FUD: Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt

Kids|Teaching|Parenting

 

Conversations with an Amy June 20, 2008

Filed under: rambling anecdotes — Tracy @ 6:05 pm

Just now.

Amy is being very chatty at the moment. I said to Mike, who just got home, “She didn’t even have a nap today!”

Amy: You said no nap, Mummy! Teachers said no too.
Me: That’s right, I said no nap.
Amy: Jae pushed me into the doors.
Me: Which doors?
Amy: The sleep-room doors.
Me: When? Today or yesterday?
Amy: Yesterday.
Me: And what did you do?
Amy: I tolded him STOP DOING THAT.

Ethan is in the University of Canterbury’s alumni magazine today. They have an article about multiculturalism in the classroom, and came to Ethan’s school and took a photo of his class, which has at least half a dozen ethnicities represented, maybe more. His face is half-obscured by another child but his face will be half-seen by, I’m guessing, one or two thousand alumni.

 
 

‘Ware! May 22, 2008

Filed under: rambling anecdotes — Tracy @ 7:38 pm

Dropping Amy off today at preschool, I noticed they had a big wooden castle set up complete with knights, dragons and royalty. Amy wandered over to investigate and found the dragon, which she waved threateningly at me before placing in the castle courtyard, inside the walls. I did the “ooh, a dragon, how scary” thing and she laughed before looking sympathetically at me.

“No, Mum, the dragon’s not scary,” she said in a teasing voice. I said yes, I was scared, so Amy picked up the dragon, placed it in a nearby wire basket, then picked up the basket and carried it through to the bathroom where she put it up on the highest shelf she could reach.

“You can’t see it now, Mummy, so it’s not scary,” she told me.

 
 

More words from Amy April 12, 2008

Filed under: rambling anecdotes — Tracy @ 12:41 pm

It can work! No, it can’t work.
[What can't work?]
The heat pump can’t work.
[Why can't the heat pump work?]
‘Cos it’s, ‘cos it’s broken.
There’s two cars. ‘Cos two cars broke it. [How?]
‘Cos they’re naughty. They’re naughty, eh? ‘Cos their battery’s flat.
We have to fix them. We have to pull the batteries out.

(Roleplaying — apparently the aforementioned two cars are Mum and Dad.)
Mama. I don’t know. Dad, what are you doing, Dad?
I said what are you doing, Dad. Ummm, I’m doing work. Okay, bye.
I’m broken, Mummy.
Want a cuddle? (kissing noises) Good. Bye Daddy.
How was your work? Mum, how was your college? Good. No, I didn’t go, I’m at college.

[What are you doing?]
Um, I’m working. You’re the Dad, Mum. I’m the Mum.
What are you doing, Dad?
[I'm working at work. What are you doing, Mum?]
Um, I’m just driving. Mrrrooommmm. [Where are you going?]
Um, I don’t know. In the garage. Okay bye!

 
 

A six-week catch-up. January 29, 2008

Filed under: photoblogging, rambling anecdotes — Tracy @ 9:28 pm

Ask me what we’ve been doing, go on ask me ask me ask me!

Actually no. Don’t, because it’s not as exciting as such an enthusiastic buildup would imply. But we did leave the house for a while there, which for us these days is as exciting as wandering around Mexico was ten years ago. Also up there for excitement is the return of House to TV tonight. I can barely focus on my typing, such is my exvcwfvvwhuhtement.

What did we actually do that filled us with joy and fulfillment? Um. We…um. I forget. Wait! We went to Blenheim! For Christmas! Before that we did some pre-Christmas stuff here, like cut down a perfectly healthy tree and prop it up in our dining room. And we had the kids’ preschool end-of-year breakup, which had a fancy-dress theme:

The robo-boogie
As you can see, Ethan was a fairy.

Superman! I frying!
And Amy went as a rubber chicken.

We headed to Blenheim a couple of days before Christmas, where it turned out we were inducted into the local builders’ union and indentured to build chairs.

I still have all my digits and both eyes, although I can’t say the same for our children. At least they look happy!

Christmas was awesome. Amy and I got a doctor set:

And we got snow!
Snow in summer!

We spent an afternoon at Marfells Beach, past Lake Grasmere and the saltworks (a network of ponds where seawater is left to evaporate and expose the salt), and the kids chased seagulls and threw rocks and collected shells and ran around a lot. And I took my favourite photo of the trip:
Confrontational Amy

We came home for a pretty uneventful January (I went to summer school) and then Ethan turned five on Saturday. We threw him a pirate party.
Pirate party
It went well.

 
 

Thistle-toe and Whine December 15, 2007

Filed under: rambling anecdotes — Tracy @ 7:00 pm

Today, being as close to Christmas as we can get without it actually being Christmas, we finally got our tree. I have been putting off the purchase of a fake tree for a long time, because although fake trees always have that nice symmetrical look and would probably actually look stylish and attractive given my haphazard decorating and non-matching ornaments, I actually enjoy the whole process with a real tree. Everything from the trudging out to tag the one we want in mid-November to collecting it, figuring out how to get it home, setting up the darn stand, and cleaning up dead pine needles for weeks after, it’s all symbolic of Christmas to me and I want to keep it that way for Ethan and Amy. So yeah, no fake tree for us again this year; instead another wonky, bedraggled-looking branch of a much larger tree with sagging twigs and castoff needles everywhere. Love it. Its look is much improved by the addition of a multitude of homemade decorations from bread dough, shiny cardboard, and popsicle sticks, all with some amount of glitter. No, really, I love it.

This year the kids have also celebrated, in a minor way, Hanukkah. Their preschool provided a menorah and dreidels for the children to see and play with because one of the girls is Jewish. It was a novelty for me as much as them because I don’t know any observing Jewish people and so what little I know of Hanukkah is academic.

The other day I mentioned that of the six Christmas cards we’d received to date, only one had any religious imagery (we’re not at all religious, but still). I said something to Mike about the lone card with Sweet Baby Jesus being held by Mary, which led to Ethan’s very serious explanation about God being real and Jesus being God’s son and his friend at preschool told him so, ergo true. This ties in nicely with Ethan’s first Easter service last year from which he returned to tell us that Jesus was old and lived in a cave with dinosaurs (Jesus + cave + old = dinosaurs, obvs).

Amy’s newest and weirdest sentence structure to date is “I can want to [fill in the blank]!” When we go somewhere: “I can want to come too?” When she wants us to watch her jumping: “You can want to watch me!” I keep telling her that sure, it’s okay to want to, but that doesn’t mean nothin’, but she just looks at me like I’m the crazy one.

 
 

Stream-of-consciousness, some weeks later November 30, 2007

Filed under: darndest things — Tracy @ 9:08 am

Put shoes on?
(Wrong foot, love)
That one? There?
(Yes)
I got shoes on.
I got Ethan’s shoes.
I got a hole.
Got a hole!
Can’t get my shoe off.
Can’t get out.
(What are you doing now?)
I just getting the baby.
Ethan, the baby’s waking up.
Go to bed on the floor! On the couch?
I’m shutting your door.
Don’t get up…
I’m making again.
(Making what?)
I’m helping Ethan make his…make his again, a game.
Baby going in there. (They’ve built a house for a baby doll out of blocks.)
I’m putting my shoes on.
Baby’s sleeping. I shut his door. ‘Cos…baby’s not get out now.
Door’s shut.
Good? (Building a block door around the baby)
Baby door okay? It’s all done!
It’s not finished.
That’s not one, that’s not two, peekaboo. (Pulling blocks away)
(Block house falls over)
Oh no, poor baby.
I’m making again, the same.
I make it up again.
I can’t get up. Aw, poor baby, can’t get out.
Baby’s can’t get out now, ah! Baby’s get out now!
Ah, Amy’s make this again. I making again.
I’m making another, for a-me.
Aw, it’s broke!
Baby, go in there.
Not now, coffee table. Coffee table, coffee table, coffee table, coffee table.
It’s done, it’s done now, it’s all done.
You go in now, cos baby, it’s done again, baby. Lay down, okay?
I shutting your door now. It’s night-time.
Turn light off (she switches off a pretend switch) Bink! (sound effects)
(Has baby gone to bed?)
Yep, cos it’s night time. He’s got a door shut.
Baby’s going a-toilet now. (Taking baby’s clothes off)
Baby, go to toilet. It’s sleep time now. I’m not rocking you, it’s sleep time.

 
 

My kids are weird, part 17 November 27, 2007

Filed under: photoblogging — Tracy @ 9:29 pm

Riding a bike with a bucket on her head.

More biking with buckets.

Yes, it’s true. Biking with a bucket on your head is the new black.

 
 
 

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