As our annual weekend feasting with family draws to a close, I just want to say – yet again – how much I LOVE my girls. Everything about them. Even the annoying stuff (of which there’s quite a bit, if I’m being honest).
Happy Thanksgiving
Another successful Thanksgiving – the girls have passed out after a day of gluttony and game-playing with aunts, uncles and cousins.
Today’s festivities didn’t disappoint. There was time to catch up with relatives we haven’t seen in a few months, time to help mom set up the new MacBook we (including my brother and his wife) got for her 65th birthday, time to cuddle with my little Sophie while watching “Chicken Little,” time to play dominoes with my big Chloe, and of course, time to eat and eat and eat until the buttons everyone’s pants started to burst.
I feel a little nauseous right now and I didn’t even eat as much as I have at past Thanksgiving meals. That was because I was busy chasing my girls around my mom’s apartment. In some cases it was just for fun. In other cases, it was because one or the other was upset about something (hey – when you’re at someone’s house for 8 hours, the kids are bound to go a little stir crazy). And when they are upset about something, I know that at least one positive thing will come of their consternation. In such cases, I almost always have the opportunity to tell them how much I love them and give them lots of hugs to prove it. And that, I must say, is priceless.
Gingerbread House
This year’s gingerbread house is a great success. The girls and Grammy worked on their masterpiece for a couple of hours this afternoon and managed to accomplish this miraculous feat without any outbursts.
I guess this means that holiday season is now in full swing. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving at mom’s, Friday is mom’s birthday (and bowling) and Saturday is the annual family party at our cousins’ house. Let the festivities begin!
I LOVE THANKSGIVING.
An Ode to Fall by Chloe
Another Chloe masterpiece, written at school:
I like fall because we get to wear long sleeves.
Fall smells like pine, grass and leaves.
My favorite thing to do in fall is eat as much candy
As I please.
Chloe was reluctant to let me use the poem for tonight’s blog entry, because she didn’t think the verse was any good. But I begged to differ with her – I think it’s one of her best attempts at rhyming poetry yet!
On a separate note, one more day to go at work before an extra-long holiday weekend. It would be an understatement to say that I am looking forward to a few days off. “Looking forward” just doesn’t cut it. I haven’t had a vacation since July. I CAN’T WAIT!
Flu Shot and Swine Flu Mist
Yesterday, we hit the jackpot. Our pediatrician gave the girls their annual flu shots (tears and more tears) and their first dose of H1N1 nasal mist (that feels funny, mom!).
Chloe spent the entire day and part of this morning complaining about the soreness in her shoulder. Sophie, on the other hand, was simply knocked out today from what I think were the effects of the shot.
So – good news is that we took care of our parenting duties – for now. But the H1N1 vaccine requires another dose one month after the first one. Not sure how likely we’re to see that happen, but fingers crossed.
A Chore Scanner
This is the thanks I get for flattering my daughter by asking her to pose for a photo. Lovely, isn’t it? A preview of what’s to come?
We returned to her new favorite supermarket today, where she diligently scanned all of our groceries. Had I known that all it would take to get her excited about something that is such a chore (at least to me), I would have invented my own scanner for home use.
Said scanner would be able to count chore points. So that every time Chloe accomplished a chore, she would scan the appropriate symbol for that chore (e.g., a vacuum for vacuuming, a sponge for cleaning the table, a fork for setting the table, etc.) and bling-bling, points counted. Once enough points are accumulated, a big dollar sign would appear on the screen, notifying her that it was time for her parents to give her the big bucks. And should said chores not be completed, she’d receive a mild electric shock that would piss her off just enough to encourage her to do the chore she initially refused to do.
I wonder if this is a patentable idea? I’ll have to ask my colleagues on Monday.
Chloe’s Present to Sophie
Chloe spent the last few days sculpting this lovely little figurine as a Hanukkah gift to her little sister. The first image shows a little girl, dressed in pink, of course, on a swing. The second photo shows the back of the tree, which is inhabited by a butterfly and a beehive. How amazing is this little piece of art? Chloe spent a lot of time on it, and I know Sophie will love it just as much as I do.
I tell you, my girls never cease to surprise me.
Homework
I have officially decided that I can’t stand the way kids are taught math. Chloe’s school uses the Everyday Mathematics series and I hate it.
Today’s assignment involved data collection – mode, median, range. Not particularly complicated, except when the fact pattern is not clearly explained. Kids collect pill bugs (what the hell are pill bugs?). But how to calculate the total number of pill bugs collected? When the data indicates in a chart that three kids collected two pill bugs – does that mean a total of six were collected for the group or just two?
Needless to say, I needed to scour the web to try to find the answers so that I wouldn’t mislead my daughter and further confuse her. Luckily, we have the internet. Because a nice teacher somewhere in the US had posted the answers to this particular exercise. It turns out that no multiplication was involved – and that the three kids collected a total of two pill bugs. Had I not found the answers, I would have steered my child toward the wrong answers, making her (GASP!) do multiplication when it wasn’t necessary.
And this is just one example – what was wrong with the way we learned math when I was a kid? I can multiply in my head. We memorized the multiplication tables. I don’t use my fingers. And I don’t need a calculator to do basic math. I was a great math student, and I suspect that when Chloe starts to learn algebra I’ll have no clue what the hell she’s supposed to do.
Chloe’s Poem Challenge
I’m in need of a blog entry tonight, so I’ve enlisted Chloe in a poem challenge. I’ve just announced to her that she needs to come up with a few lines about…
Challenge #1: MATH
Math, math
You can add or subtract.
Math, math
You can divide or multiply.
Math, math
It’s easy to do.
Math, math
I love you.
Challenge #2: LOBSTER
Lobster, lobster
You’re so yummy
I never have enough
To fill my tummy
I like you when you are freshly caught
And I like it when you come to me brought.
Peace!
I’ve noticed something pretty remarkable over the last week or so. Chloe and Sophie have been getting along better. Less arguing. More playing. Chloe has been spending time with her little sister – helping her, doing art projects with her, keeping her company. The fighting has subsided significantly.
Chloe has been more forgiving than usual – dismissing Sophie actions that, in the past, would have resulted in the little one getting yelled at and sometimes spit at or worse.
Is this a sign of our eldest child’s newfound maturity? That’d be nice. Is it a sign of Papa and I making a concerted effort to be more calm at home? Maybe. I’ve played more games (Monopoly, Boggle, Trouble, Hungry Hippo, Clue, to name a few) in the last two weeks than I have in the last two months. Hell, I even spent two hours this weekend trying to make progress on the 1,000-piece puzzle that Grammy dumped on us awhile back. All in the name of bonding with my kiddies.
I have noticed that we’ve done a fairly good job of reducing tension by turning potential meltdowns into occasions for laughter. And the girls are mighty adorable. We were at the mall today and the number of compliments we got on their “cuteness” was impressive. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside.
How long will this peacefulness last? No clue. But I’ll take whatever I can get!