The Camera Loves My Kid

about 2 weeks ago, i'm looking frantically for our "nice" camera and can't find it anywhere. i don't ask alex just yet, because he rarely uses the camera and prefers to take pictures with his iphone. i wanted to avoid a lecture on my ability to lose things at all costs. (are you noticing a trend here? my husband was probably a professor in another life.) i continued my desperate search and began to panic. i finally decided to ask alex ever so nonchalantly, "hey, have you seen the canon?" i see it in his diverted eyes. i can read his mind. he's thinking: i'll see your nonchalance and raise you apathy. "oh yeah, i sold it last night." now picture me in slow motion with fangs and steam coming out of my ears: "you WHAAAAT? what do you mean? you sold it over night?? without telling me or asking me?" i think he realized the error of his ways and alleviated the imminent hysteria by assuring me he'd buy me a better camera soon. i leave for florida next week, so i told him soon needed to be soon. fa real fa real. growing up, my dad had a knack for shutting me up with the phrase: "halla bebineem chee meeshe." literal translation: "let's see what happens." intended translation: "i want you to stop nagging me. the answer is no, but i won't outright say it, for fear you'll nag me some more." he did his research. i did mine (thanks, imants!). i decided to buy the Olympus EP-L1. never have i read the owner's manual to anything and i've started reading the one for my camera. i've always had an appreciation and love for photography, but never pursued it. i've been dabbling with the camera for the past 2 days and am happy with the purchase.

two funny anecdotes i thought i'd share:

1. do not take a child under 8 to see the new harry potter movie. the following is a conversation between D and me that has taken place for the past 2 nights before bedtime:

D: "Mom, do robbers steal kids or just house stuff?"

T: "er, um...just house stuff."

D: "how do you know?"

T: "i know everything."

2. i can sleep easy now knowing that A may not bring me a "My child is an Honor Roll Student at ____" bumper sticker from school. girlfriend is a bonafide artist. she sees things and describes scenes in a way that i know i certainly did not at three years of age. for example: yesterday, she's on the toilet and is staring at the bathroom mat in front of her feet. D had just showered and A notices a wet imprint on the mat and proclaims, "Mom, come here and look at this duck in our bathroom." i walk over - slightly baffled, but then i remembered mohsenis make profound revelations in the bathroom. it truly looked like it was in the shape of a duck. have you ever looked up at the sky and noticed an animal, person, or object from the shape of the clouds? i used to do that...when i was 25. other artistic/poetic comments include: the leaves are dancing (leaves were blowing in the wind). that tree is crying (pointing to a weeping willow). we english teachers call that personification. :) and don't be freaked out by this comment, but she is very interested in the concept of death and recently asked about the whereabouts of my paternal grandmother. i explained she is no longer alive and she asks, "does she still have eyes, even though she is dead?" that's some deep, philosophical shit, no? she really surprises me sometimes.

sweet dreams.

Too Cool for School

this picture makes me smile

my genes in full force

the end is near, ya'll. i'm days away from being fully licensed to teach language arts to the high schoolers of fairfax county! (what? you old farts didn't get the memo, either? they be callin English - language arts now.) it only took 16 weeks of my life, 174 gray hairs, and 453 "moooom, you're always on the computer" gripes from the kids! and now the hubs is on my case to get a job - ASAP. now, wait just a minute mister. 4 score and seven years ago (really 8), i've either been pregnant, working, or staying at home and raising two pretty cute, semi-well-behaved kids. i have yet to enjoy the freedom i was given 3 months ago when A enrolled in preschool. now that i'm done with this intensive teaching program and have written 50 papers (yep, that's right!), peer critiqued 160 papers and have read hundreds of pages, can i please get a minute to myself?? there is tennis to be played, half-marathons to be trained for (your eyes do not deceive you), weight to be lost, children to be spoiled, and holidays to be enjoyed.

and really? is there going to be a fabulous job opening right smack in the middle of the year for little ole me? i think not. and even if there is, i'm sure there will be others in the fall of 2011.

i just need some quality time with me, myself, and i. 6 hours a day to be exact. i need some peace and quiet and solitude to make up for the fact that i've been busting my balls for the past - oh soon to be 8 years of my life since i became pregnant and gave birth to our first and soon to be 7 year old daughter, miss d. just having written that i am a mom to a 7 year old still makes me freak out just a little. woah. how and when did my kid grow up so fast? girlfriend is already in a band and everything. she's the lead singer too. they have band practice every tuesday and wednesday at recess and on those mornings she asks that i pick a - and i quote, "sassy" outfit for her to wear.

anyway, where was i? so i'm trying to really savor the last months before i enter the work force, hand in time sheets and immerse myself in the world where girls wear ugg slippers to school and the boys all look like shaggy from scooby-doo (my astute observations from my one week of student teaching at a local high school).

i will now share with you one of the papers i wrote during this semester. my teacher liked it so much, that she sent it as an email to the rest of the students to read. it felt like 3rd grade all over again - my heyday as teacher's pet. we had to write a metaphor about what it felt like to develop a lesson plan for our future class.

Teaching Your Child How To Ride a Bike

One of our many responsibilities as a parent is to teach our child how to ride a bike. It can be a long, arduous learning process for some children, while others learn rather quickly. The various stages involved in teaching kids how to ride a bike are akin to the development of the culminating project for my poetry unit.

The student who enters my 9th grade English class has had her training wheels for quite some time. She has learned how to read and write or pedal and steer, without having to worry about keeping the bike upright. As I teach her about the similes, metaphors, rhythm and rhyme found in a poem, I am walking alongside her and asking her to think about the poem's meaning or balancing on the wheels of the bike alone.

Once she has demonstrated successful pedaling and steering or poetry analysis and identification of different poetic forms and literary devices, I can gradually raise the training wheels higher off the ground so that the bike is a little more unstable. As my student gains confidence on the less balanced bike, eventually she will be ready to have the stabilizers removed all together and will be able to complete a culminating project. When I see she is comfortable with the essential understandings and adept at answering the essential questions through formative assessments, I remove the training wheels from the bike.

I then hold the back of the seat of the bike and one handle-bar. I push and run along with the student, instructing her to keep pedaling and look straight forward. She begins writing her own poems or finding poems with a common theme. I take my hand off the seat when I feel the student is balancing on her own accord. I give some words of encouragement and constructive feedback as I review her outline and rough drafts and take my hand off the handle bar, allowing her to ride entirely by herself and complete the project. It is an exhilarating feeling to witness her ride the bike on her own and hand in her completed project. I feel a sense of pride that I have taught her a valuable life skill she can enjoy and use throughout her life. I feel a sense of pride that I have made a small difference as I did when I taught my six year old how to ride a bike.

***

i will admit that i told a little white lie in the last sentence: i haven't exactly taught D how to ride a bike just yet. i mean, come on. you gotta remember- i have a law degree too. it's not like i can just forget my roots. there's got to be some BS in there somewhere. :)