Thursday, September 11, 2008
Francesca the Fish Feeder
Francesca's 1st grade class has a fish; a Japanese Fighting Fish to be exact. Its' name is "Blue". She is the "official" fish feeder. I guess it is her job every day to feed Blue. 2 days ago she even took an interest in feeding our cat, Picky Picky. She came home, changed her water and gave her a few cat treats. Which Picky happily ate. I hope Francesca is not like my brother when he was 6. I had 2 fish, Arnold and Willis (named after the brothers on the TV show Diff'rent Strokes). Robert fed my fish one day and killed Arnold. I should say that he smothered them in fish food, just covered the top of the bowl. Arnold ate too much and his stomach probably exploded. Oh well. I hope Francesca has an easy hand when it comes to the food...
Gavin and the Rosary
So, as previously mentioned, Gavin is making a nice transition from nursery school to kindergarten. He is happy to get up in the morning, get dressed, and come downstairs for breakfast. Yesterday he came downstairs dressed and accessorized - by 2 sets of Rosary beads. Nope. Not happening in public school buddy.
"Ummm, Gavin...You need to take those off, honey. You can't wear Rosary beads to school."
"WHY NOT MOMMY? I could wear them to Our Lady of Grace."
"Yes, Gavin, I understand, but Park Avenue is not OLOG and you can't wear them to school. Why, Gav? How do I even explain this to you...At OLOG you learned about Jesus; at Park Ave. you don't. Remember? No praying in the mornings at school anymore. There are alot of kids at your school, and not all of them are Catholic. Some are different religions and go to different churches or places to pray. OK???"
How do I even START to explain separation of Church and State to my kindergartener??? Ugh! While I am very happy that he is being religious I also don't need a call from the school telling me my son is throwing a hissy fit because they didn't say Grace before snack. Readers DO NOT FLAME ME. :)
"Mommy? Can I wear my Rosary to Church on Sunday? Is that the right place to wear it?"
"Yes Gav. Right place. And you can even wear the glow in the dark Rosary too."
Happy little boy.
"Ummm, Gavin...You need to take those off, honey. You can't wear Rosary beads to school."
"WHY NOT MOMMY? I could wear them to Our Lady of Grace."
"Yes, Gavin, I understand, but Park Avenue is not OLOG and you can't wear them to school. Why, Gav? How do I even explain this to you...At OLOG you learned about Jesus; at Park Ave. you don't. Remember? No praying in the mornings at school anymore. There are alot of kids at your school, and not all of them are Catholic. Some are different religions and go to different churches or places to pray. OK???"
How do I even START to explain separation of Church and State to my kindergartener??? Ugh! While I am very happy that he is being religious I also don't need a call from the school telling me my son is throwing a hissy fit because they didn't say Grace before snack. Readers DO NOT FLAME ME. :)
"Mommy? Can I wear my Rosary to Church on Sunday? Is that the right place to wear it?"
"Yes Gav. Right place. And you can even wear the glow in the dark Rosary too."
Happy little boy.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
What we've been doing...
Last night as I was talking to my sister-in-law, she reminded me that I have not blogged since returning from vacation. The last few weeks of relaxation before school started took hold, and I never sat down to blog. We've done some fun things with the kids - an afternoon at Rye Playland, a whole Sunday at the Bronx Zoo, a loooooong playdate with Jane and Gwen, and several trips for ice cream.
School started last Thursday. Since I had planned ahead (for the most part) there was no running around last minute for school supplies. New backpacks were in their closets (thanks Mom) and both kids had new outfits for the first day. I labeled EVERYTHING, including each and every one of Gavin's crayons (2 boxes of 16 each) - and don't get me started on how many pencils I labeled for Francesca. But I feel better knowing they have THEIR stuff to use, and I felt very vindicated at the end of the last school year when F actually came home with supplies bearing her name!
I knew Gavin would be OK on the first day. I had the day off so both Scott and I could bring them to school, and I could attend the Kindergarten parent coffee. Gavin marched right in the front doors of Park Avenue, acting very much like a BMOC. That's "big man on campus" for those of you not in the know...I guess in Gav's case it would be BGOC - "Big Guy on campus"...ha ha ha. Anyway, we found his class assignment and stayed in the corner of the gym where his class was meeting. Francesca by this time was already sniffling and sniveling with Scott in another part of the gym. By the time I went over to her it had snowballed into full-scale boo-hooing, for which neither of us had any patience. Several people tried to comfort her - us, her friend's mom, her old Kindergarten teachers' aide, her new teacher, the speech teacher, the principal and the school psychologist. UGH!!! Finally someone disentangled her from us and away they went (I later found out she was fine, just pissed that Gavin had a half-day and was going out to lunch with me). Gavin did not make things easy on her either:
"Oh Checka...I won't need lunch today...wanna know why? I have a half day and mommy is picking me up...oh and we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, and you are not..."
Thanks for making things easy for us Gavin, we soooo appreciate your help! So far so good with school. They both like it and have been relatively problem-free in the mornings while getting ready for school. I should have lots and lots of stories to blog about now that school has started. I promise to be better!!!
School started last Thursday. Since I had planned ahead (for the most part) there was no running around last minute for school supplies. New backpacks were in their closets (thanks Mom) and both kids had new outfits for the first day. I labeled EVERYTHING, including each and every one of Gavin's crayons (2 boxes of 16 each) - and don't get me started on how many pencils I labeled for Francesca. But I feel better knowing they have THEIR stuff to use, and I felt very vindicated at the end of the last school year when F actually came home with supplies bearing her name!
I knew Gavin would be OK on the first day. I had the day off so both Scott and I could bring them to school, and I could attend the Kindergarten parent coffee. Gavin marched right in the front doors of Park Avenue, acting very much like a BMOC. That's "big man on campus" for those of you not in the know...I guess in Gav's case it would be BGOC - "Big Guy on campus"...ha ha ha. Anyway, we found his class assignment and stayed in the corner of the gym where his class was meeting. Francesca by this time was already sniffling and sniveling with Scott in another part of the gym. By the time I went over to her it had snowballed into full-scale boo-hooing, for which neither of us had any patience. Several people tried to comfort her - us, her friend's mom, her old Kindergarten teachers' aide, her new teacher, the speech teacher, the principal and the school psychologist. UGH!!! Finally someone disentangled her from us and away they went (I later found out she was fine, just pissed that Gavin had a half-day and was going out to lunch with me). Gavin did not make things easy on her either:
"Oh Checka...I won't need lunch today...wanna know why? I have a half day and mommy is picking me up...oh and we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, and you are not..."
Thanks for making things easy for us Gavin, we soooo appreciate your help! So far so good with school. They both like it and have been relatively problem-free in the mornings while getting ready for school. I should have lots and lots of stories to blog about now that school has started. I promise to be better!!!
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