Heptadecagon

And something a little lighter from the 4th grade this week, lest you think I dwell on the negative side of things. Well, had I been a different person, this could have been interpreted negatively. But the more I think of this, the more I laugh. Before I begin, though, let me first do something: WARNING: CONTENT NOT SUITABLE FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD. Zoe brought home her STAR/guided reading book yesterday. Just for the record, the book is called The Year of Secret Assignments* , by Jaclyn Moriarty. I have never read the book, nor had I ever heard of it. Zoe walks up to me and says, "Mom, what does this mean?" I take the book from her and read on page 41, "I have a lot of dreams about sex. I mean dreams about what I think sex is like. I think it must be good." I looked at Zoe, but I couldn't speak. Really, I was speechless! Not because I didn't want to tell her what it meant, or thought it was weird she was asking. I was so flummoxed that she was coming home, fr...

Here is another bit that goes along with my Friday Ergh! post of last week. First up, a bit of the teacher's bonus-word-only-counts-sometimes spelling logic. The girls have a bonus word on the spelling list each week. If you get that bonus word right, it can only help you if you've actually spelled a word wrong. Therefore, if you get 13 out of 15, and the bonus word correct, in the end you get 14/15. But, if you get 15/15 and the bonus word correct, you get a big old nothing. Where is the logic in that? You tell me. Why can't they get the extra point and use it for later? How fair is that to the students? Let's only help the kids that screw up! And along those lines, you have the retake-a-test-if-you-get-a-D-or-an-F logic. It should be obvious what that one concerns. Here's the thing, though. You get to retake the test and then take the higher of the two grades! Last year, they would average the two grades if you had to retake the test. That seemed fai...

I am in the midst of a war with myself. I continually vacillate between being extremely happy with the kids' school and wanting to pull them out and homeschool them. For the record, Aaron is enjoying first grade, and we are enjoying his teacher. This is the second go-around with her. Zoe had Mrs. G for first grade, and we loved her then. We still do. All teachers have their pros and cons, but Mrs. G has been teaching for so long, she has her stuff together. That isn't to say she can't adapt, though. We have seen some differences between what Zoe did and what Aaron is doing in class. One of the things I like about Mrs. G is her no-nonsense communication. She tells you what to expect and when and she sticks to a schedule. Each week, we know when the homework will come home, and when it is due, since it doesn't change from week to week. She also records a weekly message that we listen to on Monday afternoon. For the most part, if Aaron misses out on something,...

It is October 20th, and November 1st is right around the corner. That means NaBloPoMo . I will attempt, again, to make a post for every day in the month of November. Usually I have enough fodder, and the site gives some good writing prompts, but I'd rather hear what my readers (the few of you that there are) would like to know about us. Please leave a comment, or send me an email (you know how to reach me), letting me know what you'd like to see here. And Tara, keep it clean! Thanks! Chris

A faithful reader from the North called me a slacker today. Yes, my lovely and talented, possessor of one child sister said it in jest, but in some ways, she might be right. I just ate my soup while I finished up the novel I was reading. I could have taken bites of my lunch while chopping the vegetables for stir-fry. Slacker ! I read a couple of books to Melina while we had a tea party today. I didn't get to the store to get materials for Aaron's birthday or the salad dressing the kids like. Slacker ! After putting Melina in her room for a nap, I threw one load of laundry in the dryer and started another load to wash. I might have already had those loads done last night, but I helped the girls start their book reports. Slacker ! I am betting that I can come up with at least another handful of decisions I made today that could potentially be considered slacking. But most of my audience, including the faithful reader from the North, is trying to juggle many, many things ...

All 4 kids were playing with 2 neighbor kids outside yesterday. I thought they were raking leaves into a pile. When I went outside, this is what I found: Aaron had a ton of trouble walking, considering his pant legs were so stuffed. I don't have a clue how the kids convinced his friend to hold a baby and a purse, but I think he was supposed to be a girl. Clearly, he went along with it. I bet they both were itchy after that! Always a good time in the leaves!

Melina has become infatuated with the movie Tangled . We borrowed it from a friend last week, and she has seen it at least twice so far. She can finally say the name Rapunzel without starting, "What's her name again?" and she has me dressed up as Rapunzel's mom, Mother Gothel, who really wasn't her mom. Hence the dress and heels on a Monday morning. I just can't see how those 1950s housewives were able to cook and clean like this! It is a cool morning, so I wanted to put a sweater on. In order for Melina to approve that look (it isn't quite what she thought Mother Gothel would wear), I had to tell her it was my cloak. Go figure. Melina has been pretty good with getting the Tangled dialogue and details right. But this morning, this is what went down at our house: Melina: Can you please be Rapunzel's mom? Me: Daddy is home. Can he be Flynn? Flynn Rider? Melina: That isn't his real name. Me: Oh yes. His name is Eugene. Melina: No, that i...