Andy: Mommy, can I read your blog?
Me: No.
Andy: Why not?
Sarah: It's inappropriate. It's probably about your butt and your smell.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Kid Quote of the Day
"If I had a children I would only love her when she's nice to me."
-Sarah
I'm pretty sure she's serious about this, because this goes hand in hand with another Kid Quote of the Day from her that I forgot to post:
"When I'm a grownup I'm not going to share anything with my kids."
Do you realize how good I'm going to look in another 20 years?
-Sarah
I'm pretty sure she's serious about this, because this goes hand in hand with another Kid Quote of the Day from her that I forgot to post:
"When I'm a grownup I'm not going to share anything with my kids."
Do you realize how good I'm going to look in another 20 years?
No Matter What You Call It, Math Is Math
Every week Sarah gets homework. Her teacher sends it home on Monday and it's due on Friday. It's not very challenging, it only takes about 15 minutes and it's right where she needs to be. I'm perfectly fine with that, I do not think elementary school kids need tons of homework. They need to go to school, like it, and enjoy being a kid after school since they've already been sitting in a classroom for seven hours.
Last week Sarah's teacher sent home some math homework that she hadn't had a chance to go over in class yet so Sarah didn't know how to do it. The teacher sent an email explaining that it was hard and that she would cover it on Wednesday. Of course we were doing Sarah's homework on Tuesday.
The topic was Regrouping with Subtraction. Apparently regrouping is the new name for borrowing. I guess they don't like the word "borrowing" because you don't technically give anything back, and they didn't think "stealing" was an appropriate word for little kids so they went with regrouping. Whatever.
Sarah had already learned regrouping with addition, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to teach her subtraction. So when faced with the problem 356-138, she had a harder time trying to figure out what 16-8 was then the fact that you had to change the 5 into a 4 and make the 6 a 16. I guess her teachers have been right all along, she's smarter than we think she is.
The next night we were sitting down at dinner and Sarah was telling us about her day.
Sarah: Mommy, we learned Regrouping with Subtraction today.
Me: And?
Sarah: You did it right.
She said this with a big smile on her face as if she was so proud of me. My kids really do think that I don't know anything. I can't wait until they have kids of their own and realize I'm not so dumb after all. Too bad it's going to be a long wait.
Last week Sarah's teacher sent home some math homework that she hadn't had a chance to go over in class yet so Sarah didn't know how to do it. The teacher sent an email explaining that it was hard and that she would cover it on Wednesday. Of course we were doing Sarah's homework on Tuesday.
The topic was Regrouping with Subtraction. Apparently regrouping is the new name for borrowing. I guess they don't like the word "borrowing" because you don't technically give anything back, and they didn't think "stealing" was an appropriate word for little kids so they went with regrouping. Whatever.
Sarah had already learned regrouping with addition, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to teach her subtraction. So when faced with the problem 356-138, she had a harder time trying to figure out what 16-8 was then the fact that you had to change the 5 into a 4 and make the 6 a 16. I guess her teachers have been right all along, she's smarter than we think she is.
The next night we were sitting down at dinner and Sarah was telling us about her day.
Sarah: Mommy, we learned Regrouping with Subtraction today.
Me: And?
Sarah: You did it right.
She said this with a big smile on her face as if she was so proud of me. My kids really do think that I don't know anything. I can't wait until they have kids of their own and realize I'm not so dumb after all. Too bad it's going to be a long wait.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Perspective
Amanda is late for school everyday. It's not because I am a lazy slacker, okay it partially is, it's because of timing. Andy and Sarah start school at 8:40 a.m. Amanda starts at 8:45 a.m. If we sent the big kids off to school by themselves, or we left Sarah in line with her classmates and didn't wait for the first bell to ring, or didn't wait for the neighbors to walk back home with us or then chat for a few minutes (or maybe more some days) in front of the house with said neighbors, we might be able to get Amanda to school on time. But we wait for bells and wait for neighbors and chit chat and sometimes even get a snack for the road and go to the bathroom all before getting into the car to go to school.
Everyday I tell her that we need to hurry because we're already late and because school has started. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes I wonder what this is doing to her impression of time and if when she is older she won't care when she's late or who is waiting on her and won't have a sense of urgency or timeliness or respect of other people's time and if I am messing this quality in her up completely. Is it something you are born with, like in your DNA, or is it something you learn? I was always on time before I had children and I hate being late even though I am more than I would like to admit.
The schools she goes to are very accommodating and understand our timing issue and never say a thing to us about what time we arrive but still I feel a tiny bit guilty that we are interrupting the morning activity when we arrive and that they are waiting on us to really get started on their day. They know we are coming they just don't know when.
But today we dropped off Sarah and headed home with only one neighbor (the other had to take her kids to a doctor's appointment) and then said a quick goodbye because we were going on a walk in a couple hours and would see each other again. We didn't have to go to the bathroom or get a snack or change the laundry from the washer to the dryer or load or unload the dishwasher or do any of the other things that I usually try to get in before taking Amanda to school. When we walked in the door, still at least 10 minutes after class had officially started, the teacher said, "Amanda you're early today!". I kind of laughed to myself because we weren't early at all, but then realized that we were early for us and if it was good enough for the teacher it was good enough for me. I didn't feel so guilty and left feeling a little better about my day.
It's all the way you look at things.
Everyday I tell her that we need to hurry because we're already late and because school has started. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes I wonder what this is doing to her impression of time and if when she is older she won't care when she's late or who is waiting on her and won't have a sense of urgency or timeliness or respect of other people's time and if I am messing this quality in her up completely. Is it something you are born with, like in your DNA, or is it something you learn? I was always on time before I had children and I hate being late even though I am more than I would like to admit.
The schools she goes to are very accommodating and understand our timing issue and never say a thing to us about what time we arrive but still I feel a tiny bit guilty that we are interrupting the morning activity when we arrive and that they are waiting on us to really get started on their day. They know we are coming they just don't know when.
But today we dropped off Sarah and headed home with only one neighbor (the other had to take her kids to a doctor's appointment) and then said a quick goodbye because we were going on a walk in a couple hours and would see each other again. We didn't have to go to the bathroom or get a snack or change the laundry from the washer to the dryer or load or unload the dishwasher or do any of the other things that I usually try to get in before taking Amanda to school. When we walked in the door, still at least 10 minutes after class had officially started, the teacher said, "Amanda you're early today!". I kind of laughed to myself because we weren't early at all, but then realized that we were early for us and if it was good enough for the teacher it was good enough for me. I didn't feel so guilty and left feeling a little better about my day.
It's all the way you look at things.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
A Chip Off the Old Block?
My mom claims that when I was a kid I was always really good about giving her notes from the teacher or telling her when I needed something for class. If I was supposed to bring brownies to school I would tell her a week in advance, while my siblings would wait until 11 p.m. the night before to drop the bomb. Not me, I was always organized and prepared, or so say my mother.
I thought of this on Tuesday when Andy asked me if I could make him a pie for school. They are doing some sort of auction in class and the teacher listed a pie as one of the things they could bring in to auction.
Andy: Mom, can you make me a pie to take to school?
Me: What for?
Andy: We're doing an auction, you can bring in all sorts of things like McDonald's toys or a pie.
Me: When do you need it?
Andy: Thursday.
Me: No, haha, I cannot make you a pie by Thursday.
Andy: Can you make me cookies then?
Me: Yes, cookies I can do.
I started to think that the great gift I had bestowed upon my mother of always giving her ample notice was lost on my son, until I asked him when he found out about the auction. On Tuesday. So, turns out the kid did let me know as soon as he found out, it's the teacher that didn't give fair warning.
I guess I got lucky after all. On top of that I got to make cookies this afternoon which, for some unknown reason, I love to do and always puts me in a good mood even though I don't eat any myself. I think they put the rest of the family in a good mood as well, because when I got home from taking Andy to basketball practice I noticed that the container of leftovers (that didn't fit in the container I am sending to school with Andy tomorrow) looked like it was missing a few.
I thought of this on Tuesday when Andy asked me if I could make him a pie for school. They are doing some sort of auction in class and the teacher listed a pie as one of the things they could bring in to auction.
Andy: Mom, can you make me a pie to take to school?
Me: What for?
Andy: We're doing an auction, you can bring in all sorts of things like McDonald's toys or a pie.
Me: When do you need it?
Andy: Thursday.
Me: No, haha, I cannot make you a pie by Thursday.
Andy: Can you make me cookies then?
Me: Yes, cookies I can do.
I started to think that the great gift I had bestowed upon my mother of always giving her ample notice was lost on my son, until I asked him when he found out about the auction. On Tuesday. So, turns out the kid did let me know as soon as he found out, it's the teacher that didn't give fair warning.
I guess I got lucky after all. On top of that I got to make cookies this afternoon which, for some unknown reason, I love to do and always puts me in a good mood even though I don't eat any myself. I think they put the rest of the family in a good mood as well, because when I got home from taking Andy to basketball practice I noticed that the container of leftovers (that didn't fit in the container I am sending to school with Andy tomorrow) looked like it was missing a few.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Who Needs Sleep Anyway?
I am amazed by the fact that my youngest child is four years old and yet I do not get a solid night's sleep more that 3-4 times a week. That means that somebody is waking me up in the middle of the night at least 2-3 times a week, sometimes more. More specifically, it's Sarah or Amanda. Andy has always been an amazing sleeper and I can't even remember the last time he got up at night, but the girls are horrible.
I'm pretty sure I posted about the long stretch where Amanda would call us into her room because she needed her blanket adjusted. I thought that would never end. Now her thing is her music. We went for a bit without putting music on before they went to sleep, but we got back into the habit a few months ago. Now, if she wakes up in the middle of the night she wants her music on. She does not understand why she is in bed and the music is off and has no concept of the fact that the CD only plays 10 songs and then shuts off.
We've told her to just roll over and even given her permission to get out of bed and start the CD player again by herself, but she doesn't want to do that. She wants us to do it. Then there's other crazy things she wants to tell us or let us know while we are trying to sleep. I've gotten out of bed so that she could just hug me and then roll over and go back to sleep. The other day she called out around 5:30 a.m. and when Charlie went into her room she asked him if it was Thanksgiving yet. Um, no, we'll let you know that one, and since we'll be in Miami you'll probably have a good idea when it's coming.
We thought the time change was going to be difficult but the transition actually wasn't that bad. Charlie has trained the girls that they cannot get out of bed until 7:00 a.m. They know what it looks like on the clock. On Sunday morning Amanda asked Charlie why it took so long for the clock to get to 7:00, but she did not wake us up. Now if she could just keep from doing that in the middle of the night we'd be all set.
I'm pretty sure I posted about the long stretch where Amanda would call us into her room because she needed her blanket adjusted. I thought that would never end. Now her thing is her music. We went for a bit without putting music on before they went to sleep, but we got back into the habit a few months ago. Now, if she wakes up in the middle of the night she wants her music on. She does not understand why she is in bed and the music is off and has no concept of the fact that the CD only plays 10 songs and then shuts off.
We've told her to just roll over and even given her permission to get out of bed and start the CD player again by herself, but she doesn't want to do that. She wants us to do it. Then there's other crazy things she wants to tell us or let us know while we are trying to sleep. I've gotten out of bed so that she could just hug me and then roll over and go back to sleep. The other day she called out around 5:30 a.m. and when Charlie went into her room she asked him if it was Thanksgiving yet. Um, no, we'll let you know that one, and since we'll be in Miami you'll probably have a good idea when it's coming.
We thought the time change was going to be difficult but the transition actually wasn't that bad. Charlie has trained the girls that they cannot get out of bed until 7:00 a.m. They know what it looks like on the clock. On Sunday morning Amanda asked Charlie why it took so long for the clock to get to 7:00, but she did not wake us up. Now if she could just keep from doing that in the middle of the night we'd be all set.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)