there's really a terrific kid inside there.

Now if only the other two would to go rehab.

12/15/09

12/14/09 Busy Monday

I haven't done this in a long time, and it's great. I zipped off to work as early as I could get there today, about 8:05, and pretty much didn't stop working until I absolutely had to leave at 4:40. This is my LAST week as a contractor, and I'm determined to wrap up this testing project and leave it complete and well-documented. But the truth is, it's fun. I know exactly what I need to do, and I enter the lab with a clear plan in my head for the next 10 steps, knowing exactly what sequence to do things in and exactly what the plan is. I sure wish I had that same vision for interior decorating. Home projects like landscaping and doing the family room have fallen by the wayside.

But, not to worry -- next week, I'll go in to work once just to turn in my laptop and badge, and then that's it. I start looking for a full-time job -- but not until after two weeks at home, catching up with home projects and just being at home with my increasingly enjoyable little brood. Julian especially has been delightful lately -- actually, he's always delightful, but lately he's not been disguising that with obnoxious resistance or rudeness. (Unfortunately Gabriel's been taking up the slack in that department.) I still have very little room for Katrina's impossible tantrums and impasses, but while they're still daily, they are tapering off a little.

I'm looking forward to having some real time at home with them soon. After an intense week this week that is.

12/14/09

12/13/09 Tree Decorating

Busy, full weekend!

We hosted the 2006 Las Madres holiday party on Saturday. I think at the peak there were more people than at Thanksgiving, but thanks to the help of so many wonderful capable people, it was a relative breeze.


The party included two book exchanges, one for the 2006ers and one for the school-age kids. Many, many 2006 moms also have older "babies" who are in kindergarten; some one year younger, some older. The book exchange is popular!


Betsy and I are the only ones with yet another older child too, so Gina and Gabriel did their own book exchange. Both loved each other's books. It was all we could do to pry Gabriel off the couch later, reading his "Warriors" book.


At last year's holiday party, Julian totally hit it off with Elena, a girl his age whose younger sister, Megan, is the 2006er. Megan and Elena's mom Cris and I have become friends, and I was delighted to learn that Cris is from Rochester, NY!

Anyway, it'd been a year since Julian and Elena had seen each other, and they didn't really remember each other -- but they hit it off again just the same. They were even walking around holding hands, when they weren't running like crazy after each other. When most of the crowd was gone, they even let me get some photos.



Cris and I are already talking about what to name our first grandchild.

Though it was hectic at the party, and stressful beforehand only because I couldn't give it the attention I wanted, it was a lot of fun. I really like having so many kids happily running around the house -- that's what the house is for. They give the house life and purpose.

Today Dave had to work, so I had the three at home myself today. A lazy day after such a busy one yesterday, or it tried to be. After slapping together a hasty breakfast, I went back to sleep for a while before Dave left for work. I fell into a deep sleep, awoken by an exceedingly irritating new game of Julian and Katrina's that involves her bursting out screeches at the top of her lungs. I called Dave on his iPhone (easier than hollering down the stairs!) to apologize for oversleeping and to tell him to go to work -- but he told me he was already at work and hadn't wanted to wake me to tell me (figuring correctly that the kids would take care of that). Well, wow! The kids let me sleep for a good hour and a half. I'm liking this phase of life. Now if we can just get past the tantrums.

I could have stayed at home all day, but I knew that the kids had to get out. We took a short trip to the library, to return old books and get new ones. This was great; the boys were completely silent absorbed in their new books for two hours. Katrina played very happily, not being bugged by brothers for once.

Time to decorate our tree! They'd really been looking forward to doing this, and this time, Katrina got in on the action. She caught on to the concept of hooking things on the tree right away. They all had a great time. This is what Christmas is about!



Santa baby!


12/13/09

12/11/09 Finding the spirit

An extremely busy intense day at work today for me. I like my new project so much that I wasn't about to waste one moment of precious time today. I love the concentration, the thinking, putting things together, making them work, and then writing it up as simply as possible. I won't be network engineering all my life, but there's a reason I did it as long as I have: I really really like it.

But the fun had to end, and I was wrenched back to another part of my life tonight. Three mom friends came over to help set up for the holiday party here tomorrow, which I've looked forward to but my mind has just too full with other things to have a chance to get excited about it yet. But tonight was a lot of fun, and a truly welcome diversion to bring me back to what also really matters in my life.

And look how nice my house looks when other people decorate it!



No one is happier about Christmas lights than Katrina though.


Every day she asks me, "Mommy, is today Christmas?"

She's going to love tomorrow! And so am I.

12/11/09

12/10/09 Lights!

Julian reminded me this morning that today was the day he'd present his Cultural Poster. We practiced "Hola, mis amigos, mi nombre es Julian" many times, even though he claimed he wasn't going to say that. When I picked him up from school today, I chatted briefly with his teacher, who told me he did a great job on his presentation, and blew away the class with his Spanish introduction. I was very very proud of him, and held back nothing in hugs and praise!

She said overall he's been doing much much better, paying attention and not pestering people when they're sitting on the ground listening. The CDC said the same thing today -- and he's been a lot better at home too. yay!

Another kid in Julian's class did Italy...or did he? The kid, that is. Does it look like a kid did the writing and taping on this poster?

And I know for a fact from seeing class-wide work on the walls that Julian's handwriting amongst the worst in the class -- yet he wrote every word and did all cutting and gluing on his poster. I only helped him with the content and planning where things should go. I know not every kid feels this way, but it would have been unthinkable for me to do his project for him, to take that way from him. He loved doing it.

[ ADDENDUM: I just realized: that poster must be the teacher's poster!! Duh! No wonder it looks like everything was done by an adult!! ]

As regular readers know, I'm not an anti-homework parent, but I'm no advocate of it either. I'm finding that projects have far more value than homework, and non-homework schools do projects too, but in class. I never thought I'd say this, but it just struck me today that for kids who like projects -- and even like homework -- it's almost an odd shame that they don't have the "opportunity." Yeah, you can give them extra stuff to do, but it doesn't mean the same to them. I never, ever expected this from our ultra-putzy boy, but he gobbles up his home-based schoolwork and gets a lot out of doing it. If I were a different type of parent I might even ask for more!

Now, on to lights.

Katrina is loving this season with all the Christmas lights around. "I am so full of LIGHTS!" she exclaims.

So we spent the afternoon outside, under stormy threatening skies, putting up exterior lights. I haven't really done this before, so we don't have our places picked out or hooks installed or methods formed, so it took a while. But it was a lot of fun being out there figuring it out, with the kids running to get me a hook or hold something or help me in one way or another. They played together much of the time too, and it was nice doing something productive with them there with me.


I wish I had more time -- or a little less life -- to really enjoy these moments. I'm constantly prioritizing: was this the best use of my time this afternoon? With a party coming up on Saturday, was this the most urgent thing that needed to get done? Perhaps not, but if there's one thing I learned in graduate school, of all places, it was: do the "extra" stuff first, because when the time crunch comes, you'll still get the "required" stuff done. If you start with the required stuff, that's all you'll get done. This way, I got the extra stuff done, and one way or another, I'll get the necessary stuff done too.

12/10/09
(and I still remember that it's Jason's birthday, but not in time today to contact him, wouldn't that be a trip! My cousin is 33 today, and I sent him birthday cards for years when he was a child.)

12/9/09 Christmas cookies

Today the 2nd grade made gingerbread houses, though the "gingerbread" was really graham crackers. I like the little car Gabriel made out of licorice and lifesavers, parked next to the house.


My rule for things like this is that the kid who brought it home doesn't have to share it, but they can't eat it in front of their siblings. Tonight was no different. Gabriel had a choice: you can have it now with your sister and brother, or wait until later....muuuch later, who knows when....when they're not around. Never once has a child chosen to wait. And so, a rare win for Mom: suckering a kid into volunteering to share with his siblings.


They also got gingerbread men that I'd decorated with Julian yesterday.


They were appreciative of the fun colorful dessert. I love this time of year if nothing else for the color combinations! (I just wish I weren't so overloaded, and that my work situation weren't such a big unknown. That by itself would be OK, but with all the other things to juggle, I feel like I'm behind in everything.)

Julian's being oddly cooperative these days, and even made a funny face upon request for the camera. I can't get enough of this boy's face. Usually it's his mouth that captivates me, but I also love his bright oddly-colored eyes.


A coworker today told me today that she doesn't cook until all leftovers are gone. Now that's a way to run a fridge!

12/9/09

12/8/09 Cookie King

No work today, which was oddly stressful. Now that I have interesting work to do, and for such a short unknown time, the interruption of the alternative home/work days is disruptive. (A part-time Tu-W-Th schedule would be ideal!).

Katrina had a great time at the Y today, as she always does. She loves the big-kid Childwatch, since they go outside to a really nice playground -- or on cold days like today, stay inside and paint.


A conflict over candy canes -- but only after homework -- sent Gabriel to the bottom of my list today. When I asked him to put away a milk carton he'd taken out, the foul-mouthed brat retorted, "NO, I am not a maid!" and then attempted to go outside. He came very close to some corporal punishment for that, but instead I sent him to his room for half an hour, just so I didn't have to see him.

Meanwhile, Julian finished his week's worth of homework eagerly and without complaint, in about 15 minutes. He did his daily reading and updated his reading log and was really very cooperative.

It's always hectic when I'm trying to make and serve dinner, which is why this is a popular time for TV kid-parking. I'm still reluctant to open the TV/video door, since around here, state changes are a big challenge. That is, getting them away from the TV could cause more trouble than the TV prevented. But TV did occur to me while the boys were "playing" as I was trying to finish dinner makings tonight. Doesn't seem like much on the video but it's very disruptive and obnoxious when they run through the kitchen!

Actually as loud and irritating as they can be at the time, I have to say, I love watching my "little darlings" after the fact -- their energy and camaraderie; their simple childhood fun. Still, that TV-while-making-dinner thing might have some merit.

After dinner, I squeezed in a little cookie-decorating, as I already had the baked gingerbread cutouts and needed to do something with them! Only Julian joined me, and we had a great time together.


Julian and I also sat together on the island for dinner tonight, so he could share my artichoke. I've tried artichokes on everyone before, but no one liked them, and I decided to make one for myself tonight. He loved it! And I loved discovering a new special thing that just he and I can share together, though when it comes to food, that's actually quite a lot.

As parents, we're not supposed to have favorites, but today it was hard not to.

12/8/09

12/7/09 Homework pests

How is a kid supposed to get any homework done around here? Katrina wanted to sit with Gabriel (who sat right down when he got home and started his homework!), but Julian wanted to pester Katrina, making for a lot of chaos. She's in high demand around here.



Katrina and Julian play a lot more together -- they spent the whole evening chasing each other (mostly) joyfully -- and are tightly bonded as siblings, but there is an unmistakable, unique synergy between Gabriel and Katrina. Gabriel took great pride in showing Katrina his homework.



He quizzes her on the math problems!


This is cute now, but it tickles my curiosity about how older siblings affect the younger ones. Will he help her with math homework when she needs it? I think both my younger siblings will agree with complete certainty that I had no effect -- or interest -- whatsoever in their education.

Of course, every family has its own dynamic.



"Boy Mom, you sure know a lot about military!" Julian exclaimed tonight. I beamed internally, though I did have to correct him. "No, I know a very little about one war," though I was glad that it wasn't as much of a reach to talk about Pearl Harbor today than it used to be.

Julian even remembered that Pearl Harbor was what got us into WWII from previous discussions. We also talked again about the Doolittle Raid, the first aggression the USA was able to return by bombing Tokyo in 1942, something we've talked about before (because of the coolness of launching land-based bombers from a carrier, and because I just watched the movie "30 Seconds Over Tokyo"). This meant so much more when I told them that the bombers were launched from the USS Hornet -- the aircraft carrier we visited. (Actually we visited its successor, as the actual Hornet used in the raid was sunk later -- but there's no need to dilute the point with history!!) I told them we'll definitely go see Pearl Harbor in real life someday. As an incentive to quick getting ready for bed, we watched some vintage footage of the attack on YouTube.

I love these moments with the boys...they're so engaged and fascinated, and look to me for so much information. It's really a big responsibility...what I tell them, and how, could have a tremendous impact on shaping their attitudes. I hope I do it in a mind-opening, informative way; sticking to the facts. Their primary interest is technical though: how fast planes fly, how big missiles are, how much stuff gets blown up by a bomb. They want to find bad guys and enemies, and they want to root for a team. It's a tricky balance; it's interesting and arguably important to talk about war, but the natural softening one uses to describe horrific things to kids risks glorifying it. How can war be so awful when there are so many cool aircraft involved? I sure look forward to having support from the schools to teach history, 'cause I surely am underqualified!

12/7/09

12/6/09 Tree day

Aunt Laura's here for the weekend!

She played hide-and-seek outside with the boys for hours!



Then I got my Dutch Oven, finally! Laura went with me on a fast trip to Williams-Sonoma, after numerous failed attempts to buy it elsewhere. And I get a funny photo.

(Next time I go to Williams-Sonoma with my favorite foodie sister-in-law, we're going to have TONS of time! How fun is that!)

Today we got our Christmas tree, the time-consuming, hassle-packed, labor-intensive, expensive way: by driving into the mountains and picking our own. But despite many failed negotiations with a toddler to walk on her own, still so worth it if nothing else just for the views.


And for a rare family photo (THANKS LAURA!).


Having a great time, wish you were here.

12/6/09

12/4/09 Report cards!

Ooh, a huge deal at school today -- report card day! Woo-hoo. Yahdah yahdah. Whatever.

But, it is interesting seeing what the teachers have to say about our boys.

The school seems to have standardized on a 1-6 scale for all grades, though the criteria for kindergarten is different than 2nd grade, thank goodness. 4 is "meets the standard," and 3 just means it's an area to focus on. Gabriel's teachers told us that a 6 means major extra effort and that not getting a 6 is not a big deal.

I gather from the way Gabriel's teacher pulled me aside to "warn" me about the S- he got in art that many parents are pretty concerned about 2nd-grade grades. Really, not a biggie, unless there really is a serious area of deficiency that needs addressing. Julian's teacher never said anything about the numbers and probably thinks that numbering kindergartners is silly. I agree.

Overall they're both doing great!

The real surprise is in Gabriel's teachers' assessment of his writing and written expression. They actually gave him a 6 for "Written and Oral Language Conventions," and even an "M" in a spelling category (the proficiency levels are M for Mastery, '+' for Exceeds the standard, 'check' for Meets the standard, '-' for Beginning to meet the standard). In their notes, they emphasize that he organizes his thoughts well and edits his writing well. He apparently is a natural speller like me, a skill I know well takes you nowhere.

Gabriel didn't excel in math, where Dave and I both would expect he would, but he's at grade level in proficiency and that's fine.

I'm amused at a summary section though, since it does sum him up quite well ("S" means Satisfactory in this context, modified by '+' or '-'):

Lifelong Learning Skills (Gabriel)
S Listens in class
S- Follows directions
S Works independently
S Works Neatly
S Completes work on time
S Accepts responsibility
S Respects classmates
S Respects authority
S Uses time wisely
S Uses conflict resolution techniques
S+ Communicates effectively
S Works collaboratively

That sounds like him....doesn't listen (S- in "follows directions"), and tells you what he thinks about his not listening (S+ in "communicates effectively").

Gabriel's first-grade teacher gave him 4s on just about everything, with an occasional + or -, and that didn't give us much information. We knew his handwriting and math in 1st grade were at drastic odds, yet she marked him the same. Not a big deal, just not a lot of information. This 2nd grade report tells us more about how he is in school. For instance, I'm really surprised about the writing. I'd never have known that he organizes his thoughts well; he doesn't write at home (beyond the occasional cartoon of a cat making bathroom jokes) or anything, and I'd have no way to put it into context for a 7-year-old anyway.

Julian too is thriving. His poor teacher has to temper that with positively-phrased statements like "With practice and reinforcement at home, I'm confident Julian will be able to consistently follow rules." Uh-huh. Good luck with that. He does putz around, he is easily distracted, but she says when he's focused he does an excellent job (as I learned with the Mexico poster). No surprises in her description of his strengths: he's an outstanding reader, and has a great understanding in science. I'm really glad to see that she can always count on Julian to volunteer to help in class, participate in discussion, and join in games and sports with other kids.

Once again, a summary section on Julian's report card tells the story:

Social and Emotional Growth (Julian)
S Works independently
S Works well in a group
S- Completes work on time
S Follows classroom procedures
S Listens and follows directions
S Respects self and others
S- Puts forth best effort

Unfortunately for us, Julian will be getting a sub for a few months starting March, since his teacher just announced she's expecting her own future kindergartner!

Despite my writing pages on report cards, I'm really not all that into the grades and all -- it's just very interesting to hear outside perspectives on the boys' strengths and weaknesses. I'm already so proud of them this week for their efforts on the drawing contest (Gabriel) and Mexico poster (Julian), that this just caps it off. I really couldn't ask for more.

And incidentally, Katrina has been asking NONSTOP for us to tell us what something spells. "Mommy, what does S-T-O-P say? What does E-X-I-T say? What does W-A-R-N-I-N-G say?" She can also read numbers up to 100, basically, like she knows that a 4 and an 8 is "forty-eight." Makes me feel like maybe we're doing something right!

12/4/09

12/3/09 Tantrums

Argh! Katrina's tantrums have been fast and furious lately. For those who don't follow on Facebook, a few days ago she had a big tantrum in the car because she didn't want the sun to go to sleep. Then she was outraged because the moon was rising. I mean, really!

Major fit today picking Gabriel up from school today. Gabriel tried to comfort her and eventually got her out of it.


Attempt at photo session at home, on the premise of enticing a nearby cat to come back. Katrina wasn't buying it.



Gabriel set straight to work on his yearbook cover drawing. He worked on this nonstop for about 3 hours! My poor orange colored pencil is down to about 1" long now. I was hoping to do some scrapbooking this afternoon, but my project space got taken over (Julian was adding a photo to his Mexico poster, one I took myself on a trip to Copper Canyon in 1995.)


Gabriel's final drawing for the yearbook cover. I love the wry expression of the cougar.


The reason for all this art? Because it's a yearbook cover drawing contest. He wants to win. Dave and I have both warned him that there are many talented artists and that art is very subjective. Julian piped in, "But as long as you do your best, you win!!" I agree! Is our typical parent B.S. sinking in? I certainly believe that. I'm very proud of both their project efforts today, regardless of the outcome. And that's not B.S..

12/3/09

12/2/09 Dutch oven

I love my mother. I love that when I have the silliest idea in my head, I can call her to announce it. Today it was about a Le Creuset Dutch Oven. I've decided I need one. So what's the first step in this quest? What else: call my mother and talk about it. And this was actually a good reason to call her compared to usual. I really do need the dutch oven this time. But I always need to talk to my mother.

There aren't many people in this world I can just call for no reason. My mother is tops on the list, but I have my eye on the next generation for fair play turnaround. They might need advice on cookware someday too, though they'll never really need an excuse to call me.

12/2/09

12/1/09 Mexico poster

Today was a rare good balance, overall. I put Katrina at Tonya's this morning so I could work at home before picking Julian up from kindergarten. This is the life I'd like to lead -- drop kids off at school, do my own thing at home, then pick them up from school and spend the afternoon with them. It'll be three years before the kids are ready for that life (when Katrina starts first grade). Will I be?

When we picked up Gabriel today, I talked to his teacher briefly. She sort of wanted to warn me about a "bad grade" on his upcoming report card (report card? I'd forgotten all about that) -- an "S-" because he refuses to participate in art class. Oh. Art. Not his thing anyway, though he does need to participate in classes. Whatever. It's once every two weeks, and I'm puzzled that there's a grade since it's completely sponsored by the PTA, not the school.

When we got home today, Gabriel announced that he wanted to enter a drawing contest, for the cover of this year's yearbook. The announcement flyer had a picture of last year's winner, which he modeled from and drew this.

Not that he's the next Monet or anything, but apparently drawing is not that hard for him! It's just funny that he did this hours after I heard that he wasn't into art class. He clarified that he doesn't like art class because they tell him what to draw, and he likes to draw his own things. Fair enough.

His teacher did tell me something else interesting and surprising though: she says his writing is a lot better. She meant both his handwriting and his actual writing style. She says he "writes with a voice," (something like that), and indicated that it's early for a second-grader. She's said things like that before, that what he writes is coherent and thoughtful for his age. Hmm, that's interesting. I wonder if he'll turn into a writer-type (like me) or just a good writer who's not a writer-type (like Dave). I'm a writer-type. I have no idea if I'm a good writer or not, it doesn't matter -- I write. I can't help it. My mind just does it and compels my fingers to follow. I don't see that same itch in Gabriel, yet.

This afternoon Julian was excited -- eager! -- to work on his Mexico poster. I'm still stunned at his enthusiasm and dedication to a project like this. This is our most putzy, draggy, lazy boy?! We almost finished it, but he was getting really tired and making mistakes, so I had to practically insist he take a break. After dinner, we did finish it. He's very proud of it and insisted on practicing presenting it once.

Hard to tell in the photo, but those yellow and blue shapes are what he wrote on and then glued to the posterboard. They say things like "Mexico has 31 states," and "Mexico's main language is Spanish." He was excited to see a map of California and that Mexico is right south of us. The map even had Mojave (where we stayed in October for the airshow) and Mexico in the same view, and I think that helped bring things into context for them. "Them" because Gabriel inserted himself in the last hour of work on the Mexico poster, oddly intrigued.

The working-mom guilt factory inside me fears this enthusiasm for schoolwork -- including Gabriel's for Julian's -- is because it's a handy way to capture Mom's attention, since Mom generally doesn't do a lot of table activities together. About the most captive I ever am doing things together is cooking or baking in the kitchen. (That's another thing Gabriel's teacher mentioned to me, that we must cook a lot together based on what he says.) And with full-time work looming (still no word though), that guilt factory will be running all shifts.

Work or not, somehow, I'm taking Julian and the rest of the family to Mexico someday. I'm delighted by his eagerness to learn and create, and he's earned it.

12/1/09

11/30/09 WASPs

In the harried 4 minutes I can spend scanning the WWII history section of the library, I have no time to think through what I'd like to read -- it's pure impulse, grab'n'go.

Last trip, I came across a book about women pilots during WWII, who'd been accepted into the WASP program, short for "Women Air [Force] Service Pilots." For a short while, there was a severe shortage of pilots, as all available men were sent overseas into combat. But someone still needed to ferry planes around the country, run transport flights, tow targets for gunnery training, and countless other domestic military flight tasks.

I have to wonder, would I have been one of them? Would I have had that sort of gumption and desire? Probably not; most women who applied to the program were very young (minimum age 18 but many had been flying before then) and had always wanted to fly. I didn't get adventurous until I was almost 30, and never had to overcome the sort of societal obstacles these girls did.

But I was stunned to see another requirement that might well have grounded me: a minimum height requirement of 64 inches. At first, it was just 60 inches, which I meet. Then it was raised to 62-1/2 inches, which I don't meet, though there's a story of a 5'1-3/4" (exactly my height) girl who wanted to fly so much that the doctor told her to stretch and then he passed her on the physical exam. Then the WASP program raised the height requirement yet again to 64", and there's no way I could have passed myself off as 5'4".

I have the unique perspective of having flown in a WWII-era military plane recently, and was struck by how I was among the few passengers who was physically well-suited to the craft. I was far smaller and more agile than most passengers and was able to easily move around the low passages in the plane. Being more than 5'8" would likely have been a liability, and that's in a roomy bomber. I'm not sure how I'd have done as a pilot, but did the Army have a height minimum of 5'4" for men too?

At one time in my life, I believed that being just under 5'2" meant I couldn't ride the kind of motorcycles I liked in the kinds of places I liked. But that turned out to be completely untrue. I learned how to compensate and do things differently so that I got pretty proficient on machines that most people assumed were too big (such as this borrowed BMW R90S that I rode at Laguna Seca, photo circa 1993). I don't know if that's true for airplanes though.

Ah well, it's nice to have a good book to give myself something new to think about.

11/30/09

11/29/09 A day of...work?

Yesterday was yardwork day. Lots of leaves had dropped. Good thing the kids were on the job!



Today, however, it was time to catch up on schoolwork, believe it or not. Julian has a "Cultural Poster" due, same as Gabriel had had in kindergarten. Once again, I feel somewhat at a loss, since the intent is clearly to present your own culture and traditions. But Julian's parents were born here -- I'd bet $100 that we're the only parents in his class who both were -- and the most uniquely American traditions are so well-known (Halloween and Thanksgiving) that making a presentation on them is hardly informative. The instructions for the poster do suggest that a culture other than your own is welcome, since they encourage a "variety." Translation: "we're already going to get at least 15 on India, try another place too."

So I encouraged Julian to do Mexico, a neighboring country that I intend to visit with them, and from where many of our friends are. In other schools in San Jose, no doubt they have the same disparate representation of Mexico as our school does of India, yet at our school -- in California -- there is nary a Hispanic to be found.

This is due Friday, yet we'd only picked the country on Saturday and hadn't even started it. We needed to get going today.

And guess what -- we almost finished. I am positively floored. Julian tackled the job with dedication, finishing each task I gave him without any prompting or procrastination, and then asking for the next one. He worked on it on and off the whole day, with the biggest break being a trip to Michael's to get a posterboard. It was all I could do to get him to stop for dinner.

I remember doing this same project with Gabriel in kindergarten (he did Italy), and often having a hard time getting him to keep going. As regular readers all know, when Gabriel sets his mind to a task, his grip is vicelike, but he doesn't apply that to all things. This sort of project apparently ppeals to Julian, making it actually fun to do together. Really, I'm blown away by how focused and committed he was today. Come to think of it, he dives right into all his schoolwork and pretty much doesn't stop until he's done. I'd have thought the fun would have worn off by now, but it hasn't. This characteristic, if it keeps up, will take him far in the academic world.


Gabriel also had a "family tree" homework assignment. This completely cracks me up: the printed words ask where your family is from -- but then as an afterthought, someone wrote in by hand "or ancestors," realizing that there might actually be someone in the class whose family is from here.



Dave directed Gabriel on this one, using information in his father's detailed genealogy. Gabriel will be the only one in his class who can say his family came here in a different century, in 1750 from England, and whose ancestor came here because he was kidnapped to serve on a ship.

It certainly is interesting being a cultural minority!

11/29/09

11/28/09 Gabriel's Thanksgiving letter

Amongst Gabriel's schoolwork, we found this letter he had to write to us on Thanksgiving.

11/23/09

Dear Mom and Dad,

Happy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful for you supporting me in many ways. First, you have been helping me for a long time. I appreciate when you take care of me when I'm hurt. Next, you cook meals for me every day. Mom prepares the best dishes in the world. Also, you do a lot of fun things with me. When we went to the aircraft carrier, I really liked it, didn't I? Clearly, I want to thank you very much. Love, Gabriel.

The paragraph structure taught in school comes out ("First," "Next," "Clearly,"), but the content is his. A nice insight into what flits through the mind of a 7-year-old!

And of course, I am so, so thankful for him.

11/28/09