Posted in First Grader, Jessica, Simon says... on Sep 30th, 2013
Ideally, a no-presents class birthday party comes after several careful conversations with one’s child in which you discuss the reasons for it, acknowledge possible disappointment, and otherwise ease your child into forgoing what for many is the most exciting part of a class party. Another option is to spring it on the kid once it’s […]
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Posted in First Grader, Jessica, Simon says... on Sep 26th, 2013
I’ve just finished reading Brian Epstein’s book, The Sports Gene, which I recommend highly. Among the most interesting parts for me were the discussions concerning the physical traits required to become an elite athlete in a given sport. Distance runners need long, skinny legs and some exposure to moderate altitude. Think Colorado or Kenya as […]
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Posted in First Grader, Friends, Jessica on Sep 20th, 2013
It’s Simon’s birthday in a few weeks. Last year, owing to his being at a new school, we skipped the class birthday party and stuck with a family one. Having now gone to at least a dozen class parties in the last year, it’s Simon’s turn to host his school friends. So I booked a […]
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Posted in First Grader, Friends, Jessica on Sep 16th, 2013
If you’re on Facebook, you know that Simon ran a 5K yesterday. You also know that the event was a charity run for Dare to Care, and that Simon raised $510 for Louisvillians in need of food assistance. And you may have noticed that I was completely shameless in my shilling. Completely, utterly shameless, for […]
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Posted in First Grader, Jessica on Sep 11th, 2013
I learned a little about how Simon thinks at his school open house last night. The children all keep regular writing journals, math journals, and science and social studies journals. Which means they write a lot, and at open house the parents were invited to rifle through the children’s’ desks and peek into their journals. […]
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If the whole Simon messy desk incident from last week was shades of young Matthew, on Friday I heard a report that took me straight back to my own school years. When I was in elementary school, I was a good student. By middle school, I was a very good student. And by the time […]
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Posted in First Grader, Jessica on Sep 5th, 2013
Happy New Year! I took a picture of Simon on the front porch today, all cleaned up and ready for services. For Yom Kippur, we’re going to get fancy and debut a tie, which I am somewhat ashamed to admit the boy has never worn. As for the shoes . . . I’ll give you […]
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