Ss is for...soft snake

 

My teaching staff is made up of some of the most incredible and talented women I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  I am in awe of them...truly. Over the past seven years they have made their classes completely their own.  Every one of them have talents and attributes that they share with their students.  Today in the 3-year old classroom something incredible happened...

Ms. Nancy has a little guy in her class who, in the past 6 months has made incredible strides.  She affectionately calls him "Monk."  For those of you who know this very funny TV show, you know Mr. Monk is only slightly obsessive-compulsive (ha ha!).  At the beginning of the school year, this little guy's mom warned told us "good luck, he's stubborn."  Well, he is one of the brightest little boys we've seen through our school, and yes, he is stubborn.  It took him a while to get on board with socializing, sharing, and playing with the other kiddos.  And now?  He is an absolute delight!  His mind is an amazing maze of wheels always observing and thinking and inquiring.

This week is "Ss" week -- everything Ss!  To encourage proper cutting skills, the 3-year old class was cutting snakes.  You remember, right?  Holding a piece of paper with your left hand and cutting a spiral shape with scissors in your right hand (or vice versa).  And then sticking googly-eyes on the Silly Snake...totally fun and cute!  Well, "Monk" finished his spiral cutting and then proceeded to cut snips all around his snake.  Listen to this...he told his teachers that he was making a "soft snake" (the fringe he was cutting around his snake was fur).  He was so proud and happy with his snake, and I just wanted to grab him and hug him, but that would have just pushed him over the edge, so I "high fived" him instead. 

It still blows me away...he made that connection -- he thought about what he wanted and acted upon it, all the while pulling from what he had learned during the week.  Nancy gives all the credit to him, and yes of course, children do grow and mature, but not without gentle guidance, teaching, love, and a whole lot of patience from dedicated teachers and parents. 
 

Cha Cha

Early this week my saint-of-a-brother picked up my daughter to tour a local university (CU Boulder).  Kelly is still only a junior in high school and already has her major picked, and her double major and minors.  Scouting out colleges is her new favorite pastime...

My sister-in-law is currently pregnant with their second child ("another princess" as my brother likes to say).  I asked him how she is feeling, and no surprise, she is very uncomfortable with only weeks to go.  The baby sleeps all day, lulled by her mama's activities.  At night, when my sister-in-law wants to sit down and relax, the baby is awake and active. 

The other day my almost 4-year old niece looks up at my brother and, very seriously, says "Daddy, I know what we should name our new baby."  For those of you who are into children's literature, you may be familiar with the silly book, "Cha Cha, The Dancing Dog."  Well, my unborn niece now has the name Cha Cha, The Dancing Sister!

As funny as that sounds, it does have merit.  My niece has made that one-to-one connection between fantasy (her beloved book) and reality (her new unborn and, unseen as of today, sister).  She has matured to that stage in life where she is drawing from her imagination into her very real life.

I love to see this happen!  With my own kids it was fascinating and unbelievable; with the preschoolers at my school it is still amazing.  It's the light bulb that goes off and you see the realization and wonder in the child's face..."Ah ha!"  There are not enough words to describe that deep feeling of satisfaction...

And something for my brother to think about -- there is a very real chance that whatever the baby's name is, her nickname will always be Cha Cha...

The Rug of All Rugs

There it is.
It's beautiful.
It's gorgeous.
It's amazing. 
It's my new rug...

A little over a year ago I took the plunge and bought new furniture.  It was a huge step for me.  Even now, my heart races a little when I think about making that decision.  Or maybe it was the amount of money I spent.  

It was more than just a decision to buy new furniture...it was a decision to replace the furniture that I had bought with my then husband.  This time, well, I was going to get what I wanted and not what was neutral and stuffy and practical and boring.

I am still in love my red-orange (think cayenne!) leather couch...it totally rocks.  And the polka dot chair?  Love it!  And the white, shag rug?  Hmmm...what the heck was I thinking?!?!?!?!  It just looked sooo good in the store, but the store didn't have 3 teenagers with grubby shoes, 2 dogs, and a cat with claws that like to grip at anything and everything.

I want to still like the rug and if I close my eyes real tight, I can imagine what it looked like a year ago.  Now it looks like something Linus pulled behind him...dirty, well-worn, and just plain sad.  So, I "plunged" once again and bought a new rug.

The name of the rug is "Georgina" and boy, is it a beauty!  Swirls of poppies (which happens to be my most favorite flower...ever) mixed with warm hues of golds, browns, and cream.  I know people have mixed feelings about Pottery Barn, but I don't and that's where I ended up getting it from.  The rug arrived today and I can't stop looking at it...it's perfect.

The problem is I can't bring myself to unroll the rug completely.  So there it sits, in a roll of plastic, waiting to unleash its beauty.  But I can't.  I'm thinking of grubby, stinky shoes, dirty bare feet in the summertime, 8 little paws, and a cat who has destructive issues paws.

So here I sit.  Looking at the fabulous rug, unable to make a decision...