The Party of the Century

At school, my son's class was practicing writing invitations. When he handed me the guest list, I knew we weren't talking about a birthday party at Burger King.

Note that the time runs from 1:00 am-12:00 pm, and that it appears our activities will include a baseball game and football Super Bowl. Not sure how our neighbors will like this... and we will need a bigger house.

Albert Pujols is honored with his top choice at #1. Looks like the list is heavy on athletes with several baseball and football teams invited. I was relieved to see I came in at #6, Dad came in at #14, sister is #26.

Personal favorites include: 
25. Author of Boxcar Children books
34. Crispey Cream people
35. Vance Law (former BYU baseball coach)
36. Andrew Law (played for BYU baseball)
37. Adam Law (played for BYU baseball)
38. Their other brother (played for BYU baseball)
43. Pizza place
44. Other pizza place
46. Duncan Donuts

And what I can only suppose is a bipartisan effort:
47. Obama
48. His wife
49. the children
51. their dog

Back to Reality!

For the past month, my family has been living in Washington, D.C. My husband had a month long course he had to attend there, so the rest of us decided to tag along and make the most of it. We had a great time packing in as many of the sites as we could- and there are a lot of sites to be seen!
We returned just in time for the first day of school. It was a great experience, and all of us (except perhaps the baby) have grown a fondness in our hearts for our nation's capital... a fondness that was quickly tempered by two hours of traffic on our return trip.
I expect my blogging will be back on track this week because, 1.) I have lots of fun stories and ideas to post, 2.) my baby's naptime is once again my alone time, and 3.) a smartphone is no longer my primary means of accessing the internet.

Happy New School Year to All!

The Pendulum

Today over breakfast, my son happily informed me, "I don't want to miss the bus this morning. I love riding the bus, even more than car rider." This statement might not seem abnormal to you, if you didn't know that since the beginning of the school year, getting my son to ride the school bus has been an ugly, ongoing battle that has even been played out several times on our driveway. (And I am proud to say there have been no casualties... if you don't count my blood pressure). 
My inability to drive my son to school has been the ultimate injustice in his mind, as he just wants to spend more time with me. Cue the guilt. Lately, he has ridden the bus with no complaint, but this morning's statement was a major breakthrough. And then I realized the pendulum had swung a little too far in the other direction when in his morning prayers he prayed, "Help me to not want to come home."

All I can do is join Garth Brooks in saying, "Sometimes God's greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers."

'T' is For...

The homework assignment was to draw five things that begin with the letter 'T'. Apparently, I have need to discuss with my son what he wants to draw (and what is appropriate to draw for a school assignment) before he commits his ideas to paper.

This kid cracks me up. Sometimes, all I can do is shake my head.

Good Old Fashioned Rule Days...

Here is an enlightening conversation I had with my son in the car a few weeks ago.:

My Son: "Mom, I still remember my teacher from preschool."
Me: "Yeah? What do you remember?"
My Son: "I remember she asked us which tattoo she should get."
Me: "Your teacher was getting a real tattoo?"
My Son: "Yeah. She wondered if she should get her kid's names or stars on her back."
Me: [to myself] "Awesome."

Funny. This topic had not been listed in the newsletter they sent home each month highlighting the curriculum. When I asked my son what he did/learned each day, I thought I was on top of things. Apparently, not.

FYI: The class all voted for her kid's names.

But, What if Not?

Lately, I have sincerely understood the value in mothers having as much education as they can receive. For the first 4 to 5 years of life, we are the primary teacher for our children, laying a foundation for their understanding and knowledge. Every day I am asked questions by my son, ranging in topic from American History to Arithmetic to Astronomy. Often, I am required to comprehensively analyze the plot, characters, themes, symbols, and quotations of major animated movies. And while I was expecting the "why" questions, nothing but college could have prepared me for the abstract thinking required by the "But, what if not?" questions that followed.

School Days, School Days....

Here is a link to an article from the Associated Press concerning changes that Pres. Obama would like to make to the school calendar.

Basically, he would like to add time to classes, keep schools open later, and leave schools open on the weekends as a safe place for kids. Education secretary, Arne Duncan told the AP, "Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here. I want to just level the playing field."

Interestingly, the AP points out, "Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests - Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days)." That leads me to understand that other country's school days are shorter. Not only would our children be going to school more days in the year, but we'd also be increasing their hours spent in school? No thanks.

Charter schools are used as positive evidence behind increasing time spent in school, as well as a Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative program.

Most disturbing to me is the vision that Education Secretary Duncan has of our schools being "the heart of the community". Ummmm.... Isn't that what the family is?

Here are my thoughts/questions/ponderings: How will these changes affect the family? Will these changes really make our children more competitive? How are we going to fund this (it seems to me that most schools are already operating on skim funds)? Why not use that money to give teachers a raise (I feel teachers are the biggest factor in the quality of our children's education rather than how long our children are in school)? Is it the school's responsibility (taxpayers) to babysit/provide for families that have two working parents? Kids hanging out at school after hours or on weekends seems like a breeding ground (perhaps literally) for trouble... unless they are being supervised by/engaged in activities by teachers, in which case, how do we fund that?

What do you think?

"One Semester of Spanish Love Song"

In the spirit of continuing education (and for those of you who studied Spanish instead of Italian), here is a funny song that utilizes tries to make use of everything you learn in one semester of Spanish.

One Semester of Spanish - Love Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

"Babidee Boopee!" or Learning to Talk Italian

I studied Italian in college for 4 semesters (in order to avoid the math GE), and I fell in love with it. After my 4th semester, I really felt like I was getting the hang of things, and now I can hardly remember anything! To make matters worse, my husband speaks Spanish semi-fluently, and now I mix the languages. Arrgh!
So, in an effort to refresh my skills I am taking a class. I am very excited about it. I'm not sure what to expect from the class. Perhaps it will go something like this:

And while I'm sharing Italian clips, here's another one that my brother sent me.

Family Guy - Bopity Boopy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnREBX8TJRY




And what good does learning Italian do me? Well, it gives me a good reason to visit Italy! :)

It's That Time of Year

As a nod to the back-to-school season, here is one of my favorite quotes:

"My dear sisters, don't ever sell yourself short as a woman or a mother. ...Do not let the world define, denigrate, or limit your feelings of lifelong learning and the values of motherhood in the home- both here mortally and in the eternal learning and benefits you give to your children and to your companion.
"Lifelong learning is essential to the vitality of the human mind, body, and soul. It enhances self-worth and self-actuation. Lifelong learning is invigorating mentally and is a great defense against aging, depression, and self-doubt."

Elder Robert D. Hales ("The Journey of Lifelong Learning", in Brigham Young University 2008-2009 Speeches [2009], 2, 8-9)

Cruel Intentions

Instructions in a letter from my son's preschool: "Please color the attached bear and bring it with you on the 1st day of school."

My Son: (while coloring) "Look, I'm coloring the Attached Bear. I like this Attached Bear. Mom, why do they call it the Attached Bear?"
Me: "That's just another way of saying, 'Color the picture of the bear that's in the letter.'"
My Son: "Mom, when I grow up maybe I can be a teacher."
Me: "That's right. You could be a teacher when you grow up."
My Son: "Then I could say, 'Attach the attached bear,' and confuse all of the children."

I had never considered revenge as motivation for a career choice.