Geeky friction

My young son was doing sack races on our hardwood floors this morning, using our soft, fuzzy flannel pillow cases as the sack.

You can probably guess what happened next.

My young son crashed into the hardwood floor, yelling that "Ow!" that parents for blocks can hear. My older son ran to him and scooped him up in his arms.

"Oh no, you fell? Your coefficient of friction was too low... (I didn't hear the next part because I was processing the sentence)... You know your friction would be larger if your mass was larger... (young son is quite skinny)."

Young son snuggles in deeply into old son's arm, feeling comforted. Between sniffles he mutters, "I didn't (sniff) have enough friction (sniff)."

I leave the two sons to talk for a minute and as I walk away I hear, "You know, normal force equals mg. You were standing up; you weren't sticking to the side of the wall." They laugh, sharing their secret geeky jokes as they ease the pain.

Speed Tolerance

Everybody lives at their own speed.

Some need a month to prep for a doctor's visit and if they need it in the next week, they are panicked.

Some do rapid scheduling and don't need notice.

I am thinking that a lot of conflicts arise when people working at different speeds can't adjust to the other.

Hum.

I think I know where I am on the spectrum. I found out on Friday that I need to leave for Taipei on Monday. This is typical. This is actually considered "advance notice". The various obligations for next week can be canceled without me stressing over scheduling issues.

I'm loving it. I like this speed. It matches my insides. I am so glad I am surrounded (mostly) by people who can support me and my fam!

Failure

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/posters/af7a/zoom/

Chatter after school:

Child: "I made so many mistakes today!"

Parent: "Did you learn from them?"

Child: "Lots!"

Parent: "Cool!"

Yes, this is backpatting. Someone has got to pat it from time to time!

We Will, We Will Rock You

My high school was:

* boring

* cliquish
and
* under-achieving.

The bar was set so very low.

So, at 15 yo, I took off overseas in search of a better high school education. I got it. But I didn't want my own kids to *leave the country* in order to access an experience that would challenge them in their teen years.

Vee & Keee are getting such a bizarrely rich education. Their math teacher is an MIT grad, ran the Dept of Health in two states, eep, and five years into retirement, Berkeley High called him and asked, "School starts in five days. Can you teach our Calculus class?"

Cool thing about this type of hiring -- the teacher has got nothing to lose. He his only concern is the kids. He doesn't really care if he keeps his job, but he does care if he gets through to the kids and leaves a legacy of knowledge and striving for excellence (and a lot of math-jokes goofing-off).

Other teachers are straight out of their masters program. Many from overseas. All, or at least all I have seen, have a deep motivation to teach -- forget the system and its requirements (or be so young you don't know it yet). Clear sitght -- do these kids know how to write? Can they speak extemporanesouly? Do they still have that spark of curiousity? If not, how do I respark it? Can they study hard? Can they push past that point of resistance? If so (who cares why) how can I help them build that muscle? What crazy thing can I do in class to get the ones who have been deadened to wake up?

Stand on the desks?

Attack the first student with a cell phone that rings?

Break into classrooms randomly and sing the periodic table?

Give the kids X-box remotes to take a group test with?

Yes, there are some weird teachers who do crazy things to wake up the kids.

If you ever want to see that the teenage years can be full of searching-for-knowledge (instead of what people normally say the teenage years are full of) then come with me to Berkeley High's Open House next year.

It's rough around the edges. Most definitely.


But that's how things get sharp.

What I want for Christmas

What I want *every day* for my kids is a good school, a real education, an engaging and invigorating environment that enriches their natural talents and encourages them to build new talent. Right?

Here are a few random points from what Aee's teacher talked about at Back-to-School Night:

* It took her no longer than three minutes to get to the part about "differentiating instruction for each child". Usually it takes teachers longer than that. If they get there at all. Differentiating instruction is difficult in any situation other than one-on-one tutoring.

* I have never heard "differentiating talk before, but it is usually in a flufy way. I hadn't heard someone speakd so specifically. She said she differentiates for *every* child. I'll have to see this to believe it. For now, I know that she's giving Aee appropriate reading (big delicious-looking chapter books!), spelling (big tough-looking words), math (exercises that are right up her alley) and other work that seems to fit her wonderfully. Her work is different from her peers. There's a chance that each child's work is different from the other. We'll see more as the year goes on.

I always suspected it was possible to fully differentiate a classroom, but the closest I have ever seen is teachers putting children on 'tracks" or in "groups" or otherwise segrating groups of kids who fit into a close-enough-to-this-peer category.

Yesterday when I came to pick the kids up from their afterschool program, I saw Aee and her teacher sitting on one of the picnic benches outside, under the trees which were blowing a bit in the wind. Aee was doing a reading test, smiling (at the book, not at me). When the teacher and Anna saw me, they both said, "Aw, we're not ready yet!" The teacher asked if I could come back in a little bit.

It was 4:40 pm.

My comment was, "Are you doing testing outside of school hours so that you can generally improve the quality of instrution during regular classtime?"

She smiled and turned back to the test.

Sweet!

Sleep

Tonight, at 10:01 pm, my son said, "I'm going to go comatose now and hallucinate vividly, then maybe in the morning I will have amnesia about those hallucinations. See ya."

Translated: "I'm going to bed now. See ya."

Ha.

Sigh of relief

Every parent of a teenager dreads the day when they find something in their teenager's room or in their pants pocket while doing the wash.

As I was doing laundry today, I noticed a bump in my son's cargo pants side pocket. I cringed.

You can imagine my relief when I pulled out...










a mouse pad.

Whew.

Better Be Ready

This summer has been absolutely amazing, bouncing from one trip to the next, whirling through so many potentially joyous situations.

We got back from NZ and a week later we were headed off to Paris. Sweet!

We're home now and the next trip on the calendar is Ohio. Every time I see that on the calendar I tilt my head and think, "Ohio? I don't know how to react to that."

We'll see!

Extremes

I love this -- in the last few days I have packed a full set of suitcases for:

* hot California summer
and
* snowy NZ winter

and there wasn't a single item of overlap so I could pack the suitcases and let them sit at the front door waiting.

Like big wrapped presents.

Without bows.

Even better.

See, I don't like vacations for the act of vacationing, as dictionary.com says, "a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest." Vacations seem to indicate a dislike of the regular day-to-day lives and a desire to get away, escape the grind. While I admit this last year has been the most difficult of my life (by a long shot) I don't view vacations as the stereotypical get-away.

I remember when we lived in suburbia and everyone was taking off on their summer / winter vacations and I thought, "Wow, only a few weeks a year is 'the good life'. Eeep." It seemed more valuable to invest in making every day fulfilling so that the craving to disappear on vacation, to suspend that work, is not what drives you the other 350-ish days of the year.

So, I try (although not all that successfully) to build an everyday life that is fulfilling enough so that "vacations" can be used for another purpose.

Care to guess what?

What else could a vacation be? Other than relaxation?

Think back to when you were five... Exploration! Discovery! Feeling the texture of the earth in a new place, new playground. Wondering at the new sky, letting that sense of awe wash over you as you relished your power to navigate the world.

For me, a trip feels more like the first time I walked on two legs. It's an amazing feeling. It's more of a study, a turning on of a switch, not the turning off that the word "vacation" implies.

Now, that does sound hokey, I'm sure, but it is wonderfully true. I love "vacations". I just wish they didn't have such a Lazy Joe name to them.. "Vacations" sound boring. What about "explorations" or "bouncing arounds"?

Or maybe I should just get back to prepping the house for my absence. 1/2 the family is staying home, so it's not a big deal, but still. I love leaving things clean. I don't care what it looks like when I get back, just as long as I can walk out the front door with the sight of a clean home as that last visual impression stored in memory.

Rollercoasters

At 10am this morning: "I did it! I got the plane tix to AU and NZ!"

10am to 10pm: So psyched, finally going.

10pm: Travelocity calls, the tix didn't go through. Airline canceled one segment of an eight leg trip and the whole trip collapses. Doh.

10:30pm: Rebooked, leaving in about 48 hrs. Psyched again!

Feels a bit like a rollercoaster.

Ironically, my beloved and three of the kids are in Santa Cruz this weekend riding actual rollercoasters.

Unplugging

I love the other side of the tech curve. It used to be, "How can tech improve my life?" and now it's "Do I really need all this tech?"

Every new device I pass through this test:

* Do I need it?

* Do I want it?

* Do I love it?

If it fails any one of those three tests, the device sees the inside of the donation box.

The evolution of what-we-want

See if you can follow this train of logic:

I hurt my foot --> foot in soft cast for a week

Soft cast --> go to Disneyland (wheelchair = front of line)

Announce Disneyland --> kids happy bouncy --> bags packed by Sunday afternoon

Sunday night I view Consuming Kids with friends --> I no longer want to take my kids to Disneyland

I remember my own experience with Disneyland, "Why do people put on big costumes in this heat?" --> I look for an alternative

Since I haven't won any bid on Priceline in ages, I take a Hail Mary bid on a very expensive, very nice hotel in Monterey Bay --> the bid goes through --> I say, "Eep!"

I pack up the kids and head off to Monterey for the week, thoroughly enjoying the trip and all the side-trips. I had no idea Monterey had so much to offer.

We came back tanned, relaxed, and most of all, with a stronger sibling bond.

We also came back only three minutes before Vee and Eee needed the car. (We are a one car family.) Cutting it close, for sure.

My favorite comment from Aee as she swam in the big circular pool at the hotel, face up to the sky, "I'm so glad I'm feeling the sun instead of in a shop collecting things. I love you Mom."

Light-footed

It may look like I am constantly changing plans... and some people consider that a bad thing.

Someone recently said, "Oh, you're just light-footed."

I like that view so very much. Thank you.

Foiled again!

Confirmed -- the NZ rental agency won't take my temporary USA license. It isn't valid enough.

So, what to do while waiting around for 10 days for the little piece of plastic to arrive?

Hum...

Top items off the top of my head:

* Explore half-moon bay for a week -- too expensive, hotels are 250-500/night there. Even if we drive every day there & back, the gas is considerable, more than an RV in NZ would cost in our little jaunts...

* Do a tour of bay area museums again, could be fun.

* Grab some $60 tix to LA, stay with friends and go to Disneyland for a week. Possible, but Jee & Aee hate crowds and heat even more than I do.

* Enroll them in camps. Too expensive!

* Hire The Most Awesome Babysitters (who are not related to us) to watch the wee ones for 1/2 days, just enough so that the day balances out. Jee and Aee get four hours of non-stop board game time while I work, then they play at the shop while I work. Then we all breath a deep sigh and play together a bit.

Sounds good, but this is what we have been doing for the last two weeks. Plus, The Most Awesome Babysitter team is out of town.

Harumpf.

Those $300-something tickets to Spain are looking better every day.

Excuses, Excuses

I'm feeling a bit like Sisyphus, pushing a rock, pushing a rock, but never getting anywhere. I am trying to leave. The kids are beyond psyched. Everyone is ready, but...

Every day some new monster rears its head.

Last Monday it was a slipped something in my back. Fixed.

On Tuesday it was a work thing that needed an immediate solution or I couldn't leave town. Mostly fixed.

On Wednesday it was my foot. It feels like it's broken. I can barely walk. Horrid shooting pains.

Today it was the expired driver's license. New one will get here in 10 days.

Is someone trying to tell me something? Because the next step would be a brain tumor or a car accident. Eep.

HUGE amount of luck

Imagine this: You book tickets for yourself and your children to fly half way around the world. You are beyond-ready to rent that sweet little RV so you and your little ones can travel up and down the coast.

You get to the checkout counter to fill out all the RV forms and the clerk says in that fantastic New Zealand accent: "Matie, you can't rent. Your driver's license is expired."

You know what happens when you are in a foreign country and need US approval for visa, dls, this sort of thing? You have to *go home* to get it done.

Did I just narrowly escape a huge mistake?

On my way to the DMV now...

My favorite moment of the day

Seeing my teenage son take control of his life, ground his career, and work with a new colleague.

This is nothing so fulfilling as knowing that your kids are going to be OK.

Time and a Half?

When you work overtime on holidays, weekends, during the birth of your son, days when everyone else is on vacation... aren't you supposed to get time and a half?

My beloved just worked two weeks straight of 18 to 20 hour days, non-stop, around the clock, quick naps and short nights. He worked through one weekend, then worked again through the next -- the 4th of July.

What does he get for around-the-clock devotion?

Time and a half?

Nah. How about the new company rule that went into effect while he was gone: "One comp day for every two weekend days / holiday days worked."

What's that? Half time?

Invest 2, get 1 in return...

Yikes, how motivating!

Looking for a school

NZ is in school while we are on summer break (and they are on summer break while we are in school).

So, I am looking for a school for Jee & Aee to go to for a few weeks so I can work a bit while we are in NZ.

Finding a good school when you have a whole country to choose from helps you outline what educational atmosphere you want.

The top three things I treasure in my kid's school experience:

1. Diversity on all levels (financial, physical, intellectual, etc)

2. Acceptance verbiage rather than rejection verbiage. The school's website, usually approved by the principal is a fairly good indication of how the school is run. Ex: "We accept and appreciate..." rather than "We have a no tolerance policy towards..." While I believe strict rules are vital, schools who focus on the positive usually engender the positive, so...

3. Strong academics since my geeky little kids like studying. They get it from both sides of the family. I have such fond memories of sitting at the dinner table doing workbook pages because I liked to do schoolwork. There's something wonderful about a fresh sheet of problems and a pencil that you need to sharpen again and again. Thrill!

Why are diversity and acceptance are first on my list? As a trained teacher, you would think I would have something more concrete on my list. Instead I have the warm-fuzzies of peace, love and happiness.

Here's why... When you have kids you want them to be friends, right? You want sibling rivalry to be at a minimum, right?

Because, after all, what parent actually enjoys hearing: "She looked at me funny!" and "He touched the leaf that I was thinking of picking up!"

When the teacher at school is spending six to eight hours a day working on kindness, enlarging their hearts and minds, training them to naturally assume good intent, it makes my job easier. Haven't I heard too many times from my kids and others, "But he did it on purpose!" countered by, "It was an accident!" Let's rewrite that script.

It seems that the neural pathways need to be trained to assume good intent, at least during the playground years. I haven't heard too many kids on the playground, when bonked by an errant basketball say, "It's ok, I know you didn't mean to toss it over here." Instead you hear, "Hey!..." followed by words I would rather not record.

Anyway, my criteria is based on recognizing that I don't have enough energy or power to teach my kids this particular lesson sufficiently. I need the bolstering of a wide support network to get this message across. When supported by a wide net, my kids know that it is a societal norm, not just something their mom wants them to do.

So far, I have found nearly every NZ school has a message like the Kawakawa school has (note that the language is Maori, a lot like Hawaiin):

Motto: "Kai U Ki Te Pai:" Uphold that which is good

Aroha: Love

Awhina: Help

Atawhai: Care

Manaaki: To help, love and care for one another.

Now, doesn't that sound like something you want in your house at 6:15 every night while you're making dinner?

Bliss.

How to enrol in NZ schools

Tonight I sent out 20+ queries to state schools (one type of public school) up and down NZ. I got the first reply back. Woot! The schools must be sanctioned through the gov't. There's a tuition we pay per week but it's quite reasonable. I would prefer a school w/o uniforms. There are several types of public schools in NZ / AU, but the state schools are 85% of the enrolments. "Enrol" has only one "l" in their spelling and it drives me nuts. I want to scratch a second "l" onto the computer screen... my finger is itching... scratch just one more "l"...

But I will resist and wait for replies from the other 20-something schools.

I picked schools I liked in random locations that seem like fun villages to stay in for a few weeks.

I have no idea what I'm getting myself (and the kids) into.

Are we there yet?

To answer many questions at once:

Q - Why haven't you left yet?

A - Because my husband has been out of town the last two weeks. It was unexpected and unwelcome, but it all worked out for the best.

Q - Are you still going?

A - Yes! I loaded "The Hobbit" onto my son's iPod and we'll be listening to it as we travel up and down the wintery NZ coast. Could anything be more delicious? We love audiobooks and this one has particularly good voice talent.

Q - What day are you leaving?

A - Tomorrow, next week, I don't know. I like doing the last minute tickets on various sites. I have Scottish blood in me veins and I enjoy getting a really good price on the tix. The bags are mostly packed and the next day tix are often the best deals.

Q - Who are you taking?

A - Just the wee ones. The big ones will stay home to work and enjoy their summer. I consider myself quite lucky to have this flexibility.

Q - So, this is just a vacation?

A - (Visible bristling) Actually, it is a working vacation.

Q - Define "work"?

A - It depends. I'm working on parenting healthy kids who know that the world is theirs to navigate. I'm working on writing a few kids books with strong female leads - the Maori culture in NZ infused some ticklishly fun names of streets and locations. I think just being there will be enough inspiration to finally get me to explore this genre (children's fiction) better. I am also working on official company business, but that will only be a minor part of it.

I am not a patient type and the last few weeks have been excruiatingly long. Sigh. It will make it all the more enjoyable.

Sweetness

Over the last three days I have worked so hard... Friday was a 16 hr non-stop workday. I got a few hours at the beginning and at the end to do other work, but wow, 16 hrs is brutal. My husband can do it (and more), but I am not accustomed to it.

So, when today, Sunday, rolled around I did something completely uncharacteristic.

I relaxed.

Like I'm supposed to on Sundays.

It felt *great*! I got sweet relaxing time with my kids and kitties and it was guilt-free! I was not supposed to be doing anything else! (like cleaning, working, or managing)

The kids really noticed it. Big Vee kept saying, "Mom, what's wrong? Are you OK?" I reassured him that I was perfectly fine, better than fine. I was tired and ready to take full advantage of the awesomeness that is Sunday.

I hope you had a great one too. =)

5 beauties in the day

1. Flowers that smell so sweet you can smell them for a full 10 paces as you walk past.

2. Children who play together cooperatively, making up funny little games.

3. Orange lentils.

4. Fresh pears that drip, but you have enough time to eat them slowly so you catch every single little drop.

5. Friends who put their arms around you easily and often.

Timing

I'm starting to feel unloved.

A few too many, "Haven't you left yet?" and "When are you leaving?"

Sorry, but you are going to have to put up with me for a few more weeks.

I have a few work obligations to wrap up first.

I need to get good hiking boots for Jee and Aee.

I need to get Jee a few more warm sweaters.

Other than those three things, we're ready to go.

I've been known to pack for long trips in under an hour, so let's hope this one will go as smoothly.

We are so enraptured by the thought of flying off into the blue yonder. When Jee talks about the penguins and the landscape I can see his heart thrilling to the adventure.

We read the Tolkien Bestiary tonight. Well, we didn't read it; we looked at all the pictures.

Jee is starting to see that there is a fine line between imagination and reality. He asked questions like, "Did Tolkien just imagine those things or did he dream them?" To which I answered, "Is there a difference? Don't those ideas come from the same source?" He seemed to have some lingering notion that dreams are shared experiences, influenced by others more than our imaginings. Hum. He said he wants to pay attention to his dreams because they will "help me weave stories better."

Let's hope New Zealand sparks some wonderful things in this budding eight-year old writer.

To ground this in reality: Today, when Jee was having his writing time, he "ran out of ideas to write on the paper", so he started writing on his cheek. For the entire day, as we went around town on errands, he had a chunk of text on his cheek. People were trying to read it.

To one guy I almost said (but didn't), "Please stop reading my son."

I had Jee take a good, long shower tonight. The words are now a marbleized brown and blue swirl on his cheek. It appears that his cheek is bruised horribly.

Doh.

No, I haven't left yet.

Decided.

Three words to sum up that last three months:

Massive decision overload.

So, it is with gratitude and solemnity that I announce one decision. Just one. That's enough for now.

For the summer, me and the two little ones will be traveling the coast of New Zealand in this funmobile.

The route is mostly along the coastline, but that's sortof how NZ is shaped anyway.

We will be stopping by the WWOF farms helping care for creatures like this.

We hope to see at least one good storm. (That one is a must-see.)

The purpose?

1. Jee has been learning about penguins this year in his super-awesome-teacher's class. His teacher did such an amazing job of exploring penguins that Jee says, "I want to see them in their natural habitat. I must. Please, can we go now?"

2. The two little 'uns need to learn to rely on each other and there's nothing like a good, long camping trip to figure these sorts of things out.

3. It costs more to stay in the bay area. Traveling around NZ is actually a cost-cutting alternative, yet it carries a huge educational benefit.

4. I need some Eat, Pray, Love time. It'll be more like Write, Snuggle, Think time, but whatever.

My favorite upcoming moment will be all three of us sitting in the back of the RV knitting with some truly awesome New Zealand yarns while listening to the pitter patter of that awesome NZ rain.

Follow the clues...

I have been gone for the last few days on a trip to Asia and back. Everything went smoothly and I was so happy to be home! But when I walked in the door I smelled something odd.

It was a food-type smell, but didn't smell like anything my kids normally cook. It also smelled a bit, oh, how shall I say it?

Bad.

So, I snooped around a bit while unpacking, cleaning, and playing with the kids.

Apparently, the kids had gone to an Easter Egg hunt while I was gone and the organizers had distributed *real eggs* for treats.

Me thinks the organizers might not have children of their own.

This is not something you distribute to children.

Children hide their presents, tucking them away in super secret spots because it's fun to hide special things in super secret spots.

I think I have collected all the spoiling eggs and thrown away the containers and linens they were tucked away in for several days.

The eggs were dyed so beautifully and were turning even more beautiful colors as they sat in their various containers squashed with egg guts oozing, squishing, smooshing out of their shells.

It was so funny. We all had a good giggle over it.

Two insights for today

Last night I got to spend a good, solid, healthy hour with friends at a party. Fun! There were so many women there that I admire and who have qualities that I am trying to incorporate into my own life. There were two things I noticed in a bit of an Ah-ha moment.

I noticed that:
1. The happiest women are the ones who are overflowing with gratitude.
2. They tend to talk about what they have done, not so much what they are only planning to do.

So, I went back over the last page of two of my blog and noticed I needed to change a few things! I wiped out some of the ickies and toned it down a bit. A bit of revisionist history in the works...

And here's today's baby step effort to get closer to the new-ish qualities I aspire to incorporate:

I am grateful for:
* Children who go to bed easily and gently. They flutter their eyelids closed and fall asleep. Easy as that. I am so lucky.
* Ripe, bursting-with-vitamins vegetables on my plate.
* The sunshine that gave me a bit of a pink kiss today as I spent quite a bit of time outside talking with a friend.

What I have done, completed, fini that I am proud of:
* I got to whip parts of the house into shape over this last week, chucking a bunch of old media in various forms.
* I contacted some of my old friends from my growing up years, and WOW is it ever intriguing to see where everyone is now in their lives.
* The kids and I have done so many fun things this week, too many to list, but we're having fun enjoying all the goodness that is at our feet in this wildly vibrant part of the world.

Ow, ow, ow

I got to go to the Y today to try a new class. It was awesome! In the most grueling sort of way.

Total Body Challenge is possibly one of the hardest workouts I have ever done, but it really helped me see how far I have to go. No getting lazy now.

I'm feeling the muscles I forgot I had. Yeah! I knew they were in there somewhere...

Bugs, germs, and generational shift

As a kid I remember that I loved sick days at home with mom. I would pile up a few stacks of books and twenty of more stuffed animals around myself in bed or on the couch and I would read andrest.

Now, my own kids are home for a day and what is it like?

They want to go to school.

I love that they love their school so much. More than once they have pushed ahead through the morning, dragging themselves to school because they didn't want to miss out. I am so grateful they are having a good experience.

The Big Summer Question

The sign of a good summer (IMO) is having a clear answer to the question: "What did you do this summer?"

When the summer is a mish-mash, you give a wishy-washy answer. When the summer is memorable and unique it has a clarity to it -- you give a clear answer.

Last summer turned out to be a mish-mash. It was *almost* a clear summer... Vee and Kee got jobs in New Zealand, but we couldn't get the work visas in time so we ended up spending the summer in the bay area with the kids going to camps and me doing the same-old, same-old, all of us doing fun (but random) activities.

I do not want to do another mish-mashy summer.

So, on a purely analytical level, basing decision on cost (since cost drives the decision), here's what we spent last year:

Summer = 10 weeks long
Camp = $250-400 per week, average $325 per week x2 for both kids
Total summer camp cost = $6,500
Weekends usually end up being something special, going horseback riding, tickets to museums and movies... I don't think we have gotten out of a summer weekend for less than $100
Weekend costs x10 weekends = $1,000
Total summer cost $7,500

Aee and I were playing with the numbers yesterday and found out that:
Tickets to Barcelona, Spain = $420 per person round trip
Total plane tix = $1,260
Rent a villa on the beach $170/wk = $1,700
Miscellaneous touristy costs at $100/wk = $1,000
Total summer cost = $3,960

Wow.

Could it possibly be cheaper to spend the summer lounging on the beach in Barcelona than hanging at home? Nearly half the cost?

Hum.

What am I missing?

Here are a few other budgetary factoids:

* Food -- You would think that eating overseas would be a huge line on the budget, but my kids eat light and like to eat in whenever possible. On previous long trips, our food costs have either broken even or been less than if we had stayed home as long as the hotel / villa / flat / apt has a stove.

* Car -- We would have to rent in an area with a bus line or have everything within walking distance. The kiddos are now strong enough to walk nearly everywhere. As long as we're not in a too-terribly isolated place, we can get by without a car. A rare taxi ride is ok. It would probably still be cheaper than the gas we would use at home on "as usual" gas use.

* Work -- My work allows me to go on autopilot, committing about an hour a day to the daily grind then I am available for other things (such as beach time). If I was on the beach in Barcelona, I would have plenty of time to continue work and possibly finish a project that is overdue, but still has promised payment at the end of it. Hum... I wonder (thrilling to the thought) if by some bizarre chance I might actually come out *ahead* when all is said and done...

If you have any advice for me, any words of wisdom or just general feedback, email me at my regular address. I'm still keeping comments closed because I hate moderating, but please do let me know if you have any feedback. It seems a bit odd... but it might work out!

Mom's needs / Kid's needs

I spend far too much time cooking.

But, I like giving my kid's homecooked meals.

I wish my kids had more cooking skills, but they don't seem to be interested in cooking, or helping me cook. They just like to hang out in the kitchen while I am cooking.

I have made the kitchen warm and inviting. Candles. Relaxing music. Happy voices. But helpers disappear quickly. I often feel like the Little Red Hen.

I haven't seen much cooking interest in my kiddos except for Kee who sometimes makes us Belgian waffles on Saturday mornings. Do you know what it is like to wake up to Belgian waffles made by your teenager? It's the best feeling in the world.

Notwithstanding, I still have two problems -- me wanting less kitchen work + kids needing a boost in their kitchen skillz.

Here's my potential solution. I'll let you know how it goes.

Each kid is in charge of dinner one day a week.

Jee -- Tues
Kee -- Wed
Vee -- Thurs
Aee -- Fri

I get Saturdays as usual (and we often eat out, yeah!) and I like cooking on Mondays (one of those cook-ahead-on-busy-day meals). Eee gets Sundays as always and he does a great job.

I tried the new potential solution tonight for the first time. As I explained it to Jee, I could see the resistance building in his eyes. He did not want another chore. So I said, "But, think about it. You'll get to pick whatever you want for dinner."

His eyes lit up and I think we have a deal.

Right now there is chicken & pasta on the stove, cornbread in the oven and a salad will be made closer to dinner time.

Why didn't I think of this sooner? I hope it works.

Follow-up on Knitting & Science

Jee came home from his first class saying:

Mom, when you knit, you have to be really mellow. If you are tense, you hold the yarn too tight. So, relax. Everything's going to be OK. Just go like this... (showing me how to knit)

The next morning when he prepped for school, he put a ball of yarn in his backpack feeding towards the needles in his hands, so he could knit while walking to school.

Aee responded to her Science class like this:

Mom, I LOVE my science teacher. She is so nice. She said that understanding science will help me understand the world. And I love the world. I love science. I love my teacher. (Initiate hug sequence)

Sigh.

It's great when it all works out.

Welcome to the 21st century

It's the start of a new semester for my kids and that means new after-school classes. I just realized that for today Jee (male) is going to Knitting class (and he is So Psyched!) and Aee (female) is going to Science class (she begged & begged for that class over all others).

I worry, for good reason often, that my kids have a too-traditional parent set and that my/Eee's role model will make it harder for my kids in the long-run.

Today's little classes are a bit comforting. There was no talk of "this is for boys/girls" when they picked their afterschool classes. They are pursuing their interests. Period.

Scratches

Every now and then, out of the blue, the cat launches himself across the room and onto someone's backside.

If you hear a scream coming from our home, it's probably, "YEEOWCH! There are 20 cat claws spread into new little holes in my back and bum at this moment and he's not letting go!"

It's the weirdest thing. It's like temporary cat insanity. He forgets for a minute that he's just a 20 pound housecat and for a moment thinks he's the lion chasing down a bit of prey in the jungle.

Yowch.

Then the spell is broken and he looks up at you with his perpetually surprised and innocent eyes.

TCI, temporary cat insanity.

Reading through the teacher's tears

You know how elementary teachers usually have one advanced chapter book that they read to the children usually after lunch when the kids are in that sleepy digestive mood? The purpose is to help children get accustomed to sophisticated story structures that are beyond their current reading ability. It builds the mental constructs of literacy quite nicely.

So, Aee's teacher let me know this morning, "I was doing Read Aloud for the class and near the end the story is so touching... I started crying and couldn't get through the book so I asked your daughter to read. She sat on my chair and finished the chapter while I dried myself off."

I could easily picture that. Aee has the steely nerves of a surgeon -- she would have grit her teeth and read loudly and clearly so all the children could hear the end of the story.

My boys

It seems like no matter what ickiness is going on in my life, if someone asks me about my kids, my face lights up and I drift into happyland. For example, a few days ago, I was working with a friend who is helping me think through some Big Picture issues. The conversation contained very little happiness in it. She asked about the kids and, you guessed it, my face lit up.

I told her about how that morning I had time to make big boys a yummy breakfast and we talked in the car on the way to seminary. The stars were out; the boys' hair was fuzzy in that fluffy-squirrel sort of way; the scents in the car were comfortingly scrumptious as they slurped their way through several slices of homemade French toast and fresh orange juice with a hint of Madagascar vanilla.

When I got home, I got a steaming hot shower that eased the tension out of my muscles.

Then I sat down at the table with my two youngest and played a few games, did homework, enjoyed their chipper little laughs and their funny stories. We dressed warmly then walked to school, stopping at the park on the way to fly a few paper airplanes we had made while still at the breakfast table. We talked about each plane's aerodynamic construction. As the little ones launched their planes off the "balcony" spot at the park, we analyzed each plane's roll, pitch, and yaw. I thrilled to hear them using the real terminology.

So, if you ever see me looking sad, ask about my kids. I see so much goodness in them, can't help but smile.