Bus stop conversations

This morning, as I waited for the bus with Monkey and Jellybean, one of our kind neighbors walked by and paused to say hello.She leaned over and engaged Jellybean in a conversation.

Q: "Where do you go to school?"
A: "With my friends."

I thought it was a pretty good answer.

School photos

Monkey is a good looking kid. No, really - see?

 

Which is why I kind of wondered who this kid was, when the photos came home. Needless to say.....we didn't buy any photos. I know, I know - I should have. You know, for bribery material when she's a teenager.

But even I couldn't be THAT mean:

 

Shake n Bake

This morning was - um - uneven.

The bad:
I spent 20 minutes looking for Jellybean's shoes, only to discover them at SCHOOL when I dropped her off. Grr. (babysitter decided to take her home, sans shoes, for whatever reason)

Then, once I lacquered the girls with sunblock, Jellybean made a beeline to the bathroom sink to wash her hands, and before I could provide the stepstool to her - she stood on the lip of the (dirty) catbox. And, well, catapaulted the litter (sh*t and all), all over herself, the bathroom floor, and even the bathroom door. The fine dust at the bottom of the litter pan clung to her legs like shake and bake. Needless to say, she got an impromptu bath before we left the house.

Gah, clumping litter does not wash off well when it's stuck to your sunblock-misted toddler.

The good:
The girls shared goldfish crackers on the bus as we went to school together. Each time Monkey fed Jellybean a "fishie", Jellybean would burble "thank you Monkey" and giggle, pleased that she was saying the right thing.

Jellybean is enjoying learning to talk. She is clearly full of ideas and conversations, brimming to get out!

These two get along so well, it is just amazing to me. I love my girls.

Miss September Issue strikes again

Yesterday, since the heat wave abated (high was only ONLY 87  - whee!), I walked the girls to school. I loaded everything into the bugaboo (thanks 'Andpa and Grandma - we are still loving the stroller), and got ready to walk out the door.

Since the summer is tough on my feet, I decided to forego the usual flipflops (that leave my feet SOOO grubby) and put on my favorite sneakers - my chuck taylors, in unfashionable black.

Monkey took one look at the shoes, and said "no mommy, you can't wear those with me. Put on 'pretty' shoes."

Oh.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Most mornings I send M a quick update about the girls. How dropoff went at school, anything interesting, etc.

Today we had a 50% chance of rain during our commute.

Thus, my update to M:

"Dropoff went well this morning. Although Monkey needed a moment to adjust to the inhumanity of my request that she go outside when it might be raining."

Jailbreak

Jellybean is on the move.

She took 5 steps last weekend. In a row!

Pretty soon? She's going to make a break from jail.


(seriously, I snapped this photo through the door at her montessori school - that's her all in red. Doesn't it look like she's about to make a run for it? She and her fellow inmate are comparing plans, deciding who's going to distract the warden.....

And, on an unrelated note, I have come up with a new nickname for Jellybean:

She's now the "Mighty Mouse." I came up with this last night, in the middle of the night, when I was wrestling her out of a poopy pair of pjs. Man, is she STRONG!

Party!

Last week I was out of town. Went to "school" (aka a national conference on planned giving - wheee!).

Grandma L came to town to help wrangle, and - lucky! - got to go to a party at Monkey's school.

Here's Monkey sitting with Junebug, listening to Junebug's daddy J read. Monkey is a big fan of J - maybe because he's usually the dad rolling around on the floor being silly!


Here is Monkey with her buddy C, always one of the best dressed girls in class.......hmmmm, I think her mommy must still pick out her clothing! ha

The girls are back, the girls are back

Remember that song, The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy? (the boys are back, the boys are back….) I’m humming it, but with my own words because the girls are back in school, the girls are back in school….and it’s a good thing.

Wednesday was the first day back. We dropped Jellybean off first (her classroom is closest to the entrance of the school) and boy was that easy. She smiled at her teacher and practically leapt into her arms. No separation anxiety there. M has been known to make the ribald comment that Jellybean’s definitely a second child – “she gets passed around like a cheap trick” – and only rarely will she object to someone other than mommy or daddy holding her.

I worried that it might be tougher with Monkey, but she was fine, too! And, she helped her best friend Caleb out. Caleb was having a rough time – when he got to school none of the kids or teachers he knew were in the room. When we arrived he was sitting on the floor with his back to the door, bawling loudly and slumped over a toy he was picking at idly (his poor mom, my friend, was standing outside listening with a pained look on her face.)

When he saw Monkey walk into the room though he gave one last shudder, wiped the tears from his eyes (with a quick glance back at Monkey to see if she’d noticed), and sat there with the “who me? naw, I wasn’t crying!” look. Ahhh, the positive effect of peer pressure. It gets you every time!

The Great Paper Chase

Otherwise known as the pre-K admission process in Manhattan.

Next week we go on vacation. There’s a family reunion for my mother-in-law's family, a celebration for my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary, there’s a party for my family (both my dad’s and mom’s) to meet Jellybean for the first time….and oh yes, while we are there we also have to write our essay answers for Monkey’s pre-k school applications.

That's right. Essay answers. On applications for pre-K. Seriously. But these are pre-Ks associated with schools that continue, some through 8th grade and others all the way through 12th grade, so I understand.....but still. Gah!

I was (after a glass of wine) imagining the most horrible answers I could write:

Please describe the adults that are important to your child:
Well, there’s the wino on the corner named Kevin. Monkey loves to wave hello and make him smile each morning as we pass him on the way to the bus stop; it’s only when we get too close that she wrinkles her nose and comments on how he smells funny. They share a common love of ice cream, flirting with strangers, and bugging mommy for quarters to buy a treat.


Um, yeah. So maybe it was more than one glass?

Daily reports

Jellybean gets sent home each day with reports. Diaper updates (i.e., how many and of what variety), feeding schedule, nap schedule, and then these adorable checkboxes of things that she did during the day – she rolled over – check! She rocked on her knees – check! She enjoyed music – check! She played with fabric scarves – check!

The best, however, is the “Other Comments” section at the bottom, where the teachers write free form comments about the day….

I think I like these because they are so earnest.

My favorite from this past week: Jellybean “loves to help feeding herself. She grabs the spoon and brings it to her mouth.” (Yup, she sure does; I now feed her with two spoons – one for me, one for her! The tussles over who got to hold the spoon were getting too intense, and food was splattering everywhere.) That part wasn’t what made me smile – what made me giggle was the next sentence: “One of the teachers usually lets her practice her eating skills when Jellybean is almost full, since the food doesn’t usually reach its proper destination when Jellybean does it.”


I beg to differ. I think the floor, ceilings, wall, and her hair are the “proper” destinations! Ha.

Feminists march on Manhattan...

As a Manhattanite, Monkey gets an almost daily dose of safety lessons for walking on the sidewalks, across busy streets, etc. This occurs both at home and at school.

Approximately a year ago, when I first started walking with Monkey to school (i.e., walking to the bus stop and not using a stroller), I started a dialogue about the "walking man" and the "red hand that means stop."

By now, Monkey has it down pat. In fact, if you start to cross before the "walk" signal has officially turned on, she'll pull you back and chastise you "no mom!" (cough, not that I've done this....ahem)

However, last week was the best. On the way to school with a very happy insane toddler, I announced "let's go, it's the walking man".....

Monkey immediately whipped around and loudly announced "No, it's the walking GIRL!"

That's my girl!

Madlibs

Do you remember Madlibs? I do. I remember going to slumber parties and staying up all night in my friend's basements, listening to music and screaming with laughter at the silly stories that we would make up. Those were good times. As I sit here in my kitchen on a Friday night, I think back to all those birthday parties and the great fun we had with madlibs, and even now - decades later - I feel a swell of mirth bubbling up, and hear the echoes of laughter in my mind.

And veering off on a tangent...(trust me, this will make sense eventually)....

M and I are investigating schools for Monkey (and Jellybean too, eventually). The public school we are zoned for sucks. No other way to put it folks, it sucks. It is the kind of school that you only send your kids to because you have to. Because you have no other choice in life. And I'm not being an over-educated snob: even our superintendant, who is originally from Albania and may never have attended college for all I know, shudders at that school and managed to work the system (OK, cheat) to get his kids into a better school elsewhere.

We are looking at both public and private, but since public isn't an option until fall of 2011 when she turns 5, right now our focus is on private schools. (more about the insane admissions process later, I promise)

Private schools require the normal forms you'd expect, but most also require a statement/essay from the parent(s). One school asks how you would describe your child (skipping the physical attributes) to another person so that the child could be picked out of a crowd of kids.

It's a pretty cool question - asking you to identify the defining attributes of your child: what makes Monkey unique, what makes Monkey who she is....and it reminds me of Madlibs!

My daughter is _______, and can often be found holding_______in her hand while _____ about ____________ with _______________.

My daughter is insane about her books, and can often be found holding two or more library books in her hand while walking about the city with her parents.

OR

My daughter is exceptionally polite, and can often be found holding a full glass of apple juice in her hand while attending a birthday party and talking about robots with her best friend Caleb.

OR

My daughter is pigheaded stubborn, and can often be found holding her ABC blankie in her hand while grinding down her mother's resolve to not let her watch TV while asking about movies with no scary parts in them.

I could go on. Instead I'll go to bed.