We have had the pleasure of hosting Minnewaska Area Elementary School students this week. Today we have Mrs. Hoffman’s kindergarten class and yesterday we had Mrs. Hoven’s class. They have been studying Native Americans, and came to see our model encampment and the Cleora Helbing collection of Native American Arts and Crafts.

One of the kids’ favorite artifacts is the Creek turtle shell leggings. The leather straps have small turtle shells attached. The turtle shells contain small rocks that rattle when they move. They are worn by women during the “Stomp Dance” as part of the annual Green Corn Festival. The straps are tied to the legs of the dancers to make music.

The kids like the idea of wearing an instrument while dancing, and also think that baby turtle shells are cool.

Thanks for coming kids! Come back and see us soon!

We’re probably going to attend more Cyclone basketball games. The girls had fun and more importantly, they were really pretty damn good.

Aside from Bails trying to get out the door wearing these.

Orange shoes? C’mon Dad, what’s the big deal?

This. This is the big deal.

And if you discount the fact getting her to sit relatively still was about as successful as trying to contain a greased octopus. But all of that happened with about 5 mintues left.

Anyway, I don’t think any of the girls had more fun than Kinsey. Maybe Bailey and Riley when Kinz and I brought them cardinal and gold snow cones. No ice cream because the line looked like a bunch of Canadians waiting for health care.

We’re about midway through the first half and Kinz leans over to Mom, “Mom we’re doing awesome! They are really trying hard!”

First, this is awesome because she referred the Cyclones as “we” and second she was paying attention. On her own. And she was enjoying the game. Not watching the cheerleaders, not watching the mascot, but the game. I guess I was right when I said the NCAA tournament is good for babies…

Then a few minutes into the second half I ask her, “Hey Kinz, how do you think we’re doing?”

She replies, “Dad, it’s 50-28, I think we’re doing pretty good.”

Plus we were six rows off the floor behind one of the baskets. Great seats. Mom and the girls even got on the big video board a few times. More basketball games for us.

Kinsey had a tough morning today. Which is too bad because nobody was more excited about this week as her. Maybe me. But its close. Its Thanksgiving Week. You get two Fridays and a holiday that revolves around football. That’s not a bad week. Plus it’s officially Christmas season starting Friday.

The girls only have school Monday and Tuesday. To take advantage of that, we’re taking them all to their first Cyclone basketball game this evening. If they’re good, they can have a Cyclone swirl cone. Which is cardinal and gold colored soft serve ice cream. I’m bringing lots of wipes.

Yesterday Kinsey pops out of bed and comes into the bathroom while I’m brushing my teeth. And Kinsey popping out of bed on a school day happens about as often as I wake up saying, “Woo hoo! Sex and City marathon on TV today!”

Anyway, I’m brushing away and Kinz says, “Dad this is going to be the best week ever. We only have to go to school for two days, we going to our first Cyclone basketball game and get ice cream and we get to go to Grandpa and Grandma’s house.” Except she said it without taking a breath or any of the normal pauses you would anticipate.

Anyway, ever since Kinz was about three she’s had this aversion to wearing shirts that have “things” on them. It’s weird. For example, if a shirt has any lettering or design that is located within an area that Kinsey believes is the center of the shirt, she won’t wear it. But if the entire shirt has a pattern like stripes or polka dots or a design that isn’t located in the center but off to the side or located on both the left and right lapel areas, she’ll wear it. She’s corporate America’s worst nightmare.

Solid color shirt? No problem. Nike logo in the middle of the shirt? No can do amigo. It’s taken time but we’re pretty clear on what she’ll wear and what she won’t. The amount of resistance likely to occur and the amount of time before I need to be at work are key determinants in picking out her clothes for the day.

Today, however, Mom decided to prove a point. Proving a point for no other reason other than we’re the parents and they are the kids is a perfectly acceptable thing for parents to do. It’s a proven technique. Parents, coaches and dictators have been doing for years. Why did Ditka put in the Fridge in Super Bowl 20 to score a touchdown when it was already 37-3? Because he was proving a point. Why did the Germans take the Sudetenland in 1938? Because they could.

Mom and I have employed this technique separately and jointly over the years. I, however, have chosen not to employ this strategy in the morning. Its not a battle I’m willing to fight before 7 a.m. on a weekday. Any other time, except for the obvious exceptions involving the period of time right before a Steelers game, I’m willing to utilize blitzkrieg and/or shock and awe techniques to end any disagreements.

Mom, on the other hand, has no such aversion to fighting this battle at any point during the day.

Today she decided that Kinz was going to wear this shirt. It’s nice. But, as you can plainly see, it has an argyle pattern that goes right down the middle. Now this really isn’t a cut and dried case. It’s possible that the three diamonds in the argyle design constitute enough of a consistent pattern that covers enough of the shirt that Kinz will deem it wearable without crying. And screaming. And whining. It is also possible that it is included in the “shirts with stuff on them” group that Kinz isn’t going to wear. And she has decided this firmly. Its like she’s decided its just part of who she is. Like irrelevance to Chris Matthews.

But Mom is like Grant at Vicksburg and resistance eventually collapses save a few muted whines.

“Daddy, I really didn’t want to wear this shirt.”

“Too bad kiddo. Whining is always the wrong decision. And that’s what you did. If we let you wear a different shirt now, you’d think that all it took to get your way was lots of whining and crying.”

“No I wouldn’t.”

Did you see that? She seamlessly, almost effortlessly, went from the whining and crying routine right into the sweetness and charm method.

Who is dreading the teen years? This guy…

Hallöchen, wir sind´s…

Unser Papa hat ja jetzt schon wieder ne ganze Zeit gebraucht, bis er hier mal loslegt. Aber es gab diverse Computerprobleme – die sind aber jetzt behoben. Der Papa hat irgendwas von “neue Festplatte” erzählt – woher sollen wir denn wissen, was das bedeutet…

Nun aber zu uns: wir waren ganz schön krank die letzten zwei Wochen – Monstererkältung. Fieber, Husten, Schnupfen und den ganzen Kram. Der Julian hat sogar Antibiotikzeug bekommen. Jetzt sind wir aber wieder fit.

Wir haben außerdem bisher was ganz dolles vergessen euch zu erzählen. Wir hatten ja Geburtstag vor Kurzem. Und da ist nämlich was total schönes passiert. Wir haben einen Cousin bekommen. Ja, ihr wisst schon – vom Papa der Bruder die Frau das Kind oder so ähnlich. Ist auf jeden Fall ein kleiner Prachtkerl geworden – und der heißt Leopold. Wir sind mal gespannt wie das gehen soll – wir haben ja alle am selben Tag Geburtstag jetzt. Hoffentlich wirkt sich das nicht negativ auf das Geschenkebudget aus…

Ab März oder April sollen bzw. dürfen wir ja in den Kindergarten gehen. Die Mama und der Papa überlegen schon die ganze Zeit, in welchen wir sollen. Es gibt nämlich zwei zur Auswahl. Die Mama findet den Einen gut, der Papa aber den Anderen. Jetzt warten wir aber mal ab, was die sich da ausdenken als Lösung. Kinder zum Spielen und Quatsch machen gibts ja in Beiden.

Und dann noch was Zahntechnisches: der Julian liegt im Zähnemachen vorn. Die obere Kauleiste ist bei dem schon fast fertig. Da sind sogar schon die Eckbeißer da. Cool oder? Nachdem der sich am Anfang so angestellt hat mit dem Zähnekriegen, hat er jetzt einen Zahn zugelegt

Na gut, das soll´s für heute gewesen sein. Lasst es euch gut gehen! Wir lesen uns bald wieder…

Ach ja: fast vergessen. Der Papa hat mal ein paar aktuelle Bilder verlinkt. Die Links sind auf der rechten Seite… auch irgendwie blöd: die Links sind rechts. Naja, ihr werdet´s schon finden…

Tschöhöhö

Louis und Julian – Zwillinge: alles – außer EINFACH!

Tja so kann es gehen… Meine Frau hat die Schweinegrippe.
Am Samstag hatten wir für unsere große Tochter eine Kindergeburtstagsparty organisiert. Anwesend waren 5 Kinder, unsere 2 Kids wie auch wir beide und eine Mutter.Ein Kind hatte etwas Husten, was bei dem Wetter ja des öfteren vorkommt. Ich meinte noch zu der besagten Mutter, das sich ja das doch teilweise etwas böse anhört. Die Mutter meinte darauf hin das sie bereits beim Arzt war und es nichts schlimmes sei.
Soweit so gut. 1 Tag nach dem Geburtstag wurde meiner Frau übel, worauf sie sich auch übergeben musste und auch eine sehr starke Migräne bekam.
Von Montag auf Dienstag, schwellten Ihre Mandeln an, so das sie kaum noch Luft bekam. Ich habe ihr Halswickel gemacht, Salbeibonbons gegeben wie auch Wassereis zum lutschen verabreicht. Darauf hin konnte sie schlafen. Heute ging sie deshalb schlussendlich zum Doktor (Der Kindergarten hatte heute Gott sei dank zu).
Das Resultat: Schweinegrippe zu 90% Sicherheit. Der Arzt meinte, das er gar keinen Test mehr machen brauche, da die Sympthome und der Verlauf eindeutig sind. Auch kann er kein Tamiflu mehr geben (48 Stunden nach Ansteckung überschritten), da dies bereits zu spät sei. Sie bekam ein Antibiotikum (hilft nur gegen Balterien nicht gegen Viren, hilft aber beim Abklingen der Entzündung), wie auch Schmerzmittel aufgeschrieben und soll nun zu Hause bleiben. Nebenbei erwähnte er noch, das die restliche Familie wohl auch daran erkranken dürfte. Die Kinder sollten wir aber weiterhin in den Kindergarten schicken solange sie keine Anzeichen aufweisen. Da ich aber erst kürzlich gelesen habe, das Schweinegrippe bereits vor dem Ausbruch der Sympthome wohl ansteckend ist, riefen wir darauf hin beim Kinderarzt an. Dort sagten wir erst einmal bescheid was los ist und die bevorstehende Schweinegrippeimpfung für Donnerstag wurde gestrichen. Der Kinderarzt empfahl uns dringenst die Kinder zu Hause zu lassen (im Gegensatz zu unserem Hausarzt) bis meine Frau bzw. wir alle gesund sind.
Wir riefen nun die Eltern nach und nach an (soweit wir Telefonnummern hatten) und sagten bescheid. Der erste Anruf ging an unsere Bekannte mit dem hustenden Kind. Diese erzählte uns aufgelöst das sie mit beiden Kindern beim Arzt war, der jedoch lediglich eine Mandelentzündung vor einigen Tagen feststellte und das nicht böses sei. Getestet wurden beide natürlich nicht.
Wir haben ihr deshalb empfohlen, schnellstmöglich zum Arzt zu gehen, wen eines ihrer Kinder Krankheitssymptome aufweist und auch besser die Kinder aus der Schule zu lassen. Dies wird sie machen. Ein anderer Vater berichtete uns, das sein Kind, bereits Bauchweh hat und wird wohl dementsprechend nun auch handeln. Eine andere Mutter haben wir auf die Mailbox gesprochen und zu einer Mutter haben wir keinen Kontakt.
Morgen früh, werde ich im Kindergarten anrufen, meine Kinder entschuldigen (Kinder entschuldigen weil sie wahrscheinlich krank werden, ist mal was neues) und auch versuchen diese Mutter irgendwie ausfindig zu machen (notfalls über den Kindergarten).
Unsere Impfung, die wir vorhatten (und wir haben wirklich lange überlegt ob wirs machen sollen), lassen wir nun auch, da die Schweinegrippe zwar recht stark, aber dennoch nur eine Grippe ist, die wohl nur selten sehr schwere Verläufe hat. Ich selbst war vor 2 Wochen recht stark krank, wie schon lange nicht mehr, jedoch habe ich mich gut zu Hause selbst behandelt. Evtl. war auch dies die Schweinegrippe (wer weiß das schon).
Meinen Vater den ich angerufen habe, um mitzuteilen das wir nun keine Spritze vorerst brauchen, war sehr überrascht und wunderte sich auch was für ein Hype doch um diese achso böse Schweinegrippe gemacht wird, wenn sie doch so harmlos eigentlich ist.
Natürlich kann Schweinegrippe böse enden, aber das kann auch eine normale Grippe. Unsere Tochter hat ein schwaches Immunsystem durch einen ehemaligen Infekt, so das wir uns deshalb impfen lassen wollten, aber wenn selbst der Arzt nun sagt, jetzt isses eh egal, da der Wirkstoff eh Zeit braucht um zu wirken, vertrauen wir darauf und warten ab wie das Thema weitergeht.
Klar ist es eine sehr schwere Grippe, aber so das man sofort um sein Leben fürchten muss, wenn man sie hat ist es nun wohl meist auch nicht. Man liegt flach, schont sich und hofft das es schnell vorbei ist. Der Arzt des Vertrauens gibt ein paar Mittelchen und wenn nichts schief läuft ist man bald wieder auf dem Dampfer.

Eine Frage die ich mir nun stelle:
Wenn ich sie nun nicht bekomme, hatte ich sie dann bereits? Weil der Infektionsherd (meine Frau) sitzt ja genau neben mir *g*
Bin ich etwa immun gegen das Ding?
Oder aber habe ich sie bereits, nur nicht so stark, da ich keine Mandeln mehr habe? Symptome habe ich, nur evtl. habe ich die nun auch weil ich nun weiß was los ist (Placebo-Krank lol).

Wir werden sehen.

P.S.: Geht bei Sympthomen auf jeden Fall zum Arzt. Ob Ihr euch impfen lasst, müsst ihr wissen.

//Nachtrag:
Wie eben telefonisch erfahren, ist wohl der halbe Kindergarten bereits krank, wobei dies sich wohl bei den meisten Kindern in Übelkeit und Erbrechen äußert. Ob dies die Schweinegrippe ist, weiß keiner so genau, denn es wird ja nicht mehr getestet…
Das einzige was mir jetzt noch einfällt ist folgendes: Oh, du fröhliche Schweihnacht!

Anbei noch zwei Berichte von anderen Bloggern:
Schweinegrippe – Jetzt hab ich sie – Wie Pandemiebekämpfung nicht laufen kann
Ich habe Tamiflu

Wie jetzt bekannt wird (Klick), ändert sich der Virus bereits. Noch soll die Impfung an sich helfen, die Betonung liegt wohl hier auf noch. Ob wir jetzt einen geupgradeten Virus bei uns in der Familie haben oder den alten stinknormalen, weiß keiner ohne Testung und ehrlich gesagt ist es uns aktuell auch egal, solange der Verlauf der Krankheit bei uns so kontrolliert abläuft und die Beschwerden, so wie es aussieht, auf dem Weg ins Nirvana sind. Sollte es doch schlimmer werden oder neue Beschwerden auftreten, werdet ihr das hier im Blog nach lesen können. Dennoch bleibe ich dabei: Geht bei Sympthomen zum Arzt, es gibt auch schwere Verläufe dieser Krankheit die wohl auch zum Tode führen können.

Flash drives are pretty handy. They’re portable. They can hold lots of important stuff. You can also use them without any discernable skills or training. Like Nancy Pelosi and a gavel.

I have a flash drive. I keep it right next to my computer at home. I take it back and forth to work a lot. It is in and out of my pockets more than Geithner and the boys over at Treasury.

Problem is they small. And are easily misplaced if your are not careful. Like children at Target.

When I get home from work I almost instinctively take it out of my pocket and place next to the computer. There have been a few times I’ve left it on my night stand.

I did this a few days ago. It was also the last time I saw the flash drive in question until last night.

Hmm…

Several things cross my mind. 1) “Dammit!” 2) I’m going to need to design a grid by grid search, bring in some portable spotlights, some bloodhounds and a metal detector. 3) I have three kids.

I ask Riley if she’s seen it.

“Yeah, the last time I saw it was on your night stand.”

That makes sense. That’s the last place I remember seeing it too. I search the night stand and the area surrounding it. No flash drive. But I do find 37 cents and the 2004 Big 12 Football Preview from Athlons. Idiots. They picked the Cyclones to finish last in the North. We tied for first. Beat Nebraska and scored three touchdowns in two minutes to beat Kansas State. They had Darren Sproles that year too.

Anyway, I think to myself that if its not by the night stand, it has to be by the computer. Which sounds suspiciously like, “well, if we don’t get to Moscow by Thanksgiving, we’ll just ride out the winter. It’s not that cold in Russia…”

A thorough search of the desk and floor around the computer reveals nothing except that I really need to clean off the desk and floor around the computer.

Hmm…

“Hey Bailey have you seen the little red thing that I plug into my computer?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Where?”

“Um, I think I saw it in your room.”

She smiles, gets up from the dinner table and leads the way up the stairs into our bedroom.

“I think I saw it by your bed.”

“Where?”

She flips up the bedspread and there it is…plugged into the bed right between the mattress and boxspring.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have looked there.

Die Presse berichtete am 18.11.2009 über einen Mangel an Kindergartenplätzen in Wien.

“Problem sind die Eltern und nicht die geringe Anzahl der Plätze”

Am besten gefällt mir der Kommentar vom Stadtschulrat über das primäre Problem bei der Anmeldung zu Kindergartenplätzen. „Probleme hingegen würden entstehen, wenn Eltern ihre Kinder für mehrere Kindergärten gleichzeitig einschreiben und sich nach Erhalt eines Platzes nicht von der Liste streichen lassen. So erscheinen sämtliche Plätze belegt, obwohl es Kapazitäten gebe.“

Deswegen möchte der Stadtschulrat eine einheitliche Datenbank anlegen, in der private und städtische Kindergartenplätze vergeben werden.

Mein Kommentar

Feine Sache, dass etwas vereinheitlicht wird. Deswegen gibt es aber keine einheitlichen Anmeldeprozesse (alleine 3 Jahre Warteliste bei privaten Insitutionen versus „ich kann mich nur im Februar anmelden für den kommenden Herbst“ bei den städtischen Kindergärten). Und ausserdem werden dadurch die Plätze ja nicht mehr.

Ein persönlicher Aufreger.

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Construction is now complete on the new Kindergarten section of the school library. It opened yesterday with a brief ceremony conducted by our Librarian, Mrs. Tome.

Since the school first opened, all Kindergarten books were housed in the common area between the two Kindergarten classrooms. Because the Kindergarten is so close to the school library, Principal Sheeney and the Board of Education decided to create a special Kindergarten area within the library. Kindergarten classes will make weekly “field trips” down the hall to the library for story time and occasional puppet shows. The library will be closed to other students during this time.

The new Kindergarten section will be a great way to introduce our youngest students to what libraries are all about!

Kindergarten Reading Room

Springfield Elementary is extremely pleased to host noted children’s book author, C.J. Sebastian. Ms. Sebastian will join us on Tuesday, May 20 for a special Story Time in the newly remodeled Library, where she will read her latest book, Rupert Takes a Helicopter Ride, to Kindergarten and First Grade Students in a number of sessions throughout the morning.

A Springfield resident, Ms. Sebastian is the author of ten children’s books that explore new experiences from a child’s point of view. Her books help children expand their horizons by exposing them to new and exciting things. Her descriptive yet simple phrasing expands vocabulary while keeping meaning clear to her young readers.

CJ Sebastian at the control of her helicopter

A helicopter pilot for the past eight years, Ms. Sebastian will also address the fifth and sixth grades at a future assembly, where she will narrate a slide show of photos taken from her helicopter in the Springfield area. She has already participated in a Career Day at Springfield High, where she landed her helicopter on the football field and spoke directly to students about careers in aviation.

Ms. Sebastian also provided some learning materials for our sixth grade class to study helicopters:

• About Helicopters is an illustrated student handout about helicopter aerodynamics.
• How Helicopters Fly is an audio file that explains how Ms. Sebastian got started as a pilot.
• Sky Harbor Takeoff Video
  

Ms. Sebastian will be available to autograph books and answer student and parent questions during the lunch break after her final reading on Tuesday. Mark your calendars!

I really enjoyed reading this weeks article by Mitchel Resnick, “All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten.”  Since I taught kindergarten last year it really made me miss kindergarten and made me think of how I can use some of those same strategies in my 3rd grade classroom this year.  I also found an article, http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/succeed.html, this article was for parents called, “Helping Your Child Succeed in School.”  It basically told parents that children need to use their curiosity and imagination to learn and that as a parent you need to awaken that within their child by encouraging them.  I think this really explained it perfectly.  Parents seem to always want this big answer of what to do to get their child reading and to be ”smart.” So this article really shows that just let children explore and learn through their own creativity.  So it went right along with what the article in class talked about.  I want to continue to do this more in my own classroom to allow my 3rd graders to be more creative and explore new things across the curriculum.

Jack had a bad afternoon. Me, too. It started when I picked him up from school– his teacher wanted to ask me about helping on a different day so we were coordinating schedules. Jack was impatient. When I rejoined him he said, “Look Mommy!” and proceeded to raise his little, padded Lightening-McQueen lunch-bag to shoulder level then slammed it down to the floor. His thermos, in the bottom pocket made a dull thud. “Jack! Why did you do that? You might have just broke your thermos!”

In the car I unzipped the bag to find that yes, indeedy (as Auntie Ericka would say), the flip-top of the thermos had snapped off completely. The remaining milk was leaking out. I showed it to Jack. He burst into tears and said, “But you can fix it Mommy!”

I couldn’t. He snapped off the little tooth that holds down the lid. Without it the thermos is rendered useless for school. I explained this to Jack. Who, sobbing, begged me to fix it. “I can’t, honey. It’s broken. You’ll have to buy milk at school tomorrow.”

The sobbing became hiccoughing gulps of sobs. “No Mommy! I don’t like hot lunch!” (To Jack there is no difference between the milk and hot lunch lines. He fears them both equally.)

By the time we got home Jack was near hysterical and I was at wits end. We went inside where we sat on the floor with the thermos trying to figure out how to make it work. “Dad-dy will fix it!,” he said angrily. I answered, not very kindly, “Okay. Let’s call Daddy and tell him what happened.”

I dialed the number while Jack squirmed and struggled with the thought that maybe Daddy might be mad. Robby was put on speaker phone so that Jack and I could explain the situation. There was a long pause. My little son’s face still had hope that maybe Daddy would be able to fix what Mommy could not. He gulped in air and tried to keep from crying. Robby sighed and said that he was disappointed Jack would throw down his lunch box.

Jack started crying again and wriggling. “Go to the bathroom– I’ll talk to Daddy,” I said. He did but threw up from all the crying.

I cleaned up Jack and tried to fix the thermos again. No luck. And then Jack struck: “I don’t want you Mommy! I just want Daddy! Daddy will fix it!”

I know it shouldn’t but it still hurts to think of my little man yelling that at me. We called Daddy again who reminded Jack that it wouldn’t be a good thing if Mommy went away– that that’s not what Jack really wanted, etc. Jacky apologized and we started over again. (Thankfully, at five, his anger at either Daddy or Mommy is something that burns out as quickly as it appears… and it’s still a rare enough occurence that it merits mention in a blog.)

Round two was a long volley about another thermos. Jack thought we should go buy another one. I explained that we can’t buy another one right now. He’s just starting to get the concept of money so this was a difficult idea for him to grasp. Among his theories of how we might get the money:

“We can go buy some dollars”
“There’s a store in California that sells coins” (?!?)
“Daddy will have money”
and, my favorite, “We can go to Grampa and Grandma’s house. They have money.”

I told him that he would have to buy a new thermos if he wanted one. So we emptied out his little piggy banks (actually they are a monkey tin and a ceramic Noah’s Ark) and counted out the coins together. He has, to his name, in cash a grand total of $13.50. Not bad for a kid that has collected our pocket change occasionally.

I can’t remember how much we paid for his thermos so I told him he might have to have more money. We talked about earning money. I explained that Daddy goes to work for all the hours a day that he is away from us so that he can earn money. Jack made his bed and picked up all of Hildy’s puppy toes (she strews them all over the room) for fifty cents.

It was a long afternoon. Tomorrow might be, too. I won’t go to the store until tomorrow afternoon… so Jack will have to buy his milk in the lunch line tomorrow. Which is a good lesson but it’s going to be hard on both of us. He’ll have to conquer his fear of the line and I’ll have to suppress the urge to swoop in and make it all better.

“Will you eat lunch with me tomorrow, Mommy?”
“No baby, not this time. You’ll have to buy your milk without me.” (Though, trust me sweetest boy, I’d bring in a fresh cow for you if I could somehow pay the consequence for you.)
“Will there be white milk?”
“Yes Jack, there will be white milk.”

And, hopefully, there will still be a Lightening McQueen thermos out there. Sigh.

We’re having a much, much better week around here.  Lyle has relaxed and seems back to his old sweet self.  And his violin practices have been fantastic!

Here he is tonight, composing a song called “Lyle’s Pichu”.  You can see that he’s written eight notes and has the added complexity this week of noting beneath each note if it’s a quarter note (a “ta”) or a half note (a “la-ah”).  These aren’t really marked in his playing yet, but he’s only had the bow on the strings for two days!

…and here he is playing his tune!

Tomorrow we will leave early to catch an early ferry and get to the School for Very Bright Children to observe Random Granddaughter in kindergarten.

Although we don’t much believe in spoiling children in our family, with five grandmas and four grandpas, RG is used to a buffet spread as far as choosing among grandparents goes.

Although a few of the children at the SVBC are scholarship children such as RG, most of them come from fairly wealthy families. Many of the wealthy grandparents will be present. I would not be surprised if RG ignores Mrs. Random and myself, or at most pays the most perfunctory attention to us, as she chats up other grandparents, evaluates their bank balances and estates, and drops gentle hints about including her in their wills. She likes the bunnies, squirrels, and chipmunks around our tiny estate well enough, but I am sure by now she has an eye for for pedigreed cats and dogs, as well as for Jaguars and Cougars as well.

Günther Cölsch, einer der Initiatoren des deutsch-französischen Kindergartens im lothringischen Liederschiedt

Er ist einmalig in Europa. Die Rede ist von der Ecole Maternelle Franco-Allemande, dem Deutsch-Französischen Kindergarten in Liederschiedt (Department Moselle, 57, Region Lorraine), auf französischer Seite gleich hinter Grenze gelegen und nur einen Katzensprung entfernt von der deutschen Gemeinde Schweix. Aber es gibt doch mehr deutsch-französische Kindergärten, höre ich jetzt sagen. Ja, sicher, aber nur diesen, der tatsächlich im Grenzgebiet liegt und von Kindern beiderseits der Grenze besucht wird.

Der deutsch-französische Kindergarten setzt Zeichen

Der zweisprachige deutsch-französische Kindergarten Liederschiedt verdeutlicht in eindrucksvoller Weise, wie wichtig es ist, Kinder ganz früh durch das gemeinsame Erleben und Gestalten des Alltags an eine neue Sprache und Kultur heranzuführen. Das unterstrich auch bei einem großen Kinderfest am 1. Juli 2005  in Liederschiedt der rheinland-pfälzische Bildungs- und Jugendstaatssekretär Prof. Dr. Joachim Hofmann-Göttig, der zudem gemeinsam mit dem Recteur der Académie Nancy/Metz Michel Leroy, als dem Vertreter der regionalen französischen Bildungsverwaltung in Lothringen, eine gemeinsam erarbeitete Dokumentation zur sprachlich-pädagogischen Arbeit und zur Entwicklung der 1995 gegründeten Einrichtung vorstellte.

Rheinland-Pfalz engagiere sich schon lange und intensiv für die deutsch- französische Zusammenarbeit im Elementarbereich, sagte Hofmann-Göttig. Neben dem erfolgreichen Programm “Lerne die Sprache des Nachbarn”, an dem mittlerweile 123 Kindergärten teilnähmen, stehe für dieses Engagement eben auch der vom Land geförderte deutsch-französische Kindergarten / école maternelle franco-allemande in der französischen Grenzgemeinde Liederschiedt. Diese einzigartige Einrichtung stehe deutschen und französischen Kindern im Alter von drei Jahren bis zum Schuleintritt aus den französischen Gemeinden Liederschiedt, Haspelschiedt und Roppeviller sowie aus den deutschen Gemeinden Schweix und Hilst offen. In binationalen Gruppen hätten die Kinder dort die Chance, die kulturellen und sprachlichen Aspekte des jeweiligen Nachbarlandes auf vielfältige Weise zu erleben und zu erlernen.

Der Kindergarten geht zurück auf eine Iniative des damaligen Bürgermeisters der Verbandsgemeine Pirmasens-Land, Günther Cölsch, und Joseph Schaefer, des seinerzeitigen Bürgermeisters der Stadt Bitche (Bitsch).

Deutsch-Französischer Kindergarten Liederschiedt
rue principale 45
F-54670 Liederschiedt
Telefon (0 63 35) 78 77

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Der Erinnerungsstein für die Gründer

This past Halloween I embarked in a journey dubbed “The Halloween Bus Party.” The Halloween Bus Party is held every Halloween, and is exactly what the name entails. It is a procession of buses that ferry drunk-asses around the greater St. Louis area to different bars. Each bus is packed full of alcohol, including a cooler of beer, hundreds of jello shots, and jungle juice. In theory, this is brilliant. No risk of driving while intoxicated and everyone has alcohol provided between bars.

We started out at The Atomic Cowboy and signed in and got our passes. After this, all hell broke loose. We filled the buses and immediately began pounding beer and jello shots. Before we even got to the first bar, the Trainwreck in Westport Plaza, a girl on our bus had vomited. The whole bus reeked of regurgitated beer. Not pleasant. Come to find out, it could have been a lot worse, someone on one of the other buses decided to just go ahead and urinate on the the bus on the way there. A public school kindergarten field trip to the zoo is better behaved than this group.

At the Trainwreck, 100+ people in costumes filed into this bar and immediately began harassing the unsuspecting patrons of the restaurant whom were already eating. Mind you, it is only 7:00pm at this point. Wolverines waited in line for the men’s room while a slutty group of pirates took pictures with them. Waldo was ordering Jager-bombs, and a very drunk Pocahontus danced like a mentally challenged Elaine Benes. Nothing makes sense on Halloween. I love this holiday. My two other Ghostbuster compadres, and I opted to go to the bar next door, a near vacant mexican restaurant where an overweight man was singing covers, mostly of Jimmy Buffet.

Moving onward, people slowly but surely filed back onto the buses. We were down quite a few people at this point, but moral was higher than earlier. Imagine a bus barreling down the highway, with people flying around, completely unrestrained, guzzling beer and shouting obscenities from the windows. The next stop being The Skybar.

As we pulled in, there was a costume contest going on, and without any reservation, two of the three Ghostbusters jumped up on stage and began dancing. The crowd was not receptive, since we apparently barged into the women’s costume contest, we were unceremoniously booed from the stage. Our third Ghostbuster was vomiting outside in the bushes, and I started talking to an unattractive overweight bartender in the lobby.

From there we went to a Taco Bell that was closed where one of the few people left on the bus went out to check with the employees and ended up falling in the mud. Back at the Atomic cowboy, there was another costume contest, and the Pocahontus in our group won. The winning costume wearer was awarded a framed picture of a woman covered in blood, and a dildo. Where the Hell am I? The rest of the evening was spent chugging beer we swiped from the bus’s cooler and launching pumpkins into a wall with a catapult behind the bar. Halloween was a success!

Usually, most special gifts don’t come in huge boxes and colorful bows but intangible things.

Last Friday, I came home dead tired from work;  thankfully, what put the widest smile on my face and saved my day was this present : 

Our 5-year-old son, Gabby ranked 6th in his 30 student-Kindergarten class.    My wife and I are having PPS! (read : Proud Parent Syndrome!)

We’re so glad that he made it this second quarter to the list.  I attribute Gabby’s achievement to Tina’s efforts of guiding him on his academics.  His remarkable class rank reminds me that I should also give more quality time tutoring him on his school assignments.  I also sit with him and help him do his homeworks but not as usual as his mom.  We’re not pressuring him though, but we know he can exert more because his interest in learning is so apparent in attending school and even in participating in those so-called extra-curricular activities.  He also behaves well in and out of his classroom.

If you must know, preschoolers now study the concepts of  greater than and less than and  addition and subtraction in Math;  personal hygiene and body parts as well as parts and functions of a seed, a plant and its flower, so with number of legs of insects in Science. In Language, they’re done with the use of has and have, pronouns- he, she, it, verbs /action words; plural and singular nouns and more!   In Reading, they’ve studied community helpers and their jobs;   and Gabby now knows how to read short sentences.

During my preschool year (I was then accelerated from Nursery to Grade 1 after passing an exam), I know little of those topics but I ranked 5th of my Nursery class. Basic Computer subject during my time was taught in High School but with Gabby’s generation, they’ll soon be having Computer and Filipino subjects as early as next month!

Our son enjoys watching Asian Food Channel (other than his favorites -Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network) and he dreams of becoming a chef one day.  And (defensively,) we didn’t spoon-fed him of what he should be like in the future because as young parents, we believe that we’re only here to guide him all through out his journey.   Perhaps what influenced him to wish to work in a kitchen someday are the things we do best – eating and enjoying every gastronomic adventure!  He isn’t a chef yet but our little foodie has already developed his own preference to some delights that never fail to please his palate :)

He may not have ranked first in their class but he is and he’ll be our Number One!

Congratulations, anak!  Keep it up!

Always remember you’re our greatest gift from the Lord and we’ll be forever grateful to Him

Taylor has been in Kindergarten for a little over 2 months now and I would be lying if I told you she’s doing wonderfully.

The fact is, she’s struggling, and it shows.

She loves going to school, but to her it’s a game.  She enjoys her day, but when it comes to doing any “work” and participating in things like gym she outright refuses.

I was so sure she’d transition into this new school well.  Not seamlessly, but well.  She usually does so well with big transitions…until now, that is.

It almost seems like she has regressed.

Regressed.

I hate that word.  It sucks.

Her teachers and therapists don’t really think she’s regressed, but they do think she’s “protecting” herself.  In other words, she’s built up another wall and she’s hiding behind it.

I say “another” because it seems like there are many walls around her.  I wish we could break them down all at once, but this is a process, and a lengthy one at that.

So, we are pushing on day by day.  She has her good days and her not so good days.  I should mention that when she has a bad day that Taylor is not necessarily bad.  She will just refuse to work, but smile and laugh about it.  Have I ever mentioned that she’s really a happy kid??  

I’m glad she’s not “really bad” like destructive and stuff like that.  That is definitely a relief.  =)

Doug and I are disappointed by this turn of events because we had (and still do have) high hopes that Kindergarten would really be a big turning point in Taylor’s life.  We are trying to be optimistic, though.  Hopefully, it won’t be long until things improve.