End'O'March

I have my usual spring cold and just realized I haven't taken one picture since the men returned from The North Country. So, I'm back to my old standby of mindless chatter interspersed with a look-how-far-we've-come collage.

Today while I writhed around on the couch blowing my nose and re-reading Anna Karenina (instead of teaching), The Guys went to check out the Lutheran preschool across the way. There was an open house from 9-11 a.m., so they biked there and had an enjoyable two hour tour, classroom visit, and playground investigation. Pros: It's open 8:30 - 3:30; they have certified, experienced teachers; it's close to home. Cons: they're not open in the summer; their 3-year-old curriculum involves letters, numbers, colors and shapes (he'll be bored), and they don't let the 2-3 year olds sit in the front of the church during meetings and/or other kinds of gatherings. Apparently as they toured the sanctuary in all its stained-glass glory, the principal was explaining about how all of the kids sit down in the front for important collectives there and then she stated that they didn't allow the 2-3 year old classes to sit down there but rather in the back of the church "just in case a class member needed to leave unexpectedly." So there's dead silence for a few seconds and then, with the first question of the day, in front of eight parents and their kids, The Goose says, "OK. Well, where's the back of the church?"

Not only was my kid the question-asker, but also my husband was That Parent. You know, the one who actually asks (out loud), "What if a student in the 3-year-old class already knows all of their letters, numbers, shapes, and colors? Is there any sort of advanced curriculum?"

The principal's answer: "He can just work on his social skills."

Hmmmm ... for seven hours a day? At those prices they better have a more engaging option than that, but thankfully Husband didn't point that out.

When they returned home, JEB barged in the door and said, "Hi Mom, how are you feeling? We went to check out a new school but I wanna stay where I am for now. Dah-dah's mad at you. Let's play trucks and eat peanut butter!"

(2006)

I'm not exaggerating at all. He is talking like that all the time ... asking polite questions and making all sorts of suggestions nonstop. And now informing one parent about times when the other parent is slightly peeved because of a bike incident: I seem to have a problem with ruining bike derailers because of my inability to appropriately change gears withOUT putting pressure on the pedals while coming up hills with a 30-pound toddler on the back. I have now ruined both my bike and Brian's and so he came in behind JEB in a much less cheery mood. Tomorrow we're dropping them off @ REI for a tune-up. ANOTHER tune-up.

(2005)

In other news ...

Monday night I took (without asking) John's "jambox" from it's rightful place on the floor in the playroom and used it for a listening lesson in Grammar III class. B said that not ten minutes after I left The Goose went in there to play and said, "Where's the jambox?" Amidst all that clutter, he knew it was missing. So then the next night (I had put it back immediately upon arriving home), we were in the kitchen cooking and JEB left the room suddenly. A few minutes later we hear, "IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT'S OKAY" by Whitney Houston blaring on the jambox. Not sure how he picked that particular CD, but it was a good excuse to have a family dance party. This was all before I got sick of course.

(2004)

Anywho, that's about all the news I've got. I think it's time for me to return to kleenex, pillows, and Tolstoy, but here's one last picture of him in 2003 that I couldn't resist: