Accidental roast

I bombed big-time in the mothering department this week.

James' teacher highlights a different MVP (most valuable person) each week, with one aspect of that celebration being a parent letter that she reads to the class.

I put a lot of thought into what to write for James' letter. I felt he wouldn't want the class to be bored, and I also thought he would feel uncomfortable if I wrote a gushing missive singing his angelic praises. So, since he's always asking to hear stories about himself, I took that route for the letter. I left out certain fun memories, such as how we called baby James "Ernie" for his spiky black hair, knowing the propensity of 2nd graders to repeat a nickname. I carefully chose stories that painted James' playful, witty nature. It was fun to reminisce as I wrote.

I smiled when I got this email from his teacher before school got out:

Darling letter!  The kids loved it!

Mission accomplished! (?) Well ...

Elise was the first through the door. "Hey, did James say anything about his letter?" I asked her.

She hemmed and hawed. She related walking past James' classroom and seeing the teacher reading, the kids laughing and James up front not laughing. (Wow! All that in a one-second trip past an open doorway.)

James was glum when he dropped his backpack in the entryway. He told me the kids had laughed at him. He didn't care for my word distinction. "Not at you, with you." I was crushed that I'd hurt him, and puzzled that I had misread him so badly. Time to dust off my old motto, "Moms never win."

Got any ideas how I can make it up to him? For fun, guess which retelling of James' life was most offensive to him. Leave your guess in a comment.

Dear Yellow class,

Thank you all for being kind to James and helping him enjoy being in school with you! I am glad you are able to get to know him this year, because I think he's a pretty special kid.

You probably already know that James loves soccer and basketball, that he likes to skateboard and ride his bike. You may already know that he is the fourth child in our family. He has an older brother, two older sisters and one younger brother. One of his sisters, Elise, also attends Morgan Elementary. 

I thought it would be fun to share with you in this letter some stories about James that he may not even know himself -- because they happened when he was very young.

James was a very calm baby, which didn't prepare me very well for all the mischief he caused when he was a toddler. He made lots and lots of messes. He created "snow scenes" for his cars and trucks -- with flour from the pantry. He threw rocks into the toilet. He also shook cleanser (the powder you use to scrub the sink) into the flour bucket. I remember all these things because they happened the same afternoon! While I was cleaning one mess he was off making another. And always with an impish grin.

James was also an escape artist, especially at church. If we closed our eyes for a prayer, he was gone! One time he left the bench in the church (without his dad noticing) and made it all the way up to the organ (where I was playing) so he could press the buttons, too. Oops!

You know the table in the cafeteria that has the ranch dressing, ketchup and other condiments? When James was a toddler that would have been his dream meal. He loved sour cream by itself, mayonnaise by itself, and plain ketchup sandwiches. Once I opened the refrigerator to find bite marks on the stick of butter. Can you guess who did it?

James has always had a funny sense of humor, saying things you wouldn't expect from a little kid. I was changing his diaper when he shouted at me, "Don't touch me! You're not my doctor!"

Another time his sister Elise kept hounding him to play a game with her. "What game do you want to play, James?" she asked over and over. He told her the game he wanted to play was called "Ignore Elise."

James has always loved to go camping, going on his first trip at five months old. We laughed one campout when he was 3, because he never got the word marshmallow quite right. For weeks afterward he told people about sleeping in a tent and roasting mushrooms. Hmm.

I bet James does remember this next story, because it happened during kindergarten. One morning he was so crabby about going to school that I decided not to fight him on it and to just keep him home. But I told him that he needed to rest on his bed. He eventually got tired of that and figured he'd go to school after all. How many of you have ever had to check in late at the office computer? That's what we did when I brought James to school. I didn't know he was aware of the system, but he looked over my shoulder as I typed and said, "For the reason, put LAZY." What a kid!

James wanted me to tell you that he is glad to have so many friends in class this year. Thank you again for helping second grade be so great!

From,

James' mom

Reply to:

You call it lazy, I call it efficient.

1. James' first grade MVP poster.

2. James' second grade MVP poster (and quite possibly, third grade, too).

Preschool outline: Rockets, Letter Mm

Monthly Theme: Space
Weekly Topic: Shuttles/rockets
Letter Mm

Tuesday

Gathering activity: Memory matching game.

Rug time: calendar, weather, Pledge of Allegiance. Discuss how the weather this week is very different from last week. Now we have snow. What sorts of things do we wear to play in the snow? Encourage children to think of one that begins with the letter M.

Read The Mitten by Jan Brett. Do coloring and cutting activity to retell the story. Source: http://www.janbrett.com/put_the_animals_in_the_mitten.htm

Workbook practice writing uppercase M.

I did not hold preschool on my last planned day due to our area's big windstorm. So I am including the science lesson of making ice cream here -- plus it goes well with the following story. Gather children in kitchen to help mix milk, cream and sugar. Talk about the order of seasons. What season was it when we started preschool? What season is it now? It is colder in winter. What happens to water outside in winter?

While ice cream maker runs, read Mooncake by Frank Asch. This story is about a bear who builds a rocket because he wants to visit the moon and see what it tastes like. He falls asleep during take-off. When he wakes up he thinks the snowy landscape is actually the moon; he's never seen snow before. It tastes delicious!

I hope children will arrive dressed for the weather so we can play outside and mimic the story.  If not, we'll play "Mother, May I?" inside.

Talk about how the story of the bear was make-believe, but that scientists have actually created spacecraft to visit the moon.

Storytime:
This Rocket by Paul Collicutt -- uses the concept of opposites to explain spacecraft. Realistic pictures.
Space at Your Fingertips, written by Judy Nayer and illustrated by Terri Chicko, uses illustrations based on photographs.

Singing time:
Use the book There was a Bold Lady who Wanted a Star by Charise Mericle Harper, sung to the tune "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly."
"The Mitten Song" -- Thumbs in the thumb place, Fingers all together! This is the song We sing in mitten weather.

Check ice cream mixture. How has it changed? Do you think the moon would taste as good? :)

Thursday


Gathering activity: Examine rocket page in Look Alikes Jr. by Joan Steiner. She creates scenes made up of everyday objects. Encourage the children to identify what they see.

Rug time: calendar, weather, Pledge of Allegiance. Introduce lower-case m. We've learned half the alphabet now.

"Magic sounds" game to review letters A to M: Ahead of time write capital and lower case letters on index cards. Drop cards into a magician-type hat. Tell the children that we're going to "turn" these pictures into sounds. Encourage children to call out the letter sound as I pull out several cards, one at a time. Then ask children to match the capital letter with lower case letter. (Save cards for matching game as a future gathering activity.)

Workbook practice on lower-case m and numbers.

Outside activity: Build a small snowman together to save in the freezer. Read The Summer Snowman by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. Identify how the letter m is in important sound inside words, too.

Social studies: Teach about Martin Luther King Jr. Read My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

Decorate milk jug space helmets with crayons and stickers. (I will cut these out ahead of time, provided I gather enough cartons. Drink up, kids.)

Other stories:
The Berenstain Bears on the Moon by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Curious George and the Rocket by H. A. Rey
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond

Singing time;
"I am Like a Star Shining Brightly"
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
"Once there was a Snowman"
and these silly lyrics to "I'm a Little Teapot" (although I can hardly sing this song without lapsing into the Jeopardy "time's done" music, hee hee):

I'm a speedy rocket, watch me pop! (hold hands in fists that burst fingers open)
Here are my boosters (point to feet), here is my top (point arms upward).
When you do the countdown, point me high.
5-4-3-2-1, Watch me fly! (jump up)

Natural light

We visited Midway's annual Creche Display at the precise moment the sun streamed in through the window and lit this stunning crystal nativity. December 3.

As a general rule I don't like to use a flash when I take pictures. Sure, it can be helpful, especially in low-light or back-lit scenes, such as making the difference between the two photos of James.

Most of the time, though, I like the challenge of using ambient light to capture images. And I really like taking pictures at Temple Square.

We went there on Wednesday, Dec. 28, our 18th wedding anniversary. Jeff, having already seen the lit square at the start and finish of each work day for a month, could have justifiably balked when he came home and I suggested we go right back. Especially with the kids in tow. I think a quiet restaurant meal was more what Jeff had in mind. But I found a sweet significance in sharing the day and the site of our wedding with our children. 

Here's the obligatory group shot, taken with a flash. Red eyes and everything.

Aside from cropping out a random little girl in James' shots above, all the pictures here are straight out of the camera. All those that follow were taken without flash. 

Samuel took the second photo of the Christus. And if you've seen the size of our camera, you appreciate the effort it took for him to point it upwards. I dig the composition!

I show you all these pictures exactly as the camera recorded them for a reason. Today in Sunday School the teacher used a lesson on gold-mining to introduce this year's focus of study, the Book of Mormon. With a quiet power the teacher stated that if our goal was merely to read the book by year's end -- just to say we'd done so -- we would fail. 

A higher goal, he said, is to study the scriptures more painstakingly, more deliberately, more prayerfully -- more slowly -- than ever before so we don't miss the treasures within.

I return to my pictures. I had not looked through them until after church today, which experiences provided a new lens. 

I took two looking up at the Angel Moroni through a tree. According to my camera's specs my shutter speed was 1/60th of a second for the first.

But look at the brilliance of the second one in the exact same spot, all because I opened the shutter longer (1/10th of a second).

I look forward to a year of committed scripture study, the kind where I can be still long enough to soak up more of God's light. 

FDA warning

Beware the now-functional, but still-being-remodeled kitchen that houses these similarly packaged items at once:

(marshmallow creme and vinyl spackling)

Fudge, anyone?

Preschool outline: Trains, Letter Ii

Here is my latest preschool recap and outline. Recap, because I'm posting this after Tuesday's class -- these days, that's how I roll. I did have it all in my head, of course. We had a lot of fun!

Monthly theme: Transportation
Weekly topic: Trains
Letter Ii, number 11

Tuesday

Gathering activity: words printed on an envelope, with corresponding letters printed on individual cards inside. Encourage each child to arrange the cards and spell the word on her envelope.

Calendar/weather report. Sing days of week song (to "Clementine").

Introduce letter I and its sounds.
Our preschool uses a big flip chart of song lyrics, one song for each letter of the alphabet. Before singing the song, pretend index finger is an inch worm (curve up, then down). Finger-walk the text of the song, asking children to shout "stop!" when I get to a word that begins with I or i.

Read R. M. Schneider's Add it, Dip it, Fix it, an alphabetical exploration of the many things you can do to the word "it."

Workbook practice writing I.

Display a toy train and discuss trains, their different uses and parts. Read books about trains. Encourage children to share their experiences seeing or riding trains. Ask: can trains go anywhere they want? Could they arrive in your driveway? Talk about the significance of the track.

Use prepared worksheet of a train with sections of the track missing. Hmm, what shape could make the tracks? Ah-hah! The letter I. (It probably took me longer to write about this worksheet than it did to draw all the copies, it's that basic.)

Tell children that the cars of a train are connected in a chain, just like paper loops can be connected. Practice writing numbers 1-12 on paper strips for a advent chain we'll complete Thursday.

Gross motor activity: outside, walk across two 2x4s placed side by side, like a railroad track. Encourage children to do this while connected to each other.

Singing time with alphabet song and "Wheels on the Train" variation.
Story time: My Little Train by Satomi Ichikawa, with animal sounds for children to mimic; If ... by Sarah Perry, a family fave. Encourage children to come up with their own "if" scenarios.

Social studies lesson: introduce the culture of the Inuit people through Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse and Barbara Lavallee.

Finish by building "igloos" of half an apple spread with peanut butter and topped with marshmallows.

Thursday


Gathering activity: Continue working on numbers 13-25 for advent chain.

Calendar/weather. It's a new month! Who has a birthday this month?

Have children help pour ingredients into ice cream maker. Make a show of bringing out ice cube from freezer and leaving it in bowl in room (for science lesson below).

Fine motor activity: Use small round stickers to dot the lower case "i"s in a simple sentence I'll type out.

Finish advent chains. Possibly make picture ornament. (I took everyone's pictures Tuesday but haven't come up with anything other than a canning ring presentation. Anyone?)

Outside play.

Science lesson: What has happened to ice cube? Talk briefly how temperature affects physical state. Eat ice cream!

Read The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper and Imogene's Antlers by David Small. Afterwards decorate paper antler crown (made of what else? Two upper case "I"s). Encourage children to imagine how they would use antlers if they had them.  (Thanks, Katrina, for reminding me of this book.)

All dressed up

Andie and Katie, this one's for you ...

The other day I went to the Deseret Industries thrift store, that treasure trove of do-it-yourself Halloween expression.

Reliably, right at the front, was a long rack of costumes and accessories. I filed through it. I found cowboy gear and bears and bats and Frankenstein's monster (not to be confused with simply Frankenstein, who as Emma likes to remind us, was the name of the scientist who created the monster -- a distinction I didn't know until a college lit. class.)

Anyway, between a toga and a Christmas angel I found this green dress.

Never mind the poor cell phone quality, it will suffice. I can see the doorstep scene now:

DING DONG!

"Trick or treat! Trick or treat!" in chorus.

"Well, lookey here. We've got a ghost, {plop of candy bar in bag}, Harry Potter {plop}, and ... er ... what are you, dear?"

"I'm the sister of the groom in an early 1990s wedding!"

"Oh. Of course. {plop} That deserves two. {plop} Have a great night!"

Photo: Really, my dress wasn't that short, the slush was just that high.

Photo: Jeff's sisters Andie and Katie with my brother, Jeff at our reception. December 28, 1993.

HALLOWEEN BONUS:

Apparently I was either in disguise on my wedding day or have mutated greatly since. I used to have this photo framed in my living room but removed it because on two separate occasions a visitor asked, "Who's that a picture of?" 

Can you believe that?! And that it happened more than once?! And that it was within only seven years of my wedding? Now it's been 17 years. Don't you dare ask, too.

One questioner was my visiting teacher. The fact that she didn't know me well enough to recognize me in the picture (it IS me, people!) should have prepared me to know she also wouldn't recognize my humor when I said, "It's Jeff's first wife." 

Forever, I'm glad to say.

Happy Halloween!