On Friday I decided to take a bit of an extended lunch and headed over to the elementary school to have lunch with Harper. Kristen and I had done this before with Riannah and Nolan, so I figured I'd enjoy some lunch time with my big Kindergartener for shoots and googles.
Wow... I can't believe how exciting it is for these children to be in school.
One thing to keep in mind is that starting this year, Minnesota instated full-day Kindergarten as opposed to the previous many, many years of half days. Kristen and I were a little curious about this at first, but we knew Harper would be the best child of ours to test it out. She loves learning and loves doing school-related activities (such as the learning books she had while only 4 years old). The schedule for these full-day Kindergarteners is significantly different than a full-day schedule for 1st grade and beyond. Each snippit of class time is shorter, moving things along nicely throughout the day to keep these little ones from getting bored. They have two occasions of "specials" which consist of P.E., library, art, music, and probably something else. I think they always have PE each day, but I can't remember. This means they always have something fun to look forward to twice a day instead of just once a day like the other grades. They're minds are kept involved and they even have a resting period where they get to relax and have as close to a nap time as they're going to get.
All in all, it's amazing how much Harper loves it. More so, it's amazing how all of these Kindergarteners seem to love it; and this electricity is something I could definitely feel during lunch. I can honestly say that I've never seen a group of grade-school kids (especially Kindergarteners) who not only seemed like they loved being at school, but they all seemed to adore their teacher (which I also attribute to the teacher as he seems like he really enjoys what he's doing). As soon as I sat down, the smiles on these children's faces and the enthusiasm in their voices said it all.
I was first barraged with a story about how there were firemen in the classroom that day. Of course, not only were there firemen, but there were three of them. And then I was told how they wore their firefighter suits and how they were really heavy. And then one of Harper's friends told me about how her dad is a police officer. And then another one of Harper's friends told me how his dad is a policeman, fireman, garbage man, and a stretcher man! (Wow, this guys puts me to shame!) And then I got the round table of "What's my name / What's her name?" This was coupled with the random "Are you Harper's dad?" exclamation.
I was bombarded with so many questions and so many excited statements that I really only got to speak in short bursts before having to move on to the next child's attention. All of this was while keeping some conversation with Harper as she's a really good conversationalist for a 5-year old (and a couple of her friends were too).
It was by far the cutest thing I have ever experienced and I couldn't believe how much excitement radiated from these Kindergarteners. I don't ever remember a Kindergartener (including myself) being so enamored by the excitement of being at school - and these kids are there for the whole day! Maybe that's the trick. Maybe it's the excellent schedule the school district put together that helps keep these children interested and engaged so that they love going to school. Maybe it's the awesome teacher they have. Or maybe it's just the excitement of sitting at the table with one of your friend's parents.
Whatever it is, I sure wish I had that type of energy everyday when I ate lunch at work. These kids sure love being at school and they sure love being a school kid. That makes me very happy and in that one little 20-minute lunch period, I was able to see, for myself, how wonderful our schools are doing at making our little Kindergarteners love school.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Those Wonderful School Breaks!
If anyone that has no children ever tells you that parenting is (or should be) easy, punch them in the nose and tell them "That's what parenting feels like sometimes." There are always going to be good and bad days, but the worst is when you work so hard to overcome certain behaviors, only to have them regress later on.
Our children have what I like to call "Summer Behavior." This is the behavior they display during the summer months when school is out. Boredom can strike at anytime and I'll be damned if the entire house doesn't have to walk on eggshells as soon as one of the kids gets bored. However, when school begins, some of those silly behaviors go away and the kids seem to be ecstatic that they're back in school and the source of their ire is gone! Woohoo!
Yeah; that's until they have three days off school thanks to the Minnesota Education Something or Another (called MEA up here). Just when we thought the kids had grown out of their summer behavior and are putting those days behind them, they all regress and go back to what they would do during the summer.
It's kind of like watching a bunch of bipolar narcissists playing tag...
All of them are best friends; running around and playing like it's nothing. Then when they're done, they calm down a bit and one of them decides that he or she is bored and is going to go from awesome sibling to pestering brat. He or she does something to anger one of the others, but of course it wasn't his or her fault, it was clearly somebody else's. Or, nothing apparently happened at all because all we get are blank stares and no answers. If everyone isn't playing together happily and following the same basic "rules of play," then one or all starts to want things his or her way and things start to spiral a bit. I would never call it out of control, but it often ends up with yelling, pestering, someone getting in trouble, timeouts, or the "go outside!" exclamation.
When the day is done, Kristen and I like to reflect back on the day, and we're left scratching our heads. "What the hell happened with (insert name here)?" We, of course, were under the assumption that those behaviors were weeks behind us. But I guess not...
Now we have something to look forward to next summer!
Kristen and I don't beat ourselves up about though; instead, we look for better ways to deal with it. We are definitely a "continuous improvement" set of parents who can never seem to break old habits... *sigh* at least we try.
Kristen and I are stark proponents of redirecting anger and annoyance so that it quickly goes away. This is often quite easy with Harper and Willow; but then they're only 5 and (now) 3. It's easy to take a young child's attention away from a conflict and redirect it to something fun. I have an easier time with Harper and Kristen has an easier time with Willow. This household balance works well for us, although there are many times where those roles are switched. The good news is Kristen and I regularly balance each other's attitudes out, allowing our house to remain as sane as possible.
However, when it comes to Riannah and Nolan, both well into their grade school years, redirection is horribly difficult. One thing we do is pull the offender away from the fun and send him or her to his or her room to be alone for awhile. This is (usually) followed-up with an explanation of what they did wrong and life gets back to normal. But this can still be a cumbersome process (thanks to arguing and backtalk), and it's not instantaneous like redirecting a Kindergartener is. Kristen has been trying some new techniques, but it's often difficult to break old habits. I too have been working up the effort to try new things, but breaking that annoyance can be difficult. If we calmly state why we're unhappy and what our children need to do better with, the hope is that these occasions will become a thing of the past.
And of course, they will become a thing of the past because break is over and they go back to school tomorrow! That is, until the next break comes... Ugh!
Our children have what I like to call "Summer Behavior." This is the behavior they display during the summer months when school is out. Boredom can strike at anytime and I'll be damned if the entire house doesn't have to walk on eggshells as soon as one of the kids gets bored. However, when school begins, some of those silly behaviors go away and the kids seem to be ecstatic that they're back in school and the source of their ire is gone! Woohoo!
Yeah; that's until they have three days off school thanks to the Minnesota Education Something or Another (called MEA up here). Just when we thought the kids had grown out of their summer behavior and are putting those days behind them, they all regress and go back to what they would do during the summer.
It's kind of like watching a bunch of bipolar narcissists playing tag...
All of them are best friends; running around and playing like it's nothing. Then when they're done, they calm down a bit and one of them decides that he or she is bored and is going to go from awesome sibling to pestering brat. He or she does something to anger one of the others, but of course it wasn't his or her fault, it was clearly somebody else's. Or, nothing apparently happened at all because all we get are blank stares and no answers. If everyone isn't playing together happily and following the same basic "rules of play," then one or all starts to want things his or her way and things start to spiral a bit. I would never call it out of control, but it often ends up with yelling, pestering, someone getting in trouble, timeouts, or the "go outside!" exclamation.
When the day is done, Kristen and I like to reflect back on the day, and we're left scratching our heads. "What the hell happened with (insert name here)?" We, of course, were under the assumption that those behaviors were weeks behind us. But I guess not...
Now we have something to look forward to next summer!
Kristen and I don't beat ourselves up about though; instead, we look for better ways to deal with it. We are definitely a "continuous improvement" set of parents who can never seem to break old habits... *sigh* at least we try.
Kristen and I are stark proponents of redirecting anger and annoyance so that it quickly goes away. This is often quite easy with Harper and Willow; but then they're only 5 and (now) 3. It's easy to take a young child's attention away from a conflict and redirect it to something fun. I have an easier time with Harper and Kristen has an easier time with Willow. This household balance works well for us, although there are many times where those roles are switched. The good news is Kristen and I regularly balance each other's attitudes out, allowing our house to remain as sane as possible.
However, when it comes to Riannah and Nolan, both well into their grade school years, redirection is horribly difficult. One thing we do is pull the offender away from the fun and send him or her to his or her room to be alone for awhile. This is (usually) followed-up with an explanation of what they did wrong and life gets back to normal. But this can still be a cumbersome process (thanks to arguing and backtalk), and it's not instantaneous like redirecting a Kindergartener is. Kristen has been trying some new techniques, but it's often difficult to break old habits. I too have been working up the effort to try new things, but breaking that annoyance can be difficult. If we calmly state why we're unhappy and what our children need to do better with, the hope is that these occasions will become a thing of the past.
And of course, they will become a thing of the past because break is over and they go back to school tomorrow! That is, until the next break comes... Ugh!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Fun with Family
Today we went over to my sister's house to celebrate my young nephew's baptism. It was a nice get together and there were lots of people there. The kids did okay, and they had a good dessert. However, afterward, my sister-in-law brought my niece and other nephew over to the house while my brother was on his way back from drill. He brought a couple pizzas and we dined around our rather large table (after putting a leaf in). We had 7 kids here with the addition of my 1-yeard old niece and 4-year old nephew.
All I can say is that all of the kids had such a fun time!
Sometimes it's funny to think that the most fun your children can have doesn't involve going to an entertainment or recreational facility, doesn't involve spending money, and doesn't involve fretting over who gets the next turn. Quite the contrary; they all had so much fun playing at our house together. I don't know if it's because of the excitement of having someone else over to play with or something I just don't get.
Harper and Willow, five and two, were so cute running around playing with our one-year old niece. Then later, Harper and Willow were coloring with our four-year old nephew. For a while, Nolan was playing LEGOs with our nephew and then I think all of them were running around laughing and playing. It was the type of site that brings a smile to your face.
The cutest was when our niece was playing peekaboo with Isla.
Keep in mind, we see my brother and his family a handful of times a year. However, we rarely get-together in this fashion. We also haven't done it since our niece has reached an age where she can run around and play with the older ones.
It's amazing how much fun it can be to have cousins around the same age. Not only do we get to converse with my brother and sister-in-law, but the kids get to play with their cousins. It makes me wish there was one more cousin around Nolan and Riannah's age for them to play with, but they still had a really good time.
I only hope our kids have children around the same age so that they too can get-together and play with their cousins. And hopefully, we'll have the house where everyone can gather and the little ones can run and play. Of course, that's a long ways off, but it's always fun to think of.
There's something to be said about the power of having fun with your cousins!
All I can say is that all of the kids had such a fun time!
Sometimes it's funny to think that the most fun your children can have doesn't involve going to an entertainment or recreational facility, doesn't involve spending money, and doesn't involve fretting over who gets the next turn. Quite the contrary; they all had so much fun playing at our house together. I don't know if it's because of the excitement of having someone else over to play with or something I just don't get.
Harper and Willow, five and two, were so cute running around playing with our one-year old niece. Then later, Harper and Willow were coloring with our four-year old nephew. For a while, Nolan was playing LEGOs with our nephew and then I think all of them were running around laughing and playing. It was the type of site that brings a smile to your face.
The cutest was when our niece was playing peekaboo with Isla.
Keep in mind, we see my brother and his family a handful of times a year. However, we rarely get-together in this fashion. We also haven't done it since our niece has reached an age where she can run around and play with the older ones.
It's amazing how much fun it can be to have cousins around the same age. Not only do we get to converse with my brother and sister-in-law, but the kids get to play with their cousins. It makes me wish there was one more cousin around Nolan and Riannah's age for them to play with, but they still had a really good time.
I only hope our kids have children around the same age so that they too can get-together and play with their cousins. And hopefully, we'll have the house where everyone can gather and the little ones can run and play. Of course, that's a long ways off, but it's always fun to think of.
There's something to be said about the power of having fun with your cousins!
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