Parenting
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Does this Bother You?
It bothers me. There’s a story on Yahoo today about a computer system you can use to check what your kids are eating at school. And you can limit what they can or cannot eat, how often, etc. I have a couple of thoughts on this. If we don’t want our kids eating crap at school, STOP SELLING CRAP AT SCHOOL. If you don’t want your kids eating crap at school, and the school sells crap, pack them a lunch. Better yet, do it with them, so they can see what healthy choices are. Tell them, it’s good to have some protein, some carbs, some calcium, some fruit, veggies, etc.…
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Maya’s Mom
Since I live in California, I am contractually obligated to take a yoga class, so I do. I don’t want to fall behind on my committments, and then have to pay some fine or something. Well, I’ve been taking yoga for almost 2 years now, just once a week, and I love it. Thursday night is my favorite night of the week. My teacher not only gets us all bendy and twisty, she teaches us some pretty cool stuff about the philosophies of yoga. I’ve taken yoga before, at the gym, and none of the other classes I’ve taken actually take 10 minutes at the beginning of class to talk…
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It’s fun having a 9 year old…
Maya: I like looking at pictures. Mama: Pictures of family? Maya: All pictures. Mama: Pictures of flowers? Maya: ALL PICTURES. Mama: Pictures of buttholes? Maya: That’s it! You’re Going Down! (commence the tickle fight…) Then again…she has always been fun. When she was about 5, and I was tickling her, she came out with this: “Get your hands off of me, you Damn Dirty Ape!” (that stopped the tickling…I was laughing too hard.)
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Bragging…
We recently found out that Maya did well on her GATE assessment exam…that’s Gifted and Talented Education program, for those of you who aren’t parents around here. For kids her age, that means she gets to miss three days of school in March and go to a Nature Center close by. For kids in middle school, there are several options, including a Literary Magazine, Model United Nations, Mock Legislature, Newscope, and Sixth Grade Science Seminars. In High School they learn about Writing the College Essay. I don’t know if that means writing essays for college applications, or the much more useful skill of writing papers for college. Ted is a…
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Sick?
Is this the winter of our discontent? Distempter? I don’t know. Maya told me this morning that she doesn’t want to go to school today, because she feels ‘queasy’. I wasn’t sure what to do, because the LAST time she felt queasy, she was definately sick. But she could also just be tired, because Saturday night she was at a sleepover with a bunch of girlscout friends, and yesterday she went on a field trip on a boat on the Delta, and we didn’t get home until about 6:30, and she was tired. Would she fake it? She’s not much of a faker, but I could see her getting herself…
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Why My Daughter is “Underprivileged”…thankfully
From the truly nausiating world of people-with-more-money-than-God-who-should-learn-about-charity-or-savings-or-maybe-just-give-me-some-of-it, comes this column from Salon, on the hyperconsumeristic spending habits of very wealthy parents of overindulged infants.My favorite quote? “…and what’s more anxiety-provoking than, My god, I have a baby?” Or maybe: “I have never seen a clearer acknowledgement that children have been reduced to accessories.” I believe you have to have a subscription to Salon to read the whole article, so I’ll copy and paste it into my ‘comments’ section, in case you’re interested. 🙂 And I know what you’ll say…”My goodness, who cares.” And you’re right, except for the editorial comment that I feel sorry for these poor kids, and the…
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Puke…
So last night, Maya said she felt cold, freezing cold, but I assumed it was because it was getting cold out, and she was wearing a thin, short sleeved shirt. She didn’t feel feverish, and we took her temp…99. So I didn’t worry about it too much. She got in the shower, still freezing, and got ready for bed. She wanted help brushing her hair, so I was doing that, and she said, “I feel queasy….” then barfed in the sink. Twice. Poor kid. Good thing we had draino, becuase those little bathroom sinks aren’t meant for puke. She brushed her teeth and got into bed. Took the temp again,…
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Ashamed…
Tuesday night, Maya brought home a bunch of math homework. She hates math homework. I hate the barrier she puts up around her math homework, where she makes things so much more difficult than they need to be. She’s pretty good with the rest of her homework, but math, she simply does not want to do. She’s actually good at math, too, which makes it even more confusing for me that she dislikes doing the work so much. I was always good at it, and I liked it because I liked being good at it. So she was adding fractions, looking for the lowest common denomonator, and she decided she…
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My American Dilemma….
So Maya has decided that this doll looks like her. She wants her. She is hoping to get her for Christmas. So here’s the dilemma: 1. Doll is $87, plus tax and shipping. 2. She already has 3 American Girl dolls. One of the dolls that she already has is supposed to look like her, too, but this one is NEW, and Maya thinks she looks MORE like her than the other one. She got the first one (named Abby) from a very good friend of mine who lives near NYC, and was overcome by the fun of going to American Girl Place and shopping while she was there. The…
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Interesting? Probably not.
So I tried this blogging thing a couple of years ago, for one day, then forgot that I had ever done it. I made one post. It was August of 2002. Couldn’t think of anything else to say until now. Now all of my friends are blogging, and like the lemming I am, I had to jump on the bandwagon. Anyway, here’s the text of my first post, from when I first heard about blogging, in 2002: I’m mostly thinking about the day camp where my daughter goes right now…they make me mad, because they give the kids crap to eat all day. I mean, Popsicles and pop tarts and…
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Singing to my baby
It’s a rainy, blustery day today, which for some reason puts me in the mood for mellow, quietish music. So I was walking the dog this morning, listening to Simon and Garfunkel on my iPod (yay!), and this song came on, “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her”. That’s one of the songs I used to sing to Maya when she was a baby. That and “Kathy’s Song”. She used to sing along with me, in her sweet little toddler voice, well before she knew what the words meant. Then I would tuck her into her crib. I kind of miss those days sometimes. Such sweet memories. I wonder if…