In Today's Real World Classroom:

I took Harry to the library today. Library books skeeve (sp?) me out, but I drive to Salisbury tomorrow and I needed an audio book. Harry likes to get books though, and he knows his way around a library. I set him loose on his own (I can see him from the audio section). He wanted a book on jokes, but we already went there, so I told him someone took out the one book they had. He wanted to look in teh computer to see if they had any others, but instead we got a book about Trucks, another about Pirates, and another that he found on a shelf around the aisle from me: "Can I get this book? It's about electricity." The title? Electricity. What?!?! I am not convinced he can't read. He pulls these words out sometimes. He also found a Grover CD, all on his own. Then he explained to me that we needed to check out our books. I was so happy :-)

My Organic Market

I LOVE food shopping with Harry! It's so fun! I especially like going to MOM's. It's so small it seems like a pretend market for kids. I mean, it's no Piggly Wiggly, but it's a good preschool learning environment. It isn't usually crowded, and the people there like to help and explain things. Today we selected bananas, peppers, dairy free Newman-Os and some watermelon juice. We also discussed why it is important to recycle batteries, rather then dump them in a landfill to seep into the soil.

Harry re-connected with mud today.

Lightbulb!

I JUST realized Dr. Spock has information on older kids! There is a section on answering questions about death. I just randomly opened the book to a section on whining. This is useful stuff!!!

Harry LOVES Uno!

We usually play 3 rounds every night. His idea. It says 7 & up on the box, bt he's got it down. I think it is good for his counting...at least number recognition. Plus, he doesn't play other "board games," so this is good. He doesn't hold his cards in his hands, he lays them facing up in front of him, but otherwise, we play by the rules. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. And he's okay with that. He's even picked up my sayings, such as "I still love you" when a Draw 4 is put down, or "Sorry" when he skips someone. He almost always says "Uno" when he has only 1 card, but will draw 7 cards without complaining if he doesn't. It's awesome. :-)

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Shortly after arriving home from score, Harry announced he was going to go and play next door with JP. He's 12. Um...I very much had to check something for work, but we had just seen the neighbors, and Harry promised he would not go further than their driveway. By the time I came down 5 minutes later, they were playing soccer together across a skateboard ramp. I sat inside the yard with Ainsley eavesdropping. They had a pretty serious conversation. Harry is quiet the conversationalist. He asked all the right questions: How old are you, what sports do you play, where did you used to live...JP in return was as nice as could be. Very patient, explained well, seemed to respect Harry as a friend even...and carried on the whole Santa thing. After all, Santa bought the skateboard ramp. I could sense a wink wink. Harry, however, was totally on board. His increased maturity lingered long enough for him to come in teh house when asked when dinner was ready. No argument! What a great afternoon!

Real or Imaginary?

You all think I am crazy anyway, so I may as well continue. Harry has an imaginary friend. Lots of kids do. Two 4 year olds on 2 of his TV shows have them. My neighbor had on ewhen we were kids, I did not. Harry's friend's name is Mater, just like Lightning MacQueen's best friend in Cars.
What is interesting, is that a friend at work has a little girl the same age as Harry. She also has an imaginary friend. Both of these kids have claimed that the friends died, but then they returned. Neither child has been exposed much to death. They both seem to have a good grasp of it though. I wonder a little bit, are these friends totally made up, or could they be ghosts?
Luckily, I am not too freaked out by it. The house doesn't feel creepy. The idea that my little boy talks about death so much isn't great. He will often get teary eyed and say "I don't want to die." What do I do with that!!!!????
Okay, and here's this. I saw a ghost when I was 4. She looked like a slave. I still swear by this. When I was in high school working on our centennial celebration for my town, I found out the cemetary 2 blocks from me was a slave cemetary, and the Underground Railroad passed through. Coinicidence? I knew nothing about this until 13 years later.
You may think I am nuts, but anyone who thinks they know everything is a fool.

a little behind in posting this...

my little sister's getting older

Everything I Ever Wanted To Know About Life I Learned In Preschool

In keeping with current events (my CQU audit), I discussed with Harry anxiety, and how, in teh words of Mr. Roosevelt, there's nothing to fear but fear itself. He gets stressed. As do I, as displayed in my moments of hyperventilation preceding my audit review. Here's teh thing, as I discussed with Harry:

• Sometimes we do bad things, and we don't get in trouble.
• Sometimes other kids do bad things, and we get in trouble.
• Life is just like that sometimes.

We have been working in recent months on methods of dealing with stress:

• Deep Breathing
• Yoga (Harry does a mean tree pose!)
• Running
• Dancing to music

Harry knows it is important to eat right and to get enough sleep. An apple a day keeps the doctor away is his new saying. I am working on teaching him nothing is ever as bad as we think.

Then there's swim class. Harry got in! He had been on the wait list. He has begged for swim lessons all summer, but we worked on teaching him ourselves at the pool, and now he can swim underwater. But we got in at Chinquapin, and AInsley has class at teh same time. Perfect. The response: I only know how to swim underwater! Well, yeah, that's why we have a class! All you have to do is show up and pay attention. Don't worry about anything else. This is something I have learned how to do fairly well.

I've been thinking about pumpkin patches lately. It's that time of year. I am putting in my off days on the calendar at work. Anyway, last year when Harry was new to Abra, we did our own thing at the patch. He was not comfortable with all of the kids yet. I wonder if it will be different this year? He is certainly different at school. He and his fellow Genies rule the school. The exude confidence. I think sometimes, maybe because I am an only child, I am often more comfortable doing my own thing that assimilating with the group. I think maybe I don't know how to conform as well as other people. Or maybe I do and I am not aware. I get the impression taht Harry feels this way too, based on his behavior and on the comments he makes. It may just be that we are both too introspective. I wish he was footloose and fancy free. Of course, a little anxiety may prove successful. Miss Diana told me today Harry is very particular about his things that he brings to school. She says that's a good thing! Hopefully I can apply the appropriate amount of insight to teach him to deal with his anxieties and use them to his advantage. He is very aware of his surroundings at all times, I think more so than other kids. He's observant.

In many ways, harry is helping me to get to the root of my own anxieties. In a way, I am raising myself. I wonder if Harry and I really are the same, or if I am reading too much into it. So far Ainsley seems more like Kevin. She's mellow. And sweet. Harry is a little more intense...and there is that, not exactly mean streak, but maybe a survivalist mentality. Eat or be eaten.

It does seem easier to raise a child you have insight into. Real or imagined. And it is nice to finally identify with someone, to have someone like me. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE SHOUDL ALWAYS HAVE MORE THAN ONE KID! IT SUCKS TO BE AN ONLY CHILD!!!!

Space

Harry spent the morning in an audiology booth pretending to be an austronaut. We went to the air & space museum last week, so it was a good fit. He was checked by the ENT in January 2006 to see if he should get ear tubes, but we were able to avoid them. He's had no problem since, until this summer when he's had about 5. He still has some fluid, but his hearing is within normal limits even with the fluid, so we can still choose not to have the surery. I successfully avoided it, and my parents smoked in teh home. As far as Harry goes, we'll play it by ear for a little while. And in the meantime, I can turn the radio volume back down in the car!

Orientation at Abra

Orientation at Abra was fun this year. But then again, I like that sort of thing. School is just a little different for Harry as a Genie. They seem to have more arts & craft time. More creative projects. More of our recycling bin will be headed to school to make jet packs and such things. The director reminded us that the surest way to build confidence in a child is consistancy. In your face, suckers! Sorry. That slipped out.
Anyway, Harry has been a bit grumbly lately. I think it's cause he's off vacation...he agrees. We both miss teh beach, and we barely made it there this year. We have 1 more beach day to look forward to.
Also bought a second mattress for Harry's room. His "sofa." We needed it to have cuddly story time, now that his bed is flipped over loft style. We also need a spare bet for guests like Aunt Meg, and sleep overs. Toying with teh idea of inviting all 5 boys in his class to one sleep over. That's just crazy though, right?

Overheard...

On the ride in this morning...

"Eeeeeeeeeew. That's just gross."

"What's wrong daddy?"

"A bird just pooped on the windshield... nasty"

"Just like pop-pop's cigarettes!"

"exACTly!"

Best Part of Harry's Summer:

The Water Park. Hands down.

All ABOARD!!

Harry and his new friend Eamon (2 1/2) had a blast this morning playing on the caboose outside of the Mt Vernon Elementary School while we waited for Mommy to finish up with her emergency chiropractic visit.

The plan had originally been for H & A to head over to the playgrounds on the other side of the school, but after Harry returned all of his library books and spotted the caboose, we went over for a closer look.

Certainly Harry's favorite story and movie combo this past Christmas season was The Polar Express... hands down. So much so, that it's still in heavy rotation on the bedtime book list. Couple that with the recent Backyardigans episode "The Master of Disguise," which somewhat parallels Murder on the Orient Express (sans murder of course), and it's easy to see why train conductors, brakemen, and engineers are high on the pretending-to-be character list.

After close and through examination of the brake-wheel, the coupler, and various other lever-activated components, he spent the next hour punching tickets, and driving all over the place. Ainsley and I of course waited patiently in the station-house (large concrete benches that curiously resembled a small amphitheater off to the side).

It turns out that Eamon's father had grown up in DelRay, and also played on the very same caboose as a kid. he boys had a great time, and it would seem that both I and Eamon's father were mightily impressed with the turn-taking and sharing of imaginary gear, jobs, and destinations.

Ainsley just loves watching the big kids play... as much as Harry wanted nothing more than to play with her from day one, it would seem that now that she's figured out that the big kids aer having fun, that all she wants to do is to join in.