Happy Fall, New 6 Year Old!
We just finished a big weekend for you – your 6th birthday. I’ll have more on that in a later post. Right now, here’s a catchup from the summer 2019.
You loved zoo camp….at the very end of the summer. Many of your friends were there, and one of my students was your teacher!
Alexandra has arrived, and she’s part of the family. She helps you get to and from school, and is speaking Spanish with you nearly 95%.
The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:
Here is the summer double feature:
What you’re doing these days:
You love playing UNO, and mostly play by the rules. You do insist to always be the first to go in a game, though, and when you get hit with a “Draw Four” or other penalty cards, you say, “I don’t care.” You can’t hold cards in your hands that well, so you spread them out in front for all to see. Sometimes, you use a book to prop open in front of you to hide your hand, but you usually forget this and trust us not to look.
Kindergarten has started, and you’re thriving. You come home with “Pawsitivity Awards” at least When you and I were in the car one day, the radio played “The Final Countdown” by Europe…..you shouted, “Hey Dad, My teacher plays this song for the last few minutes of independent writing (which I think is drawing, you aren’t writing yet). Every morning when you get to school, you and your classmates check in at the Mood Meter. Most days, you place yourself in the green, but occasionally, you spend some time in blue. When we were playing UNO one afternoon, you told me, “Dad, I spent some time in blue today.” I asked you why and you said you were sad about Boo 🙁 . I so wish that I could have had SEL in my early education; I think it is a great feature for kids and adults to own their emotions and be able to talk about them.
You have tried V8 juice and kinda like it. You have about two cans a week.
You are about to outgrow using the men’s locker room to change for swimming lessons. You can each and start the showers; I used to have to push the button for you cause you didn’t have the strength nor the height. Now you have both and sometimes push the buttons for little boys who need help.
A recording
In my life these days:
I’ve begun my 23rd year of teaching. I just returned from the senior campout at Camp Huston in Gold Bar, WA.
My Piano lessons are going well. Right now I’m working on a Bach book of minuets and musettes. I never practice as much as I’d like to, but I’m really enjoying it.
I have begun my twenty-third year of teaching, and my fifth at my most recent independent school in Seattle. For the last seven or eight years, I have had a transgender student in one of my classes. The first time it happened, in Redmond High School, I was shocked when the counselor pulled me aside before classes started to let me know about a student whose name was Bailey, but was presenting as Sean. Sean was in my Math in Art, Technology, and History class. This year, for the first time, I introduce myself as Mr. Peabody and share that I prefer “he, him, his” pronouns, then had the students share with me (over a post it note) what pronouns they prefer to use. I don’t know if it is happening in other schools in Seattle (I’m pretty sure it is) or other schools around the country like Indiana, Mississippi, or Virgina, but to me it represents more of an openness to include a person’s true self, not just what they are judged to be.
In the news:
Impeachment proceedings have begun against Trump. We’ll see where that goes.
The first all-women spacewalk happened at the ISS this week.
Large areas of California have had their power shut off to try to prevent forest fires from spreading.
A summary of a book or podcast I liked:
Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins. I
Don Quixote. I “skimmed” this one over the summer.
RBG and Free Solo are both Oscar-winning documentaries that I was able to watch in the plane flights during our Africa trip. RBG is my hero – what a life.
May Your 6th Year be filled with fun and growth, little Jessica. Like you say after you win at UNO…….Victory!!!!
Love, Dad