In case there’s any doubt she’s mine
At least once a week emma comes home from preschool with a new craft project she’s worked on in class. I’ll admit, as much as I love seeing what she’s been up to all day, we are becoming a bit overrun with these projects. Because quite simply, I Must. Keep. Them. ALL. From the hand print snowflakes to the wind catchers, you name it we’ve probably got one or three. I realize by the time she actually makes it to grade school I’ll need a storage unit to house these crayon creations if I keep this up, but for now the archival of preschool art is alive and well in the Richmond household.
So Last week emma came home with her latest and greatest project - a poster of her name with lots of glitter and shiny-happiness glued all over it. It is quite possibly my favorite piece she has done in her three years on this earth, and so i felt the need to share.
Now you’re probably looking at this thinking, ‘that’s her kid’s best piece of art, I guess they can rule out design school.’ But if you are like me, the true genius of the piece emerges upon closer inspection of some of those flashy objects of flair adorning the page:
During these preschool years that often resemble the film “Groundhog Day,” we’ve gotta get our laughs where we can, especially when it comes in the form of a cocktail!
Filed under Parenting, Bean | Comments (2)Fasten Your Seatbelts
It’s amazing how sending your kid to school creates so many new stories to tell. . .
This morning emma and I had what I fear is the start of a long line of “wardrobe discussions” shall we say. Today’s culprit was footwear. She of course wanted to wear the shoes that are too small, then the shoes that are open toed (and against fire marshal codes so therefore unwearable to school. . . Seriously, no joke, check the parent handbook), then the shoes that did not match her outfit whatsoever, and on and on. Well apparently in my preoccupation with the battle over footwear, I somehow missed emma’s choice of accessories for the day. That is until I went to pick her up this afternoon and our favorite southern belle, Miss Suzie* says to me:
“Oh my favorite thing today was emma asking me if I liked her ‘seat belt’. She was really proud of her ‘seatbelt’ - showed it off all day long.”
You’re asking yourself, “seatbelt?”
Well, in the world of emma, her “seatbelt” means she had dug out of her drawer a skinny, gold belt and fastened it, correctly I might add, around her waist. I must have missed it in the folds of her t-shirt or something. Needless to say I sent my kid to school in purple track pants, a t-shirt, purple crocs, and a gold belt. She was still wearing it loud and proud when I picked her up; looking like an extra from a Richard Simmons “sweatin’ to the oldies” video.
I’m not really sure what bugs me more about the whole thing, that a). she got something past me, or b). My two-year-old is better accessorized than I am on my best day.
*name changed
Filed under Parenting, Bean | Comment (0)A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing?
This week was “big” in the life of Emma, as well as for her mama, coincidently - the start of preschool. Emma, always one for adventure embarked upon school with no turning back, at least not after the first two days. Her mama on the other hand may need until mid-Nov. to find her stride. I mean seriously, she should miss me at least a teensy bit, right? Well. . . that’s another discussion entirely, another story, another hour spent in therapy. One not intended for this particular tale.
Emma’s school is through one of the local churches here in the safe haven of Franklin,TN suburbia. When I registered I was informed Emma would be in Miss Suzie’s* class - a young, energetic woman who has worked with the school for years, and so on - all that stuff they say to control-freak parents such as myself to ease the panic that comes with leaving my child. So I get all the paperwork from the school, and in it is a note from Suzie to all the parents, introducing herself, assuring us she knows her abc’s, shapes and colors, etc. She also gives us her cell # and email address. . . an email address that is something to the affect of: getbehindthee@XXXX.com. So, I’m thinkin’ wow, this girl means business with that scripture stuff. And I just file that away in what I later realized was my “Suzie profile”. Young, southern, church-going, scripture email address using, loves kids – I could picture her already!
So fast forward to the morning when we meet Miss Suzie in person for the first time. We walked into the classroom and I’m not quite sure what my eyes settled upon first – the multiple tattoos or the cut-off skater pants. And I’m pretty sure there was a chain wallet, but I can’t be completely certain because my vision was impaired due to the light reflecting off of her multiple body-piercings. I kid you not.
At some point I must have recovered long enough to hold a conversation with Miss Suzie that convinced me she was capable, trustworthy and not to mention well supervised. Because the next thing I knew I’d kissed Emma goodbye and headed to my car, already giving myself that internal lecture about judging a book by its cover. So maybe my mental image of Suzie was slightly flawed, or just plain wrong, that doesn’t mean she won’t be a great teacher for Emma. Right? Right?!?
This whole not judging a book thing. . . I wonder – do the same rules apply when it comes to our kids?
*name changed
Filed under Parenting, Bean | Comment (0)