An Update on the Magster

The poor Magster.  Between her sister's birthday and dance competitions, La Nina's been hogging blog space for two months now and the Magster's been in the shadows.  So it's time to change that.  

Today the Magster and I had to turn in homework.  With her, homework is always an adventure because she never completes assignments exactly as instructed.  She puts her own twist on it.  Without a doubt, her version is always better than the planned one.  

Today was perhaps the best.  I left her to make a collage from recycled material.  I gave her a card board box as background, some magazines and some old newspapers.   Then I left the room to go take a shower.  When I came back, she'd found some masking tape and had created a "reading chair" using the box.  She'd decorated it presents (the rewards she gets every time she reads 100 books), ice cream scoops (the tracking method they use to count the books she's read) and  a blond girl smiling.  It was so darn clever, I couldn't tell her she did anything wrong.  So, we took pictures of it and turned it in.  

Then she proceeded to draw a picture of her favorite song-  Love Story by Taylor Swift. For those not in the know, it's a Romeo and Juliet story with a happy ending.  Maggie drew a picture of a prince and a princess in a castle looking at each other through windows.  Then she drew herself outside the castle watching them. I printed off the lyrics to the song and read them to her and she added a garden and a balcony.   She was supposed to draw a picture of her favorite book, "There's a Wocket in my Pocket."  But again, it was so much better, that I improvised.  I counted reading the lyrics as reading a book and we turned her picture into a book report.  (Sorry no photo of this one.)

I hope she never simply sticks to an assignment when she has a better idea.  Success in life usually comes when you operate outside of the box.  I hope she always maintains this creativity and confidence in doing things her way.  Luckily her teacher was an art major and she totally appreciates Maggie's meanderings.  Heaven help us, when we hit the teacher who doesn't!

Exhaustion set in...

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of accompanying 120 first graders to the new Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  We left the school early on two school buses ( a first for most kids),  drove into San Francisco (another first for many) and then headed into the newly remodeled Steinhart Aquarium....at least that's what it will always be to me.  

I couldn't believe how much I remembered from my childhood visits there.  The African Hall, the tanks down stairs, the planetarium...not to mention the Japanese Tea Gardens and the De Young, which we didn't have time to visit yesterday.  But the best memories have nothing to do with the aquarium and everything to do with running around in the courtyard out front.  So, after I drug the kids in my group through the African exhibit, the tanks, and the new rain forest, I took them out front and made sure they had lots of time to play hide and seek in the trees, run on the big wide paths around the fountain and hop from bench to bench, bothering couples seeking a bit of San Francisco's notorious romance.  

Once we got out front there were probably 4 or 5 other groups of kids from our school running around.  Attached to every group kids was a parent who grew up in the Bay Area and remembered much more about the park than about the museums.  So, while we native parents stood by the benches and traded park stories, the kids ran around and made some of their own memories.  

By the time we headed home, everyone was tired.  The new Academy is worth a visit even at the new high prices.  Much to my delight, the old diaramas are still there, so are the penguins and the samples of butterflies from all over the world. The live butterflies in the rain forest are amazing as is the albino crocodile and the tropical fish swimming around the planetarium.  But no matter how much they fixed up the building,  I think kids will remember running around the park most of all.  Some things never change.

A Great Place to Live

A true story.  Today after school, the girls, some friends and I headed to the local diary for some soft serve ice cream.  On warm afternoons, this place is quite the hot spot for school kids, mom with strollers and any one with a car who wants to hit the drive through for a frosty treat. 

While the kids ate their cones and my friend and I chatted in the shade, a fire truck with four firemen parked across the street from us.  The firemen climbed out of the truck and lined up for a cone, just like everyone else in town.  Well, let me tell you, the kids were awed.  And of course, the kids crowded around these four guys pelting them with questions.  The firemen graciously answered their questions, passed out stickers and practically let the kids place their ice cream orders.  (The other mom and I stopped the kids before they actually ordered for them.)   When the firemen left, they waved to the kids, told them to eat their vegetables and do their homework.  

In how many towns can kids  have experiences like this with community heroes (that's what we call them in our house)?  I think community servants would love to do this everywhere, but in so many places they either don't have the time, the support, the safety or the will to do this.   And but here those folks can make time and that's why I love this place I live. 

The Boots

For her birthday, La Nina asked her Nana to get her a special pair of boots.  And being a good Nana, her grandmother complied with her request with my consent.  But I hadn't seen the boots in question.  Look at these beauties.  Women stop her on the street and compliment her on the boots all the time.  Of course, the kind words usually accompanied by a twinkle in their eye, but I tell you those words make La Nina walk a little taller.  

Ever since, these boots have become the foundation of La Nina's wardrobe.  She's worn them to school with jeans and capris.  To dance with tights, a leotard and her team jacket.  And around the house in outfits that can only be described as inappropriate on a woman at any age.  

The best outfit she came up with included a pink mini-skirt, a pink tank top and the lovely, purple sparkle boots.  When she tried to go out front in this altogether, I sent her to her room to change.  Outfit number two included a pair of short shorts, a spaghetti string leotard and the very same boots.  It was worse than the first.  After another trip to her bedroom and no improvement in clothing selected, we decided she was going to play inside for the rest of the day.  

I don't know what age girls out grow their love fest with all things sparkly, but at 7, my daughter seems to be getting more outrageous in her style of dress every day.  She doesn't watch much television, there aren't many wildly dressed women at school- only a few harmless cougars and I certainly don't dress like a tart, so I'm really not sure what's driving this taste.  All I know is we could be in for big clothing battles as she enters her teens.

Seven

La Nina turned seven today and I thought I'd write a few observations of her at this age.  

La Nina is a thinker.  She's the type of kid who asks a question out of the blue, then a couple of weeks later makes some big observation based on the answer I gave.  When she makes the observation, it's clear she's been mulling the question for some time.  

She loves shoes.  This birthday we told her friends of her passion and she got six new pairs of shoes:  Three snazzy sneaker sets, two pairs of flip flops and a pair of purple sparkle boots she's been longing for.  It's been a little slice of heaven for our Immelda.

She's hooked on dance.  This year, during a quiet dance week, she takes five classes on two days a week.  (It's only 3.5 hours so it's not as bad as it sounds.)  Some weeks, like this one, she'll dance five of the next seven days. (And yes, that is as bad as it sounds!)  And what does she do with her free time?  Usually, she puts on music and practices or begs us to put on videos of past shows or YouTube so she can watch more dancing.  It's crazy.  I wonder if she'll feel the same way about dance five years from now?

All that dancing has left her very coordinated.  So, even if five years from now she decides she doesn't like dance, she'll be able to pick up something else as long as it doesn't require running and speed. She's not a very fast runner and she still doesn't like to sweat.  

She's made some very good friends:  boys and girls.  She's very enlightened in her relationships with boys.  There are a couple of boys in the group she eats lunch with every day.  She also runs with a very nice group of girls.  

She loves her sister.  I don't know what La Nina would do without her sister.  She and the Magster are very different kids, but they are very close.  It's nice to see.

She understands most Spanish.  She can answer any question asked of her in Spanish in English. 

She hasn't changed much since she was a baby.  Oh sure, she's learned to read, do math, tie her shoes, etc.  But she still sleeps more than any child I know, she's a great eater and she needs her routines.  So, even at seven, there's no doubt, she's still my baby.    

Field Trip

I drove La Nina's class yesterday on a field trip to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum.  I hadn't been there since I was a child and it was fun to revisit the place.  We saw all sorts of raptors, reptiles and even a few mammals.  We even watched a bob cat eat his lunch, a live rat.  One boy turned really white at the sight, but the rest of the kids did fine.  I don't think they realized the rat was real.  

The best moment of the day came in the car on the way back.  I had 4 girls in my car: two latinas and two non-latinas.  The girls were having a perfectly natural six year old conversation, but I only understood half of it.  The latina girls were speaking Spanish, and the non-latinas were answering them in English.  I don't think it occurred to the kids that they were speaking different languages.  I asked La Nina last night if she understood her friends and she gave me a blank look.

When I explained that it was an unusual conversation, she shrugged her shoulders.  "But Mom," she said.  "We always talk that way.  It's easier."  

So I asked Maggie if kids spoke Spanish to each other in school.  Given that seven of the kids in her class spoke very little English when school started, I assumed they did.   She said that in fact the kids did speak Spanish in her class, and I asked if she understood them.  She wrinkled her nose, "I don't listen to them, Mom."  

"Why?" I asked.  

Maggie rolled her eyes and shook her head.   "I don't talk to the boys, Mom."

Let's hope that trend keeps up for the next 25 years.