Samuel is generally a very happy kid, but the tears come at least a few times a day. Because his brother said something he didn’t like, or he fell over, or he feels abandoned when we all leave the room. Whatever the cause, the problem is almost always fixed when we do something to make him laugh. Kei is especially good at helping Samuel snap out of his temporary funk.
Thomas took the next two photos, just moments apart. It’s a perfect reflection of a small part of our daily lives.
I drove to school this morning to the soundtrack of giggles from the back seat. I can’t remember what they were laughing about – probably something to do with poop – but it made for a nice start to my day. The sunshine and spring flowers didn’t hurt either.
These photos are very blurry (I couldn’t move fast enough), but they provide an excellent visual accompaniment to my giggly morning.
I’m coming down off a busy weekend filled with soccer games, yard work and a successful quest to drag my family along to the Wooden Shoe Tulip festival (photos coming soon). I am also heading to San Francisco tomorrow for a few days which means I am caught in this special place between not getting enough done on the weekend and making sure I’m prepared for my trip. I like to call it “panic”.
So, while I would love to start your Monday morning off with some beautifully inspiring rainbows of tulips, I simply don’t have time. So, instead, I’ll flash back a couple of weeks to a special moment in the pre-k classroom where I received a little education of my own.
Samuel’s classmate to me: “I have a dog and it died. I had two kitties and one of them died. I had a fish and it died. The dog threw up and that’s why he died. My cat got bitten by a coyote. My fish died because we fed him too much.”
Samuel: “That’s part of life.”
Conversations with my four-year-old are often the highlight of my day.
Happy Monday!
Even before we started our family, I knew that I was not going to be that mother who scheduled an endless number of activities for her kids. The thought of spending the weekend driving children from one location to another would make me break out in hives (ok, maybe just a mild sweat).
So it came as quite the surprise when I realized that we currently have an activity scheduled on every single day of the week. Soccer practice on Monday and Wednesday. Karate on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Swimming and Soccer on Saturday. Soccer on Sunday. It’s insane.
I’m already looking at the activities we can sacrifice for a little family (and homework) time. Are two soccer practices a week really necessary for a group of seven year olds? I’m going to say no… and then start counting down the eight or so weeks until Summer vacation when we may find ourselves with a little more breathing room.
Our Spring Break is off to a rocky start. What started out as a nice, sunny morning, quickly became a scary situation when Kei was taken by ambulance to the hospital after suffering an allergic reaction to some medication. He’s OK now, but I was very worried. The up side? The kids were with him and experienced their first (and hopefully last) ride in an ambulance. Thomas said it was cool, even if they didn’t turn on the siren.
Side note: It hurts a little that, in an effort to save money I arranged a series of childcare swaps with friends rather than sign the kids up for day camps. It was a fantastic plan (and still is) but, sadly, it looks like that money will be spent on medical bills instead. Don’t get me wrong, the ambulance ride was absolutely necessary in this instance. I just wish it didn’t drain our bank account.
Let’s change the subject, shall we?
I was looking through my photos from the past few weeks and realized that apart from the red couch pics, I hadn’t shared the rest of our photos from our recent visit to OMSI. While I used to take Thomas to the science museum a lot when he was a toddler – they have a baby playroom – I realized I hadn’t taken them to check out the museum since they have been old enough to really enjoy and understand it. A school holiday seemed like the perfect opportunity.
After my kids asked me what this is…
…we made a stop in the ball room where the they had to build tubes and then use forced air to move balls through the tubes. Samuel showed me around.
And, honestly, I think they were a little delusional with this sign.
We then wandered around learning about balance and earthquakes and all things physics. I may have even learned a thing or two.
This was so much fun – paper, a pen and a pendulum. think we made about six of these drawings.
Sadly the boys wouldn’t let me take any pictures of these with their static electricity hair, but this was the next best thing.
We built perfectly balanced arches…
Played with some puppets…
and looked for fossils.
We even sorted some recycling, although Thomas looks a little perplexed by this potato.
It was a great day – so much so that we stayed for about five hours and were forced to eat in the OMSI cafeteria. I have to say, though, that the food was actually very good. I’ve eaten in a lot of museum cafeterias and was incredibly impressed by the quality and the reasonable prices. I’m tempted to go back even without a museum ticket.
I’ve determined that 7 and almost 5 are great ages for OMSI. At this age, the boys have just enough curiosity that they’re not easily jaded by things like electricity and, well, puppets. I think we’ll go back agan soon although I think a trip to the Planetarium might be on the cards. I think the boys would really enjoy it and, to be honest, I might too.
Yesterday marked an important milestone for the Ishida family – the very first competitive event for one of our children that had real winners and losers. OK, so there were no losers (everyone got a “spirit” medal), but they awarded first, second and third which is a big deal. Thankfully this time I didn’t have to deal with a seven year old’s disappointment because our seven year old won a third place medal in his very first Karate Tournament. It was a very big day.
We arrived at the community college gym at 8am on a Sunday morning(!). Thomas spent a little time warming up while we watched from the bleachers.
I posted on Facebook that this view made me feel transported to a scene out of Karate kid – but with a lot less teenage angst.
Side note: It’s been a while since I’ve seen Karate Kid. Is it too mature for a seven year old to watch?
Mr Yoshida of Mr Yoshida’s Sauce fame was the host and sponsor of the day. He has an amazing entrepreneurial story if you’re ever in need of some inspiration.
And, of course, what is an opening to a Japanese-themed event without a little Taiko drumming. I would love to learn Taiko if only I had the time. It looks like a lot of fun and a great arm workout.
We spent the first hour watching the “weapons” contests where knives, nun chucks and big sticks were moved from hand to hand in carefully choreographed routines. One thing I love about Karate is that it’s one of the very few sports where girls compete against boys in almost every age group – and the girls often win (shhh – don’t tell my boys I said that).
After what seemed like an eternal wait, it was finally Thomas’ turn on the mat in the 6-7 year old age group. I felt better knowing that, as a seven year old, he may have a one year jump on some of the other competitors. I wasn’t prepared though for the intensity that can exist in the heart of a teeny tiny six year old.
Right about this point is when the nerves kicked in (mine and Thomas’). We signed Thomas up only for the Kata contest, which means he was required to run through his karate routine at the same time as another child. Five judges sat in chairs around the edge of the mat, each with a blue flag and a red flag. At the end of the routine they each raised a flag for the child who did the best routine. To be honest, I’m not sure how they worked it out. Thomas is an orange belt and the kid that he was up against was a blue belt (two belts higher). I don’t know if they account for that difference or just judge based on the routine.
Anyway… This first kid was a little… intense. He made more noise and generally looked like he wanted to kick someone’s butt. He was also about three feet tall.
At the end of the routine I anxiously waited for the result only to see the judges raise five red flags – Thomas was blue. I began to feel a little teary, mainly because Thomas looked upset and I knew he’d be disappointed, but also because we spent $60 for him to do a one minute kata and it seemed to be over.
But a few spars (contests? battles?) later and they called Thomas’ name again.
This time there were five BLUS flags. He won!
And just when I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest, they immediately called his name again.
Five RED flags (he was red this time). I can’t tell you how excited and proud we were.
Samuel was pretty excited as well.
The results had to wait until after the Kumite portion of the contest. Kumite is the fighting part of Karate where they put their moves into action. We decided Thomas wasn’t ready for Kumite this year and I am so grateful we made that choice because, honestly, I wasn’t ready for it. Kumite is when the 6 and 7 year olds start to show their age. That kid who was so fierce in the first round with Thomas, turned into a mess of tears when he lost his Kumite round. Others cried when a kick or a punch hurt a little more than they were expecting. It was hard to watch but Thomas will likely do it next year. I think that’s when I’ll take my bathroom break.
After the fighting was over and the kids had stopped crying, they announced the winners of the Kata and Kumite competitions…. drumroll….Thomas won third place in the Kata! The kid who beat him won first place.
I was so happy for Thomas, especially since he’s been working so hard at his Karate over the past few months with three lessons a week and lots of practicing at home. Mostly, though, I was just relieved that we didn’t have to deal with the look in his eyes if he hadn’t won – although he still would have gone home with a spirit medal if he hadn’t placed and he definitely showed spirit.
So, I feel as though we’ve started a chapter in our lives. Next year, Samuel may be required to participate in the same tournament (although I’m willing to wait a year) and Thomas will likely be required to participate in a little hand-to-hand combat. I’m not sure that my Mummy nerves will be able to take it. My only hope is that he keeps smiling, regardless of the outcome.
Samuel has been dressing himself for a long time now. And, if you know my child at all, you won’t be surprised to learn that he’s very particular about what he wears. He’ll sometimes spend a frustratingly long time digging around in his drawer for that one exact shirt that he needs – sometimes it’s the one with the breast pocket so he can carry his pen. Other times it has to be a plain shirt with no pattern or picture or not THAT Star Wars shirt, the OTHER Star Wars shirt.
Interestingly, none of his clothing selections are based on one thing looking good with another thing. It’s always a practical choice and it’s always for a very good reason.
Samuel still hasn’t shared his reasoning behind yesterday’s outfit, but I’m dying to understand. Prepared for an emergency Hippie Soccer convention, perhaps?
Thomas had his orange belt test last week and, although we’re still waiting to hear the result, I think he did brilliantly.
…But then I may be more than a little biased.
We’ve been on a reading and writing frenzy in our house lately.
Thanks to Pre-K, Samuel has discovered a new passion with writing and our evenings are often spent spelling out words so he can write us a love note or two (or five). He loves periods (puts them between every word) and his favorite words to write are like and love.
For Thomas, the second half of first grade has seen an amazing improvement in his reading ability. Now, anytime we leave the house, we have someone who reads every single sign, headline or menu out loud. It truly feels like he was struggling with his reading one day and the next day he suddenly just got it. I’m sure Pokemon has a lot to do with this improvement, as much as I hate to admit it. (Ever read one of those books as a bedtime story? Painful.) The Pokemon character names are often spelled phonetically and Thomas has spent months learning the details of every single one. I’m so excited that he has this new skill. I just know Thomas will love reading and this opens up a whole new world.
While we’re on the subject of reading and writing, I want to share a couple of signs that I found posted to the boys bedroom doors a few weeks ago. We had a bunch of people over for the Super Bowl and Thomas decided that it was a good opportunity to set some ground rules for his guests. I love how he put’s the “can’t do” list first and then follows it up with the “can’s”. For the record, jumping was accidentally put under the wrong list (he has a bunk bed and low ceilings).
Samuel was a little more direct.
“No girls in my bedroom”.
Here’s to making things crystal clear thanks to the written word.
Nicole Ishida Photography 