On Thursday, we all took a day off and went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Was it a hit? Take a look.
Category: Education
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Headaches
Monday I had a headache. One of those grinding, relentless headaches that refused to succumb to OTC medications, water, or much of anything.
Wednesday I stayed home with a migraine. Even after it receded, I felt groggy.
Thursday I continued to feel groggy for much of the day, with a headache that came and went on a whim of its own.
And on top of that, Baguette’s school still thinks she’s insufficiently interactive. Or something. We watch her in all kinds of settings, and we still think the main question here is the size of the group.
So I haven’t posted much this week. But here’s to the weekend–may it be headache-free for all of us!
Photo by DebbieC, via Flickr.
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5 Things I Found While I Was Looking Around
50 of the World’s Best Breakfasts on Hostelbookers.com Blog
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and now that can be true in even more countries.
Portraits of Dogs as They Shake Off Water on Petapixel
For those days when you think, “My dog is so dignified. How silly could he or she look?”
10 Best Places for Escaping World Conflict on Expatify
When the revolution comes, you are going to thank me.
Your Age on Other Worlds on ExploratoriumI’ll have to move to Saturn to be younger than Baguette, and even then she’d have to stay on Earth. Not worth it.
List of common misconceptions on Wikipedia
That thing you thought you always knew? It’s wrong.
Photo by duncan, via Flickr.
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Can a Toddler Be an Introvert?
Recently, Baguette’s teachers asked to meet with us. Apparently she falls asleep throughout the day, and she doesn’t interact with children or her teachers the way they’re accustomed to seeing.
Her sleep is an issue, and we know that. And we’re working on it.
But apparently she’d often rather read a book with Bestie or by herself than trade toys with the other children. And she ignores her teacher when told that it’s time for a diaper change. (Which is strange, because at home she’s so cooperative about diaper changes. [/sarcasm])
What we see is that she holds back a little when first encountering someone–even Mr. Sandwich’s parents, who she sees regularly–but warms up when allowed to do so on her own terms. When Mr. Sandwich picks Baguette up from day care, she and Bestie want to dance and play and spin together. On playdates with one or two other children, she both plays with them and gets territorial with toys, just like they do.
And even in large groups in noisy settings, like birthday parties at indoor playgrounds, she has a great time running from the ball pit to the trampoline to the tiny basketball backboard. It’s not like she’s cowering in a corner. She’s just doing what makes her happy, without the need for constant companionship in her choices.
Also worth noting: when she moved from the toddler room to the two-year-old room, she went from a class of 8 to a class of more than 20, in a much larger setting (and by that I mean that I think our entire house might fit into her new classroom).
I know I’m on the cusp of introvert and extrovert. I can be very outgoing when I choose, but I also really, really like staying home with a book.
So when can we get a sense of whether Baguette leans toward the introverted side of the scale? Because her behavior doesn’t seem to require evaluation–I just think she leans toward smaller groups and smaller settings.
Don’t get me wrong. I do want to know about real problems, and I want to address them as soon as possible. But I don’t see “likes smaller groups” as a problem. It’s just a little different from what they’re used to seeing. And “different” isn’t a problem.
Photo by GenkiGenki, via Flickr. -
Bullies Come in All Shapes and Sizes, Part III
I just came across this post on GeekDad about a first-grade girl bullied for carrying a Star Wars lunchbox. It’s a couple of years old, but it resonated with me.
Why? I didn’t carry a Star Wars lunchbox. I’m old. I pre-date Star Wars. But I was an Adam-12 fan, and I carried a lunchbox from that show.
One morning, as I was walking to my class, two boys started to taunt me. It went like this:
Boy #1: You’re a boy.
Me: I’m a girl.
Boy #2: No, you’re a boy. Only boys watch Adam-12.
Me: That’s not true. I’m a girl, and I watch Adam-12.
Boy #2: That means you’re a boy.
Me: No, it doesn’t. Look, I’m wearing a skirt.
Boy #1: That just means you’re a boy in a skirt.
Me: . . .Look, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know that this is where the conversation ended. And it didn’t end because I ran away crying, or because a teacher put a stop to it.
No, it ended because I hit Boy #1 in the head with my lunchbox. Which was full, because it was morning. And made of metal, because that’s what lunchboxes were made of.
You know what happened? Nothing. I didn’t get in any trouble, either at home or at school. I’ll bet neither of those boys was willing to admit that someone they saw as a victim was completely unwilling to fill that role. And maybe, just maybe, they thought better of pulling that kind of crap with some other little girl. The only thing that happened was that I got a dent in my lunchbox.
I’ve always been proud of that dent.
Photo by Andrew Baron, via Flickr.
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Talking Points
Mr. Sandwich: We’ll try to strike a happy medium between oppressive control and Lord of the Flies chaos.
Me: I miss Brontosaurus.
Mr. Sandwich: What do you mean?
Me: They got rid of them. Now they’re Apatosaurus.
Mr. Sandwich: What? Why?
Me: Some kind of nomenclature thing.
Mr. Sandwich: F*%k these “Pluto’s not a planet” people.Mr. Sandwich: The flooring in Gwyneth Paltrow’s home is made of stones from a Peruvian schoolhouse. In other news, the Peruvian children are now going to school in a tent.
Mr. Sandwich: “Toddler injured by piranhas?” Who lets a baby play near a piranha tank? Well, we are officially not the worst parents ever.
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5 Things I Found While I Was Looking Around
Finish of DIII 3200 Meter Race at Ohio’s 2012 State Track Meet on YouTube
This is one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen.
Graphical Representation of Geologic Time on USGS PUblications Warehouse
Yes, I am a history geek.
SpaceCamera – Live Event on Slooh
Wish I’d known about this when the eclipse took place. Good thing we made that viewing box.
Creating Digital Color Palettes on Centsational Girl
Have you seen these on Pinterest? Now you can create them, too.
Teeny Tiny Pig Overcomes His Fear of Stairs to Get a Bowl of Delicious Oatmeal on Jezebel
Who knew oatmeal could be this enticing?
Photo by N-ino, via Flickr.
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Baguette Goes to the Opera
The LA Opera has a wonderful children’s program–twice a year, they offer Saturday morning creative workshops and an opera performance. Thanks to a generous friend (Bestie’s mother, as it happens), Baguette got to participate in fun activities, followed by selections from Verdi. Will this kind of experience encourage her to become a musical prodigy? Probably not, but we both had a wonderful time.
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“Mine!”
Baguette has started to get possessive. I know this is a normal stage, and we work on reminding her about sharing (since she was a tiny baby, she’s been good about “trading”–although for the past six months or so, she’s gotten pickier about what constitutes a good trade).
So last night I was in the kitchen and heard her call out, “MINE!” I thought, She’s watching Sesame Street. What on earth has she found to be possessive about?
But I was wrong. Because in fact she had recognized that the number of the day was “NINE!”
Sunny days, chasing the clouds away . . .