Withering, Blooming

There are those days, sunny, colorful and bright, weather is perfect and everything is great.

There are those days, maybe cloudy, gloomy, maybe the weather's fine but there's a storm going on inside. Inside the house, or the heart... somewhere. 

This morning Elijah and I had this kind of day...

Sunshiney. It was cool outside but no bother, we played, chasing each other, rolling on the ground, moved inside for hide and seek, tummy love, kisses and raspberries, building a tower with blocks. Laughing all the way.

Tonight, after school, it felt more like this...

What seemed like a hundred messages back and forth about PTA stuff, a phone call to a fundraising company, interrupted by someone asking permission to go for a bike ride, someone else needing help with shoes, trying to cook dinner, storms of friendship, a hundred phone calls about weekend plans, more storms of friendship (do you call them friends when they treat you so badly?). All in just two hours' time, this storm blew through our kitchen.

Its so easy to go from one to the other, blooming and beautiful to withered, exhausted and worn out. I try to keep the smile on my face, or at least calm in my voice, knowing that my tone influences theirs. These first two weeks of school have exhausted us all. We're staying up too late, getting up too early, never slowing down to catch our breath. Even when there's nothing planned after school, the kids stay outside as long as possible, I guess trying to use up every ounce of energy before they're called in to homework and dinner.

This parenting thing is exhausting. And exhilarating. I'm just really hoping that my moments of this...

are far outweighed by these...

Field Trip: Indian Summer

I had the opportunity to join the North Park Elementary fourth and fifth graders on a field trip to Indian Summer at the Summerfest park in Milwaukee. What a day!

 

Our first event was the pow-wow. We had the privilege of watching talented dancers (as young as three years old!) demonstrate different dances. 

 

At the end of the program, our hosts invited a select few teachers to come up and learn for themselves how to perform these traditional dances. Kids stood and cheered, all pointing at their respective leaders and hoping that their own teachers would be chosen. From North Park, Mrs. V was chosen!

 

 There was a short period of instruction for the competitors (after all, this would be a competition, not a simple display of the teachers' skills). Then the drums began, rhythmically beating faster and faster, the Native American hosts singing louder and hundreds of students clapping and cheering. The excitement and cheers grew and grew as Mrs. V danced her heart out, the drums beating louder... faster... the sun hotter by the moment and hundreds of children cheering her on. All of the teachers danced, feet moving faster and faster, arms stretching out and keeping time to the music. Then, suddenly, it was over. The winner would be decided by applause, and as the judges moved from one contestant to the next, the cheers grew louder. North Park's students stood and added their voices and clapping to the mix, Mrs. V was victorious and won tickets to return again to Indian Summer. That was all before lunch!

 

We spent the rest of the day moving from one village to another, exploring Native American crafts and art, examining furs, and learning about different tools they used.

 

 

At the very end the kids had a chance to play lacrosse, and as a chaperone, I have to say that this felt like the riskiest part of the entire day. Kids running at full speed with sticks in their hands and determined to get to the ball before the rest of the mob... It seemed to spell disaster, but there was none of that. Just cheering on our team, cheering for the goals made, and lots of congratulations as the kids came off the field.

 

The first field trip of the school year... SUCCESS!

Crafty

I'm not too crafty, I don't really enjoy being creative with construction paper and glitter. However... I've been saving up some toilet paper rolls lately, now I've got about 30 and E has no playmates at home, so...

Yesterday we made these spy glasses. Toilet paper rolls, construction paper, it doesn't get more crafty than that! (Not for me, anyway.)

When Shelly came home from school and saw what E had done, she was inspired to make her own set.

Today, we made monsters. That's kind of cute, but the real fun began when we brought out the weapons. E entertained himself for at least 20 minutes with shooting the bad guys, knocking them down when he missed with the rubber bands, and coming to me to reload his ammo.

We've still got 23 rolls left, I wonder what's in store for tomorrow?

School Again

The cycle continues... Summer's over, back to school. As always, I'm an expert at this (this is Archer's sixth year of school, we know what to expect) and I'm a brand new nervous wreck (this is Shelly's first year at this new school). Archer is expected to read at least 20 minutes a day (no problem, he loves to read). Shelly is expected to read at least 30 minutes a day (surprise! I wasn't expecting that).

We've talked about our goals. I'm determined to wake up on time every day (for the first week or two anyway). The kids will keep their desks organized and keep their tempers. They won't ever complain about homework (that's in my dream world, I guess). We're off to a great start, and its going to be a GREAT school year!!!