Part of Me by Katy Perry

O and I love to dance especially when we are in the car driving.  We call it the car dance; all upper body.  The other day I was taking her and her friend Mona to the park, and all along the way we were dancing and listening to Katy Perry's song called "Part of Me".  

Katy Perry sings, "This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me..."  From the backseat, I heard O and Mona singing, "This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take a wig off me."  I turned down the song and asked, "What are the exact words to this song?"  

O confidently explained that it is definitely "take a wig off me."  

Mona continued, "Yes it really is.  I know because think about it."

O adds, "Yes, think about it, Mommy.  Otherwise what would you be taking away?"  

Katy Perry gets it.  Love can be hard.  Maybe her next song will be called, "Kindergarten SUCKS!"

Summer Snipets

Good-bye Kindergarten...Welcome Summer!

Although not as frequent, throughout the summer, I will continue to write brief snipets about O's summer after kindergarten.

Many of you have asked me what will the tabloid will be for the next school year.  I have a few ideas, but would love suggestions.  Let the creativity flow and send me your thoughts via comments or by email.  

And stay tuned as kindergarten (still) SUCKS and first grade is set to be a grind!

Timeout

Yesterday, two of O's friends came over after school for a play date.  They were playing American Girl dolls when I overheard O putting her doll McKenna in timeout.  With a stern voice she said, "McKenna, that is not OK.  I'm surprised with your behavior.  You know that you are not allowed to eat in the attic.  You are going to timeout for five minutes."

I could not help but be reminded of the times O has spent her minutes crying in timeout.  At first we thought it was a remorseful cry, but then we realized that she was not crying because she was in trouble, no.  Rather, she missed her dog Porkchop (died when O was four).  You see, Porkchop would always go to time out with her and keep her company.  Our dog now isn't allowed to go upstairs and since her timeout location is on the stairs, our dog has been trained not to go near them. As a result, O tears up and becomes sad about Porkchop not being there for her.  

At the end of the play date there was a frantic search for McKenna.  O was asking me what I did with her.  Her friend, G reminded her of the sequence of their make believe play and before long McKenna, who had been in timeout for over an hour, was retrieved.  

O picked her up and hugged her and said, "Oh McKenna, I'm so sorry.  I would never leave you.  I love you so much I would never leave you.  You make my snuggles so special.  Who would I snuggle with at night?  It's OK sweetheart.  I would never leave you.  Never.  What's that, my love?  You miss your doggy?"  There's no point in timeout.  I'm thinking we need a new discipline strategy.  Kindergarten SUCKS!

Stupid Choices

My husband and I work hard not to yell at O when parenting.  However, sometimes it's very hard to avoid it.   

Lately, O has been yelling as a means to interrupt a friend or to argue with her parents that Oreos before bedtime will help her sleep better.  

Yesterday in the car she said, "Mommy, I'm stupid."  

I took a deep breath knowing this was her way of getting my attention.   Then I said, "O, nobody is stupid.  Some people make stupid choices, but nobody is stupid.  What makes you say your stupid?"

Her response, "Because I yell at you."

I said, "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry.  I yell at you sometimes too."

Giggling O says, "Mommy, you're stupid."  Kindergarten SUCKS!

How Can I Keep From Singing!

For the first time in twenty one years, I sang a solo in the song "How Can I Keep From Singing" .  I'm so happy that I can check 'singing a solo' off my bucket list.  

My choir, the Levine Community Choir, held performances last Thursday and Saturday.  It was so much fun.  Friends and family came to support me, including O, who had a choice between my concert and her end of the year soccer party.  She and her friend Beatrice sat in the front row dressed in their Sunday best mouthing the words to the songs they knew, and even those they didn't.

While driving home, the girls informed us that if we heard some crunching coming from the backseat it was because during intermission they poured a tray of cookies and strawberries into Beatrice's purse.  I made the comment that O doesn't even like strawberries.  Beatrice responded, "Well she does now."  O backed her up.  Due to their sugar high, they giggled the whole way home taking pride in the fact that "nobody" noticed.  

A few days later after smelling a foul odor coming from the backseat, I found four moldy strawberries and thousands of cookie crumbs in my car.  I sang all the way to the car wash...Kindergarten SUCKS!

Occupation: "Tooth Fairy"

O lost her second left tooth on Saturday.  This time the "tooth fairy" was prepared.  She had small bills on hand.  What the "tooth fairy" wasn't prepared for was a list of questions she had to answer...

• What's your name?
• How old are you?
• Can I keep my tooth?

The "tooth fairy's" name is Sophia Grace.  She is 106 years old and was born on the same day as O just 100 years before her.  The tooth fairy pondered the last question for quite sometime.  Isn't the trade for the tooth the whole reason the tooth fairy leaves money?  The tooth fairy almost pushed the issue and then remembered the fit O threw that day when she realized she had left her purple bathing suit at the pool.  O couldn't stop crying, all the while saying, "I just miss my purple bathing suit."  

The "tooth fairy" left money.  The "tooth fairy" left the tooth.  The "tooth fairy" went to bed.  Kindergarten SUCKS!    

Preying Mantis Nymphs

After dropping O off at school, I went to spray the preying mantis pods with water when something caught my eye.  Looking closer, I realized that it was over 300 hatchlings.  I sat there and watched as more birthed their way out of the pod (what better way to spend a morning, right?).  I sprayed the water and then I began to panic.  What are they going to eat?  
 
 I called every pet store within a twenty mile radius.  Apparently, no stores in our area sells fruit flies.  I went online to find out how much it would cost to have them overnighted.  TOO MUCH! Then I called every petstore within a 30 minute radius.  Score!  Petco carries them.  I drove there hoping no cop would pull me over for speeding because who's going to believe this story ... or the fact that I would speed to feed preying mantises. 
 
 I bought two jars at $10 a piece.  The clerk told me I'd need a jar per week.   I did the math...if I'm to keep them for three months, the total amount of money it will cost to feed these guys is $120.00.  Did I mention this was a "gift" from my mom?  Oh what I could cross off my Nordstrom wish list for that price!  Probably nothing.  Kindergarten SUCKS!

Mall Field Trip

Last week, I joined a field trip with O's class.  They have been studying the Presidents, especially those engraved on coins and pictured on bills such as Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson.  Accordingly, a field trip to the National Mall was organized even though we did not visit the US Mint.     Five kindergarten classes, each approximately 20 kids, and enough parents so that every two children had an accompanying adult, boarded the three buses at 0900 hours.   We started at the Lincoln Memorial and ended at the Washington Monument.  After the Lincoln we stopped at the Korean War Memorial to have a snack and sat around the fountain underneath the trees.  As we were leaving O's friend, Jay, spotted a robin in the tree.   He stopped and focused with wide eyes and then shouted, "Look!  That momma robin is feeding her baby birds in that tree".  We all stopped and focused our attention.  Suddenly, the Presidents lost their importance. The kids could have watched it all day long.  The robin would feed a worm to one of the babies and then fly off only to return with another worm -- all the while the little beaks in the nest were opening and closing in anticipation singing "chirp, chirp, chirp!".  A part of me wanted to hurry the children along and the other part of me wanted to be child-like again and watch mother nature play out.   All in all it was a wonderful day.  Did the kids have fun?  I think they did.  Which monument was O's favorite?  The Korean.  Why?  Beause she got to watch mother nature at its finest.   I realized honoring mother nature around me daily is more often than not a rushed experience as we often hurry kids and ourselves along to keep an agenda.  True, I had seen a robin feed her young many times in my life, however I don't often get to have the chance to share the experience with children.   That night before bed O asked, "Mommy, remember the robin and her babies today?" I replied, "Yes." She then asked, "How did she get eggs in her belly?". Kindergarten SUCKS!