The last day of Kindergarten ::: ever! (Here is the 1st day of school!)
How to amuse 12 kids while awaiting the Space Shuttle!
There it is!
The Shuttle Explorer
There it goes! On to Space Center Houston, the official visitors' center for the NASA Johnson Space Center.
The last day of Kindergarten ::: ever!
How to amuse 12 kids while awaiting the Space Shuttle!
There it is!
The Shuttle Explorer
There it goes! On the Space Center Houston, the official visitors' center for the NASA Johnson Space Center.
The last day of Kindergarten ::: ever!
How to amuse 12 kids while awaiting the Space Shuttle!
There it is!
The Shuttle Explorer
There it goes! On the Space Center Houston, the official visitors' center for the NASA Johnson Space Center.
Random musings...
1 ::: Our current reality includes public school. Ahem. I'm not at peace about that decision, yet I can embrace the kindness, good intentions, and positive outlook of the teachers and a few good friends Silas is making.
2 ::: We watched "The Wizard of Oz" in two installments these last two Friday nights (our "movie night"). I hesitated to introduce it to Silas at his young age because I was fairly traumatized by one part of it when I was 5 (Spoiler Alert ::: I was so afraid Dorothy wouldn't get home when the balloon took off, I couldn't watch the rest of the movie). But I also remember looking forward to the annual viewing of this film. We watched it now because he was shown clips in music class at school and he knows the songs from bedtime singing, and, frankly, I didn't want him to see it elsewhere. I wanted it to be a family experience/memory. We had to stop the movie when the witch instructed her minions to go and get Dorothy because Silas got quite scared. I am proud of how we handled it. He made the choice to continue after reassurances that Dorothy's friends were coming to help her. At the end he said, "Mommy, it was all a dream!).
Remember when you couldn't watch anything "on demand"? The anticipation of that annual viewing of "The Wizard of Oz", "The Sound of Music", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", etc., was delicous. He has friends who have seen all the Star Wars movies over and over, among other things. We won't let him watch them until he can understand the hero's journey better. Sometimes I feel like such a freak and I worry we might turn him into one.
I wish we had more friends who resisted media saturation (iPod, iTouch, iPad, Wii, movies, tv shows, computer games all included), truly embraced imaginative and outdoor play, and protected their children's innocence more fully. When I watch my boy play with his friends, the scripts they enact come from movies and video games. Silas plays along and is drawn into the power play of guns and missles and aliens and zombies, all second hand. Somehow it seems worse here in the suburbs. Is it? I find little to embrace in 24-7 media/entertainment culture. I find it appalling that this is "normal."
What's to embrace? When you truly want to see something, you can do it at your convenience (I like watching "The Daily Show" when I want to, for example). Also, you can stop "The Wizard of Oz" DVD when your child gets scared, rather than pressing on and leaving an indelible fear-filled memory. Social media can help you reclaim people lost to changing life circumstances, some of which are beyond your control (like being forced to move towns when you are young).
3 ::: We are looking forward to a "mommy date" this week. I am taking Silas out of school early every now and then to enjoy some alternative education/fun experiences and a break from routine.
4 ::: I appreciate the chance to practice and teach yoga with my friends. I benefit so much from the discipline and preparation and I enjoy sharing a little of what I know. I value the increased intimacy and view into each other's lives that happens with the accompanying conversation.
5 ::: Healing is ongoing and I can use all my power to help it along. What amazing beings we are!
6 ::: Order and beauty are so underrated! Even a little clearing out and cleaning up elevates my spirit and makes room for more (ideas, creativity, productivity, ease).
7 ::: I'm embracing the principles and practice of compassionate communication and I'm grateful to my practice group for their willingness to learn together. It's amazing how my view of situations changes when I ask myself what needs I and the other(s) are trying to meet in a given situation. It's such a simple thing, but so important in easing the way.
8 ::: I'm looking for some fun!
Have a great day.
What does Silas want to do after his after school art class? Make art, of course. The class he takes is offered by the University of Houston Clear Lake right in his school. One hour, once a week for eight weeks. The theme ::: Scotland. This week's topic: Castles.
Completely at his direction, I drew the draw bridge and doors. Everything else in this picture is conceived and executed by Silas. It was all sketched in pencil and then colored in (I helped color the castle). We sat at our kitchen table. He was so excited and engaged the entire time, choosing which shade of green for the grass (out of the 5 or 6 in his 64-color crayon box), comparing shades of gray and brown for the bridge, doors and castle, and carefully making three suns, in three different colors (Can't you see that the one on the right is setting?) and making good use of that "sky blue" crayon. The flags were designed to represent the "good" and the "evil" sides of the castle (if you look carefully there is a dividing line left of the door). The cannon balls are trying to destroy the evil side.
Silas has two after school activities. One is gymnastics, where he works with such determination and vigor for 75 minutes once a week). The other is this art class. We chose art over all the other offerings (soccer, karate, Spanish, piano) because he was so enthusiastic about the 8 weekly sessions he attended at the UHCL campus last summer (Theme ::: City Architecture). Every day he asked, "Do I have art class today?"
Yes, my son, you do if you want to--it meets in the kitchen.
"A moment to pause, savor and remember"...See Soulemama for more moments from others.
I am tending a sick child today--one of the simplest things I get to do as a mother. The priority is clear, the focus acute. Nothing matters more than giving TLC. My so energetic little one was asleep when I picked him up from zoo camp yesterday afternoon. This is unprecedented for a child who hasn't napped since early fall 2009. He has a little stomach virus, a little fever. It will pass, but for today everything slows down a bit.
While he was in camp for those precious 3 hours yesterday, I spent sometime playing Cinderella--cleaning ashes from the fireplace, scrubbing the tile surround, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc.--all at our "old" house. The chores were mildly satisfying, but I was a little unprepared for the assault of emotion I received as the sun shone into the living room from the west around 6 p.m.
I have watched the sun move across this room for 10 of the last 12 years. For the last 5 years it's been part of my daily passage most days as I've been home with Silas. A wave of grief siezed me as I caught that slant of light. A torrent of memories swelled my head and heart. I plan to write an ode to this house in which we have lived, and loved and learned--the greatest living, loving and learning of my life! But, not today.
Today I'm in our new home, caring for a recovering little one. Living, loving and learning on this new day, where the morning light moves gently across the eastern-facing deck and the living rooms and the afternoon light casts rainbows across the dining room as it refracts through the leaded glass front door.
It's time to fully embrace this moment, this place, this life...with a heart full of love.
