Tuesday, September 13, 2011

September 13, 2011

Fall officially starts on the 23rd of this month and I could not be looking forward to it more. We had a week of comfortable weather and suddenly, the heat is back. It's 104 degrees today. There's a breeze but instead of cooling one's brow, it merely feels like the venting air from an oven. My poor plants have mostly died. I had put out hostas under our live oak in the front yard and even though they were not exposed to the full force of the sun, they have fried and shriveled. It's very sad. I'm hoping that they'll recover over the fall and that next year will be easier on them.

School is going well. I feel like our lessons are almost too short but by moving from one subject to another before frustration or boredom sets in, I'm hoping to foster a feeling of excitement and anticipation that will last throughout the year. I'd like to incorporate more nature study that we've done the last two weeks... if the cooler weather will come back, we'll have more opportunity to go to the park and spend time watching birds and squirrels at least.

Izzy asked me earlier what 'cracker jacks' are, because we were listening to a cd of hers with "Take me out to the ballgame" on it. I explained what the ingredients are and she said 'oh... like those nuts we have at hockey games?' It never ceases to amaze and amuse me how she holds on to some very random memories or information. We talked about those roasted nuts a bit and she said 'Well, I think we should go to a hockey game and have more on Monday'. I don't care if we have to bribe her with fun treats... she WILL grow up enjoying hockey. I am starting to doubt that she will play, as she demonstrates more and more that she has a very strong girly side but who knows? :)

Dance class this morning went really well. Lily didn't go running into the studio like she did last week and they left the observation window uncovered for the whole class this time. I'm sure the instructor doesn't really like doing that but it did seem like the girls paid attention and didn't get distracted beyond waving at their mommies once or twice. Izzy is very serious about trying to do everything right... for the most part. They all forget to hold their arms up or out when they start dancing around the room but I know that must be the case for the first year or two. All that said... there is one major irritation for me. During class, Lily tries to play with/hug/talk to the other younger siblings in the waiting area. One of the little girls is just quite shy but her mother encourages her to share books/crayons and we make a community pile of things to entertain the girls. One of the other mothers has two children with her in the lobby - one is Lily's age and the other is only 7 months or so. And she makes a point, not of encouraging her child to interact with Lily, but of the complete opposite. She only tells her "It's ok to say no. Just say 'no thank you'. You don't have to play with her." and things of that nature. Who does that? I thought it was odd the first time but figured maybe her daughter was having a rough day and she just didn't want her to get upset when Lily wanted to hug her so much. But we've now been at 3 classes together and every time it's the same refrain. "You don't have to play with her if you don't want to. It's ok to tell her no. Just walk away." Wtf? Why not encourage your kid to be pleasant or kind or even outgoing? Ugh.

2 comments:

  1. Jeez- way to create an antisocial stuck up kid. What kinds of lessons are you doing with the girls. I need to get better about planning them again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lily's not doing anything structured, just lots of coloring and being read to. With Izzy, we've started a math primer (from Math U See) and been more focused on letter recognition/writing. We're working on understanding what weeks/months represent, too.

    ReplyDelete