This was just too good not to pass on.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Honest Parenting
One of the rules we have around here is that if you are sick and/or have to take medicine you get to have ice cream before going to bed. This came about from our on going quest to add extra calories to Max's diet. He gets to have ice cream three times a day- breakfast, snack and before bed. His siblings started to get a bit miffed with all this ice cream passing them by (they only get it at snack time) and wanted to know why Max could have it all the time and not them. Larry and I settled on the two part explanation that Max 1) needs to be rewarded for all the nasty medicines and treatments he takes and 2) he needs the extra calories.
This was deemed acceptable when we added the aforementioned ice cream rule. Life is not fair, but we do need to make a reasonable rules.
So anywho, Miss Rebecca has a bit of a cough ( all right, a really annoying and persistent cough) and I dragged her in to see the doctor today. It turns out there is a bit of a wheeze in her lungs so she was prescribed a course of steroids for five days and albuterol nebulizations for three. (note: When the doctor mentioned nebulization as a possible tretment we told her it was no problem, we have the pump- two in fact- and enough albuterol on hand to sink a ship. She was a bit surprised until I explained that Max has CF. For once having an extensive pharamcy at home paid off.)
Tonight Rebecca asked about the ice cream and after a bit of thought I remembered the rule and said yes. I gave her a small bowl of chocolate ice cream shortly before bed. Rebecca was a bit disapointed with the quantity and neddled me for more. I flatly said no. When pressed why I wouldn't give fer more I replained "Because I'm mean." Oddly enough that seemed to satisfy her and ended her search for more ice cream.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Artist of the Week: Blowin' His Horn
This week's artist is Jake and he's pictured here blowing his trumpet. Technically he is not the one bragging about himself, but I couldn't resist.
This has been a very big summer for Jake and we are barely halfway through. He applied to and successfully garnered a slot at the summer Governor's School, had his Bar Mitzvah, turned thirteen, entered an essay competition at the Governor's School and won, and completely nailed the placement exam for the Gifted program.
The last two items I haven't mentioned before because we had just found out about them this past week.
The essay competition was open to his class at school and was for a chance to attend an event at the Newseum in DC commemorating the 40 th anniversary of Apollo 11. This is part of the press release from the Newseum website:
Now how cool is that. He gets to attend an event with the very first two men that have walked on the moon and, hopefully, ask them questions about their experience. I so wish I could be there too, but it is just not possible. The best part was that he really did write the essay himself. He did get some coaching from his Aunt Meryl, but she made sure it was his own words.
We got word of his winning a slot on Friday. That morning I was very busy getting his train ticket and making sure it was coordinated with the teachers that were chaperoning the six winners.
On Monday Jake had an appointment to be retested for both Math and Verbal skills. Last February was the official testing period for the Gifted program. He nailed the History, Science, and Reading Comprehension portions, with scores of 99%. Math and Vocabulary were another story. He pretty much bombed both with the respective scores of 74% and 79%. This precluded him from the Gifted program and dumped him from honor's math.
My reaction to this was Heck No!
He has been pulling down A's and B's in Math with a final grade of A. There was no way he was getting dropped from accelerated math. I called up and found out that he had missed answering 10 of the thirty odd questions. They had been duly marked as wrong and had torpedoed his score. The guidance consular then told me that there was an appeal process and that we had a very good case.
Larry and I wrote a letter and faxed it off to the central testing office appealing the decision. Initially we were told that the period for appeals was long over, but Larry informed them that we had just found out about his denial. So instead we had to wait another week until the person that handled appeals was back from vacation.
The following Monday, just as Larry was about to do a follow up phone call, the person handling our appeal called Larry. She agreed that the test scores really didn't match the data they had on Jake. She asked if they could retest him in both Math and Vocabulary. We were all for it. After a bit of calling back and forth and consulting schedules we settled on 11:30 am on Monday the 13th.
Jake was in fine form that day. I made sure he was well rested and had a big breakfast. He went in with confidence and totally kicked some testing butt. He got a 97% on Vocab and, drum roll please... 100% on Math.
When he was brought back to the front of the office he was chatting with the woman in charge of his appeal. She informed me of his scores and told us right then and there that he clearly qualified for the Gifted program. She would start the paper work immediately. She them commented to me privately that Jake had some amazing math skills.
Well yes, that is what we have been saying all along.
This has been a very big summer for Jake and we are barely halfway through. He applied to and successfully garnered a slot at the summer Governor's School, had his Bar Mitzvah, turned thirteen, entered an essay competition at the Governor's School and won, and completely nailed the placement exam for the Gifted program.
The last two items I haven't mentioned before because we had just found out about them this past week.
The essay competition was open to his class at school and was for a chance to attend an event at the Newseum in DC commemorating the 40 th anniversary of Apollo 11. This is part of the press release from the Newseum website:
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this historic flight, the Newseum will host a special program on the future of space discovery. The July 20 program is a public event honoring Apollo 11’s anniversary and NASA’s ongoing exploration of space.
Veteran journalist Nick Clooney moderates a panel discussion with Aldrin, Charlie Duke of Apollo 16, John Grunsfeld, of the recent Hubble mission, and Goddard Space Flight Center deputy director Laurie Leshin.
The discussion will air on NASA TV and will be simulcast to science centers across the United States. A question-and-answer session will follow the program.
Now how cool is that. He gets to attend an event with the very first two men that have walked on the moon and, hopefully, ask them questions about their experience. I so wish I could be there too, but it is just not possible. The best part was that he really did write the essay himself. He did get some coaching from his Aunt Meryl, but she made sure it was his own words.
We got word of his winning a slot on Friday. That morning I was very busy getting his train ticket and making sure it was coordinated with the teachers that were chaperoning the six winners.
On Monday Jake had an appointment to be retested for both Math and Verbal skills. Last February was the official testing period for the Gifted program. He nailed the History, Science, and Reading Comprehension portions, with scores of 99%. Math and Vocabulary were another story. He pretty much bombed both with the respective scores of 74% and 79%. This precluded him from the Gifted program and dumped him from honor's math.
My reaction to this was Heck No!
He has been pulling down A's and B's in Math with a final grade of A. There was no way he was getting dropped from accelerated math. I called up and found out that he had missed answering 10 of the thirty odd questions. They had been duly marked as wrong and had torpedoed his score. The guidance consular then told me that there was an appeal process and that we had a very good case.
Larry and I wrote a letter and faxed it off to the central testing office appealing the decision. Initially we were told that the period for appeals was long over, but Larry informed them that we had just found out about his denial. So instead we had to wait another week until the person that handled appeals was back from vacation.
The following Monday, just as Larry was about to do a follow up phone call, the person handling our appeal called Larry. She agreed that the test scores really didn't match the data they had on Jake. She asked if they could retest him in both Math and Vocabulary. We were all for it. After a bit of calling back and forth and consulting schedules we settled on 11:30 am on Monday the 13th.
Jake was in fine form that day. I made sure he was well rested and had a big breakfast. He went in with confidence and totally kicked some testing butt. He got a 97% on Vocab and, drum roll please... 100% on Math.
When he was brought back to the front of the office he was chatting with the woman in charge of his appeal. She informed me of his scores and told us right then and there that he clearly qualified for the Gifted program. She would start the paper work immediately. She them commented to me privately that Jake had some amazing math skills.
Well yes, that is what we have been saying all along.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Government
With all the idiotic spending and what not going on now, I'm in complete agreement with the Tick.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Max's Words For Max
We have been spending a fair amount of time at the library this summer (currently we have over 30 books checked out). Max needs a bit of a boost in his reading skills so he is meeting a reading specialist from the school for a couple half hour sessions a week. She signs out one of the study rooms and Max gets some good one on one tutoring.
The best part is that she was recommended by Max's teacher and the two of them were able to map out a good strategy on what Max needs to get up the speed. Max's teacher even passed along a reading list with the books grouped by reading levels. Finally I had something to work with. I am now able to pick books for Max at his level or just a bit above. I'm getting a feel for what is appropriate for him and I can branch out and get other books off the shelf.
A few weeks ago I spotted a book at the library that first caught my eye because of the title, Max's Words. I cracked it opened and discovered a marvelous book within. The Max in the story has two older brothers that collect things, namely stamps and coins. Max decides he'll collect words. His brothers scoff and refuse to share their collections until Max's collection grows and he discovers he can make stories.
My Max at first wanted nothing to do with the book, but in the end I got him to sit down with me. As Max started to read he was drawn into the story. He discovered the importance of word order and just how much fun words can be. The illustrations are delightful with the words Max has collected in someway reflecting their meaning in their form. By the end of the book my Max thought is was a terrific read.
I think Max's Words is a wonderful addition to a young child's library. Get it, borrow it, read it.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Pied Piper
That's me, on the floor with not one, but two red oafs on my lap.
Wherever I go in the house the dogs will often trail after me, Dell's chin often bumping my heels. To say they want to be with me is an understatement.
Oh they love the rest of the family. The red boys are always up for a romp outside with Nate, but... I'm the Pied Piper. I just call out to them and they come a runnin' unless there is something far more important like a chipmunk trapped just out of reach. If I sit on the floor they swarm over me, desperate for my attention.
Even after I trim their nails they still want to be with me. Quite the opposite of Ms. Rally, she would disappear when the clippers came out. I had to be quick and snag her before she sequestered herself in her crate. The red boys are just a couple of big lovable goofs that want to be with Mom.
It's nice to be wanted, but 50 plus pounds of dog in your lap can be a bit much. So don't spend too much time on the floor with them in my lap.
Wherever I go in the house the dogs will often trail after me, Dell's chin often bumping my heels. To say they want to be with me is an understatement.
Oh they love the rest of the family. The red boys are always up for a romp outside with Nate, but... I'm the Pied Piper. I just call out to them and they come a runnin' unless there is something far more important like a chipmunk trapped just out of reach. If I sit on the floor they swarm over me, desperate for my attention.
Even after I trim their nails they still want to be with me. Quite the opposite of Ms. Rally, she would disappear when the clippers came out. I had to be quick and snag her before she sequestered herself in her crate. The red boys are just a couple of big lovable goofs that want to be with Mom.
It's nice to be wanted, but 50 plus pounds of dog in your lap can be a bit much. So don't spend too much time on the floor with them in my lap.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Capitalistic Parenting
I love Rebecca very much. She is a fiercely independent child and very passionate, but that independence and passion comes with a price.
She wants to do things for herself all the time and she wants to help me at the same time. As a result I have a seven year old sous chef. She happily chops peppers at dinner time and will stir the pots on the stove. This part of her is a delight.
However if I pick something out for her in a catalog, in a store or even a book in a library she flies off the handle. Shouts, tears and an angry stomping child soon follow theses imagined transgressions. I find this behavior to be truly appalling and for the most part, downright rude.
So now we have instituted a new policy. If she has been deemed to be significantly rude a dollar is deducted from the running tally on the allowance chart. A new category has been added to the sheet titled Rudeness.
Today she has already lost $2. She was rude to Max this morning. He wanted to sing along with his favorite song, she did not want him to and showed her displeasure not with words, but by shoving him. At the library she blew up at me for touching a book when we found the section (horses) we were looking for. I hauled her aside and told her that her behavior was unacceptable and she had now lost another dollar. She was sat sullenly for the rest of our visit and the ride home.
When I wrote up the deductions on the sheet she was horrified to see the new category. She thought that the money was to be discretely deducted, not publicly tallied. She begged and pleaded for me to not write it all up. My response was tough, you were rude and now you have to live with the consequences.
It'll be intrersting to see if this teaches her to hold her temper and to use her manners. I know she hates losing the money (at best she earns $3 to $4 a week), but the fact that it is writen plainly for all to see might be the bigger incentive to straighten up.
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