How much changes do one year make. Last year every can of play doh that G and M received has been mixed up and dried up within first day of playing. This year, both of them are careful about separating them back into their colors and capping the containers after each play so that they stay nice and soft.
G and I went to our first climbing lesson today. I was the only parent who knows how to climb (a beginner though), so I managed to check up on G while the other parents were getting taught, very quickly, the basics of belaying and knots. I saw G up on one third way on the wall and was stuck. The instructor asked me to help me. I gave him a few hints on which holds to go to and he managed to move up a few more steps. Then he wanted to come down.
During he main lesson we paired up and I was belaying him. By then he seems tired enough that he didn’t make it up too far up the wall, partly because the wall that we were on had hard foot holds at the beginning.
As I predicted, what he was very good at was learning the knots. He managed to do the figure 8 by himself after two tries. Some of the adults couldn’t do that!
Both G and M starting their first ever Summer camp today. It’s just a local day camp, but it is a first. G was pretty cool about it, but M suddenly got very anxious when we were lining up at first day check in. It didn’t help that she found our She will be in a different group from G. She started clinging to us. But I know her enough to know that she’ll get over it very quickly.
I got there to picked them up at the end of the day. She said “I had so much fun I forgot about your three (mommy, daddy and brother). It’s the best camp ever!” So there!
We ran out of liquid hand soap completely in the house. So I pumped a bit of my l’occitane Verbena shower gel into the dispenser in the bathroom for the kids. Next thing I know, G came running to me after washing his hands and said “Smell my wet shirt”. Then he stick his hands in my face and smiled. He liked the Verbena soap. At $20 a bottle I sure hope he does.
Have patience — about 14 minutes in, he start giving specific advices and to dos.
Also, teach kids these skills:
- problem solving
- to ask questions
- to be creative
- to lead others
- to learn from mistakes
- how to save money
- to want to make money
- how to sell
- to ask for help
- public speaking
- to never give up
- to see solutions
It is important to have art supplies handy, especially when we are out somewhere and need to stop and wait. During ballet classes for example, we often have to wait for each other for almost an hour at a time. What to do? DRAW!
We used to pack art supplies to go in ziploc bags. Now we have a much better solutions. These Japanese pencil cases are of a good size, and they stand upright when open! We now have a case for each child, and we use them at home and outside of home.
Buy them at JetPens, one of my favorite stores.
It’s also available on amazon:
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If this is not a bitter sweet moment what is? G’s class wrote up personal goals for themselves. Most kids write “getting better at sports”. G wrote “To help my dad fold laundry”. This is because M is a great folder. One day I mentioned that while M was helping me. I know part of it is G being competitive. Still it is nice for him to remember and made a point of it !
This is a great find from the local library. A hardback large format book, tells the story of Iggy, a budding architect from age 1 to second grade. What caught my eye first was the illustrations. Being a architecture fan, the unusually accurate drawings of famous buildings in a architecture style impressed me. Reading the book with my 4 and 5 years old proven that the story line itself is a hit. *SPOILER* ahead — what kids wouldn’t laugh when the story starts with Iggy building something using dirty diapers !?
Highly recommended. Would be a perfect gift for any budding, or children of architects.
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