The 352

Sometimes I go really slow and weave and wander around all of the pot holes and bumps. I really do like to take care of the Escape. Sometimes though, I am in a rush and I forget the unmarked holes and I hit them a little harder than I intend. Okay, seriously...if you have been on this road...you know that the whole pothole is actually a road. 

The road drives me crazy. Sometimes I can ignore the bumps and the holes and the dust that make it such a miserable road and I smile about things I could be doing or should be doing or wishes or dreams. Sometimes I crank the tunes and sing. I plan trips to Lunenburg and cabins by the lake. Sometimes I just chuckle that they played "Good Time" again and wonder if Jeff has heard it on his alarm. We joke that they play it every morning.

Sometimes it takes FOREVER to get home with all of the weaving and wandering (and the cursing when I hit the odd hole). Sometimes I get home very angry and bitter but I park the Escape in the garage and we both sigh with relief over the daily drive is over.

Thank goodness I have a good mechanic that looks after the needs of my Escape.

But I know that other roads are just as bumpy.

I know that sometimes it is okay to ignore how rough the road ahead is.

I believe that sometimes it is satisfying to meet those bumps head on.

And sometimes it is okay to curse when you forget about a bump that is not marked out. 

In the end I know that all of the repair people I need are within easy reach.

And someday...after driving over all of the bumps, I know I will wake up and find that the road is smooth. For a day or two. And there will be celebrating. Besides, despite the bumps along the way, I always seem to get where I want to go.

The Boy Loves to Cook

The last couple of months have been a pleasant mixture of racing around like a chicken with my head cut off and sleep. The sleep part usually lasts 6 hours or less. I know it is all worth it but it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find my creative genius when my brain is too busy mulling over "How will I assess my Lunenburg unit...Lasagna for supper tonight...take out the hamburger...Kennedy wants bagels in her lunch....damn I just forgot my lunch kit at school...I have to drive the FARM truck to school?!....tonight I will BBQ for Scott while he fixes the Escape...Happy Birthday Kennedy.........!

But in the middle of all of this frenzy I have learned something more valuable than my future job could EVER be.

Rory and I make good kitchen partners.

He races to the house every night to wrap himself up in my arms and then we have a coyote and roadrunner race to the house from the driveway. Sometimes he lets me be the roadrunner.

He throws all of his barn clothes all over the house and runs to wash his hands. 

"What are we cooking tonight, Mom? Any potatoes to peel?"

And we are off. In the hour that follows I learn much about what makes my little boy so special and what it means to be a Mom to a young man. I try to envision him with me in the kitchen 10, 20 years from now...and somehow I KNOW it will be...even though I am struggling to picture the man he will be 20 years from now. He peels all of the potatoes. I tell him not to cut his finger off. He scoffs at me. Then he cuts his finger. He shrugs it off as nothing. And then there is blood and it HURTS SO BAD AND I NEED A BANDAID RIGHT NOW and then it doesn't hurt anymore. Are there any carrots to peel tonight? And did I know that the Penguins are now his favorite hockey team and that they play on television tonight and that he is going to play in the NHL? Did I know he is going to live with Cohen? "Oh, Like when you go to University you will live with some friends?" No, he is building a house next door to Cohen for him and I and Steve to live in. He might be a gardener and he will keep both Tammy's yard and my yard (which is the same yard of course) looking wonderful. Maybe with some containers. 

And maybe he will marry Chloe. Actually, he will play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and people will yell "ROAR - EEEEE" when he is on the ice.

Actually, he is going to start a restaurant where all of the goody bags for kids have little hockey pucks and sticks in them. The tables will look like ice surfaces. Each seating area will be named after his favorite teams. And would I please play hockey...only to 12 points...when we have supper on.

And maybe we should BBQ tomorrow. Steak is good. Or maybe hot dogs. But let's not put 'stinky' cheese on the broccoli this time.

And Mom. How come hearts stop?

And my own heart skips a beat. It is still there. The pain and the anxiety and the confusion. For all of us. No wonder my creativity is gone. No wonder he is so excited to be cooking with his Mom. 

But we smile and talk. We hug and we laugh. Potato peels are flying all over my kitchen as his bandaided hand tries the OTHER peeler because it was obviously the first peeler's fault that he cut his finger SO BADLY.

And then he decides we need the radio on and he laughs his head off because he is POSITIVE the words to the song had something to do with Potatoes. I am pretty sure he heard wrong but what a coincidence and maybe we could write a potato peeling song. I am pretty sure in this kitchen...we can do anything.

For one hour I was a psychiatrist, a medic, a teacher, a chef, a sport newscaster, a Mom. Tomorrow he wants chicken wraps...

The Day I had to Explain Death to my 5 Year Old

Nothing can ever prepare you for the death of a friend, a teacher, a Mom, and a Winnipeg Bombers fan.

Nothing.

But over the last few days, my son and I are coming to terms with the harsh realities of life: the fact that we all die, and that we have no control over when or how.

I remember Subway lunches and her amazing smile. I remember the way she spoke about her sons and how she cringed when I teased her that I would send Rory to school in a Saskatchewan Rough Riders jersey for Halloween. She told me THAT would be the scariest costume she had ever seen.

And I feel so guilty that my son has his Mom to hug him goodnight. Her sons do not have their Mom anymore and I just don't understand how this is fair.

I remember her going to Vegas and teasing me about it mercilessly while I stayed behind to man her classroom. I am so glad she took that trip.

I remember her plans to make a Kindergarten blog.

I remember her support and encouragement while I was her student teacher and then playing along with my antics when I came back to be the Grade One student teacher.

I remember Rory coming home on the day he had brought her his "Hulk" gingerbread boy saying that Mrs.H had laughed a lot...but had thought it was Frankenstein.

I will miss the daily letters that she sent home with the kids about what they did at school that day... it was always the first thing I dug into Rory's or Kennedy's bag for.

I was so happy when she phoned me at home one day just because she wanted to touch base about Rory's headaches and together we made a plan for what we could do to help him if he got one in class.

Kennedy has one of the best memories: She wrote a letter to her current teacher saying that the teacher was the best. When she came back after Christmas holidays, Mrs. H had added to the whiteboard message "Hey, I thought I was the best teacher ever!" Kennedy still giggles about this.

A professor of mine told me about a book she has that I am going to share with Rory. The book states that there are many different ways celebrate life and to cope with our emotions. This blog is how I am dealing with my emotions. This is going to be a tough journey ahead but I hope that with time we will gain understanding and peace of mind. The AES and MES Kindergarten classrooms are never going to be the same. It makes me so terribly sad to think that I won't have a Kindergarten Grad pic of her and Rory like the one I have above. Thank you for your gifts and talents while you were with us K, we miss you terribly.

The Busiest Busy Person Who Hasn't Won the Busy Award.

Is there an award for being the busiest person in the world?

I think I am the busiest person in the world.

I am SO busy. So very busy. Probably busier than you. And you. AND it is likely going to get me places. BIG places.

No, you think you are busier than me, but you are not.

Neither are you.

Aren't you sitting there running through your head the many MANY busiest sorts of busy work that you do and are you not comparing it to mine and thinking...I am busier than her but I am not going to say that to her because it makes me look more important?

!?!??

I am so proud to say that I am so very busy being busy that I am not even worried about your busy 'ness' being busier than mine.

Going skating, painting a picture of something beautiful with Kennedy, reading together, doing puzzles, LAUGHING with friends, playing cards with my parents, taking time to chat with friends who mean the world to me, cuddling with Steve every night, and fitting in the odd "chopping Rory's corn silage" on his bedroom floor, makes me the busiest person. Hands down. I am so VERY busy trying to invest in my children's future... teaching them what IS really important in life.

If I win the award for busy 'est' person...maybe it will stop some of you from competing for it.

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." Lily Tomlin

(and I don't know who Lily Tomlin is, and I DO advocate for hard work - just that I work to live...not the other way around).

The Fine Art of Procrastination

I always find that I get the MOST done when I am trying to avoid one little task.

Tasks I try whole-heartedly to avoid:
- taxes
- organizing our tax files
- finding all the stuff necessary for our taxes
- getting out the Christmas tree

For today's purposes though, let's just say that I did not have to worry about getting the tree out.

In the process of organizing our tax files for 2012 I entered every room and became distracted by every little job I have had lined up for the previous century:

I...
..found my closet!
..ran a short errand up the hill.
..decided to make stew, realized it would be better done in the slow cooker and put all the ingredients back in the fridge for tomorrow since I didn't have that much time.
..pinterest.
..made my bed.
..took down the Christmas tree.
..gathered clothes for the MCC.
..window shopped on IKEA
..played "Sorry" with the kids.
..built a lego "Captain America"
..bathed the stinky boy.
..thought about painting my toes.
..cleaned the tub.
...started cleaning our shower...oops...just realized i wasn't actually finished that job.

Sigh.

Tomorrow I KNOW I will get to those taxes...or Rodger's Hill...one of the two.

At World's End

I have had a lot of interesting thoughts over the past few days but none that really seemed to spark my blog writing genius. So, I have decided to create as I type with absolutely no goal in mind. This is bad...for I am forever being taught in school to "teach with the end in mind" (said in a booming, top of Mount Olympus type voice).
Which reminds me...for those wondering I received 100% on my last blog/assignment.
I am not sure how I feel about December 21st. At first I was all "LOL" Then, I was all "What if?" and now I am all "meh."

It is not that i don't care per say, but more that i can't do anything about it so I might as well just shrug. What could I possibly do to stop it?

So here is my bucket list. 5 things to do in 5 days:
1) Eat at the Olive Garden one last time.
2) Rob the bank (maybe before Olive Garden)
3) Get sick (check and check).
4) Not clean my kids' rooms (because who is going to care in 5 days time?).
5) Create a Firdalian calendar that generations ahead will look back on and create wonderful iNews articles (cuz apple will own the presidency/prime ministership) about the world ending in 6091 A.W.E1. (After World End #1)
(that was a lot of parentheses)
So, Cheers to our last 5 days on planet Earth! See you December 22!

If Britt Wall Makes a Quilt...

So I have this assignment.

And I haven't had time to blog for awhile.

And I LOVE multi-tasking.

So, here it goes.

I have this professor who has asked us to relate to her what we have taken from her course. I thought that maybe it would be inappropriate to tell her through a blog because I am well known for my VERY serious intellect on here...
But then again, I think I am onto something.

Plus Britt told me she is making a quilt to display her idea and that was my other idea, so blog it is.

Sherry is going to read this with an open mind.
Because that is what the Aboriginal perspectives promotes.

Seriously though, I would like to state that in taking this course on Aboriginal Education, I have made some valuable connections to my real life and to my educational philosophy - and making those sorts of connections is what enables learning and retention:

1) Integrating Aboriginal perspectives into my future classroom is not going to be difficult. In fact, it is happening already in modern classes without teachers even knowing or understanding the implications of what they are planning and doing: We have a more child centered learning focus, we acknowledge that students retain information better when they can move. So let's get outside. Let's dance. Let's sing.

Literally. The kids just cranked some crazy Chipmunk dance tunes. I am dancing and typing.

2) The Universal Design: What is good for some students can be good for all. Shouldn't all children be motivated intrinsically? If we want this to happen, shouldn't we make it possible by offering them hands on experiences that are relevant to their way of life?  There is no better way to help make key connections between curriculum and real life than in a natural setting.

"One of the traditional beliefs of many Aboriginal peoples is that all people, regardless of age, have gifts that can be shared with others and it is necessary to respect, accept and appreciate these gifts for what they can bring the community" (Aboriginal Perspectives p. 16).

Without even realizing it, my own education philosophy was formulated with the same ideas in mind. In a fast paced world where our children must learn to think creatively for the betterment of our Earth's future, I think the holistic worldview of the Aboriginal people had better find a way into every classroom! We need to teach all children that the land is a giver of life - and needs to be cared for and respected. We need to show every student that they have something valuable to offer this land.

I quoted from the Aboriginal Perspectives document because my professor helped write it.

I am not above being a teacher's pet.

And finally...

I realized that a blog is a great place to write such a reflection because the Aboriginal perspectives embrace humor and laughter in learning.

And really...if more of us could remember to laugh more often...we would all be a lot less stressed out...especially over learning logs.