Mamalicious in the City

Things will be better after the wedding.  I’m not sure why a wedding that is just brunch takes so much time to plan, but evidently it does. 

Plus we’re still working on our house.  A painted the steps this weekend to match the house, and it has made a huge difference.  I almost don’t notice the terrible eyesore of an electric box (the meter) in the middle of the yard.  Almost. 

I also did some gardening.  Why does anyone enjoy this?  Some activities, like knitting, will make me think, gee I would love to do more of this, if only I had more time.  Gardening?  Not so much.  Well, it’s not the gardening so much as it is digging holes in rock-like clay.  Yeesh, that is just terrible.  I spent hours hitting the dirt and swearing at it.  People kept passing by to ask, do you love gardening?  Yeah, mad love.

Anyway, on another topic, e says to me recently, I would like some new toys, because the toys that I have are not cool. 

And what do you know about cool, Mr. 5 year old?  So I asked him what toys he has that are not cool, and he answers, well, my magic set is cool, and my legos. 

What about Wolverine?  Yes, he’s cool.  What about your kitchen toys?  Oh, yeah, I like those.  Ok, I have no idea what we’re left with but wow, those terrible uncool toys must really be weighing you down! 

E, if you want new toys, we have to go through the ones you have, and giv away some toys to kids who don’t have any.  And then you can get new toys for Chanukah and for your birthday.  If you want something before that, we can talk about you doing extra chores around the house to earn money for toys.

But…I already set the table!   Damn, it’s like slave labor at my house, isn’t it?  What’s next?  Making your bed?  Actually, that’s a good idea, although I have a hard time enforcing that one since I never make my own. 

E, you don’t have to do extra chores.  I’m just saying that if you want new toys before Chanukah, then you can earn those yourself.  It’s completely up to you. 

Sometimes I think my kid has some serious chutzpah.  On the other hand, I went to a potluck for his school this past weekend and thought he was pretty well-behaved, despite the chaos of it all. 

At one point, a group of boys were arguing over a game and who got to play, and two of them got pretty frustrated.  I tried to stay out of it, but one kid slugged the other and I decided to break it up.  But maybe I shouldn’t have.  Not my kid.  And kids have to learn to work these things out on their own, right? 

Reminds me of this article in the New York Times about the importance of play.  I really wish preschool and kindergarten were a little more focused on teaching social skills.  Sometimes it seems like kids have every last whine, frustration or tantrum attended to without having the opportunity to work it out on their own.  The article is focused more on the ability to work together to get things done, rather than conflict resolution, but it seems like more emphasis on group play would improve the whole range of social skills. 

Speaking of skills, next week I get to be interviewed by e’s class.  I’m really looking forward to be grilled by the 5 year old set.  Could be brutal.

It’s the dirty little secret about preschoolers.  They’re all insane.  No one seems keen on admitting this.  Overheard at school:

Girl #1: We all have to draw the same thing!

Girl #2: But you know why I don’t have to draw what you’re drawing?  Because I just got back from vacation, so I can draw what I want.

I said to the table: That makes absolutely no sense. 

And yet, everyone at the table looked pretty content with this statement.  In fact, I think I caught my kid rolling his eyes at me.  Mom.  You just don’t understand.

That’s what e sang to me this morning.  Isn’t that cute? 

I can report that his student conference went well.  We were not given a list of academic goals that he has to meet.  Everyone was very nice, and I thought both teachers’ behavioral goals for e were pretty spot-on.  At one point, e offered that he should be less bossy.  And he should.  So I think the exercise of thinking about goals has been good for him.  It was great to see the work he’s done in the classroom, and really cool to hear him read in Chinese (ok, this is actually memorization, but it sounds cool to me!).  Both of the academic goals mentioned by his teachers were very reasonable.  Either the teachers took a soft approach because they realize that preschoolers go at their own pace, or because they think I’m insane and wanted to avoid a temper tantrum (mine).   Either way, cheers!

I’ve still been on the brink of tears all day.  My little baby is almost five.  All traces of babyhood are gone: diapers (save for the occasional nighttime pullup), pacifiers, sippy cups … I just can’t believe it.  Time really does fly.