Professor Mom

Aliki
Chronicles the life of a mom, teacher, and writer trying to stay sane amid the chaos of daily life.

archives

August 31, 2011
Forty-two
That's me, today. I was just thinking the other day about how nice forty-one was sounding to me, and now I'm on to another number. I'm a little nervous about forty-two, although I'm not sure why. Lately I feel a little like the way I used to when I was a child, and I'd swim out too far from the shore and tread water, feeling small and overwhelmed by the sight of the horizon. Last night, snuggling in bed with T., she asked me out of the blue how long a guinea pig's lifespan was. "Oh, about five or six years," I told her. "And...
Birthdays, Growing Up Is Hard to Do, Parenting
August 30, 2011
L.'s top 6
We're embarking upon a big week this week--the first full week of school for the kids. Already we've had two positive e-mails from L.'s school--just teachers checking in to thank us for the letter we wrote on L.'s behalf, and letting us know how to reach them. We're so pleased that they have reached out to us, and very happy with the level of communication from the school so far. These are all positive things that are helping fuel the beginning of the school year. I try not to attack L. with too many questions when I pick him up after school, but he's been talkative,...
Middle School, Parenting, School Daze
August 29, 2011
One minute perfection
I hope this Monday morning finds everyone in Irene's path safe and sound. We spent Sunday playing "pick up sticks" with the kids outside in the front and back yards (until poor Scott got swarmed by angry yellow jackets). We didn't lose any trees, thank goodness, but several large branches came down and the yards were littered with sticks and leaves and all kinds of storm-related debris blown from the tops of the tall trees-including those poor displaced wasps, who were probably wondering what happened to their safe tree-top home. I love our neighborhood, and the old trees...
Baking, Children, Dessert, Family Activities, Parenting, Recipes, Vegan
August 26, 2011
Divide and multiply
Are you wondering how the kids' first days at their new schools went? Just wonderfully! I had a strange peace about me when I took L. through the carpool line yesterday morning. He opened the car door and zipped out as fast as he could (I had already asked him if he wanted me to walk him in--"no way, Mama--that's not at all cool") and then, at the school entrance he stopped and held the door open for a small group of much taller and older kids--eighth graders, probably. They thanked him and one patted him buddy-like on the shoulder as he went by and my heart melted--for L.,...
Children, Parenting, School Daze, Snapshots
August 25, 2011
'Twas the night before school
New clothes for school? Check. Note that L. picked out jeans to wear on the first day! He hasn't worn a pair of jeans since first grade and I keep doing a double-take when I see him with them on!  New shoes? Check. New backpacks waiting by the door? Check. New lunch bag for T.--the perfect fit for her bento box? Check. And let me just say, for the record, that nothing says the end of summer like having to wake your 11-year old up at 6:00 am for school. Here's to fabulous days back for all our kids!
Back-to-School, Children, Parenting, School Daze
August 24, 2011
So long summertime
I was talking with a dad the other day--a neighbor friend--and he told me he never really "got" what summer meant until he had children. Summer had always been just another season to him, even if it had been a season filled with fun activites and its trademark change of pace. But having kids opened up a different world and he saw the season through his children's eyes for the first time: the magic of the longer days, the fireflies at dusk, the lazy afternoons at the pool, even the poposicles, dripping and leaving wet streaks along tanned arms and legs. Summer is for staying in...
Children, Family, Juggling, Parenting, Summer
August 23, 2011
Dumpling delight
After yesterday's post, a few readers commented and e-mailed asking if I had any tricks or ideas for making lo mein at home. Ideally, you'd buy authentic Chinese lo  mein noodles--these are thick and chewy, but if you don't have a handy Asian Market near you, liguine noodles are a good substitute, or a thick spaghetti noodle. What you really want for good lo mein is some type of toothy, chewy pasta that holds the sauce well. L. is a purist and will NOT eat lo mein that's made with pasta noodles, but the rest of us have found that a more than suitable substitute. Many...
Cooking, Food for Thought, Parenting, Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
August 22, 2011
A place at the table
We had an amazing dinner/evening with friends on Saturday night. It took nearly 10 years of living in North Carolina before we met friends we really connect with as a couple--and as a family. I have many good friends I connect with just wonderfully on my own, and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but I think you know how rare and fulfilling it is to find those couple friends--you're good friends with the wife, your husband is good buddies with her husband, and your kids actually get along and play together--if not perfectly every time--perfectly enough. My friend also gets L.--in...
Cooking, Food for Thought, Friends, Friendship, Motherhood, Parenting, Recipes
August 19, 2011
Time of wonder
My classes started this week. This is the part of going back I truly love--once the meetings and workshops are over and done with it's so rewarding to step into the classroom and see the new faces waiting. Back when I first started teaching, some fourteen years ago, I'd feel a bundle of nerves on the first day. I still remember my first day ever of teaching--my hands shook as I walked into the classroom and I'm sure the whole room could tell I was a nervous wreck, and fighting for composure. I still feel a flutter of nerves right before class time, but my hands don't shake...
Children, Early Learning, Parenting, School, Special Needs, Teaching
August 17, 2011
Food sense
At the denitist's office the other day, L. peeked over my shoulder at the magazine I was reading and caught sight of the photo accompanying a recipe for spoonbread.  "Yuck!" he exclaimed very loudly. "I wouldn't eat THAT in a million years, so don't even think about it!" "That never stopped me before," I replied jokingly. I spend a lot of time trying to get inside L.'s head so I can imagine what he sees and smells when he looks at food. T. will page through cooking magazines and cookbooks with me and she'll stop at recipe photographs and...
Children, Food, Lessons to Live By, Parenting, Special Needs
August 16, 2011
Sweet redux
Scott andI have not been sleeping well lately; neither has L., which isn't surprising, and has something to do with our tired state these days. Classes start for me this week, and I'm still not sure what I'm teaching yet. I'm a planner by nature, so I'm trying not to let the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants start to things this fall bring me down too much.  But I'm tired, and spread thin already. T. is so impatient for school to start she can't stand it. L. is perseverating like crazy to avoid the reality of the passing days, and he paces constantly, round and...
Children, Dessert, Juggling, Parenting, Recipes, Summer
August 15, 2011
Bag of Tricks: Supporting Your Asperger's Child Through the Middle School Transition
There are, as L. glumly pointed out last night, eleven days left until school starts. I didn't think he was counting, or was aware of how many days were left, but clearly he's given this some thought. My heart went out to him at once. We know he's been worried, because he's kicked obsessing about his current interest (a computer game) into high gear--it's all he thinks about and talks about and we know this is so he can blot out all the other worries. I sympathize and empathize with him, except I tend to do the opposite: I place my worries front and center and gnaw at them...
Children, Middle School, Motherhood, Parenting, Special Needs
August 12, 2011
Carpe diem
Sometimes life calls for a little spontaneity. You have to put aside the to-do lists and the schedules and the deadlines and turn your back on the laundry. You have to listen to your husband every now and then and load the kids up into the family van along with the buckets and shovels and chairs and towels and the beach umbrella. You have to put together a quick picnic with only a bag of bagels and a jar of peanut butter and a few apples and be okay that it's not homemade spring rolls and watermelon slices and other beach picnic favorites. Everybody needs a day to fill up their eyes and...
Children, Family Activities, Parenting, Summer
August 11, 2011
The stall
I was unpleasant;ly surprised by a work-related situation this week which really made me feel like total--for want of a better word--crap. The situation reflected poor professionalism on the part of a colleague, and it derailed me for about two days. These things happen in any job, I know, but knowing this doesn't make dealing with it any easier. My feelings and sense of professional pride were hurt, so I did the mature, adult thing and retreated to the ladies room for about fifteen minutes where I sat on the closed toilet seat and stewed and, as I often do when absorbing an injustice,...
Children, Juggling, Lessons to Live By, Motherhood, Parenting, Work
August 10, 2011
Horn tooting
Monday night at dinner, T. and Scott and I had a lively discussion about the fine distinction that exists between tooting your own horn, and bragging. T. was confused. "What horn?" she wanted to know. We explained the expression to her, and spent more time having fun demonstrating examples of horn tooting and bragging. T. did a beautiful imitation of bragging, complete with the sing-song voice inflections and Scott was pretty good at supplying examples of horn tooting. But it struck me that there is a very fine line between the two, and a huge part of the difference...
Children, Daughters, Lessons to Live By, Mothers, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues
August 9, 2011
The fitting room sisterhood
At the start of Day One of faculty development workshops yesterday we did an ice-breaker activity. Everyone  in the room had to organize themselves into groups based on their birthday month but—here was the one rule—you could not speak to anyone while doing it. After a few chaotic minutes, the groups were all set and I looked around at my August crowd and felt surprised, for some reason, by how many people have August birthdays.  Everyone in my group seemed to have that special glow about them, too—that glow you can’t help but wear when it’s your...
Children, Friends, Friendship, Motherhood, Mothers, Parenting
August 8, 2011
Positive progress
I'm back at work today. As usual, I'm kind of happy, kind of sad, kind of excited, kind of melancholy. Summer is the big pay-off time for us all; it's the time of the year when we truly appreciate the rewards of being teachers. We may not have much money; we may not be able to afford big vacations or new things for our house or expensive camps and schools for our kids, but we do have two months of pure family time each year and I wouldn't trade that for anything. But all that family time does make it very hard to say good-bye to the summer and almost painful to think about how...
Children, Middle School, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues, Special Needs, Transitions, Work
August 5, 2011
Lego magic
If you find yourself in D.C. with Lego-crazy kids (or Lego-crazy grown-ups) then make sure you stop by the National Building Museum before September 3. 2012 and visit the Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit. Not only is it truly an amazing experience to see famous buildings recreated out of Lego bricks, but the exhibit also has a huge room filled with Legos and Lego tables where kids of all ages can lose themselves in the process of building and creating. We didn't show up at the museum until 4:00 the first day, which gave us only about an hour of time before it closed. My ever-...
Activities with Children, Children, Parenting, Summer, Summer Travel, Travel
August 3, 2011
Reading history
We're in Washington, D.C. today for a quick, jam-packed visit. Since finding time to write a post has been nearly impossible, I'm re-posting one from two years ago, on favorite reads to go along with trips. This trip we're adding an American Girl book to our list (the Meet Addy book in case we can try and squeeze in a visit to this exhibit) and we've dusted off our copy of George Washington's Teeth in preparation for a visit to Mount Vernon. Until we get back...happy reading! ****************** Whenever we travel anywhere I always like to seek out relevant books in...
Books, Parenting, Reading, Summer, Travel, Travel with Children
August 2, 2011
Tuesday snapshots
L.'s been seeing a new therapist for a few months now. We've been waiting to get on her appointment list since last fall, when his developmental pediatrician first told us she was joining the team. L.'s opinions of her vary, according to his mood. But as is the case with his feelings about everyone who tries to "force" him to change his ways, even if just a little, he mostly "hates" her. Yesterday we had an appointment. When I told him that morning he threw down his book. "I HATE THAT WOMAN!" he declared and stomped off. But when it was time to go he...
Children, Lessons to Live By, Parenting, School, Snapshots, Special Needs, Summer
August 1, 2011
Growing up is hard to do
Kids are good at wishing away the days. All young people are, I think. Lately L. spends his off-computer time pacing around in circles in his room, thinking about the day he'll be thirteen, and able to play a video game rated "Teen" that he has his eye on. T. talks about being a teenager some day, like the big girls at the pool, and her face lights up with a strange, pleased smile, as if she can scarcely imagine that day.  "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I'll tell L. when he talks about thirteen. Because I don't want him to be thirteen--not yet. I...
Children, Greece, Growing Up Is Hard to Do, Lessons from Little Ones, Lessons to Live By, Parenting, Social & Emotional Issues, Summer