thankful

Some thanksgiving stuff came off the wall and made it into William's backpack yesterday. I had to laugh when I read what the little thankful message said on his leaf:

I am thankful for
my Dad and Mom.
I would not be born if
they weren't married.

Well, you can't argue with that!

second grade for the second time

So it seems that five years ago we were doing a "first" big project in our household. Jordan created a salt clay map of Georgia and it's regions. That was my introduction to the world of big kid projects that take over the kitchen.

Here we are in 2009 and William is now my second grader. William is awesome. He doesn't stress about much and views schoolwork as "something to be done before I hop on my bike or try scooter tricks." That's it. Really, second-born children have it made in this department. But one afternoon 10 days ago he came in talking his head off about this project:

Creek/Cherokee Project

He was talking so fast that I couldn't even understand him. Thankfully his teacher had the foresight to think about dropping us parents an email to warn us about about the incoming project assignment. It helped...it really helped me not drop my jaw to the ground in front of the children. Kids get scared when Mom does that.

It was just finished tonight. The last tree, last little roof, and most importantly, the fires. As long as I live I will remember William busily folding a red pipe-cleaner and announcing, "You know Mom, I'm really, really good at starting fires." That kind of comment will wake you up!



Here are the lessons learned from all this:

1. You can have two children go through the same school, same grade and the project will ALWAYS be different. The teachers must plan this on purpose..."You know that second McD kid is coming through. Let's let Ann really work for her motherhood degree this year!"

2. It is incredibly nerve-wracking to set an eight year old boy loose with acrylic paint. So much so that I made him strip to his underwear as he was painting the sky. We were doing just fine until Grace walked up and started offering her five year old comments. That's when her clothing came way too close to the brotherly hand holding the paint that defies all laundry attempts.

3. Sponges are a much better painting tool for a second grader than a brush. William managed to paint his sky with mixed shades of blue and it actually looked pretty good. I cut the sponge up into one inch pieces, dampened them, and then squeezed the paint on a paper plate.

4. Hot glue is a little advanced for little hands (No, I did not find this out the hard way...I knew this one after five years building architectural models.), but it is the best thing to hold the impossible in place, quickly. I had to help with the actual gluing, but William directed where he wanted every little drop.

5. William decided to flip his shoebox up side down so that the lid would make a bigger and better "base". It was something I never even though of and he was right. It worked out beautifully.

7. Moss makes amost any tree, garden plant, or shrub you will ever need. Birch sticks from Mom's flower arrangement work well if you can talk her into using them all.

6. Sculpey clay is a marvelous thing, but I advise all of you parents of younger kids to start training them with playdoh skills now. Playdoh was the only thing that William would sit still for as a three year old so I made sure he got lots of practice there. I can't believe it paid off...or should I admit that I can't believe the boy made it to the age of eight. (Those of you who knew William in his speed demon years will understand what I am talking about.) Sculpey was a great material to make the base of the houses. Once baked they almost looked authentic. I've been cleaning out my craft stuff so I was luck to have a packaged from a few years ago that was still perfectly good.

Every situation in motherhood requires you to know just how much to help and just how much to let them do by themselves. I'm so proud that William knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he wanted to build it. He just didn't know much about the hot glue, sculpey clay, and the dangers of acrylic paint around sisters and clothing. I'm thrilled that he succeeded tonight. I'm thrilled he's done.

Ah, second grade. Maybe one day I'll pass you.

first day of school 2007

I do love the first day of school -- always have. There is so much promise in a new year. And in the first few days the flurry of startup hides the fact that our schedule will soon be filled with baseball, chorus, drama club, girl scouts, and dance classes. Well, back to the usual schedule. Those of you who are parents of school aged children will understand. Life changes dramatically once you have a child who is beholden to the school schedule. There are very few vacations you will take which do not depend on a momentary check of the school calendar...and hardly any you will take which cause absences. Here's my advice to those of you who have little ones or no children...take all the fall and early spring vacations you want NOW!

Do any of you consider the beginning of school like the beginning of a new year? I feel that moreso than New Year's Eve. Perhaps it is the side effect of being a teacher's kid when young.

William seemed to have a great day and was full of information when he arrived home. His daily folder indicated a "3" which is perfect according to the teacher's discipline scale. (The scale actually goes to 4, but she rarely gives 4s since that is for extraordinary feats. 2 and 1 would mean a difficult day. I hope to see very few of those!) Jordan loved her teacher and is excited about the cool year ahead. (Apparently she has the cool techie teacher who knows all the tricks and is an Auburn Alum.)

Pre-K Funny

Reminder found at the bottom of the William's Weekly Classroom notes:

"Please keep caterpillars and other bugs at home. They have been the source of many conflicts this week and it would be helpful if they were no longer brought to class."

(William did not bring any caterpillars or bugs to class this week. Guess what they were studying this week? The metamorphasis of butterflies and frogs.)