Montessori

I finally got to see what Coco does at Montessori School...that's what she calls it instead of something easy to say like "Trinity."  I did a little Monday morning observation and I was not disappointed.  I watched her stare at me while the class was doing "circle" time.  Then I got to watch her survey the snacks for the morning.  She wasn't impressed.  I observed her giving other kids the side eye while telling them that I was her mommy, not theirs. And finally I got to watch her do some "works."  We sifted tiny alphabet letters out of sand and poured them in  a special jar.  We made snap-together necklaces and bracelets and we did a whole mess of puzzles.  And at the end of the observation period, I even  got some crocodile tears because I wasn't taking her with me.  Now all of this might make you think that she doesn't really like her school but I assure you, these little behaviors only occurred for my benefit.  She normally comes home telling me that she had the "best day ever!" and that her teacher is "soooo nice, she can't take it."  She has a best friend in Jordana and they are inseparable (that is, until the teacher actually separates them).  Sometimes she even asks me why she "wasn't put in this school sooner?"

Next up is holiday sing a long!

Coco turns 4

It turns out that 4 happens to by favorite little kid age.  At four, they are starting to think rationally on occasion, they can REALLY talk, their opinions are becoming stronger and so are their personalities.  The questions they come up with and the timing of them are quite suspect and they leave you, literally, stunned.   They ask very many questions about life and death.   They ask why ice cubes don’t count as dinner. They ask how babies come out of your belly, but thankfully, not how they get in.  They ask why you don’t sleep in their bed with them every night.  They ask why they can’t go to the water park in December.  Lots and lots of questions.   I make up lots and lots of answers. 

Coco absolutely has 3^rd kid syndrome.  She’s learned lots of things from her older, more experienced siblings and the leash is undoubtedly a lot looser for her. She wows the parents of other kids her age (who happen to be the oldest in their families) with her conversations, her physical tricks and her boldness.  When you’re the 3^rd kid in a family of talkative extroverts, you figure out ways to get your voice heard over the chaos. 

Another favorite part of the magical age of 4 is playing games.  They now have the understanding of winning AND of losing AND cheating.  This is a tough one because you have to recognize that they are getting smarter when they figure out how to cheat.  And it’s even really hard not to laugh when their sore loser antics come out.  This is one such exchange with our gummy bear, Coco:

Me:  Coco, I’m not going to play the game anymore if you cheat like that.

Coco:  Well, you don’t have to play anymore BECAUSE. I. QUIT! (foot stomp, arms crossed, bottom lick sticking out)

Her anguish is as fleeting as her attention span and after a few moments, she’ll “need a huggy.”  She is extremely affectionate.  She must be the world record holder for most hugs in one day.  When we are home together, just the two of us, she doesn’t let me out of her sight.  Should I move rooms without her, she’ll yell “Mommy!  Where ARE you?”  She’ll follow me to the laundry room, the kids’ rooms and of course, the bathroom.  Then she’ll tell me that she missed me.  I guess it has already been decided that we’ll be going to college together in 14 years.   You can see why 4 is my favorite age. 

Fall

This fall, I think Matt and I have finally perfected our schedule.  It may include less hours of sleep for me, but somehow, I'm finding I have more energy.  In fact, I think the only reason I sleep at all is because I have a built in defense mechanism in the form of narcolepsy.   I've moved my workouts from the after work/school rush time period to before work.  This leaves more time for my kid ubering in the evenings.

Monday - Luke and Ade have swimming
Tuesday - Luke has swimming
Wednesday - Luke and Ade have piano and both have swimming after that; Coco has gymnastics
Thursday - Ade has swimming
Friday - Luke has swimming and lacrosse
Saturday - Luke has lacrosse
Sunday - Ade has lacrosse

Throw in some swim meets and lacrosse tournaments and we have a full fall.  We are also in the throws of repeating 5th grade.  Matt and I take turns helping Luke with homework.  And by "helping," I mean, teaching ourselves the unit first or reading the literature chapters first and then attempting the assignments.  It's not just that the material they teach in 5th grade now is what we covered in 7th grade, it's that there is an entirely new system of teaching the material.  I literally had to spend 20 minutes figuring out a math assignment on volume (volume!) the other day before I could even tell if Luke's answers were right or wrong.   Volume itself is not a complex idea but counting 3d cubes (inside a larger cube) that are misaligned on a piece of paper is quite maddening.

Can we please go back to recess and play 4 square, already?!  Is that too much to ask for?

And by the way, 2nd grade is still as innocent as it was 30 years ago.  Why the huge jump that starts in 3rd grade.  I'm happy to hand over the trophy to the chinese students that blow our kids away on standardized tests.  I don't want my kids to be standard anyway!

1st day of school 2017

And we have structure again - as always, it has its pros and cons. Mainly pros.  The 2017 school year is off to a great start with all 3 kids really loving their teachers.  All of them have really, really, kind and warm fuzzy sort of teachers this year.  Luke is in his last year of elementary school which is really hard to fathom.  I have memories of feeling very grown up in 5th grade which in hindsight is quite ridiculous, but nonetheless, authentic at the time.  I'm not sure Luke has those same thoughts though, or at least, he shouldn't - ha!  His teacher has his class practicing yoga and meditation and she diffuses essential oils in the classroom - you get the idea.  I asked Luke about this and his only comment was that he doesn't really care for yoga.  He's a boy with ants in his pants with his eyes on the playground.  Adrienne has the same teacher she had for first grade since they loop with their teacher into 2nd grade.  They are currently working on the age old project of hatching monarch butterflies. And coco, well, my tiny girl has started pre-school.  She's following in Ade's footsteps and is at Trinity Montessori.  The school where everything is beautiful, amazing, wonderful, fantastic, peaceful, loving, and nurturing.  She has found a best friend already.  They are apparently attached at the hip.  She's loving school but does not like circle time.  She lines her stuffed animals up in her room at home and pretends she doing circle time to them.   I think its her coping mechanism at work...turning the tables and being the one in charge.

Bluesy Voice

If ever I thought one of my kids might magically turn out to be a blues singer or the next Janis Joplin, it would definitely be Coco.  Because I'm with her all of the time, her unique little voice doesn't necessarily standout to me.  But the number of comments I've received about it lately would indicate that every single person who does not live with her notices her raspy voice right away.  I've heard so many people say that they "just love" her voice.  I've had people tell me that I need to make sure I have her voice on video.  Others have said that they notice her voice so much because it doesn't match her sweet look. And fortunately, for one of my acquaintances, I have a sense of humor.  He remarked to me that Coco "ought to lay off her pack a day habit."

The deep raspy voice just makes me giggle sometimes.  Especially when she's being especially dramatic and it drops even lower or gets even raspier.  And this child is a talker.  I have no idea where she gets it from, wink, wink. So now, thanks to my friend, I follow her with my iphone video camera on like my life depends on it.   I will always be able to pick that voice out of a crowd and I hope it doesn't change as she gets older. It is so uniquely, her.

Ithaca

We spent one of our last "summer" weekends exploring our own area - a novel idea for us.   It seems we are always seeking our adventures in far off locations but this time, we chose to go just a short day trip away, to Ithaca.  And I am a little embarrassed that we hadn't visited this picturesque little haven with the kids before now.  I've been Ithaca many times before but never stopped to hike the gorges - at least not in recent memory.  It kind of felt like we were in some hidden secret spot that you see in National Geographic.  Now, it was a bit scary at times considering we have 3 active kids who sometimes ignore their basic self preservation instincts.  There are no safety nets or caution signs.  There are a lot of cliffs and uneven terrain. The kids thought the rock formations and the streams were pretty cool.  I  was in awe of the waterfalls. We all agreed that we needed to come back at hike the other two parks that we haven't been to yet. And then of course, we had to finish off the day with some good ol' mexican fare in town.  We are sure to be back next summer to check out the swimming holes. 

Dewey Beach 2017

Year #5 is in the books!  Our routine is firmly in place but we try to mix it up just a little bit each year.  We visited all of our old haunts - even added a new one of in the form of the "Big Chill."  We also had a new experience with tidal pools on the beach.  They were the result of a really high, high tide that kept us busy digging trenches.  The kids could not get enough of the tidal pools. I liked the tidal pools because there are no sharks in them.  This year we got to see a dolphin come really close to shore while it was playing in the waves...also a sign that sharks were not nearby.  Can you tell I have a shark phobia?  It's not really a phobia, just a healthy sense of self-preservation that the rest of the family seems to be lacking.

Adrienne spent hours jumping waves, Luke spent hours on skim boards and Coco spent hours topless in the sand.  Don't judge.  She doesn't like the way sand feels on her body.  She also doesn't like the bathing-suit-crotch-sand-trap.  Go figure.

We played many games.  We drank many beverages.  We made many memories.  And until next year, we'll settle for the smiles that the everlasting discoveries of sand in all of our possessions bring.