It seemed an appropriate evening to write a post, perhaps because it's been almost 3 busy weeks since my last post but also more fittingly, it is the eve of the day before preschool and it's also 9/11. Not surprisingly, I did find myself wafting back to memories of Monday, Sept 11, 2001, which is I guess my personal historical "Kennedy" moment, being too young to remember the assassination of our then President, but hearing-with remarkable clarity- my parents comments on where they were, exactly what they were doing, and what their horrified reactions were. I am hopeful our girls never experience a "Kennedy" or "11" moment, but in our precarious state of affairs, it may be a bit too much to hope for. My thoughts are with those children who are now growing up without one or both parents and all families who lost loved ones on that tragic day.
Onto some happy events, I had a eureka the other morning. Carolyn announced at breakfast that we "don't grab toys". She announced this without provocation, in the midst of stuffing her mouth with Cheerios. She has a certain fascination with whatever toy Helen is playing with, even if she has an identical toy in her hands. Helen started this phase of grabbing from Carolyn months ago but soon became bored with it mainly because Carolyn remained aloof when a toy was grabbed from her. She simply looked at Helen, and moved onto something else. The Mother in this situation (that would be me) still lectured Helen on proper etiquette of toy distribtion (hey kid, next time, grab harder!) and Helen lost interest within a few weeks. Helen is anything but aloof if a toy is grabbed, so we have an ongoing issue of ownership in our house and usually some loud complaining. Now, I want to be clear that this small eureka only lasted a moment. Later that day, we still had the "we don't grab toys" discussion, which by the way, has gotten quite succinct and the Cliff note version, for anyone wondering exactly what I say, is "we don't grab toys". I do not offer a long, psychological discourse, nor do I present a religious perspective about what Moses might do in a similar situation. I mention this small moment, because it dawned on me that there should be a GIANT INTERNET adult sticker board--much like the ones I've been encouraged to keep for the girls during potty training-where I can place a gold star for having a child who not only listened to but repeated what I said. Nevermind it had no lasting influence. The point is I got one minute of satisfaction. According to Andy Warhol, I get 14 more minutes to enjoy some fame elsewhere. Let's hope it's a TAD more exciting than having my daughter decide "we don't grab toys" is a fun thing to repeat at breakfast.
Today, when we crossed the small cul-de-sac at one of our early morning parks, I didn't have to remind the girls to hold each-other's hands. It was an eerily appropriate gesture to mark 9/11.
In closing, I'd like to quote this line from "Wonderful World"
"I see babies cry,
I watch them grow,
They'll learn things, that I'll never know
..and I think to myself, what a wonderful world".
Preschool stories are on their way....
Onto some happy events, I had a eureka the other morning. Carolyn announced at breakfast that we "don't grab toys". She announced this without provocation, in the midst of stuffing her mouth with Cheerios. She has a certain fascination with whatever toy Helen is playing with, even if she has an identical toy in her hands. Helen started this phase of grabbing from Carolyn months ago but soon became bored with it mainly because Carolyn remained aloof when a toy was grabbed from her. She simply looked at Helen, and moved onto something else. The Mother in this situation (that would be me) still lectured Helen on proper etiquette of toy distribtion (hey kid, next time, grab harder!) and Helen lost interest within a few weeks. Helen is anything but aloof if a toy is grabbed, so we have an ongoing issue of ownership in our house and usually some loud complaining. Now, I want to be clear that this small eureka only lasted a moment. Later that day, we still had the "we don't grab toys" discussion, which by the way, has gotten quite succinct and the Cliff note version, for anyone wondering exactly what I say, is "we don't grab toys". I do not offer a long, psychological discourse, nor do I present a religious perspective about what Moses might do in a similar situation. I mention this small moment, because it dawned on me that there should be a GIANT INTERNET adult sticker board--much like the ones I've been encouraged to keep for the girls during potty training-where I can place a gold star for having a child who not only listened to but repeated what I said. Nevermind it had no lasting influence. The point is I got one minute of satisfaction. According to Andy Warhol, I get 14 more minutes to enjoy some fame elsewhere. Let's hope it's a TAD more exciting than having my daughter decide "we don't grab toys" is a fun thing to repeat at breakfast.
Today, when we crossed the small cul-de-sac at one of our early morning parks, I didn't have to remind the girls to hold each-other's hands. It was an eerily appropriate gesture to mark 9/11.
In closing, I'd like to quote this line from "Wonderful World"
"I see babies cry,
I watch them grow,
They'll learn things, that I'll never know
..and I think to myself, what a wonderful world".
Preschool stories are on their way....
posted by RHCatan at 7:27 PM
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