I still live, everything is fine, and I'm feeling really guilty about leaving this blog to wither and die. I need to get it together and catch up a bit, but it's difficult to know where to begin. I've been kinda focused on the treason shit and the midterms. It's only the future of our country at stake.
I will share some happy updates: Sophie is fine, though getting a bit grayer, which makes me sad. She turned 9 in April. Ellie is lovely and a perfect cat.
We had a family visit to NC at the beginning of July, and the girls got together for a few days, and it was loud and fun. We stayed at a farm and hiked to waterfalls, and the girls had a blast. Delaney milked a cow, and the farm cat had kittens, and really what more could little girls need? The visit was too short, but honestly, City Grandma had just about enough of the farm cottage after a few days, it was cute but...rustic. Grandma likes her comfort, like a good mattress and a bathroom bigger than a closet. But it was a fun whirlwind visit, and my daughter wants to stay at the cottage again. I'll stay nearby, but elsewhere. :-)
I got to spend some time with the granddaughter who is practically a stranger, and OMG she's my son all over again. She doesn't look like him as a 3 year old, but her personality, OMG. She's articulate way beyond her years, and her diction and delivery are uncanny. I remember strangers' heads whipping around when my son would speak in public; Willa is just like him. She's three and a half, and can hold a conversation like she's 7. One small example: we were at their house and it got insanely loud, and the rain that was threatening appeared to be moving off, so I went to my son and suggested a trip to a park. We agreed this was a good idea, and when Willa rocketed past me on one of their insane shrieking runs through the living room, I said, "I talked to your Daddy and we're going to go to the park. You all are getting really loud in here." And she said, "Oh GOOD! I was just thinking, 'I wish we could go to the park!" and her diction and delivery were years older than three. She's a spooky little kid and I can't wait to see her at 6.
Her older sister is a serious girl, and I've given up on picking out books for her, I just ask her what she wants, her tastes are eclectic. She's starting third grade soon and loves school. She attends what my son calls a "hippie charter school" which is very flexible about learning styles and big on parent involvement, so she's thriving there.
And Miss D started first grade (damn that October birthday, she's the tallest and one of the oldest in her class) already, and likes her teacher much more this year. And grandma feels vindicated, because I'd been saying that she needed to be screened for gifted since she was around a year old, and I got crap from my daughter for years: "Oh grandma, you just want her to be gifted...." and I said I didn't really care, but I'm telling you right now that she is, and she's going to need the extras that the label provides.
So she was screened over the summer, and the screening session took a really long time, and my daughter texted me when it was over, and I was mature and didn't scream "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO!" because this isn't about bragging rights, it's about getting her what she needs to not be bored off her ass and become a discipline problem and waste her brain.
She's starting first grade reading at at least 4th grade level, it's hard to tell where she is because she just DOES it. Now she is teaching herself multiplication, and has figured out how negative numbers work, on her own, after watching some YouTube videos. When she was here last week we speculated about how to build a playground with materials cool enough for the Florida sun. (We gave up; I don't think that stuff has been invented yet.) So anyway, the gifted label means they will sit down and figure out enrichment for her so she won't be bored off her ass, and that's good.
Oh, and she's now on the big kid dance team, and is rehearsing a solo and a small group dance. She lives for dance, and my daughter is an accidental Dance Mom. But seriously, this child was pissed that she couldn't take classes every day of the week. It's her world.
So I've had my little I Told You So moment where Miss D's concerned. I'm less happy about my other one.
I hate being right. I said this in April of last year.
5 comments:
glad to read your 'catch-up' info- i too have 'littles' navigating the primary years, and it's a month of excitement for all involved-
we must all stay busy and try to turn some of this national insanity around ... but it is getting exhausting to see how much stupidity can be applauded and encouraged-
stay sane-
barb in texas
Glad you checked back in! We still like to hear updates every once in a while. The grands all sound delightful.
Kimmen
So glad you’re back, was slightly concerned.
Small children, especially small females, can be verbally astonishing. In 1970 we took our two, to Hamburg to meet their German grand parents
.Erich nearly 4 and extremely unwilling to ‘use his words’, still preferring the ‘point and grunt ‘the lazy so and so! Anne nearly 2, and a very different little kettle of fish!
A few days back home, after they had completed the bed time routines, little madam decided she wanted a banana. In English. Ernst told her ‘No, it’s time for bed.’
Anne came straight back at him with - “Bitte kann ich ein banane haben?” Hamburg inflection, correct word order, the lot. And the innate knowledge of the effectiveness of her tactic. I don’t have to tell you she got the banana, do I?
Interestingly, the more Anne spoke, the more Erich did, couldn’t let her get too far ahead!
Glad to see you are still agitating for the democracy. Sounds like a fun visit with the fam, even if it got loud.
Yay, you're alive! Glad to hear everyone's doing well. I will admit to being a little worried now and again.
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