Lily had a bug class at our local nature center today. It was a girl scout class so she earned her first patch. When we got home we had this conversation during lunch:
Me: You know Lily, the girls at the class today are in your new troop so we will see them at your first meeting Tuesday.
Lily: uh-huh. I met them but said I didn't know them.
Me: Well, I hope you tried to make friends. Part of being a girl scout is being a good friend to people. Good friends ask questions and listen to the answers. They share stories about their experiences and listen to their friend's stories.
Lily rolls her eyes and says: UGH! That sounds like a lot of talking!
Oh, Lily......
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Julianna and Lauren discuss jail...
Yesterday I was taking my friend's daughter to daycare after she and Julianna got out of preschool. We drove past the prison and this was their conversation:
Lauren: that's the jail. We don't want to go there.
Julianna: The jail? It'd be okay there. You can play ring around the rosies there.
Lauren (singing): riiiiing around the rosies.....pockets pull pah posies....ashes ashes....we all fall down!
Then they started in on the ABC's.
I love listening to three year olds have conversations.
Lauren: that's the jail. We don't want to go there.
Julianna: The jail? It'd be okay there. You can play ring around the rosies there.
Lauren (singing): riiiiing around the rosies.....pockets pull pah posies....ashes ashes....we all fall down!
Then they started in on the ABC's.
I love listening to three year olds have conversations.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
deep breathing
Drew loves kindergarten. He plays with everyone and follows every rule. His teacher commented one day, when Drew was cautiously walking with an untied shoe, that he was cautious about everything. Which, she pointed out, was the opposite of his sister.
Anyway, so Drew loves school. He is always all smiles when we pick him up. As we start walking to the car he starts walking slower and slower, like he is running out of gas. By the time the door to the van shuts, he is out of gas and running on angry fumes. He usually lashes out at a sister pretty soon after his seatbelt clicks. Lily uses this opportunity to repay him for all of the times that he has quietly pushed her buttons until she explodes. Yesterday was no different. That exact scenario repeated itself another day.
Every day I check backpacks before I leave my parking spot. It's one of my strategies for dealing with my disorganization. I look over stuff, sign permissions, etc., so that I don't have to think about it again. I pulled a drawing out of Drew's backpack just as he wallops Julianna. I warn him to cut it out and distract him by asking about his drawing. He angrily explained, "It's a picture of me angry taking a deep breath!" I said, "Oh, what a good idea. You can practice that now!"
"I don't need to practice! I can't do it!"
"Well, you need to figure something out because if you continue to be grumpy you will be practicing your deep breathing in your room at home."
He then took three or four deep, quick, huffy breaths and retorted, "See! I did it! It doesn't work!"
After this exchange, I pulled into traffic behind a slow moving line of cars. drew started yelling at the truck in front of me to move out of the way! Go you crazy truck! MOOOOVE! This made me chuckle, because it was so over the top. I didn't respond. In fact, I have no idea where he picked up road rage. I am usually pretty laidback when I drive.
I swear to you, not three blocks later, Drew said, "Mom! That deep breathing works! I did it and now I feel better!"
Whew! I guess we do learn everything we need to know in life in kindergarten.
Anyway, so Drew loves school. He is always all smiles when we pick him up. As we start walking to the car he starts walking slower and slower, like he is running out of gas. By the time the door to the van shuts, he is out of gas and running on angry fumes. He usually lashes out at a sister pretty soon after his seatbelt clicks. Lily uses this opportunity to repay him for all of the times that he has quietly pushed her buttons until she explodes. Yesterday was no different. That exact scenario repeated itself another day.
Every day I check backpacks before I leave my parking spot. It's one of my strategies for dealing with my disorganization. I look over stuff, sign permissions, etc., so that I don't have to think about it again. I pulled a drawing out of Drew's backpack just as he wallops Julianna. I warn him to cut it out and distract him by asking about his drawing. He angrily explained, "It's a picture of me angry taking a deep breath!" I said, "Oh, what a good idea. You can practice that now!"
"I don't need to practice! I can't do it!"
"Well, you need to figure something out because if you continue to be grumpy you will be practicing your deep breathing in your room at home."
He then took three or four deep, quick, huffy breaths and retorted, "See! I did it! It doesn't work!"
After this exchange, I pulled into traffic behind a slow moving line of cars. drew started yelling at the truck in front of me to move out of the way! Go you crazy truck! MOOOOVE! This made me chuckle, because it was so over the top. I didn't respond. In fact, I have no idea where he picked up road rage. I am usually pretty laidback when I drive.
I swear to you, not three blocks later, Drew said, "Mom! That deep breathing works! I did it and now I feel better!"
Whew! I guess we do learn everything we need to know in life in kindergarten.
Friday, September 7, 2012
like a million people watching
This conversation happened as Drew continued eating dinner after everyone had finished but him. He was telling Tom and I about his day.
Me: You had music today. Did you learn any new songs?
Drew: (whispers) we are doing a surprise show for the teachers. Shhhh! We aren't supposed to tell them!
Me: Oh! That's exciting!
Drew: Yeah, well, we're doing it on the stage! I think I might get that stage fright stuff. You know, like that bear got in that book we read? She was so nervous to get up in front of all those people. I don't know if I can do it! I will be so nervous!
Me: It's okay to be nervous. Lots of people get nervous to be on stage in a show. You will be okay though. You guys will have time to practice.
Drew: Umm....you can not practice for this kind of thing! Uh! There are like two people there while we practice! You cannot practice for something like this! There will be like a million people watching the show while I'm up stage! YOU CANNOT PRACTICE FOR THIS KIND OF THING!
Me: Oh. Well....you'll be fine. It will make you nervous, but you'll be okay.
What else could I say to the poor boy?
And no, that was not a typo. He in fact did say 'up stage'.
Me: You had music today. Did you learn any new songs?
Drew: (whispers) we are doing a surprise show for the teachers. Shhhh! We aren't supposed to tell them!
Me: Oh! That's exciting!
Drew: Yeah, well, we're doing it on the stage! I think I might get that stage fright stuff. You know, like that bear got in that book we read? She was so nervous to get up in front of all those people. I don't know if I can do it! I will be so nervous!
Me: It's okay to be nervous. Lots of people get nervous to be on stage in a show. You will be okay though. You guys will have time to practice.
Drew: Umm....you can not practice for this kind of thing! Uh! There are like two people there while we practice! You cannot practice for something like this! There will be like a million people watching the show while I'm up stage! YOU CANNOT PRACTICE FOR THIS KIND OF THING!
Me: Oh. Well....you'll be fine. It will make you nervous, but you'll be okay.
What else could I say to the poor boy?
And no, that was not a typo. He in fact did say 'up stage'.
where the cool go to school
Dear Parents of Elementary Schoolers,
Yesterday Drew dressed in a typical fancy outfit. He wore suit pants, a polo, and a suit vest. He loves to wear fancy suit clothes, and especially vests. I felt a little apprehensive about it, as he is very sensitive to what people say about him. It turns out, by allowing this expression, I sent him to the wolves. He won't tell me who said it or even what they said. I only know that for picture day today he changed his mind from the polo/vest combo to something seemingly trendy. He looked adorable. But it made me sad that some twit made him feel uneasy about dressing is his favorite outfit.
I'm mad at the kid. But I'm more mad at you. I want to know at what point it became important to make your kid the "cool" kid in kindergarten. When did your self confidence become so low that you felt it was necessary to groom your kid for cool? I thought kindergarten was a time for fun and learning and making friends. I was under the impression that middle school was when we started to worry about fitting in.
Kids do not bully naturally. It is a learned behavior. My kids are not learning to bully in my home. We do not make fun of each other. We find other ways to laugh. We teach acceptance and allow our kids to be anyone they choose to be. My kids are told they can try whatever interests them. They can grow up to be anything they want. Kids learn to love themselves by watching us love them and from watching us love ourselves and our neighbor.
Fellow parents, you need to take your ego down a notch. The goal in life is not to be the cool grown up. As you raise your kids you need to remember that confidence born from other people's opinion is false. Why don't we, for the rest of elementary school, allow our kids to be kids. Let's let them decide what to wear, what games to play and what friends to choose. They have their whole lives to decide who they are. Let's not confuse them early by forcing them to do what you have deemed the cool thing to do.
Sincerely,
A fellow parent...who will kick your ass if you don't teach your kids some manners soon
Yesterday Drew dressed in a typical fancy outfit. He wore suit pants, a polo, and a suit vest. He loves to wear fancy suit clothes, and especially vests. I felt a little apprehensive about it, as he is very sensitive to what people say about him. It turns out, by allowing this expression, I sent him to the wolves. He won't tell me who said it or even what they said. I only know that for picture day today he changed his mind from the polo/vest combo to something seemingly trendy. He looked adorable. But it made me sad that some twit made him feel uneasy about dressing is his favorite outfit.
I'm mad at the kid. But I'm more mad at you. I want to know at what point it became important to make your kid the "cool" kid in kindergarten. When did your self confidence become so low that you felt it was necessary to groom your kid for cool? I thought kindergarten was a time for fun and learning and making friends. I was under the impression that middle school was when we started to worry about fitting in.
Kids do not bully naturally. It is a learned behavior. My kids are not learning to bully in my home. We do not make fun of each other. We find other ways to laugh. We teach acceptance and allow our kids to be anyone they choose to be. My kids are told they can try whatever interests them. They can grow up to be anything they want. Kids learn to love themselves by watching us love them and from watching us love ourselves and our neighbor.
Fellow parents, you need to take your ego down a notch. The goal in life is not to be the cool grown up. As you raise your kids you need to remember that confidence born from other people's opinion is false. Why don't we, for the rest of elementary school, allow our kids to be kids. Let's let them decide what to wear, what games to play and what friends to choose. They have their whole lives to decide who they are. Let's not confuse them early by forcing them to do what you have deemed the cool thing to do.
Sincerely,
A fellow parent...who will kick your ass if you don't teach your kids some manners soon
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