Reading and Imitating

It's amazing how much big sister K has progressed in her reading and how much her vocabulary has expanded.  There are times when we're going through a book together, I would expect her to ask me how to pronounce a word, but she often surprises me by saying the word herself without difficulty.  Over the weekend, she read all the store signs we drove by.  Baby M, being the typical toddler that he is, repeated everything his big sister said.  One restaurant we happened to pass by was Red Lobster.  Big sister K said, "I see Red Lobster!"  However, instead of repeating that, baby M goes, "I see red fishies!"  M and I just started laughing.  He's learning from his big sister, but is also constantly sending us little reminders that he has his own personality and is not afraid to show it!

Take Your Child To Work Day

Yesterday was Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.  My department was planning an all-day event for the kids, so I brought big sister K in (the recommended age range is 8-13, but I made sure it was okay with the coordinators before registering her).  I was a bit skeptical at first on how she would do, since she was going to be left alone with a bunch of older kids and a few grown-ups she didn't know for a few hours straight.  It turns out I had nothing to worry about.  When I picked her up at 3:45 (when the program ended), she was patiently waiting for me in the conference room watching some of the older kids play hangman on the white board.  All the event planners came up to me individually and told me what a pleasure it was to have her.  They said she was the youngest child in the group, but she was very well-disciplined, very mature, followed directions without any problems, and was the most well-behaved.  I was beaming with pride hearing the consistent messages from everyone.

This is big sister K's second year participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day.  Last year, I helped organize the event for the Corporate Controller's group, so I was able to bring her even though she was only 4-years old at the time (and I was with her throughout the entire day).  I don't think she learned anything from it last year, but she enjoyed spending the day with mommy, getting a goody bag, and meeting some of my co-workers (whose names she still remembered).  This year, she learned that mommy's company makes medicines for people who are sick and she got to tour the fire house on site (I didn't even know we had a fire house!), which she pointed out to me as we were leaving the facilities.  Hopefully I'll be able to continue this tradition in the years to come.

Easter Egg Hunt

The kids had fun looking for Easter eggs in the backyard this morning.  Totally made staying up until midnight to stuff the eggs worth it!  Baby M looks so happy, you can't even tell he was up more than half the night with a fever (he woke up at midnight, right when we were going to bed, so it was a sleepless night for us).

Daycare Woes

When I went to pick baby M up at daycare last week, I found him in the playground by himself.  There were no teachers or kids around at all.  I pretty much freaked out, went to get him, and we stood there for about a minute, waiting to see if anyone would come.  When no one did, I walked around the corner of the building with him just in time to hear his teacher yell out, "Where's baby M?"  I asked why he was totally by himself and she said they had just walked over to that side of the playground (apparently baby M didn't follow along) when she noticed he was missing.  It felt like a long time to me, when we were standing there with no one around.  Anything could have happened to baby M - it only takes a second for things to go wrong!  I wanted to mention something to the Director, but didn't know if I was overreacting, so I didn't.  On the way home, I called M and told him what had happened.  He said I should've said something on my way out, so I pulled over to the side of the road and called the Director to let her know what had happened.  She said she would look into it and update me the next day.  True to her word, she did.  She admitted it was the teacher's mistake and they will be retraining everyone in the toddler wing (kids should be in front of the teachers when walking from one area to another so that they have a visual on them at all times).  Ever since then, I noticed a change in this teacher's behavior towards me.  In retaliation for ratting on her, she blocked me from Facebook, which I'm sure was so that she can bad-mouth me through social media.  Some of the other teachers at daycare (her cronies) have also started ignoring me.  The tension is high when I drop off and pick up the kids and I feel very uncomfortable.  I haven't mentioned anything to the Director because I don't know what good can come out of it.  These people are taking care of my kids and I don't want this immaturity to be taken out on them.  M and I are considering pulling the kids out once big sister K graduates from kindergarten (doesn't make sense to take her out now).  That gives us about two months to look for another daycare, so maybe by then, things will blow over.  We have to pray for God's wisdom to help us make the right decisions for our kids.

ABC

All these posts on big sister K's musical abilities recently... well, just so baby M doesn't feel left out, here he is singing his ABCs:

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Big sister K's piano lesson before her dance class.  She has mastered this song:

As happy as I am with the progress she's made, I still feel that me teaching her how to play the piano is not ideal.  Hopefully I'll be able to find a real piano teacher for her soon.

Wasting Money

When we were at the mall earlier this week for the library’s annual book sale, I found a box set of Spongebob Squarepants books that was packed with eight books, all for only $1!  I asked the kids if they wanted it, but they both said no. It was such a great deal that I couldn't pass it up, so I held on to the set as I continued sifting through the rows of children's books... just in case they changed their minds later on.  When we were ready to pay for our items, I asked them again if they wanted the set of books, and again they told me no. I tried to convince them otherwise, but big sister K said to me, “but mommy, you would be wasting money!” She was absolutely right, so I put the books back. Alas, we have trained our daughter well! So well in fact, that sometimes I wonder who's the parent around here.

Reflection

I don’t think I’m overly strict with my kids but when I’m in “teaching” mode, my “tiger mom” persona has a tendency to reveal its gory self.  I have little tolerance for repeated mistakes, and often have to remind myself that big sister K is only 5-years old.  This became especially evident a few nights ago during her piano lesson.  After many unsuccessful attempts at playing a simple song (which only involved using one hand and two notes on the keyboard), I had her write out the C and D notes on a music sheet, mixing them up between whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes.  Big sister K got the type of notes correct, but could not distinguish between a C and a D.  I finally gave up after half an hour of trying.  The evening ended in tears.

While big sister K was brushing her teeth that night, she said to me, “I’m not good at a lot of things.”  I was so crushed to hear her say that.  I reassured her that she’s good at a lot of things and merely needed to practice to get better, but it was a wake-up call for me that the impact of my words may have a bigger (or even wrong) effect than intended.  I never want my kids to think they’re not good enough.  Big sister K already knows so much more than I did when I was her age, but she still constantly looks for positive reinforcement (which I do give her).  I hope that in time, she will be able to build up the confidence she needs to excel.

We continued her piano lesson last night, and this time there was much improvement.  It's been about three weeks since we've started, and I am so proud of the progress she's made: