Thursday afternoon I took Edward to Kindergarten round-up at Robert Lucas Elementary. I did not think it was possible to increase his Kindergarten excitement/anticipation level but this definitely jacked it up a notch. Or five! He loved every minute, begged to stay longer and then insisted on staying at the playground even though it was chilly and damp. I was a little dismayed that one of the first parent questions was, "What is the process for accelerating past Kindergarten and right into first grade and how often does this happen?" The principal handled this very well, explaining that there is a district-wide process in place, but that it rarely happens, since so much of what is learned in Kindergarten is not about reading and math.
The other parent comment that caught me off guard was the description of attending three or four of these round-ups before selecting a school--shopping around, as it were. Hmmm... We do have open enrollment and on our side of town we don't have issues with crowding so people have some leeway in choosing a school. Also Lucas is on the Federal "schools in need of assistance" (SINA) list, so the district is required to allow parents to enroll their children in another district school. Even so, it never occurred to me not to at least start out in our neighborhood school. Every school in Iowa City is a great school--award-winning teachers, plenty of resources, dedicated staff. I guess I just have confidence that my kids will thrive, and that I'll know if something is amiss and just cross that bridge if we come to it. As a friend of mine commented, "Nothing like parents to ruin a kid!"
On Friday we attended our first baseball game as a family. We're not talking Wrigley Field here. Or even the Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels.
No, we took in a University of Iowa baseball game on a beautiful Friday evening in Iowa City. It was dollar hot dog night and kids are always free. As my dad would say, "A bargain at twice the price!" It was the annual "pink game" for breast cancer awareness so the boys got pink wristbands, which Daniel quickly learned to use for a very dramatic sweat wipe (it wasn't even hot, but he loved the concept once it was explained to him.) They also loved that the players were wearing the same bands!
I also was paying close enough attention in the first two innings to complete their "baseball BINGO" cards (marking off things like "single," "fly out to left," "strike out--called," etc. early, which enabled them each to take home a prize t-shirt. These are size adult L, so they're even too big for sleeping shirts, but they were still thrilled with the prize!
Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the game. Beyond the BINGO, none of us was really closely following the action. The Hawkeyes are in dead last in the Big Ten standings, so we were not expecting much. Luckily, the Nittany Lions gifted us with eight (8!) errors, putting the Hawks up by 10-4 at the end of the fifth inning. That was 90 minutes of baseball, and plenty for us. A good time had by all (well, maybe not Grandma, but she's a good sport for hanging in there!)
(Side note: too bad we're not related to these Kenyons, whose significant $$ gift led to naming the football practice facility after them. It's next to the baseball field.)Saturday we all got together in Chariton for John's grandma's 90th birthday. It was very festive, with a huge cake and cups of ice cream for all the family plus the other residents of the nursing home. The boys stood on either side of her wheelchair and sang happy birthday, eliciting smiles and claps and a big hug from Great-Grandma. Edward knows she likes his red curls, so he insisted we delay his haircut until after the party. (Now Gram has weighed in with her desire to admire them as well, so another week...)
Mother's Day Sunday started out lovely with John making waffles, scrubbing the kitchen, doing three loads of laundry and washing my car. Unfortunately, the boys had some strange notions about good behavior so the afternoon/evening was a bit rocky. John says maybe he put too much pressure on with the "We have to be extra nice for Mom on her day" speech before I got up. "Maybe you just shouldn't tell them about Father's Day," he suggested.
On Monday I took the boys to the Shrine Circus, which was out at the County Fairgrounds. I guess it was intended to be totally outdoors, but a significant morning thunderstorm led them to set up in one of the show barns, which made for quite a cramped viewing area. We were jammed in together in bleachers with peoples knees in our backs and a huge Dora balloon (ill-advised purchase by the parents behind me for their 4-year-old) bopping my head. It was no Ringling, but just about the perfect size/speed/length for our boys, who absolutely loved it.
Ed says his favorite part was the acrobats. Daniel was very impatient waiting for the elephants, which were the last act of the show. He was pleased with a clown whose tears squirted far enough to land on his shorts. There was a tiger act, but at that point the boys were still just as interested in the barkers' sno-cones and popcorn. I had a snack stash in my purse, but we did have to buy a drink as it is unseasonably hot this week (after last week's unseasonable cold!) We also skipped the opportunity to ride an elephant, as I was sure it would not be worth whatever they were charging. Plus we might have lost our seats!Busy weeks ahead with my commencement Friday, a work trip next week, and then a family vacation. Didn't get a Mother's Day pic of myself with the boys, so perhaps a cap-and-gown shot will be in order. Although they did fall on the floor laughing when I modeled the academic garb for them. Oh, boys!
