Quelling the Tiger Mom in Me

Simone successfully finished her first year in compulsory education.  My measure of success is that she merely went to school everyday that she was healthy enough to.  I knew that she wouldn't like it at first, but I suspected she would tolerate it eventually.   Luckily for all of us, she accepted this new routine and many days she came home smiling and recounted some fun experiences she had with her new friends. 

As is to be expected, there were bumps along the road.  Within the first few months, Simone told me stories of classmates saying mean things to her.  "Everyone is trying to be mean to you."  "I don't like your hair."  "Stop looking at me!"  There were even incidents of kids taking money from her.  It wasn't a case of being bullied to give her lunch money away; instead she just happily obliged when classmates asked her for money.

  

It was no surprise during Simone's first quarter awards ceremony that she got Honor Roll.  But it wasn't that hard since their school- and homework was reading the words for colors and coloring the correct shapes.  As the year progressed, we found out what Simone's strengths and weaknesses were.  She excelled in Reading and remembering the science topics, but her printing left much to be desired.  We knew that she would get awards during her second quarter, but I had not expected she wouldn't be on the honor roll.  The tiger mom in me started to worry.

Simone does not look enthused.

I started to think I should be harder on her to do her homework more neatly.  We were already wrestling with having to do homework in the first place. I had grown up with a gigantic emphasis on grades and delivered the final As and Bs.  But I honestly couldn't regurgitate any of the information that did not initially interest me.  I hated literature and was so poor at comprehension.  History was not interesting unless we were talking about mythology and folklore, which I read on my own and didn't learn in school.  I didn't want Simone to be so focused on getting the grade that she didn't learn anything.  But inside I still used the honor roll as an external gauge. 

The kids were told to give themselves a pat on the back.

I tried not to worry about it when she didn't get honors.  I congratulated her for getting the "Citizenship" and "No Tardies" awards, but I also talked to my friends about my feelings of incompetency as a mother.  In the end, I didn't push her extra hard on her writing and just continued to read to her.   I fostered her extracurricular interests such as gymnastics and dance.  I tried to be a kick-back mom about her grades because I know she is an intelligent girl who has a thirst for knowledge.   If Handwriting was the only thing keeping her from Honor Roll, then so be it.  Heck! 5-year-olds aren't usually developmentally ready to do such fine motor skills for penmanship.  At least Simone was doing well with other subjects. 

Well, a surprise happened after her 3rd quarter awards ceremony.  No, she didn't get honor roll.   A couple of days afterwards, she expressed her desire to get onto the coveted Honor Roll!  I don't know if it was because her friends were on it.  I don't know if I subconsciously pushed her to want it (I hope that isn't it - I know my face can reveal my emotions when I don't want it to).  But now that she really wanted to improve, I really wanted to help her with all my might! 

Honestly, I didn't do anything.  She did all the improving by herself!  The only thing I did was point out to her that her low grade in Handwriting was what was keeping her from getting the award she wanted.  With that info, she took more time and patience to write more legible letters.  And wouldn't you know it, Simone ended up with not just Honor Roll in her last quarter, she also got the "B.U.G." award which is given to kids who "Bring Up Grades!" 

Look at her joy in getting an award!

Simone learned a lot in her first year of Kindergarten.  She learned about nocturnal and diurnal animals, the phases of the moon, how to count to 100, how to add and subtract, the rainforest and its four layers, America and its symbols, and 2D vs. 3D shapes.  She also learned how to verbally express her feelings to kids who were being mean to her, the consequences of talking back to her teacher, and the joys of having best friends. 

I too learned a lesson:  that true change will come from Simone if she initiates it.   She is as stubborn as her mother after all. 

First Llama ride

We recently went to the zoo at an opportune time when the pony/llama trails were open for 1 hour, ready to take little kids on a short loop.  Simone is usually scared to try new things, but she really wanted to ride a pony.  When I saw that they were only allowing the llamas to be ridden I thought for sure Simone would get grumpy.  To my pleasant surprise, Simone was excited to ride a llama!  I thought my adventurous son would join too but he was not into it.  

Cracker

Having lived in California for most of my life I thought that the one way to insult a white person was to call them a "cracker."  I originally thought it was due to their being as pale as the little edibles you find in your pantry.  Then an old coworker told me it refers to the plantation foremen who would crack the whips on slaves who weren't working hard enough.

Now here I am in Florida and the word "cracker" is found everywhere - and blatantly so.   The recreation of a historic village in Tampa, Florida, is lovingly and officially called "Cracker County."  A local restaurant "Wimauma" boasts that they are "Where Cracker Meets Gourmet."    And now Michael has come home with this mass-produced beverage,  "Florida Cracker!"

There really isn't a word to make White people feel bad - not that I was trying to.  There I was in politically correct California thinking that cracker was the white folks' "N-word."  Naw ... the white folks now own it, love it, and broadcast it everywhere here in Florida that it feels more like a term of endearment than anything negative.  

P R E S E N T S ! ! !

Simone got many presents for her birthday.   One came quite as a surprise to her and to me.  Grace and I had previously talked about getting her the girl-geared Legos Friends.  I told Grace how Simone likes the little scientist / inventor kit.  But Grace generously gave Simone the ultimate Lego set.  The Friends house!!!  What was so great was that Simone had been eyeing a dollhouse just a few days before.  We were at a fancy schmancy boutique toy store so the dollhouse was going to cost a fortune and Simone was already requesting that I built furniture for the house.  Pshyah!   And now she has something even better.  The house and  the furniture and an abundance of building blocks to make more furniture and acoutrements!

This picture is blurry most likely because I was squealing myself at the shock of the wonderful gift.

Grammy sent Simone AND Max gifts of books, pencil cases, stickers, pencil toppers, coloring books, and, their latest craze, flavored milk straws.  And that was just the beginning!  Ma gave them extra money to get more toys and they came home with quite a stash.

Max has a crush on the little girl "Boo" in Monsters, Inc., and saw this as an opportunity to get her as a doll so he can have her by his side all the time!  

The moment I told Simone that her Grammy wants to give her more presents, she shouted out, "Baby Alive!!!"  

This particular doll talks and walks!  What an advancement toys have made since I was a kid!

Thank you, Family, for showering the kids with love and much enjoyment.  

Effects of Blue Food Coloring

Whenever we make frosting in our household, we usually prepare blue.  It takes a lot of food coloring however to change a white icing into the blue one usually finds in a color set at a restaurant, which is the hue of blue that Max likes the most.  I realized that when we made cakes during the Winter, Max must have still been in his diapers because I had never seen T H I S before:  blue poo in the toilet.

Wildlife Abounds Again!

I've written before about the abundance of wildlife here in Florida and still I keep finding new bugs, birds, and reptiles that keep the whole family in awe.

In March, we found a couple of majestic birds perched on our big oak tree in the backyard.  I had to take a picture through our screened porch so this photo is a bit blurred.

Based on my tiny research, this might be a broad-winged hawk!  And looking at how fuzzy some of his feathers are, this one might have been born just a few months ago!  He just sat there for a good 10 minutes looking at what must have been things scurrying to and fro on the grass and on the street below.  He might have been there longer, but I disturbed it when I opened our patio door.  But I had to!  I had seen it move its leg into this position below and thought it had broken his limb.  And when I mean I had to (open the door)  I mean that I had to see if it was too lame to fly and if I would have to call some sort of animal rescue.

But no ... he was fine and was probably just stretching.  The moment I opened my door, he flew away.  I was relieved that he was in good shape, but sad that I may never see him again.  

That same patio door, when first opened, will create a lot of commotion whether or not there are migrating predatory birds out there or not.  The lizards love to sunbathe on our backyard steps to which the door leads.  In the middle of Winter, we saw a different types of lizards that had more prominent wings, crests, and dark hues.  Winter in Florida must be tough for the reptilians because we saw evidence of battles!

This slithering creature lived to fight another day because he let his tail go.  Good for him that he could grow another.  When we first got to Tampa, the only lizards we saw were skinny, light-brown ones as skinny as my pinky finger.  This darker brown one is fatter and less afraid of humans.  He likes to wait until the last minute before he scampers away.  That picture above is enough proof that he's not phased by homo sapiens.  I was less than a foot away from him with my big camera lens in his face!

Near the Everglades we came across a feral caterpillar that I've only before seen in pictures and behind glass cages.  

I later found out that this is an Echo Moth caterpillar.  It probably now looks like this:

I saw one bug on my tomatoes a while bag and thought nothing of him/her because it did not appear to be eating the leaves.  Even its babies were not seemingly doing anything harmful.  Little did I know that they like to suck the juice of the tomatoes! 

  

I found out these are S T I N K    B U G S !  Ugh!  But I didn't get off my lazy ass to find this out until they had already multiplied into this mini-infestation!

Needless to say I killed them all and was left as stinky as I already am.  

These are only a few of the creatures we've found.  Max and I one day saw a caterpillar spinning into its chrysalis or its cocoon.  Actually I didn't just see it from afar - I almost ran smack  into it with my face.  Yesterday, we saw a slug that mimicked the leaf foliage.  Two nights before I found a baby bird sitting on the envelopes our mailman had left on our front porch.  How do I know it was a baby bird?  When I tried to hold him to put him closer to some bird seed I had, he hopped away and couldn't flap his wings.  I tried to put him in a safe place from where his mommy could retrieve him, but his squawks attracted two cats that were faster, stronger, and a lot closer than the mama bird.  Such is life.  And boy does Florida have a lot of it here.  

Simone is 6-years-old!

June 8, 2013

The night before Simone's actual birthday was one full of frosting activity.  Since the kids didn't frost the cupcakes for school, I had them do that part this time.   They were all too eager.  Thinking back on it, I think I should have done the frosting early because I'm sure they had snuck in some licks here and there and were hyper beyond normal.

We came out with one cake and 18 cupcakes.

Max was everyready "Can I eat one now? ...  How about now? ...  Now?"

I always loved those premade candy decor that you can buy at the store but we never got them on my cakes unless it had been a bakery-made cake.  I was so excited to get some for Simone.

Look how delicately Simone sprinkles her cake.  She does it with such care ... 

... for the most part.

The next morning, the kids were eager to have the fruits of their labor.

Max wanted to help with all aspects of someone else's birthday.  The first time we sang, Max blew out Simone's candle for her.   

Maybe she does need Max's help after all.  Simone, for some reason, couldn't blow out her candle.  When she finally did, we realized she hadn't made a wish.  Of course we had to do it over again!

Simone has conquered her cake.

Max didn't think Simone looked ferocious enough so he showed her how it's done.

Common vs Proper vs Poopoo nouns

Simone thinks I'm in loooovvveee with nouns.  They're fine.  Sure!  But I'm just trying to teach her grammar.    She doesn't quite get it yet and we have to revisit the concept regularly.  Well she had had enough of nouns today after 45 minutes of homeschooling so when I asked her to give me a common noun she said with a smirk on her face, "Poopoo!"

I was about to scold her into taking the lesson seriously when I had a bright idea.   If I have the definition correct, I think this is a teachable moment.  I said to her, "You're right, Simone!  Poopoo is a 'thing!'  Now do you  know the name of a specific poo?"  At this point she was just giggling because I kept saying poopoo, so I answered the question for her.

"I'll tell you.  'Mr. Hankey' is the name of a particular poo! So 'Mr, Hankey' is a proper noun and 'poopoo' is a common noun!"

Hurray for knowledge!

(Almost) Guilted into Consumerism

Shame on you Disney for trying to guilt me into consumerism!

We subscribed to one year of Disney Princess magazine and it was great!  Simone read her magazines and felt special when they arrived in the mail ... until the last 3 or so issues.  She lost interest and that convinced me it wasn't worth it to continue despite the constant bombardment of letters and flyers that urged me I needed to continue another year.  I understand their position though.  They are a business and rely on the subscriptions to stay afloat.  Well I am a household manager and do not want to continue paying for something that doesn't hold the same interest in Simone that a free library book does.  

We got the last issue and Disney chose to use one last tactic to get me to renew.  Attached to the magazine was this cover ...

I feel like Disney broke up with me.  Good riddance, cray-cray company!

Simone's PRE-6th Birthday Celebration

Throughout Simone's school year, she would excitedly count the days before her classmates' birthdays.  I found out her enthusiasm was mostly for the cupcakes her friends' mothers would bring in to celebrate the birthday kid.  I thought it would be an excellent thing to do for Simone when the time came, but I found out that her last day of school was the day right before her birthday!

Not to worry, I thought.  Who says you can't have a birthday week!  I coordinated with Simone's teacher Mrs. Dye on when I could bring the treats and she suggested I do it during the class's End-of-the-School-Year Party, which was only 2 days before Simone's actual birthday.  The kids and I were so excited and the preparations were all we could talk about for the couple of weeks leading up to it.  Ok, we talked about My Little Pony and Monsters, Inc., too, but you get the idea that we were so. very. excited!

Our tradition is to make homemade treats on a birthday and for everyone present to pitch in.  

Making the batter was pretty easy, but as time passed, the kids got so rowdy and hopped up on leftover batter that I told them I would just have to do the frosting myself.  Max kept asking about every hour if he could have a cupcake.  Luckily, we made them the night before so I only had to endure a few repetitions of the same inquiry.  Unluckily, the party the next day was in the afternoon and, as the time drew near, Max's frequency of asking for a cupcake increased exponentially!  And also unfortunate was a torrential downpour was scheduled to hit Tampa that afternoon!  Fortunately, there was a tiny window in which the rain merely sprinkled and I got the cupcakes to their destination dry and fluffy.

Simone was soooooooooo excited to be the reason everyone got a treat!  Her classmates (L to R:  Jade, Isabel, Simone, Damani)  were excited for many reasons.  Pizza party, the near end of school, and new people visiting the classroom, mainly Max.

Mrs. Dye tried to get Max to help by having him pass out the plates, but he was so enthralled with being in a new environment that he just stood there with a plate in his hand staring at all the "big" Kindergarteners.  He got to sit at his sister's table and    f i n a l l y     have a cupcake.  You can see him in the picture above; he is wearing the Big Bird hat.

For the school party, Mrs. Dye had taped paper on the desks so that students could write on it.  When the cupcakes were handed out and Mrs. Dye explained that it was Simone's birthday, the kids started writing messages on their sheets!  Here are some of the inscriptions:

Willie is the same boy that asked Simone if they could be friends.   It's unclear whether or not he meant boyfriend / girlfriend.   I thought his message above might be a sure sign of affection, but other kids also wrote that they love Simone.

I overheard two boys wondering how one spells "girlie," and realized that the message above is supposed to say, "Happy Birthday, girlie"

I think the smile on Simone's face means she enjoyed herself on her pre-birthday celebration!

Must ... Match !

I've written before about the kids loving their yellow shirts that boast their love for their grandparents.  What I didn't know is that it is imperative to Max that when he wears it, Simone must wear her shirt.  I've tried several times to have him wear the shirt but he absolutely refuses to if Simone is already wearing something else or if she doesn't want to.  Last night he convinced her to wear hers and today I have a pair of twins to parade around Tampa.

I've seen pictures of my sister Grace and me wearing matching clothes and, while I look happy in them, I vowed I wouldn't do that to my Americanized kids (because I thought it was just a Filipino thing).  Lo and behold, kids have a natural preference for matching!  I guess it's human to want to be part of a group and to show your pride in it.  In Max and Simone's case they are Yellow Duo.

Church Kids

I was passing by the Living Room when I saw the kids sharing a chair and singing, "Aaaahhhh."  I asked them what they were doing and Simone said, "We are playing 'Church!'"

I had to get a video and capture what they think happens at church.

Peace be with youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ... And also with youuuuuuuuuuu

I've Moved!

For 10 years, I had a blog on Xanga and it was great!  Unfortunately, the company is having trouble looking for investors and is sadly facing the possibility of shutting down.  Also unfortunate is the influx of spammers on the website.

I used to get so excited about receiving a new comment on a post.  It meant a real person out there had interest in my little life and felt compelled to react with words.  I still get comments these days, but it is 99% from spammers.  They are real people too, but their intent is not to read about my life - they want me to check out their product or service. 

Now that I have pictures of my children on my blog, I want to keep it more private and am hoping that Blogger will be a suitable home for my thoughts, rants, and raves.  I contemplated going to Wordpress and other dynamic blogsites, but I really just like to post videos, pictures and words.  I don't really need fancy animation and scrolling thing-a-ma-bobbers.  OK, the real reason is I am too lazy to learn all this new technology. 

Here's to a new adventure in blogging - hopefully with decades more to come!