Chicks Dig Him

William has been hanging with Henry and Jack, Tobin and Nigel, and Benjamin and Maxwell for the past few years. His preschool classes were always predominantly boys. The small group of girls stuck together while the boys were coming up with elaborate rescue scenarios, endless super hero play, and generally participating in activities that included loud “kkkkrrrrsh,” and “vrrrrrrrrrrm” sounds.

Kindergarten is a whole new world with his classroom pretty evenly balanced with boys and girls. Sure, he has his favorite guy friends to hang out with on the playground but as I witnessed as a chaperone for the class field trip to Remlinger Farm last week, the ladies love that dashing young Will and he loves their affections. Girls were actually arguing over who got to hug him more.

The pictures say it best:

This photo breaks my heart... darling Leilani adores William. Her Mom told me that she came home and talked about the lovely time she spent with me and William adding "she likes you a lot but not as much as she likes William." :-)

Countdown to Kindergarten

Only 20 days until the first day of Kindergarten. “How many more sleeps?” William keeps asking.  He is eager beyond words, excited beyond belief and just plain ready. All of the things children are often nervous about (riding the bus, making new friends, a new classroom and playground, and learning about new things) seem to have my self-assured boy completely enthused.

This morning we went to “Kinder Roundup,” a day when all of the incoming Kindergarteners in our school district come to ride the school bus and learn about bus safety, rules, and etiquette. Big-kid William looked disappointed when I told him that his sister and I were coming along. After thinking it over (more like brooding), he asked “Can I ride by myself, Momma?” I told him that he may have to share his seat with someone but Sara and I won’t sit by him if that’s what he wanted. And yes (gulp, whimper, Mommy choking back tears), that is what he wanted.

Because of our difficulties getting out of the door on time, we boarded the last bus with about 8 other stragglers, leaving William plenty of room to sit far far away from his kinfolk. His desired distance was about a half a bus length but I chair-hopped closer to get some photos without undermining his independence.  I’d like to blame the caffeine coursing through my system but nerves are probably the more honest explanation of my numerous questions for the bus driver ranging from asking her to please explain the emergency door since William was sitting by it and its enticing big red handle, finding out what they do if a parent isn’t there to walk a child home from the bus stop, inquiring about what the driver does about behavioral problems and/or bullying, and a few more not worth repeating… (Gee, I wonder why William didn’t want to sit by his Mommy).

Anyhow, about 17 questions and half way through the ride, our bus broke down! It wasn’t quite that dramatic, just an engine warning light but wow, what a way to enhance the experience for a bus load of curious kids. Another school bus came right along to pick us up and we squeezed in to the back of this very crowded bus. I was secretly happy that we all had to sit together because there were no other seats. William was not amused. Thankfully, his pout quickly dissolved once we started speculating about what kind of truck the school bus mechanic would drive out there and what he might have to do to fix the other bus.

When in doubt, talk trucks with a 5-year-old boy and it’s bound to make them smile. Now if only I could think of the ways to keep me smiling during this major transition... Ideas? Anyone?

At least I have a couple more years before Sara is off to school five days a week but I think I better brace myself, she really enjoyed this school bus ride too!

Aquarium Camp Adventures

I felt like a thoughtless bozo letting William pick a shark tooth necklace out from the Seattle Aquarium store the other day. It wasn’t until after we were in the car and driving home that it dawned on me that I didn’t know how that tooth was obtained. Lo and behold, sweet William was wondering the same thing. “How did they get this tooth from the shark, Momma?” he asked, so I called the store to find out. Thankfully, I learned that shark teeth are abundant in some parts of the world and can be gathered like shells at the bottom of the sea (shark “shed” their teeth and grow new ones on a regular basis) so no animal was harmed in order for William to acquire such a super cool sharp-tooth necklace. “Good, Momma, I’m glad no diver went down and gunned a shark for this tooth,” said my dear earnest boy. Now I’m left wondering if it was very wise to give a 5-year-old a sharp-anything to wear around his neck… sigh… by the time I get parenting figured out, he’ll be all grown up. With any luck, he’ll at least be one very compassionate grown up (with only a few shark tooth puncture wounds scars along the way).

Oh, and speaking of getting “gunned,” it has been a week full of lessons… or I should say, attempted lessons. Parking in downtown Seattle is outrageous. On the first day of this 3-day “Family Fun” camp at the aquarium, I hit the “Max Time” button on the payment station and paid $16 for 4 hours of parking. Ouch. (And by the way, this isn’t a spot in some nice parking garage; we’re talking street spot under the noisy, dirty Seattle viaduct that may collapse at any moment.) Returning to our car that same day, we saw that the person in the car next to us must have had the same reaction and opted not to purchase so much time. They were getting a ticket. All of this was very exciting for William and Sara, seeing a buff bike cop with helmet and sunglasses generate a parking ticket is big time entertainment in their world. Anyhow, their smug Momma explained in her all-knowing Mommy voice that those people didn’t put in enough money so they got in trouble.  (Yeah, karma is gonna get me….)

On the second day, I didn’t want to pay so much so we purchased less time and I explained that we’d have to go back to the car quickly after class so we wouldn’t get a ticket. So $11.25 later, we were on our merry way with time to spare but upon returning to the car, we see a bright and shining $46 ticket under my windshield wiper! Apparently it was irrelevant that the white lines on the ground indicated parking spots and payment stations located in both directions do not mean that parking is allowed in those spots. Smug Momma became deep-breathing, trying-to-respond-appropriately Momma. Poor William was terrified “what if you don’t pay it, Momma, are they going to gun you down?” Guess I hadn’t explained it so well the previous day after all… and sure enough, once I had the kids safely buckled and locked in the car I looked closer and found the low sign hidden by other parked cars, it was marked “No parking north of this sign.” BASTARDS!!!!  No, I didn’t say that out loud… I behaved and reassured my children that Mom would not be shot for this parking infraction.

Oh well, at least they had a LOT of fun.

Destination BEACH

When warm sunny days are few and far between, I’m learning to make the most of the good ones.  With this in mind, we’ve been to Lincoln Park in West Seattle twice recently. The seaside calm that washes over all of us is remarkable. William is my little explorer, running every which way, lifting rocks, shrieking when a little crab scurries out, and collecting shells. Sara really gets into the sand, digging her toes in, filling buckets, burying herself, noticing the different textures of sand she encounters. The shore is too rocky and water too cold for pleasant wading but we trek around in our boots, finding seaweed in a multitude of colors, rocks covered in barnacles, and on our more recent trip during low tide, perfectly formed moon snail egg cases, anemone, and tons of teeny crab. Ferries come and go while we play, the gorgeous Olympic Mountains shine in the distance, and it feels good to be alive and living in the Pacific Northwest.

Happy Dog was with us on our first beach trip of the season. Sara admired his fine digging skills.

Sunny days are easy but we're trying to make the most of the chilly ones too...

Roasting marshmallows in the fireplace for Smore's.



An Earthy Earth Day

Sara and I tagged along with William’s preschool for a nature hike and more fun in the mud.  Teacher Judy and Teacher Nancy are remarkable, reminding the kids to stop, look, listen, and smell along the way (especially near the skunk cabbage). They even had us jump up and down on the springy path so the kids could see the leaves shimmer while our movements shook the earth. We encountered baby bunnies, ducks and countless slugs during the walk and the songbirds provided a lovely soundtrack.

Later, inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, we decided to make our own dyes for decorating Easter Eggs. The kids were really into it and wanted to add all kinds of things…pepper, lettuce, various toys, you name it. After a lively discussion and refrigerator-searching, we decided on onion skins, beets, huckleberries, and kale. The result was a slightly funky-smelling house (the kale was a day or two past its prime) and rather pleasing to the eye pastel-colored eggs if I do say so myself.  I have to admit that I cheated a little and put a few drops of food coloring into the yellow and the green because I don’t think we started with enough material to make very intense colors.

Happy Earth Day, everyone and Happy Easter!

Playdate: Kelsey Creek Park

"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness."
Mary Oliver

Blue sky and sunshine awaited us at Kelsey Creek Farm Park this morning! The air was frigid but we were all smiles heading up to the barns to meet Farmer Jayne. She runs a fantastic little “farm kids” program that gives kids a behind-the-scenes look at how the farm animals are cared for at the park and a good friend arranged a group tour for us (thank you, Sasha!). We fed the pigs (pellets for the babies and pumpkin for the 600+ pound big girl), petted LucyBelle the growing calf and one of the goats (can’t remember if it was Bert or Ernie but the names made quite an impression on the kids). Then the kids got to touch a baby chick and pet a velvety black bunny. The grand finale was planting pumpkin seeds and with any luck (plus sunshine, warmth, and water) we’ll go back to watch them grow all summer long then see them harvested in the fall.

Knowing what a soaking wet spring it has been so far, we were prepared for mud with our weatherproof boots. Sara insisted on shorts despite the 40-something degree temperature (this is a battle I no longer engage in, rather I bring extra clothes just in case), but my little man buckled up his overalls in true farm fashion. The tour only lasted about 30 minutes but that was perfect for the attention span of our group of 2-5 year olds. Most of us stuck around afterward for a picnic and playtime at the playground and oh my... here is where the real fun began.

One word: MUD!

I consider myself very lucky to have friends who revel in this kind of activity for their children as much as I do.

This moment was a lovely reminder of what a good teacher my little girl is. Turns out, shorts were perfect for her today... and so was the extra change of clothes. We wandered out of the park feeling satisfied, tired, and happy with the sunshine on our backs. Now, one bath, one load of laundry, many bike rides and one rainstorm later, I am one happy Momma.