Fast times and wild living with (the former) Baby Whozit…
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Sep 5th, 2012
When our school school search began last November, I realized early on that diversity was a criterion for me. Much as our neighborhood school was a beautiful and charming choice, it’s homogeneity got to me. Nearly every class I visited was comprised of 20-21 white kids from the Highlands, most of whom looked like they […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Sep 3rd, 2012
Today the whole Whitworth gang gathered at my in-laws’ for one last blast of summer. Taking center stage in the day was a huge outdoor festival their church hosts each year a short walk from the house. Simon always has a great time, so it’s become an annual tradition. As it’s kind of like the […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener, Simon says... on Aug 31st, 2012
While listening to “Hell’s Bells” [I’m not the parent responsible for that exposure]: “‘Hell’s Bells.’ Hey! That rhymes.” and also: “The guitar sounds like ‘too much awesome’ [the name of an effects pedal Matt built], but the singing sounds like ‘too much horrible!” An Olympics Observation: “South Korea’s flag looks like a broken cookie.” Thinking […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener, Simon says... on Aug 27th, 2012
Last Friday, Simon came home with an “All About Me” sheet to fill out. It reminded me a lot of the “Tell Us About Your Child” sheet we got in the Twos, except this time Simon got to speak for himself. Here are his replies and my commentary: Favorite Color: Indigo. Yes, “indigo” and not […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener, Simon says... on Aug 23rd, 2012
Whereas on Tuesday Simon was too tired at the end of the day to chat on the ride home (he takes the bus in the a.m., but I pick him up from school in the afternoon), yesterday he was a real chatterbox. Some of what he had to say was pretty funny, and he had […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Aug 21st, 2012
The big first day of school was today. And honestly, I’m fried, but not for the reasons you’d expect. Here’s what my last 48 hours have looked like: The Lead-Up Sunday at around 7 p.m.: I run into my sister-in-law at the grocery. We chat about school of course. During which I time I learn […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Aug 19th, 2012
This spring and early summer, Simon and I kept track of a few birds’ nests via the web. There was a red-tailed hawk family in NYC, another red-tailed hawk family in Philadelphia, and a bald eagle nest in rural Minnesota. You wouldn’t believe the drama these three nests provided. In Philadelphia, the male hawk got […]
Posted in Friends, Jessica, Kindergartener on Aug 14th, 2012
Two weeks ago, I took care of Simon’s friend Caroline so the two could go to tennis camp together. The experience was enlightening, reinforcing a few things I knew, teaching me other things I only suspected to be true, and providing one pleasantly surprising discovery. Such as: Having two kids is easier: When we were […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Aug 10th, 2012
Simon will head off to kindergarten in 11 days. The where is no surprise, as I set my sights on Brandeis back in November. The when is also no surprise, as I’ve been staring at the Jefferson County Public Schools calendar for months now. It’s the how that is shocking people. Simon is going to […]
Posted in Jessica, Kindergartener on Aug 8th, 2012
Until this summer, I had forgotten how thrilling the Olympics could be. Years of doping, abandoning all pretense of the games being for amateurs, and the introduction of sports of which I disapprove sucked a lot of the excitement out of me. There was a time, though, when the four years between games seemed interminable, […]