I was really proud of my guy (again) this weekend. We’d gone to the circus and were sitting in traffic waiting to get out of the parking lot. I saw a grandmother and a little boy crisscross our path for the third time and I commented, “Looks like they’re lost.”
Travis waited a moment, I guess watching what we’d do, and then asked in surprise, “Well, aren’t we going to help them?”
I LOVED that his first instinct was that we should be out helping. He’s watched enough times when we’ve tried to help people (or critters), and I was so glad he thinks that’s just what you do.
We explained to him that these people, looking for their car in a huge parking lot, weren’t the kind of lost people we could really help. But we made sure he knew how much we appreciated the impulse.
I love that both Hallie and Travis have so many interests. I really want to foster as many of them as possible. And I want them to have plenty of time for school work and music practice. And I want them to have plenty of down time. And I want them to not feel stressed or over-committed. And I want me to have plenty of down time and not feel stressed or over-committed. And I want them to learn to follow through on things they start. And I none of us to have to be in two or three places at the same time. Anyone else familiar with this dilemma? Read the rest of this entry »
After a snow delay, I finally got in to meet with Conn’s AG teacher last week. With Travis reading and writing so much now, I’ve been worried that he’ll be bored in kindergarten. I’d made an appointment to talk with Ms. Hanley about how best to keep Travis challenged once he gets to Conn. I like Ms. Hanley very much and we had a very good chat. Read the rest of this entry »
Travis has been doing a lot of pretend play lately where he creates things and then “sells” them in his “shops.” Sometimes it’s his artwork or pipe cleaner and bead creations. Often it’s things we’ve worked on together on the kids’ workbench. Yesterday, though, brought one of my more entertaining shopping excursions.
Travis invited me to his store and displayed his merchandise. He had a bead bracelet, a picture he’d made, and a “helicopter” we’d made together. When he showed me the helicopter, he nonchalantly pointed to a drawing on the box it sat in and said, “Or you could get the meatball thrower.” Read the rest of this entry »
We had dinner at our friends the Murawskis a few weeks ago. Hallie and Suzanna spent much of their time together creating comic books feature pigs and other farm animals. I think this inspired Travis, who started working on his own creation. He drew a giant pig in a farm scene. When we asked who that was, he declared, “It’s Hiccup the Pig!”
He’s since created several other pieces about Hiccup. I haven’t heard anything about him in the last week or two, but I don’t think we’ll let Hiccup the Pig fade away. It’s just too much fun to talk about him.
Travis was incredibly sweet to his sister when she started feeling crummy on Sunday. While she was resting on the couch, he made sure we were all whispering so we wouldn’t disturb her. He’s got an electric keyboard in his room, and he quickly hit upon the idea of making up a “go to sleep” song for Hallie. He’d play for a minute and then come creeping out to peek and see if it worked. Most of the time her eyes were still open. Once, though, they were closed, and Travis was about to burst with pride at “having put Hallie to sleep.” Read the rest of this entry »
Travis has gotten really excited about math. He’s got down some of the basics, but he’s not ready to stop there. On the way to school the other morning he was walking me through a complex problem I couldn’t quite follow. When I asked him what he was doing, he explained that it was a “plus times” problem. I’m not sure he’s worked out all the rules of this new function, but give him time. I’m sure he will.
There are several songs from The Sound of Music in my limited repertoire, so the kids have heard them quite a bit. When I explained to Hallie they all came from the same movie, she was really interested. I got it from NetFlix and it had been sitting around for a while until the attack of the evil stomach bug. It came in handy when Hallie spent most of Monday on the couch. Read the rest of this entry »
Travis came up with a new concoction recently — bapple sandwiches — that he’s quite delighted with. I’m not sure if he’s more thrilled with the taste or with coming up with it himself. He declared, “If you make up a new kind of food you have to really like it!”
You basically make a peanut butter sandwich, add slices of apple and banana, and devour. He’s taken them to school a few times and I can only imagine his enthusiastic explanation to all of his classmates. I wonder if any of them have asked for this delicacy at home?
We’d been having a pretty healthy winter. There were a few sniffles here and there, but nothing major. Until Sunday.
Hallie started dragging and spiked a fever near 103 Sunday afternoon. She was droopy for a day or so but in pretty good spirits. I thought she was on the mend until she threw up Tuesday morning and again Tuesday night. By Wednesday she seemed totally back to normal. She worked happily on a school project all day and was begging to go to the library. I was set for her to go back to school on Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
