New School Year!

The other day, Aidan was telling me about how he was busted during recess for squabbling with another child about the wall ball court. When he told me that the other boy was in second grade, I thought, "What a lame boy! Picking on smaller kids!" Then it occurred to me, that Aidan IS in second grade!

HA!

When Aidan was an infant, I thought I would forever be living with a baby/toddler/needy one. Then, voila! He is in second grade. SECOND! GRADE!

He is assigned to a highly coveted classroom, according to another mother in his class. Because, his teacher, Mrs. W, assigns a lot of homework, which, if one is the 'drill and kill' kind of parent, works great.

I like to think that I am not the 'drill and kill' kind of parent, but I know for a fact that at least one person out there thinks I am a 'drill and kill' mother.

Over the summer, I had this med management appointment with F, who was in the process of getting his teaching credentials. He was telling me about how he got a job working at a summer camp, as we talked about it, I realized that he was going to be working at Aidan's summer camp. I had a decision to make: just tell him that Aidan is there, or, wait until I see him there when I pick Aidan up from camp. Of the two options, I thought to risk it and wait to see if I would run into F at camp would be far more awkward. In the split of a second, I made the decision to tell him. So I did. "Really? That is where my son will spend a couple of weeks this summer!" F said, "Cool! I will see you there then!"

I actually never saw F there, probably because we used aftercare, and most of the instructors were gone by then.

This past Friday, he came back for another follow up. F said, "Oh, I met your son, Aidan, right? He is really smart. When I did the orientation, the site director told me that if I didn't know what the routine is, to ask Aidan, that he can be really helpful." (What a nice compliment!) Then, F said, "I bet you are the 'drill and kill' kind of parent. That is how your son knows so much."

Ironically, he said that when he has his own class, he won't be assigning much homework, because he doesn't believe in the drill and kill methodology.

Personally, I like to think of my method as 'drill and thrill'- it is thrilling to play that piano technique song 15 times, isn't it?

SKATE!

When Aidan was 4 and half years old, he gladly went for a season of AYSO with The Green Knights. It was a very fun season. While he played, we cheered on the side lines, and Zoe very much wanted to join in and play, at a year and half.

Zoe is going to be starting in AYSO this summer, she has already decided that her team will be The Lollipops. (The XX chromosomes are just different than the XY chromosomes, no matter how much we want to deny that fact.) She has been practicing with Hubby, which is so cute to see, because she has Hubby's muscular legs. And she is just so focused, "Finally, my turn."

Aidan, on the other hand, will not be playing soccer anymore. Instead, we are becoming more and more entrenched in the world of hockey. Hockey is nothing like AYSO. AYSO doesn't keep score, but it is ALL about the score with hockey. While parents cheer at AYSO, parents are hockey scream, "SKATE!" to their children, never mind the kids can't hear anything with those helmets. AYSO is relatively inexpensive, hockey is very much unlike that. While not the most expensive sport ever, (horseback riding is, probably?), I am dreading buying a whole new set of gear when Aidan outgrows his current stuff.

Why are we doing this? I ask myself that EVERY time I drive to the rink. Just why am I freezing here, taking in the very unique odor of ice hockey gear? Do I really want to continue?

Apparently, though, we are continuing. Aidan has a tryout tomorrow for the traveling league, and according to his coaches, the ice rink Zambonie driver, the guy who hands out skates, and the figure skating director, Aidan has improved SO much. Just last December, he was barely going in a straight line. He loves it, and so I love it. But I am definitely, a bit concerned about the schedule. So concerned that I had a dream last night, that Aidan and Zoe needed to be at two different rinks at the same time. Yikes!

Midsummer Report

Summer goes by so quickly around here- with year round school, Aidan has just two weeks left.

Perhaps we planned a much too intense summer, that child is exhausted. After our vacation to The Big Apple, he spent a week of ice hockey camp in the am, and science camp in the pm. That schedule drove us crazy- he needed to get to the ice rink by 8, and one of us had to pick him up at 11, and take him to the afternoon camp. This past week, he did the skating camp, which was fabulous, because he was just already at the rink for all the ice hockey activities. Next week, he will be at soccer camp for six hours a day. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Then, one more week of science camp, and it will be all over.

Because this is the first summer for us as a hockey family, I have learned a lot. For instance, we need to schedule our vacation around the hockey training camp so that he can do two full weeks of it. Also, for those weeks, at 11 am, he will just need to either hang out with me or Hubby, to relax, eat, and sleep.

I never thought I would be a hockey mom, yet here I am, dreading the nasty smell of his gear (it isn't too bad yet, as he still has his very cute little pre-puberty body, and non of the sweat glands, yet.) He is going to try out for the traveling league in a few weeks, and let's just say that hockey is intense. He will have practice twice a week, and one of the practice is at a rink about 26 miles away. Ironically, about 2 miles from where I grew up. There will also be traveling games, therefore, oh sweet Lord Jesus, what are we getting ourselves into?

He loves it. He just absolutely loves skating. We are happy to along, because when kids are busy with a time consuming activity like hockey, they don't have time to get into trouble. They are just too tired. I am also not opposed to having hockey help him to get into college. His dream, or mine, hard to distinguish between the two, is that he will get to play hockey at Dartmouth College. We joke about asking his coach, who has coached for twenty years, if he has gotten any kid into an Ivy.

Along with playing a fairly isoteric sport, I want Aidan to pick an isoteric instrument also, like the bassoon, trombone, or something odd like that. Forget the flute or the violin, tons of kids do these instruments, but the bassoon? Not so many. Including Aidan, he really doesn't want to play anything other than the violin. So I will have to manipulate, I mean, work on, that.

Meanwhile, Zoe is thriving in figure skating. She is just so cute, going backwards and doing cross overs. Interestingly, at the rink where Aidan plays hockey, the figure skating is in a 'friendly' league, but there is a much more competitive league not too far away, which brings all kinds of options. She is quite proficient at reading the treble clef, but the bass clef, that, is her nemesis. Therefore, possibly, no cello in the future. However, I have high hopes, for another woodwind out of her. Interestingly, she asked for swimming lessons. "I remember when we used to go see Aidan's lessons, I want some lessons of my own."

With the activities of these two kids, I am slowly becoming unglued. Yet it is so fun to see them learn new skills. When I get a chance, I will post some videos of the kids doing their stuff.

No Longer a Native

When we lived in New York City, we often yearned to move back home to California, to be away from the skitters, the humidity, the yellow snow, the crowds, for a land of beautiful weather, great facilities for laundry, and basically, comfort.

Ever since we left though, I have been dreaming about moving back. Go figure.

However, as we become more and more entrenched in our careers here in California, the likelihood of that diminishes so greatly. (Really, am I going to move to a new city, and start over with a private practice? Probably not. Am I going to find a job, and not be my own boss anymore, even less likely.) Instead, we go there for vacations. Aidan is now 7 years old, and that young man has been to New York, twice, as a fetus, and thrice, as an actual human. Other than Tahoe, we go to New York City the most. Not Disneyland, not Yosemite, but Manhattan.

All the other times, I still felt like a New Yorker. This time, however, I felt like a tourist. How the mighty has fallen... These are the ways that I was a tourist.

1. I didn't even carry my own Metro Card anymore. When I lived there, my little yellow card had its own slot in the wallet. This time, I threw my wallet in Hubby's backpack, and it was just too much of a hassle to ask for my wallet, to retrieve the card, and swipe it every time. So Hubby carried it for me.

2. I couldn't even swipe it right. "Please swipe again" was the message that I got EACH AND EVERY TIME, for the first five days of our trip. Good grief. I became the annoying tourist who hogged the turnstile and could not get in.

3. We were carrying a BACKPACK. New Yorker's DO NOT carry backpacks, unless they are going to the grocery store. Women there carry purses, men use messenger bags, NOT BACKPACKS.

4. We had our kids with us. It was really weird, actually. Other then the obvious kid places, like the park, museums, Time Square, Herald Square, we were the only people with kids. What do Manhattanites do with their offsprings? I know there are some, but where were they?!

5. As much as we tried to keep our stride like the natives, we just weren't able to.

Ahhh, I am no longer a New Yorker. Isn't that sad?! I think it is. I love how tough NYC is, the grittiness of it. One must toughen up, to be able to push past all those annoying tourists to catch a train, to snake one's way through crowds of people, to endure the brusqueness of the city. Our children, are definitely California kids. When we left, Zoe said, "Our house has so much more space than the apartment." Aidan said, "New York City is so dirty." These are soft kids. soft.

We had a great time though! Aidan and Zoe LOVED the playgrounds- we went to 9 playgrounds over our trip. Most of the playgrounds had water play, and THEY JUST ABSOLUTELY loved it. We had great food, great company (some old friends, my sister and her husband, my parents), and tried a lot of different things.

If you are lucky enough to live there, you must check out Barge Music. It is the only floating music hall in the world, and it is docked in the East River, on the Brooklyn side. They do free concerts every Saturday at 3 pm.

We also saw Mary Poppins via TKTS. Awesomeness. If I have a chance, I will detail the expert logistics involved with that event.

It is clear, that if we manage to move there, it will have to be in retirement. It makes great financial sense: let's move to the most expensive city in the country, when we are no longer making money. Are you with us?

Father's Day!

Father's Day often gets so neglected- Zoe's class didn't even make a craft project for Father's Day. (Remember how I said the head teacher is really lazy? No joke.) Which is really too bad, because Hubby is an awesome Daddy.

I hear about absent fathers from patients frequently, and it always makes me very sad, either emotionally absent or physically absent. Especially, because Hubby is anything but absent. It is remarkable, actually, that he is around as much he is. I am sheepish to admit that we eat dinner together every night at 6 pm, and then I basically hand off the kids to him, he plays with them, and gets them ready for bed. Often times, I just saunter in to kiss them good night.

My own father wasn't as available. He just worked so hard, all the time. (Not that Hubby doesn't work hard, but I think it speaks to the change of times. My Dad had to stay late at work because there was no such thing as the internet. These days, Hubby tucks in the kids and works some more.)

Anyway, I know I was a difficult child. Most nights, my Dad came home about 9:30 pm, and the first thing he usually wanted to do was to take a shower. However, I would wait to shower until he came home, and because he was, and has always been, more concerned about us getting enough rest, he would let me go first... (I know, I suck.)

I am like my Dad, very concerned about my kids getting enough rest. But also about many other things, for instance, I like a very, very, clean kitchen. Something that my Dad wants, but never got, thanks to three kids who were constantly eating. When we were teenagers, he would say that he never knew we had this or that to eat at home, until he took out the garbage, because then he saw the wrappers/packaging. My poor Dad, under-rested, and under-fed.

I also am blessed to have an awesome father-in-law. Whereas I hear about in-law troubles at work, my FIL goes out of his way to make my life easier. He takes Aidan to Kumon weekly, just so I don't have to make an extra stop. He invites us to dimsum, just to catch up with us. Most of all, he taught my dear Hubby to be sacrificial, which makes being his wife a breeze.

Of course, I have the ultimate sacrificial Heavenly Father. I really am so blessed.

Mixed Bag

I can't believe Aidan is going to be a second grader in just a few weeks. When I left his classroom yesterday, after logging my last hour of volunteering for this academic year, I started to CRY. We have ALL loved Ms. Z. Ms. Z is awesome. First of all, she attended an all-women college. Secondly, she is just about my age, yet has a daughter in high school! Thirdly, she is super organized, resourceful, encouraging, and just awesome. We are going to miss her, although the likelihood of Zoe being her student in three years is actually quite high, so I am not TOO upset.

As for Zoe, she is going to be promoted to the last level of preschool in just a few weeks, and for that, I am grateful and eager. Two reasons, good riddance to her current head teacher, and hello to new head teacher! Teacher M has been lackluster, and Teacher L is basically the best thing since sliced bread. Teacher L is organized, enthusiastic, and fun, all that you want in a preschool teacher. By contrast, teacher M has been resistant, not enthusiastic, and actually, just lazy. (I wonder, if any of my readers actually send their brood to Zoe's school, and I am pretty sure teacher M will remain anonymous.) Zoe's year has been redeemed by her primary (the kids are assigned to a specific teacher in the class, so that they have primary groups). Her primary has been absolutely wonderful. She is loving, kind, organized, enthusiastic, and fun! Moreover, this wonderful teacher will also be transitioning into Zoe's new class, almost as if she is also trying to get away from M. Coinkidink? I think not.

If I have learned anything at all after having A&Z, is that God is in control. God is also their Yahweh. He is going to take care of them so much better than I ever can, and therefore, He is going to be sure that they always have just the right teacher to take care of them, that there will always be someone to meet their needs. ALWAYS. Even with M. While we have been disappointed by M, Zoe thinks M is hilarious. (Hilariously lazy, I think.) She still has gotten something out of trying to figure out a grown up who would give kids snacks on the NAP MATS. NAP MATS, people. Did M not get the memo, that children EAT at the TABLE?!

God is always in control, and it is a good thing, that Z has had M. She now knows that some adults don't make good decisions.

Worthwhile?

There are four days of the year that I really can do without. April 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15. What are these days, you ask. These are days to turn in quarterly estimated taxes to both the California Franchise Tax Board as well as the US Treasury. (Quarterly is really a misnomer, obviously...)

Because I don't get paychecks as I am my own boss, there are no withholdings, instead, I have to actually write these checks and send them my money. It is entirely a different experience to GIVE them money, than to just not see the money but rather a number on a pay stub. Trust me, it hurts so much more this way.

I understand I have to pay taxes, but I don't think my tax dollars are well spent. But that is a different blog entry.

After catching up on our 2010 taxes in April, and having to pay the estimated taxes, Hubby and I decided that we really need to figure out how we are spending our money.

Imagine my shock after seeing how much money we spend on food. Incredulously, I spend about $1000 for food for the four of us per month! What exactly am I buying?!

Hubby and I are taking an austerity approach. We are going to half that budget. No more steaks. Sea bass at $12.99 per pound? No more. (Well, maybe for special occasions.) I am going to one grocery store per week. If I need something else, tough. I will have to wait for next week. Bread? No more. We are making our own. Cut up fruit? No more.

I have been doing this for two weeks, so far, it is better in some ways. I am saving time- if there is just one grocery store to go to, my shopping is now about 1/2 hour long. I also save time because I no longer think about what I am making for dinner, I see what there is, and I just have to do something with it. In order to accommodate the one shop practice, I no longer go to Costco every week. We are eating a more varied menu, and wasting much, much, less.

In some other ways though, I am not sure if this practice is worthwhile. If I make my own artisan bread, it costs me about 1 dollar, instead of about 3 bucks from someone's industrial kitchen. But the planning of this is a wacky process- I have to time it so that I am around at hour 18 to do something with the dough, and then 2 hours later, be there to bake it. (The bread is AWESOME though! It is truly, STEAK SAUCE! Quoting from my latest, favorite, TV show. How I Met Your Mother is awesome! If you haven't seen it, you must make time for it.)

I am also growing our own vegetables and herbs, from seeds. It is quite economical, actually, to grow lettuce- I clip what I need, instead of wasting 1/2 of the container. Of course, growing from seeds also makes it whole lot less expensive. However, with water prices going up by 30% next month, it may not be economical anymore. I am expecting a crop of 60 pounds of tomatoes, according to Martha Stewart, I will have to figure out the true cost of these tomatoes this fall.

With managing a household budget, doesn't it seem like if you do X to save Y, you end up spending more on Z?