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Loose! July 23, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 3 comments

Today, Soleil discovered she has a loose tooth! Apparently you lose teeth when you are 6! Happy Birthday Baby!

 

oh yeah- A birthday party! July 19, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 7 comments

In 94 degree heat, we had 12 squealing girls at our house today!

I made a cake: 

 

And I did face painting: 

And we had a water balloon fight!

 

Happy 6th Birthday a little Early Soleil! 

Summer time blues July 15, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Kids , 1 comment so far

It seemed easy at the time. Sign Soleil up for the same group that does her after school care. Let her enjoy the summer easy and relaxed. Not as relaxed as I did as a kid (my mom was a teacher, so I was just home during the summer), but relaxed.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the group that is GREAT with afterschool care, is not so great with summer care. They aren’t bad, and Soleil loves it, but I think next year will be different.

So, in the heat of July 2008, I am already looking into June 2009 options. One option I love, a camp that Soleil’s friend R goes to. It takes kids going into Kindergarten, which means Luna could go there too! It would actually be cheaper for her to go to a day camp than to go to daycare. Go figure.

We are looking into options now, because in Boston, everything fills up quickly! And I mean EVERYTHING. Crazy but true.

Sigh…

What is your craze of summer? Mine is next year’s camp schedule. 

Give a little bit June 11, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 7 comments

Today Soleil donated her hair. I am very proud of her!

BEFORE:

And AFTER:

 

Bikers June 3, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 2 comments

Now that Soleil can ride without training wheels, she requested that we go to the bike trail nearby. The Minuteman Bikeway runs close enough to us that we can ride it. So we hooked up the bike rack to the car yesterday and pumped up the tires and went for a ride. I chose a section that would be short and let us stand over Route 128/95. The girls loved being over the traffic. Luna did well, even if she is not yet 4. Soleil was amazing. She waited for us at every stop sign, listened to all of the rules and never fell off her bike

The total distance? 4ish miles round trip!

Oh yeah, I will make bikers out of them soon!

 

Unadultered Love May 31, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 5 comments

She sat on the floor near the teacher, her long legs tucked under her orange and white gingham dress. The teacher set up the 4 year old we were watching. As the girl got nervous, the teacher asked if she should do the introduction to the piece. The little girl nodded. As the teacher’s bow touched the strings, there was a sudden intake of breath from the floor. The first note rang out and Soleil forgot to breathe. She sat perfectly still as the teacher and the 4 year old played a duet.

For 30 minutes Friday, we watched a violin lesson. And when it was done, Soleil said "And next time I will play!"

Yes, baby. Next time, we will have a violin for you. It may be too big at first, but we will have one for you!

Her eyes shown for the rest of the night as she spoke to everyone she knew about her violin lesson.

This, my friends, is something to see. When your child finds something to love and you can just watch the euphoria go through them. This is love. 

I’m an astronomer, Jim, not an arborist! May 8, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Kids , 1 comment so far

Since the snows have left and the flowers have first poked out of the ground, the girls have been asking Jay and I to identify EVERY fricken flower on the planet. And trees. Don’t forget the trees. Now, I can figure out the basics, the maples, the oaks, the pines, the beech. I know which tree in our yard is a dogwood (because we planted it two years ago). Yesterday, Luna found a beautiful tree covered with pink blossoms. I believe it is an apple tree and that it was an apple blossom. But I am not sure… Sigh…

I guess I need to learn alot more about trees, eh?

Luna’s teacher stopped me today as I was dropping her off. Apparently a student spilled something all over the table and made a mess. Luna shook her head and said "Oy Vey!". All of the other kids looked at her and asked about it. She said "That’s what Jewish people say when you make a mess!"

This morning I fed my kids Pop Tarts. I hang my head in shame. and then I gave them each a glass of milk. As I turn to get my cereal (the only true breakfast food) I hear a clunk of plastic and the girls yell L’chaim! as they are clinking their glasses together.

Ah….

 

Playing Favorites May 7, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise, Kids , 2 comments

The interstellar Medium is - a fortune teller from Alpha Centuri

My former adviser had a question on his Astronomy 101 test that asked what the Interstellar medium was. My favorite choice was "a fortune teller from Alpha Centuri".  It always made me think of my favorite book, "A Wrinkle in Time" . One chapter is devoted to a visit to a Happy Medium. I love this chapter as the characters get to explore themselves and their companions.

Recently, Soleil asked for a visit to the local library. I said yes and she excitedly selected 4 books. One of the books was "A Wind in the Door", the third book about the Murry family from "Wrinkle". I told her that the book was a llittle above her level, but if she really wanted it, we could start with the first book, "Wrinkle".

Over 4 days, we read this book together. My girls curled next to me while I tried to use proper intonations for Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. I didn’t even try to pronounce the Greek quotes of Mrs. Who. I did draw out the words for Mrs. Which. We covered the whole grounds of love, caring, math, tessering, and five dimensional space.

Soleil often interrupted to ask what words meant. At first she enjoyed the idea of all of the children bouncing balls and jumping rope in rhythm, until she realized they had no choice. Luna got scared when she discovered the true nature of IT.

But in the end, love won out and everyone returned home to land in the twins broccoli patch.

And I have now introduced the girls to my favorite book of all time.

Money! It’s a crime April 30, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs, Kids , 3 comments

So how do you keep your children from being spoiled? That’s a tough question. It’s one that I grapple with daily. 

I have a friend (Smiley You know who you are!) Who was kind enough to share her wealth with us in February. Her family had recently bought a new jet and her husband wanted to get more flying time in. She invited all of us who were visiting her to go on her jet from Kissimee to Key West. Now to me, this was generous. They paid for the fuel and the time of the second pilot. They allowed us to visit a place that most of us in the group would never had gone to (I personally LOVED Key West and I would love to go there again! and again). On the way back to Kissimee, we had the discussion of how to keep it real for kids.

Now my friend, yes, she has money. But she hasn’t ALWAYS had money. Her husband owns at least 2 businesses. One here, one in Europe. Flying is a major part of his life, so turning the work into a hobby makes sense. But they also have two children. They travel to Europe often. The kids sometimes go with the parents, sometimes not. Sometimes the nanny comes. The kids have learned what  their normal is. Their normal is that Daddy gets the plane ready and they fly off when they need to travel long distances. My Friend is concerned about how to keep life real for them.

To be honest, Jay and I wonder about that too. Not for her children, but ours. So far, the girls have gone to Florida, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania (and Tennessee for Luna). Except for the New England states, this is a LOT of travel. Luna’s not even 4 yet. And Hawaii? They’ve been there TWICE in their lives. Most of this is work or family travel. Our family is all over the place. Work takes us several places. But still I got asked last week "Mommy, why are we driving to Maryland? Can’t we just take a plane?" I explained the cost of things, the cost of airfare, etc. It did make me realize how my girls are accustomed to a certain life style.

To offset what they see in terms of travel, I noticed that we started to make other changes. When they put some of their allowance in the Tzdakah bank, Jay and I match the amount they put in. When I see someone at a traffic light asking for money, I will sometimes give it to them. I try to make sure we give to the food bank, in front  of the girls. We talk about each of these events and why we do it.

We also talk to them about corporate greed. When we discuss something about smoking or the mortgage collapse in the country, the girls will often ask why? Why are people mean to other people? Unfortunately, the answer is almost always money. The smoking industry wants to money. The sub prime loans were an attempt to procure higher monthly payments. Money. Money. Money.  The girls come to their own conclusion that this is not right. And we agree. We try over and over to explain how money is not the end all be all of life. It’s what you do that matters, not what you own.

I just hope that we can show by example and not have to make our children go through the stress of day to day money woes to not be spoiled and to appreciate what they have.

They’re dead, Jim!* April 24, 2008

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 7 comments

So, Luna and I went to the dentist this morning. He looked and checked out her gums. Then he drew some pretty pictures.

The teeth are turning grey because the trauma to them ruptured the blood vessels in the tooth. There is no way to know if the tooth is REALLY dead, or just Mostly Dead( "to blathe"). So we need to check on her gums. Her gums? oh yes, my friends in the ether, if her gums start to show white spots, like a pimple, then the tooth HAS died and the pulp is infected. The infection will damage the incoming adult tooth. So then we would have to remove them.

 

Lovely. Just fricken lovely….

 

*Sorry Star Trek Fans

** Extra points to the person who finds the Princess Bride reference