When my daughter and I visit the library, we usually choose enough books to last the week. Each evening, we’ll select a new book from our stash which I’ll read outloud to her.
Yesterday, I noticed I’d taken out a book that was much too simple for Rada’s tastes. It had very few words, and it was [...]
Today is the last day of Rada’s school vacation. We’ve been managing well with the adjustment to a different routine and the change in commute involved with taking her to her old daycare provider.
We’ve walked with the stroller, we’ve taken the car, and today we took the bus.
It was a new bus, one that neither Rada nor I had been [...]
This week is school vacation. While I’m at work Rada has been spending the day with her old daycare provider, Tracey. I pulled the umbrella stroller out of storage and walked to Tracey’s house this morning. Rada settled into a spectator frame of mind, enjoying watching the world go by at a slow pace. We navigated several [...]
My sister Rebecca made these snowpeople with her 10-year-old friend Aikena.
And Aikena got in some snow-boxing, too.
Because of the snowstorm, Rada’s school let the kids out at 11:30 on Wednesday. There was no way a babysitter would be willing to go out in the bad weather. So after making my apologies to my boss, I went home and prepared to spend the rest of the day looking after Rada and working when I could.
It [...]
It is interesting how different schools have their own cultures and values.
Last year, Rada’s pre-school studiously refrained from celebrating Valentines Day. The rationale for this was related to the notion of Valentines Day as a religious holiday. Given the diversity of cultures and ethnicities attending the pre-school, by not celebrating any religious holidays the hope was that [...]
Rada is engaged with school. It is what she does. It is her business. I don’t believe she’s thought about whether she likes it or not, its just what she does. She neither anticipates it with dread nor does she approach it with unbridled joy. It is somewhere in the middle. But she is definitely [...]
My daughter has left school three times this winter without a mitten. Each time we have carefully retraced steps, rethought the traffic pattern, and each time we have found the mitten. They are a very snazzy set of mittens, carefully ordered from LandsEnd, and holding up well in sub-zero temperatures.
Last week my daughter lost her sneaker [...]
A friend described it as ‘Las Vegas for kids’. Its essentially gambling, thinly disguised as family fun. But along with the commercialism, ever-present TV screens, and blaring dance music, there is a carnival aspect and it has a garish charm.
Anyway, Rada and I were there for a good-bye party on Saturday. It was fun to surrender to the surreal [...]