Fast times and wild living with (the former) Baby Whozit…
Posted in First Grader, Friends, Jessica on Mar 27th, 2014
Sometimes I am amazed by young children’s capacity for empathy and kindness. Very happily, I’ve had three occasions in the last week to feel as though children were setting an example for everyone else to follow. The first incident happened at the preschool. There is a boy in one of the classes, I’ll call him […]
Posted in First Grader on Mar 22nd, 2014
At this past Thursday’s talent school (an extra weekly soccer practice), Simon was on fire. After nine weeks of agility drills, passing drills, and coordination exercises, Coach Darren let loose and joined the kids for an hour-long scrimmage. It was the last practice of the Winter II session, and Darren wanted the kids to have […]
If you had asked me back in December what the biggest risk of having Simon play soccer and tennis with older kids would be, my answer would have focused on physical risk. What if all the older kids are better than Simon? What if he gets crushed on the soccer pitch? My mom, on the […]
Posted in Jessica on Mar 11th, 2014
Do you miss your middle school days? Yeah, neither do I, and Monday was a great reminder of why. Around the time of the last presidential election, my running group suffered a schism. There were political dynamics, religious dynamics, and store politics involved, and while I never exchanged harsh words with anyone, I definitely began […]
Posted in First Grader, Jessica on Mar 7th, 2014
At last night’s soccer practice, Simon made me about as proud of him as I’ve ever been. On Thursdays he has a non-team, extra practice that focuses on footwork and agility. That class runs from 5:30 to 6:30, after which we sometimes stick around to watch the adult leagues play. Our friend Keith plays in […]
Posted in First Grader, Jessica on Mar 5th, 2014
At the end of the last grading season, my attention turned to the notion of paying kids for grades after the subject came up on Facebook. Now I’m just thinking about grades in general: what they mean and whether and how much Simon needs to know about them. Let’s start with what they mean. At […]