McG Kids
This weblog tracks my kids’ early years. Each entry is a snapshot from their childhood.
Please pardon any type-o’s, misstatements, or factual irregularities. This blog is written by an often dazed dad, normally after 11 pm when he should really be in bed if he had any sense. Even the basic quick edit is not a regular practice here.
Getting Down at the Neighborhood Picnic
At the annual neighborhood picnic, Molly was inspired by the music. She started to really boogie. Some of her moves are reminiscent of Sally O’Malley from Saturday Night Live.
Hearts of Fame and Bravery
That’s Quite an Outfit
Molly came home from school in this outfit, a true celebration of unconventional expression, or just strange style, depending on how you look at it. She got her pants wet and got to choose new pants from her cubby. She chose these tights, which were sort of accidentally in there to begin with. The minute I walked in to pick up Molly, the teacher explained to me that Molly had chosen her own outfit.
(By the way, that is the same rainbow shirt that was featured over a year ago in another peculiar outfit. The shirt was a little too big at the time, but silly looking as always.)
Still feeling unconventional at dinner time, Molly chose to replace her stock dining chair with her own little red one, despite any discomfort is might have caused her. She stuck with this chair for the whole meal but quietly switched back to the normal chair the next day without a word from anyone.
Tuesday: The Best Day of the Week
Claire says that Tuesday is her favorite day of the week. Yes, Tuesday.
First of all, Claire has “specials” in school on Tuesdays: either Spanish or computer, both of which she enjoys. Then, Claire rides the bus home on Tuesdays (and Fridays) instead of staying at Extend-a-Care. This is the schedule that Claire has requested. Claire likes EaC, where she gets to play on the playground with her friends, do arts & crafts, etc. But she also likes to come home early on the bus and just relax. On bus days, she’ll come home, have a snack, watch a little TV, and then get busy on a drawing project while I finish up work in my home office until about 5:00. Usually Claire and I work in quiet peace, but occasionally there is some frustration on both sides about needing something / needing to focus on work.
A little after 5:00, it is off to pick up Molly at day care. Then we all head over to Jason’s Deli, still the girls’ favorite place to eat. While Molly enjoys cheese pizza, Claire enjoys a salad bar or hot dog, and I indulge in a Pollo Mexicano, Kit magically shows up. It is just a built-in assumption now that we are eating at Jason’s on Tuesday evenings, and Kit heads straight over from work.
Then usually Claire and I head over to the swim school across the street while Kit (who arrived after us) and Molly (who eats slowly) finish up at Jason’s and head home for bed. Claire is enrolled in a swimming class, but since she is the only one in the class right now, she basically has private lessons with Mr. Andrew. Claire and Andrew work hard and have lots of fun (jumping, throwing, plashing games between laps). Claire has developed a really nice back stroke and is working on going straight. Then it is straight home and off to bed.
Ah yes, Tuesdays… specials, bus, chilling at home, Jason’s, swimming. It just can’t be beat!
iPod Touch
Claire has been wanting an iPod Touch for a long time, mostly because a few other kids at school have them. She occasionally likes to use my iPhone to do some drawing with Flowpaper or the like, but she has largely lost interest in games like Angry Birds. However, inspired by her friends, Claire wanted an iPod Touch, perhaps more as an accessory than a useful or fun device.
Kit and I were skeptical of Claire having an iPod Touch, but seeing a nice lesson in saving and delayed gratification, we said she could buy one herself. We offered her a used one for a marked down price of $75 rather than $200 new. We told Claire is was actually an old iPhone, but she did not mind. Claire quickly agreed and proceeded to save up her $5 weekly allowance, which was already accumulating. She did not spend any allowance for months, quickly passing up sticker and other treats without a thought. It was just like she didn’t have allowance money. Each week when we gave her $5, she disinterestedly put it right away in her savings without an apparent thought.
Then suddenly she had $75. Kit in particular, and me to some extent, concerned about Claire doing too much iPod Touch. We didn’t want her to stop doing all her playing and art projects. So one contingency on selling her the iPod Touch was a contract so we were all on the same page. It did not specifically limit Claire’s time on the iPod Touch, but it did leave room to do
that if we had to. Claire happily signed the contract and handed over her (sort of) hard earned money. It was quite an accomplishment for Claire to save up for so long, and she made it seem effortless.
Now that Claire has earned her iPod Touch, she basically doesn’t use it. It just sits there. She takes it around a little bit as an accessory and likes to sometimes take pictures. She has yet to play a single game of Angry Birds.
All Over the Place
Normally our weeks follow a pretty steady and predictable rhythm based around work and school. The days are busy, planned down to the minute at spots, and each day feels like a sprint that you can never quite win. But the basic routine is there. Except for this week, which was a little different…
On Sunday, we meet Noni, Grandpa Phil, and even Uncle Tim in Round Top. Tim was in Houston for a conference and had Sunday off, so we decided to meet him for lunch at Scotty & Friends in Round Top, midway between Austin and Houston. After lunch, we explored grounds of Festival Hall before heading home for Molly’s nap. It was really great to get the girls together with everyone, especially Uncle Tim on his visit to Texas. Tim and Claire made a sweet pair, as always.
On Tuesday, Kit and I went to a fundraiser through Kit’s job at a fancy house in the hills overlooking Austin. Kit’s parents arrived that day to babysit for the night. The event was based on the movie Bernie, and we got to meet some of the real people that the story is based on as well as chat with director Richard Linklater. Now Rick is not just any old director. Besides Bernie, he has made some of my favorite movies ever, especially Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. It was so cool to get to just chat with him for a few minutes.
On Thursday evening, it was off to Chicago while Grammy and Granddaddy watched the kids back home. Kit had a conference in Chicago, and I got to tag along. Our plane dodged thunderstorms as flew in to Chicago, which was flooding as we landed. The next day was cool and rainy, but we still got to use our great Cubs tickets. We huddled under coats and umbrellas in a very light crowd, which I believe is rare for a Cubs home game, and which will tell you about the weather. The next day was cold and windy. During the day , I did lots of lots of exploring on foot, and some work on my apps. As Kit and I explored Michigan Avenue at night, snow flurries began to fall and fly horizontally through the bitter winds. It was still fun, and I got an amusing picture of Kit, but it was a bit much. We net up with our college friend Asma on Saturday for a great night on the town full of sushi, piano bars, an outrageously overpriced dessert bar, and lots of cab rides. The next morning, it was time for a crisp walk up through Lincoln Park and back, and then flying back home in the afternoon.
The next morning, back in Austin, it was no more art deco hotels, fine food, and freezing winds. It was just getting the kids up at 6:30 and off to school like usual. It was sort of strange. Chicago, the fundraiser in the Westlake hills, and Round Top all seemed like their distinct little islands that we visited briefly, and now we are back to our own crazy little world.
Favorite Books #5
It has been a while since the last favorite books entry on this blog, so here we go…
For bedtime stories, Claire has been reading the Harry Potter series almost every night for months now. We just finished up book #3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Claire loves the HP series and has a tendency to think it is real. Occasionally she even insists that it is real, a non-function book as she put it once. Each time we finish reading a book, we get to rent the movie afterwards. After watching one of the movies, Claire said, “Do you think that is what it really looked like?” She seems to understand that the movies are just movies but thinks they are based on real events. We have stressed to Claire that the stories are made up by J.K. Rowling, a nice, talented writer from England. One time I showed Claire an interview of J.K. Rowling on The Daily Show just to drive home the point that this is all made up by this one lady, and there she is. Claire seems to understand rationally that the story is actually fiction, but it also just seems real to her. That must make the stories very vivid for her.
For the sake of mixing things up a bit, we are trying Nancy Drew mystery series now. Claire is luke warm on Nancy Drew. She says it is alright, but it is just not as exciting as Harry Potter.
We also listen to the Ramona Quimby audiobook collection every day after school, while driving to pick up Molly. Listening to Ramona stories peacefully in the car with Claire after a hard day of work is a highlight of every day for me. I really look forward to those 20-30 minutes.
As for Molly…
Molly has more variety than Claire at the moment. It is hard to pin down a favorite. She can pick three books to take to bed each night, and usually they are different. Lately, though, one of the three is almost always one of the big Harry Potter books. This is surprising since Molly cannot read and the books have no pictures except for the cover and the start of each chapter. But Molly seems to enjoy the pure physicality of the Harry Potter books and insists on saving her place with a bookmark every night. Molly also loves Claire’s school yearbook from last year (kindergarten). She loves to look at all the kids and teachers, some of whom she knows. The third book is the wildcard. A long-running favorite is Dr. Seuss’ Big Green Book of Beginner Books. She keeps a bookmark as she works her way through this book too. She likes any Dr. Seuss book, of course, but this big one is her favorite. Basically, she likes big hardback books. Molly also enjoys pop-up books such as a Peter Rabbit pop-up that we have. She also enjoys some cute little books such as the square Little Miss and Mr. Men books by Roger Hargreaves and the occasional book about potty training.
Claymation!
Claire just finished up a brief 4-week claymation class at the Art School at Laguna Gloria. All of her classmates’ animations are posted together as a single montage online. Claire’s creations are in there, but I’m not even sure which ones are hers exactly, except for the one spelling “Claire” in the names section near the end. Anyways, the class put together some really creative ideas, the kind of stuff only kids can dream up.
McG Kids 