4 posts tagged “reaction”
Her new black shoes, supposed to still be in the box, are on her feet as she prances around the house. They sparkle and she loves them. She loves the dress she picked to wear on the first day as well, but I won't let her hold a dress rehearsal. The dress needs to stay clean.
She tells me she wants me to put her hair in sponge curlers like her Lola did. (Something I've never done before.) Her Hannah Montana backpack from Honey is packed and waiting to be worn. She's all set.
Meanwhile, I nervously try to wrap the strands of her hair around the pink curlers. The big ones go on top right? Am I using too much hair? Andrew: I don't think that's how my mom does it. Nia: It feels like when Lola does it. Me: Nia, I hope you won't be too sad if you don't have curls tomorrow.
She wakes up with waves instead of curls. They work just fine and she is happy with them. (Phew.) Her backpack still looks giant on her even though she's grown. Nate and I walk her to the bus and take what will be our traditional first day of school picture. (You have them too, right?)
She says her first day was fun and that she even talked out loud in class. She said they could only talk when they held the bear. When it was her turn, she told everyone that her name was Antonia (or Nia, she couldn't remember what name she used and she points this out to everyone she tells the story to), that she liked playing outside and with her Barbies, that she was a 10 for the day (they measured how they were feeling like a thermometer) and that her favorite food was her mommy's spaghetti. (Awesome!) She told me everyone is nice, even the boy who was mean last year. (Phew, again.)
The First Week
Nia was the "helper" for the week with a boy named Anthony (also ruled nice by Nia). She brought home homework each night - it was already finished by the time I got to see it. Eight spelling words like a, at, cat, the and counting objects and filling in the missing numbers. ("It's too easy," she says. I tell her to keep doing her best and that I'm sure it will get harder.) I was supposed to read her a story each night but she read the story to me. (And skipped ahead in the book.) On one homework assignment, she was supposed to put the words in alphabetical order - she did that sure, but then she spelled out other words that began with the other letters (even, first ...).
She told me she didn't like Phys. Ed. - that they made her do jumping jacks and she had to count them like this, 1,2,3,1 - 1,2,3,2 - 1,2,3,3 - and she counted them all out to 10 for me. She then asked, "Momma, what keeps our heart from bouncing around in our bodies?" "What color is our heart?" What does it look like? Where are our lungs? How does our brain stay up in our head?" ... I tried to answer as many of them as I could. (I now call her the Constant Questioner because I feel like she just keeps firing them at us all day. One of my favorites, "Who made God?" I didn't even know where to begin.)
Congratulations on your first week of first grade Bean! It's so much fun sharing in your adventures and your stories (heck, even your questions!).
I think this video of Nia and Nate pretty much captures the way many people felt after watching this season's American Idol finale.
Nia, this morning at breakfast: "We get to watch American Idol tonight and have popcorn!"
Andrew: "No sweetie, not tonight."
Nia, excitement dampened with disappointment: "Whyyyy?"
Andrew: "President Obama is going to talk on tv."
Nia: "Again?! He was just on. He talks a lot."
(In case you didn't know, she "voted" for Obama in her school election so this is one reaction that has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat. It's all Idol - a possible future political party.)
The following comments all come with a hint of snootiness from Stay-At-Home Moms I've come to know around town. They make it pretty clear that I'm no longer in their "club."
"Oh, you're putting the kids in child care?"
"I guess you just have to do what you have to do."
"That drive is awful. I hated it and my kids were always so exhausted when I picked them up from day care."
"You're thinking about that day care? I've heard some unsettling things about that day care." (FYI - We didn't pick that day care.)
"My daughter didn't like that After-School program."
"You are going to hate it when it rains. The drive is even worse when it rains."
"You're going to leave for work that early?"
"You're going to get killed on gas prices."
"Well, if you say it's worth it."
"You have to drive how far every day?"
"Wow. That's going to be a really long day for your kids."
"I'm sure you are going to miss all that quality time you get to spend with Nate."
As if I didn't feel bad/guilty/unsure enough about going back to work. Thanks for pointing out the obvious and for the support. It would be different if they said what they said because they were genuinely concerned. They aren't. They say it as they look down their nose at me. I try to tell myself that they would do the same thing if they were in our position and given this opportunity. Of course, I'm sure they would disagree.
