Who knew that when you have a small child, death is a frequent topic of conversation. There's a period of time, I think around five, when the prototypical example of wit is to say something like "I'm going to kill you with poo poo!" But even at a more biting level, death seems to fascinate these drops of newly created life.
A particularly good blog by Catherine Newman
Ironically, when I met Catherine Newman, whom I've been an avid fan of for years, I was asking her a question at the very same time my daughter was sliding a chewed piece of gum up her nose. And my question was some ridiculous feverish question, the only thing my breathless star-struck brain could churn out while I was thinking "Wow, I am asking a question of my current favorite writer!"
Luckily, the gum was relatively easy to remove. And I felt very tied to by daughter by her action. When I was 6 or so, I slid a tooth that had fallen out of my mouth up my nose, much to the consternation of my baby-sitter. That also was removed without a trip to the ER, and now this nose-object tendency has been passed on. And in one of those existential moments when you create your values by your actions, when I started laughing about the memory of my own nose problem, my daughter asked me why I was laughing, and I decided to take the risk (of her trying the nose trick with her tooth) to tell her the story of my young nose rather than dissemble some safer answer.
The park on Westmoreland (called Urban Park) used to have excellent tall swings. They were removed several years ago. I have finally found almost as tall swings:
In a park on Sligo Creek Parkway, just the south side of the Golf course. It's just past Colesville Rd, past the Waldorf Nursery School, near a street called "Dallas". In addition to the very tall swings, which allow a proper under-dog, there are two streams that come together in a most attractive fashion and a great place for mucking and skipping rocks.
"Underdog" is a push where the parent runs all the way under the child, pushing them up with your arms. At the old swings, your kids could fly so high they touched the tree with their feet. It took me several years of watching more experienced parents do this before I dared, but my kids instantly loved it. It's one of those things I always call an end to before they do. "OK, only 5 more underdogs." It was the language used by the brave parents and kids I copied the push from.
As I've mentioned, my toddler has a tendency to hit people. One of the ways we've been trying to prevent these hits is by rehearsing before we get in a group, "No hit Ian, No hit Gracie, no hit Maeve, no hit Ruby." Sort of a mantra, it relieves my stress a tad. So we went to Florida in January. We stopped by the Everglades, which are a truly marvelous piece of the planet.
When my daughter was a few months old, one night I lay down in the bed (no doubt exhausted but some how one forgets that) and listened to her breathing. The sound of her breathing made me think of SIDS and I realized I was looking forward to her being one year old when I could stop worrying about SIDS. I had the assumption that I'd then be, you know, done with worrying.
Honor one of your favorite educators by voting online for the upcoming Azalea Awards– TP's version of the Oscars, if you can fathom such a thing.
Many staff members and some parent leaders representing Rolling Terrace, TPES and PBES are nominated this year. And you can always write in someone you believe was overlooked.
Voting ends May 10th and doesn't require you submit your email address.
Takoma Park has an unusually intense approach to food. There's people with all sorts of restrictions you never even thought of*. In our family, we both try to have healthy eating habits and an unrestrictive eating experience. So that you know, you can have all the food you want, as long as it fits my idea of healthy. But eating out in public with other people is tricky.
The one thing about working full time for which I have unalloyed feelings of loss is sick leave. Last weeks feverish toddler developed, coincidentally or not, into three coughing cranky people this week. My daughter even has a medically diagnosed ear infection. My son and I are just writhing masses of tired kvetching coughing emotions.
When we had our first baby in the house, I was (as well as being quite surprised that they let us go home with a baby with so little testing or teaching) full of how we love life, and are so excited at sharing all the goodness with a new being. Here's Spring! Here's Love! Here's Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches!
After a few years, I find myself sharing things of myself that perhaps could have been left behind. Here's procrastination!
If you have a child that loves back-hoes and boats, they will love this video. It has a back-hoe being used to paddle the water, and thereby moving the barge in which it sits through a water way. There's even a train going by in the back ground.
Before:
grow grow grow unseen
mom is eating sleeping lots
when is who coming?
Getting closer:
tiny wriggling blob
wavy screen fluttering heart
ultrasound thrills me
That is by the woman that wrote a book I find hysterically funny (funny like Brain, Child, where you laugh and tear up at each chapter/article), Momma Zen. (more...)
The Voice has a new columnist, Sue Katz Miller, a journalist who has been very involved with local schools as a mom and has written about education professionally for a while now, from what I know. This is the first piece she's written for the Voice and I found it very informative.
I think it's a great starting point for a discussion about neighborhood schools. Check it out: On Walking to School.
My toddler is feverish today, one of those things I won't even bore the nurse screener at our pediatrician with. (With our first, we'd show up for every cold; by the time the doctor found us in the sick kid exam room, she'd be laughing her head off, as I muttered that she seemed very ill when I called; with the second, I don't even especially notice if he has a cold. For fevers, I might call, but I'm always being told "If that goes up to 105 degrees for about 3 days, then call us again" in a voice impatient at my worry.
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