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September 23, 2008
Get the kids out!, Professor Mom Yesterday was the fall equinox and also the start of Take Your Child Outside Week. I honestly had never heard of this week until I was talking with my colleague and friend, who mentioned that there's an entire week devoted to trying to expose kids to exercise, the outdoors, and activities that would get them off the couch and out into the fresh air--and that our very state initiated this a year ago.
Get the kids out!, Professor Mom Yesterday was the fall equinox and also the start of Take Your Child Outside Week. I honestly had never heard of this week until I was talking with my colleague and friend, who mentioned that there's an entire week devoted to trying to expose kids to exercise, the outdoors, and activities that would get them off the couch and out into the fresh air--and that our very state initiated this a year ago.
September 22, 2008
Rituals to sleep by, Professor Mom
Rituals to sleep by, Professor Mom
T. and I have a special ritual at bedtime each night. After teeth-brushing and the bath and the pajamas, and the hair-combing and the two stories (or one, if we stayed up too late) and the good-night kisses to her papa and her brother, we snuggle in the dark in her bed. [more]
September 19, 2008
Three years and counting, Skadaddle
Three years and counting, Skadaddle
K-Man celebrated his third birthday yesterday, and the soiree is tomorrow. Three. Years. Old. Unbelievable. I don’t have that “I can’t believe it’s been three years already” feeling. Instead, it’s just more of a “I can’t believe how developed, aware and capable a three-year-old can be” feeling. What this kid is capable of – what he says and what he understands – continues to baffle me each and every day. Truly. [more]
September 19, 2008
Feed the soul, Professor Mom
Feed the soul, Professor Mom
When my husband and I were graduate students living in upstate New York, we used to do many exciting and interesting things like: stay up late, sleep in, and eat out at restaurants that didn't automatically provide you with coloring books and crayons when they saw you coming. We would eat out maybe once every two weeks or so. It's ironic that back then, when we were poor, struggling graduate students, we actually had more "disposable" income than we do now, when each paycheck is all accounted for down to the last nickel. [more]
September 17, 2008
Decisions...Decisions...Decisions, Skadaddle
Decisions...Decisions...Decisions, Skadaddle
K-Man’s birthday is tomorrow, so I’ve been going over the mental checklist of how much he’s grown and developed over these three years. I keep thinking about how good I feel that he seems to be a pretty happy little guy. He definitely has his passions (firefighters) and I’m quite aware of our efforts to support those passions (by going to firehouses every freakin’ day!) even if it’s a pain in the arse! But, as the hours tick toward the anniversary of his birth, I find myself thinking about something beyond passion and dreams. [more]
September 17, 2008
What's that saying about spilled milk?, Professor Mom
What's that saying about spilled milk?, Professor Mom
We made it through the speech evaluation yesterday. It was all fairly effortless, and T. had a great time, actually--and I did, too, in a way. She looked at scores of pictures and identified them all, listened to some stories and recounted them, and got to assemble a Mr. Potato Head, all the while delighting the evaluator with her chirpy narrative. I realized long ago that watching evaluations doesn't have to be all doom and dread and angst. I actually watch my kids interacting with the evaluator and feel a sense of pride welling up inside at me. [more]
September 16, 2008
Detours, Professor Mom On Friday, L. had a substitute teacher in his class, and he came home with the entire Periodic Table of Elements transcribed onto a couple pieces of notebook paper. "Wow!" I exclaimed, my heart leaping in excitement over this evidence of real learning. "Did you learn about this already in third grade?"
Detours, Professor Mom On Friday, L. had a substitute teacher in his class, and he came home with the entire Periodic Table of Elements transcribed onto a couple pieces of notebook paper. "Wow!" I exclaimed, my heart leaping in excitement over this evidence of real learning. "Did you learn about this already in third grade?"
September 15, 2008
Object lessons, Professor Mom
Object lessons, Professor Mom
The other day I was enthusiastically telling a colleague about a workshop I had prepared for my English Fundamentals class last Friday. I've done this activity with students before--several times in the ten years I've been teaching. [more]
September 12, 2008
Legacy, Professor Mom
Legacy, Professor Mom
One of the hardest things I've found about being a parent is trying to explain to my kids about the horrors and frightening deep mysteries of life--things like evil in the world and unspeakable tragedies, like 9/11, and even the routine but still frightening reality of mortality. No one likes to be the one to pass on to their child these legacies, to shatter the magical illusion that life is beautiful and innocent like a fairy world or cartoon land. Or that it's a storybook-come-to-life, days like multicolored pages that stretch on and on and on. [more]
September 11, 2008
Comfort food, Professor Mom
Comfort food, Professor Mom
Some years ago, when L. was three or four, he was terrified of rain and thunderstorms. The mere sound of the beginnings of rain falling against the windows, or the distant rumbling of thunder, usually kept him awake in a state of fear and worry about what was to come. [more]
