Laura loved that long hike. I’m told there was no whining the whole day, even though much of the walking was straight up or straight down. There was a gorgeous lake at the end of the trail. She and the rest of the kids were so wiped out afterwards, they didn’t even have the strength [...]
Archive for the ‘Laura’ Category
Stretching out the summer
We are up in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe for the week, staying in a big house we rented with three other families we know from preschool. I have pictures, but I sent my camera out with Laura this morning on an all-day hike, so the pics will come later. One of the dads [...]
The forgiving season
Mary has been away at one of those professional training things since Friday (the 11th) and it’s not going so badly here, considering. Lilly got a little querulous a couple of times in the first 48 hours, but seems to believe me when I tell her Mom’s return is closer and closer. I think [...]
Carousel
Here’s a fine picture of Laura and Lilly taken by Mary. She has this knack for getting pretty pictures from unusual natural lighting.
Horsies
First day of horse camp for Laura. This is the high point of her summer. She’s extra-motivated to bump her skills up a level or two, because we’re going to Tahoe next week and there’s likely to be lots of trail riding going on.
Recording artist
Here, as promised, is Laura’s first MP3 recording. She taped it the night of Nov. 14, to critical raves, and plans a whole bunch of follow-up releases.
Pablum
Stephy Says: Sure, C.S. Lewis was a much better writer than J.K. Rowling (who writes Harriet Potter), but she also has no illusions that she is doing more than drawing in, involving children, and she doesn’t barely hide Christian morals and ethics under every shrub. Also, I’m not sure Harry Potter is read-to-me as much [...]
Opus 1
Laura dictated this song to me the other night, by standing at my elbow and singing slowly while I typed it into my music notation program. I think it has to do with a story they were reading in class. I made some guesses about the chords she intended, and it ended up sounding like [...]
Publishing
Not one to let a hot media trend pass her by, Laura has been working on a series of short self-published books. In this one, she offers an unexpected take on her favorite parts of the Wizard of Oz story.
Higher education
I guess the first day of kindergarten went well. Laura was as excited about it as you might expect. For a couple of weeks she has been asking every day if it was tomorrow. I stayed home late so that Mary and Lillian and I could all be there for the big drop-off, and made [...]
Trust
“If we really want our girls to be safe, then we should start right now to TRUST HER and build up her strength and savvy — the very things that will best serve her in protecting herself. Withholding our trust in her undermines her trust in herself, and makes it that much more difficult for [...]
Born to be wild
Laura decided to take her training wheels off her bike more or less permanently this weekend. We went to this big paved playground nearby and she practiced while I shot hockey balls against the wall. I showed her what a figure-8 is, and she worked on that with unusual concentration for a long time. When [...]
Fruit of the gods
Mangos are Laura’s favorite fruit, by a long shot, which makes me happy because they were my favorite too when I was a kid. (Lately edged out by the blackberries I’m growing in the back yard.) I just wish they didn’t cost a buck each most of the year.
Expression
I finally got around to scanning some of Laura’s recent art and some photos that have come back from the shop in the last few weeks. For the photos, click the link over there in the right margin. I’m sorry the files are a little big. Pictures are time-consuming, so I have to use the [...]
Disobey III
Cathy writes this in response to the exchange (see 7/6 and 7/11 below) about “disobedience.” Reprinted with permission.”Gail’s experience with Lee is instructive, I think, on how our intentions have unintended consequences. A five-year-old lives in a concrete reality and can only apply these ideas in their most literal sense in every situation. All [...]
Good job
I think Alfie Kohn is exactly right on testing (and I say this as someone whom testing has been unreasonably good to), but he can also get a little excited. There’s been another small revival lately of the backlash, never too far under the surface, against “over-rewarding” kids for achievements or behavior we like. Sparing [...]
Disobey
“Obey” and “disobey” are not the kind of words you hear around our house, or at the preschool. When I was a kid, they were big concepts. Whether you were obeying or disobeying had a lot to do with how your day was going to go. To disobey was a very bad, dangerous thing, and [...]
Disobey II
Also sprach Gail, who said it was OK if I reprinted her response to my rant on disobedience (see the July 6 entry). (Please feel free to joinin; click on my name anywhere on this screen and have at it.) “I check out your blogger site every now and again, and I was reading the [...]
It’s a boy It’s a boy
Lillian and Laura and Mary and I went to inspect their new twin cousins this weekend, on the same floor of the same hospital where Laura was born, and they (the cousins) look great. Oliver and Jack. Auntie Frances needed some rest after the delivery but was doing quite well when we saw her and [...]
Watermelon Sugar
You liked the book, you’ll love the band. Thanks to my connections in the Judicial Branch, I am now the president of the Jue-Kuster Household Chapter of the Trout Fishing in America Fan Club. Laura is the vice-president and power behind the throne, and Mary, because she’s not quite as crazy about them as me [...]