My kids and Year 7.2
March 22, 2022
Academics
JB has been struggling with math reasoning. They’ve memorized enough answers that they have been spending the past semester refusing to use their strategies and literally coming up with their answers and writing out the strategies afterward to match their answer. No wonder they don’t know what the hell they’re doing when faced with a word problem.
This wakes up all my personal math related anxiety and deep fear that they’re going through what I did with math. I never did understand the concepts that my brain elided over in geometry and algebra. It literally would not stick no matter what the teacher or tutor explained and I felt dumb as a rock. I don’t want that for my kid!
We’re tackling this from multiple angles. PiC and I are both doing daily reinforcement in the form of conversational pop quizzes and sharing our personal strategies for solving arithmetic mentally. Most of that is PiC, I am terrible at this. And thank goodness we have support for the rest of this school year from their tutor but they’re not going to have that in second grade. I hate this and I hate that their teacher didn’t bother to tell us when this first started.
Life with Smol Acrobat
Smol’s been working on drinking from open cups, a messy proposition at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. After dozens of tries, and fights because they wanted to hold the cup of water independently and throw it over their head but I wouldn’t let go entirely and therefore am just the worst person ever, something clicked and they more frequently tried to drink than to shake the cup. They still shake it and still get a face full of water.
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When we realized we had six more months without childcare, I looked through Lakeshore’s catalog for some educational things to help us get through. Everything was so expensive that I held off and thankfully they have hit a stage where anything “new” is entertaining.
JB used to rummage through the recycling bag regularly. Now all our recycling gets handed to Smol for a day before it goes out.
Smol has the standard sets of blocks handed down from JB. Other perfectly acceptable toys and games: a jar without the lid and a spoon to walk around stirring. Bonus games: wielding the spoon but lost the jar. Also wearing the jar on their fist but lost the spoon. Oh found the spoon while holding the jar! Throw yourself at mom in excitement. My take home kit from the dentist is excellent to chew on. A newspaper torn into strips, we hand the sheaf back and forth, one by one.
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Smol is very into animals. They ask for each of their little plastic animals to be held up for them to kiss. They love tiny fingerpuppet animals, those all get a kiss. Sera comes in for lots and lots of pets and attempted cuddles which are still very confusing to her at all times.
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Those little eyes are hilarious.
They’ve been practicing a wicked burn sideeye, the intensity of which can scorch a trail across its path, but for the pleased mischievous grin that bursts out after a particularly successful glare.
When PiC and I stand side by side facing them, Smol’s eyes flick back and forth between the two of us faster and faster until you could set a metronome to the flicking. They are mightily amused by this too. As am I.
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Pupdate
Sera isn’t super pleased about this development but I’ve woken up to one of my dog caring responsibilities that I’ve been leaving by the wayside from overwhelm: dental care. I feel terribly that I’ve not been attentive to her teeth but I know it’s because I literally could not handle one more caring thing. Now I can, so I do. I brushed her teeth gently 5 times a week but will likely need to budget for a dental cleaning for her this year. Sigh. It was likely necessary this year anyway, I think she’s ten this year if you can believe that.
She is not a great paw at hide and seek. I had tucked myself into a corner of the bedroom for a quiet moment. At the sound of paws in the hallway, I called her over for a pet.
No response.
I called her again.
No response.
I poked my head out and saw her staring fixedly at the wall, confused. I called again. She jumped and then came over wagging her tail.
She had no idea where I was. 🤦🏻♀️ Her nose is apparently not that good.
Precious Moments
JB explaining cotton candy: they basically take clouds and turn them into sugar?
JB: what’s the letter at the end of the rainbow?
We look at each other.
PiC: w.
JB: Ugh! Don’t tell her!
Me: I know how to spell rainbow!!
Smol Acrobat holding a twin pack of toothbrushes runs past: yahhh yah yahhhh!!!
