matching tracksuits

Circus

Sunday 05 February 2012

Remember your first circus?

The excitement as the animals and performers all came in, music blaring, ring master chanting?

Remember your gasps as you watched acrobats perform what seemed to your young eyes to be impossible feats?

Remember seeing the elephants and thinking, "It's not just Dumbo. They really do line up like that"?

Remember the ball in the pit of your stomach as you watched riders in this or that steel cage of doom?

My folks took me to my first circus when I was about L's age, and I still remember those sights. Hopefully the Girl will remember today's first as well.

More photos at Flickr.

Map Work

Saturday 04 February 2012

The Girl has been working on puzzle maps at school, learning, continent by content, states and countries -- Europe, North America, and South America down, currently working on Africa.

Almost every day since then, we've gone over countries and states, an effort to remember what's learned and add new states so she can finish a continent and bring home her hand-colored map.

In Poland this autumn, she drove everyone crazy showing all the maps she knew. Only Dziadek, a former geography teacher, could sit down and listen to her, time after time, catalogueÂ the shifting geography of an ever-changing world. "Many of those countries didn't exist when I was born," I think as she names them for me; as for Dzaidek, even Poland was a different country when he was born. Those nuances are lost on L as she points and names, proud of her memory.

As a reward, though, we agreed to buy the Leap Frog interactive maps for her when she completed Europe, and they arrived today.

Endless fun on the horizon.

The Games We Play

Wednesday 01 February 2012

The Girl simply loves playing games: Candy Land, checkers, Go Fish, "the memory game" (Never just "memory" for her), Curious George -- you name it, she'll play it.

The long-standing challenge for us as parents has always been teaching her to win with humility and lose with dignity. It's tough to teach a child something you yourself are not good at, for it must be said that I don't always lose with dignity myself. Chess is about the only game I play, and whileÂ I don't pitch a fit, my pulse quickens at a loss, and I'm soon berating myself for my obvious mistakes.

Yet by their very nature, these games make excellent benchmarks for social skills development. There are countless metrics:

How far into the game does the first fuss appear?
How long does the first fuss last?
Once it subsides, does the first frustration return immediately?
Is the Girl capable of finishing the game or has she worked herself into an irreversible tizzy?
When it begins to look like a loss is inevitable, does she give up or continue playing?

Recent gaming adventures have shown that L is developing a tolerance for the inevitable eventual loss, an ability to recover quickly from initial frustrations, and the poise to win and lose well. It was, in short, truly a phase.

Sleeping

Sunday 29 January 2012

After an afternoon of biking...

Cycling Afternoon

Saturday 28 January 2012

A new bike, sized right, a quiet cul-de-sac, and an experienced friend who's a wheel-radius ahead in cycling development make for an afternoon of colossal advances in biking. The radius ahead, however, was often a radius to the right, to the left, a radius behind.

Much to the Girl's consternation. Five year olds together, best friends, are often like an old married couple: constantly arguing, but inseparable.

Delicate Work

Wednesday 25 January 2012

The Girls

Monday 23 January 2012

My girls.

A Walk in the Park

Sunday 22 January 2012

After a day spent indoors, we were all in need of some motion outside. A damp, gray sky and cold air conspired to keep us inside -- we all are fighting illness in one stage or another -- but the promise of a warming walk won out.

We headed downtown, to Falls Park, with its cantilevered bridge and short, riverside paths. It had been months -- probably over a year -- since we'd been to that particular park, and it seemed there was a new attraction there: an entire fleet of bench swings.

And the Girl made a valiant effort to swing on every single one.

The swings certainly weren't the only attraction. There was a fascinating tangle of roots,

several dozen rocks begging to be tossed into the swift current,

and an alligator that sneaked up on Mama and almost gobbled her up for a late afternoon snack.

Eventually, everyone needs a late afternoon snack, though.

Rainy Day Play

Saturday 21 January 2012

Rainy days require umbrellas to check the mail -- whichever umbrella one can find.

And rain days require inventive play.

Thoughts on the Balcony

Thursday 19 January 2012

We all go into the classics of literature with certain preconceptions and assumptions. We grow up hearing about Romeo and Juliet, and knowing that it is considered a classic love story, we expect to find a valiant and noble Romeo. What we find, as the play develops, is a character that is entirely more human than we expected. In fact, early impressions of the young man sour quickly.

These are some of the impressions from my eighth graders after a two-day look at 2.2, the famous balcony scene.

I think Romeo is a little obsessive. Like when he was in love with Rosaline, he fell deeply in love, but he quickly moved on to Juliet. He didn't even know who she was and he was already making out with her! I think nowadays he would be considered a player.
He's a major creeper and totally a player. I wouldÂ neverÂ date him.
I think Romeo has good logistics but when it comes to love, he's a bit tipsy! He is a star-crossed stalker.
I can't believe he went to her balcony. That is mega-weird.
Romeo is a psycho-creepy stalker!
Romeo is very spontaneous. He lacks a lot of common sense that Juliet has.
Romeo is someone I would trust but would not fully trust.
I can see why Rosaline left [Romeo].
Even though he is a creeper, he seems romantic and sweet.
Boy is he a CREEPER! Come on now! You just met her!
Romeo is brave yet incredibly stupid.
I hope as we read on he will get back to the person I thought he might've been before, like charming and funny and bold.
[Romeo] is annoying and very stalkerish, but I don't see him as mean.
I wish Romeo was more of a perfect gentleman, funny, daring.
Romeo is a creepy, weird person. I thought he was cool at first, but not anymore.
I feel like Romeo is being shallow.
Romeo is a creep.
[Juliet] seems like she would make smart decisions like not to smoke or drink.
I think Juliet would be a cool person (without the old English).
You're telling me you wouldn't risk life and limb for your belovÃ¨d? That's not very gentlemanly. (In response to another student.)
I probably wouldn't be friends with Romeo because he confuses me a lot of times.
[Juliet] has good views on love and is an independent girl. We will soon be BFFs :)
Romeo is a professional psycho. 'Nuff said.
[Juliet is] NOT creepy, like Romeo!
The crazy part of it is that Juliet ends up killing herself for the psycho! See, she's the one that needs to be checked into a mental institution for liking him!
Romeo is a stalking creep. Nope, we wouldn't be friends. We'd be best friends. We'd go stalking together.
Romeo goes with his heart and blacks out his mind, which is not good at all!
Romeo falls in love a lot.
Romeo would be the kind of person that would be overprotective and call or text you every day, say "I love you" a lot. (Clingy.)
I'm not being friends with some mushy guy!
I'd be [Romeo's] friend as long as he stays away from my window!
I wouldn't want to listen to [Romeo] sob about love and girls all the time.
Romeo is a dreamer and a gal-pal and would be annoying.
Romeo is starting to turn out a little weird.
I think it's pretty hardcore that Romeo lives in the present.
I'd keep a fair distance [from Romeo].
If Romeo says you can only love one person, then why does he love two?

Working the Puzzle

Tuesday 17 January 2012

The Girl has a little marble and maze puzzle (maybe "ball bearing and maze" is a better description) that involves manipulating the plane of the puzzle so that the ball bearing roles through the maze. Nothing new: we all had one growing up. She's developed an unorthodox method of solving it, though: she simply shakes it until the bearing gradually crawls to the center.

K decided it was time to teach her how to do it properly.

The results were amusing for both.

Afternoon Playing

Monday 16 January 2012

Afternoon Playing, a set on Flickr.

We set the camera up and let the pictures tell the story.

Via Flickr:
The Girl and I spend a day out of school together.

L with Papa

Saturday 14 January 2012

This Is A Test

Tuesday 10 January 2012

It’s a delicate balance, making a test that is both challenging and yet not impossible. On the one hand, a good test measures how much students know. The flip side of that, however, is just as important: a good test also tells how well a teacher taught.

I found today’s exam did neither…

Counting Up Costs

Monday 09 January 2012

When I was a kid, there was once a toy backhoe that I saw in a department stores -- I believe it was Sears back when Sears mattered -- that I wanted so badly I could think of nothing else at times. Every single time we were in the store, I had to head over to the toy department and look at it, handle it, play with it as much as was possible in its wrapping.

I can only imagine my torture if someone in my class had said backhoe, brought it to school, and wouldn't allow me to touch it.

The Girl finds herself in a similar situation. Of course it's not a backhoe; it's a Barbie camper. And she did have the awful situation of being able to see but not touch, of being able to watch someone play with it but not join in.

And so she decided there's only one way to solve the problem, given the fact that the answer to the questino, "Mama, Tata, can you buy me..." was "No."

Check the piggie bank and see how much she was short.

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