Red Alert

Today was a hectic day, what with the Oscar nominations happening at 5:30am. I wanted to go and see Dad do his thing, live. So I had to get up at 4am. And then as soon as the noms were announced, I raced home so Scott could go to work. (He left around 6:30 but that was about an hour later than he usually leaves.) Then I had to get Boylee up and out the door early, since I had a School Site Council meeting at 7:30. All of this is a longwinded explanation of the following: Today I let Boylee eat both breakfast and lunch at the school cafeteria. He was thrilled. I was not so thrilled, but pragmatism ruled the day.

A Big Day

We turned on the inauguration the moment we awoke. Boylee knows today's an important day, and he's been quite aware of the political process, and our family's political beliefs, over the last year or so.

Once I tried to impress upon Boylee how interesting it was that Mr. Obama has such a different and unique name. That didn't register with Boylee at all -- and it occurred to me that it's because Boylee has so many pals with different and unique names: Savyonne, Meliki, Kai, and Kaan are just a few off the top of my head.

Catching Up

This week was nuts -- I seemed to use every available minute to catch up on boring stuff that I couldn't do during the three weeks Boylee was on winter break. I got my glasses fixed, I sewed new curtains for the den, I went to the market, etc. Nothing thrilling.

For Boylee, the most thrilling part of the week was today, because he had a substitute teacher. But more than that -- the sub was running late or something, so they had a sub for the sub. The first guy was only there for an hour or two, and then the second guy showed up. The big hit of The Day of Two Substitutes? The first, temporary sub had a guitar. They all sang three songs together. One was about the days of the week, one was about numbers, and the other wasn't remembered.

The second most thrilling part of the day came just as school ended. Every afternoon the PTA sells snacks to the students. The PTA raises money, and the students, most of whom will still be at school for several hours in the after-school childcare program, get a boost of sugar. Isaac loves the snacks -- yes, they're mostly candy and ice cream -- but I limit him to one snack a week. That's invariably Monday. Over the weeks, I noticed that the mom who works the booth on Monday is always alone, whereas the rest of the week it's two moms doing the selling. And one thing led to another and I volunteered to be her helper every week. So it works out perfectly -- Boylee gets a snack, and he sits and eats it while I do my volunteering. Anyway, that same PTA mom (Okay, I call her Queen of the Latinas, because she seems to be the lead of the Latina posse at our school) ended up having to cover for someone today, and she asked me to help...and that meant Boylee needed something to occupy him while I volunteered. And that something was a 2nd snack of the week -- very exciting for him.

Readjusting

That darned winter vacation was just too long for the kindergarten kids! On Monday there were lots of tears as parents dropped off their kids. Not Boylee - but every morning this week he's told me he does not want to go to school.

And there were lots of changes to be found at school -- Four kids from Isaac's class moved or otherwise changed schools over the break. And one new kid arrived. Isaac hasn't quite understood that two of his favorite boys are no longer going to be in the class. He seems to think they'll be coming back soon. According to the teacher, one moved to Tennessee and the other is locked in a custody battle that has also taken him out of state. I doubt either is coming back.

Give me a (Winter) Break

Okay, I think we can all agree that three weeks is too long for school vacation. In the few short months since school started I have gotten awfully spoiled in terms of being able to Get Stuff Done while Boylee is in school. Having him out of school for 23 days in a row has pointed out to me that I've completely forgotten the rhythms of being a full-time mom with a full-time kid.

I have no idea how I'm going to handle the summer but I bet there will be some sort of day camp or organize activity involved.

But I digress. Boylee had homework over this break -- his teacher's philosophy being that since the kids have only been in school for 11 weeks or so, having 3 solid weeks off can really get them out of the learning rhythm. So they had a pile of worksheets to do (1 per day, she instructed, with a plea not to do them all at once). And also a Winter Writing Journal -- Boylee needed to write once every three days and draw an accompanying picture. Here's what he wrote about:

12/22: Today I made a gingerbread house.

12/25: Today I got a Spiderman computer.

12/28: Now we are back at our home. (Having come home from Bolinas.)

1/1: Now are we watching the Rose Parade.

1/4: Tonight we are going to Tatiana's house.

1/8: We are learning to shape balloons. (This involves a balloon twisting kit we got. Lots of fun till it pops in your face.)

Please Stand By

Now entering week 3 of winter break...updates coming soon.

Quote of the Day, Bolinas Edition

Boylee to family: Why do we always go to the same restaurant?!?

Family: Because there's only one restaurant in town!

Quote of the Day

This morning, when giving Mama instructions for playing a certain game Boylee had devised: "Be quiet! You can blink, and breathe. But quietly!"

Quote of the Day

First sentence out of Boylee's mouth upon awakening this morning, to Mama: "I love you so much. I love you more than the whole earth. More than a trash can."

Breaking News!

Last night Boylee was brushing his teeth and complaining at the same time: "It hurts!" I wanted him to quit complaining and just get the brushing done, so I wasn't too sympathetic. But after he was finished I took a look -- and discovered that he has a loose tooth! It's one of the bottom middle teeth, and it's only just barely loose, so it'll no doubt be a while before it falls out.

Boylee's reaction? Laughter and tears at the same time, which he himself acknowledged as an interesting combo.

Ten Minutes

Today something hilarious happened. Well, not hilarious to me, but hilarious to Boylee: I forgot his backpack at home. The idea that it would be forgotten was very, very funny. To him.

His absent backpack was full of the following: his completed homework, his lunchbox which held water and a snack, and his lunch ticket for eating in the cafeteria today. Obviously I had to go home and get it. I said, "Boylee, you go into the classroom and I'll be back with your backpack in ten minutes." He said, "Why does EVERYTHING take ten minutes?!?" The answer is...I do not know, but it just does.

Quote of the Day

Just before bedtime tonight.

Boylee (upset): I can't stop thinking about it!

Daddy: Thinking about what?

Boylee (sobbing): Mom in jail!

What?!??

Acting

That's My Boy!

We get a lot of harassment from family and friends regarding the decrepit state of our "media center." We have one tiny TV in the bedroom -- like maybe 8 inches? 10 inches? We have a nice-ish TV in our den. But we have no cable or satellite, and we live in a nook against a hill so we get terrible reception. Both TVs have actually antennae, that have to be arranged and rearranged whenever you change channels. Now we're going to be receiving a very nice, new, fancy TV (thanks Sid and Nancy!), so we were talking about rearranging -- we can get rid of the tiny old TV, and move the decent TV into the bedroom, and have the fancy TV in the den. But this was Boylee's reaction: He burst into tears! He only wants the tiny TV, he never wants any other TV, and he doesn't want to watch Sesame Street on a large TV. Oh, Boylee.

Winter Concert

It was unbearably sweet! It was also exactly like the concerts of my childhood -- the tiny auditorium looks the same as LAUSD schools did in the 70s, the music was the same, the whole aura was exactly the same.




The aforementioned tiny auditorium means they had to do three concerts. At the first, the audience was strictly parents, and because there's virtually no backstage space, the kids were simply brought from their classrooms to perform, class by class. So while the kids got to sing their song, they didn't get to see any of the other classes performing. So at the second concert, half the school watched. At the third, the other half of kids watched. This was great fun for everyone, but I have to say that by the end of the third concert the little kindergarteners were burned out. It was a very hectic day for them. But that was afterwards -- during their performance they had tons of energy, and you could feel the affection the big kids have for the littler ones -- the audience was totally quiet and respectful, and gave the littles a huge applause.

A Conundrum

Thursday morning is Boylee's winter concert. The kinders will be singing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer," if I'm not mistaken. (It's supposed to be a surprise, but I keep hearing him sing it.) We have been asked to send the kids to school in "winter clothing," and then the teacher will provide a red scarf for each kid. Unfortunately the weather report calls for sunny skies, highs in the low 80s. So I'm not sure just how wintery we're going to get. A long sleeve shirt might be pushing it.

Hates to Color?

Boylee does seem to hate to color -- but on Friday afternoon his teacher sent home two xeroxed game boards, along with dice. He was so enthralled with the games that he did this all on his own:

More About Boylee's Conference

Mrs. Richards gave me an example of how Boylee works. He recently had a writing test. She gave him a piece of paper and asked him to draw a picture of something he could see at a zoo, and then write a sentence about it. He drew a polar bear (maybe because it's white and he wouldn't have to color it?!?) and then wrote: I see a polar bear at the zoo.

Mrs. Richards told me that some other kids might choose to write just "polar bear," or "I see a polar bear," but he wrote that nice, long sentence. That got him a grade of 4.

Parent Conferences

Today was my first conference with Boylee's teacher. I'll post more about it tomorrow, but I do want to tell you that she said this: "If my class was full of Boylees, my job would be a lot easier."

Art

That one says "I am thankful for...my parents, getting presents, playing basketball, my cats."