A Package to Start a New Chapter

A package arrived in the post office box yesterday from the Central School District.

Addressed to the P family, I waited until this am to open it up.

UH OH, it's the Kindergarten Registration Packet for the NOODLE Doodle.

With a knot in my throat, I phoned my mother. She is the one who most understands how I feel about my baby reaching age eligibility for kindergarten.

"OHHHH", she said.....just a long dragged out sort of sad but sweet type of "OH" was her reply. The tone of her voice said so very much...

Oh, I know, I too remember the day you brought him home from the hospital and he was so yummy and brand new.

Oh, meaning, oh, he is not really almost FIVE! What happened to the years that have flown by?

Oh, meaning, oh, he really isn't a BABY anymore. How the heck did that happen?

Oh, meaning, oh, I remember the day YOU went to kindergarten. (and you didn't even cry)

Oh WOW P, think about all the extra money you will have now that you won't have to shell it all out to daycare anymore!


Oh, this surely is a huge milestone for my Noodle, but it's all good. He is super excited and I am too. Another chapter to start, another adventure to begin, all in the name of growing up!

Go get 'em Noodle, you're gonna do great. I am so happy for you and most of all I am so proud of the little person you have become thus far.

Peace

Reunion Update

The reunion was fab. Catching up with old friends, sharing pictures of our beautiful children, swapping stories and interpretation of some of those stories is always charming. Seeing some of whom you haven't in nearly twenty years is always an adventure. Finally seeing someone that you have only had an instant messaging/emailing/facebooking relationship with, getting to meet their husband, and exchanging hugs as if you never parted, priceless.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, Big D too, considering he knew as many there as I did. A room full of 39 and then some, part of which were proudly married with spouse in tow, others who were not so happily married or divorced, coming alone, props to you all.

Smothered by 80's music and pics of us all in big (and I mean BIG) hair, such sweet memories. Knowing that it didn't matter if they liked you in High School, and now having the confidence to not care, was refreshing. I was me and I was happy.

Mostly all were pleasant, excited, and having the time of their life. There was one though, and he will remain nameless, as I have already forgotten his name. Why? Well, I will tell you why.

I walked up to Mr. ITotallyDoNotRememberAnymore and the following transpired:

P: Hi, I know you.
Them: You do? I don't know you. He glances at my pin displaying my name and fancy yearbook pic.
P: Yeah, I'm Double P, married to Big D, hung out with Suzy Pancakes and Joe Blow.
Them: No, Can't say I remember.

Getting more embarrassed by the second, but not going to let it get the best of me, come up with this clever reply, to which I am still so proud of myself for.

P: That's because you weren't lucky enough to know me in High School.

And with that I turned on my heals, giggled to myself, took a sip of my drink, found my REAL friends and danced the night away.

HOW RUDE!! I mean really, I would have at least faked it, people have no class! Oh, and did I mention that he was standing alone. Hmmm, I wonder why, tee hee hee!

Peace.

June came really quick this year.

Remember the good times you spend with those you hold dear, because like they say, all good things must come to an end.

I was feeling overwhelmed with sadness as I concluded a phone call with Schmoogie's third grade teacher. She explained that he is sad to see the end of the school year is nearing. He is upset that he will not get to see her each day. He has really grown to love Mrs. B, and so have I.

For Schmoogie, it has been one of those years where your child falls into who he is, who he always wanted to be, who he was meant to be. With the selfless guidance of Mrs. B. and personal maturity, Schmoogie has been polished this year.

He has always been a shining star, always the love of my life, always an intelligent, athletic and charismatic child. But this year, he has become more. He has developed the skills that will make him the best kind of friend and just the gentleman any Mother could ask for.

More good things are to come, of that I am sure. New chapters in the life of a Scholar Athlete will soon be here. However, for now, Mrs. B, I do believe your goal has been met. Thank you so much for being the that teacher that students hold in their hearts for years to come. We have been blessed with the opportunity to have had you in our lives.

As for you, kiddo, your father and I are so proud of your accomplishments this year. We are thrilled that you have the natural ability to effortlessly excel. You never cease to amaze us. Here's to a terrific summer stock piled with camp and sports which will lead you into your next chapter, forth grade.

Can it get any better?
Peace.

Noodle's in Trouble

Noodle came home from school (daycare) with a laundry list of infractions for the day. Doesn't happen often, as he is a relatively well behaved child.

Surprised, I acted so. Bright eyed and that NOOOO? is what I exuded, not knowing that it was only the first on the list.

"Mommy, I said potty words."

"Tell Mommy what else you did" Big D coaches from the couch.

"Oh. And. What? What Daddy, what else I did?" He had already forgotten.

"Tell her what you said to Miss. D." He is smiling at me from the couch, as I am left to be the disciplinarian in the kitchen.

"Oh. That, Mommy I say "NO" to Miss D."

The eyes widen and the NOOOO becomes, NOOOOOOOOOO!

"And tell her what else, Noodle." Comes from the cheerleader Dad.

"What else? There's more?" The eyes were bulging at this point.

"Oh, and I hit my friends."

"OH MY Noodle!"

A brief lecture loaded with disappointment, drenched with Mommy guilt and sprinkled with an affectionate expectation occurs and the tot decides he will NEVER do those things again.

Giggles from the other side of the couch are muffled by a throw pillow. Yes, Schmoogie found humor in all of this.

Why? I asked myself, well, why not? Noodle doesn't give us much grief and is rarely "in trouble." Schmoogie, on the other hand, is the king of punishment in our house. I guess he thought it was funny that someone else was getting the disappointed bulging eye NO's instead of him.

Kids.
Turned out to be a good night!
Peace.

Field Day 09

He awoke with a sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his face that you could see for a mile. It was afterall, the most wonderful day of the school year, FIELD DAY!

Decked out in his favorite silky shorts, the official Field Day t-shirt, fastest sneakers he owns, clean socks and his coolest undies, he enters my bathroom and applies deodorant. "Mom, I'm Ready" declares Schmoogie. He is all set for the big day!

The cooler is packed, we are armed with energy enhancing goods, including carrots, cucumber slices, water bottles and juice bags for the class.

The rain gives way and allows the sweet sun to shine through. It will be a great day. Dolce and Gabanna's on, we are off.

I explain to the Schmoog~Master in the car that I, as a child wasn't as enthused about field day. "See Schmoogie, they didn't have fourth and fifth place ribbons, the didn't have "participation" ribbons, so I, very rarely ever got a ribbon."

I go on to tell him "one time I remember receiving the first place blue ribbon for the tug of war." (You know tug of war is a class event, and the win was no thanks to me, that's for sure!)

Quick stop for breakfast sandwiches and we arrive the school.

We eat breakfast at one of the picnic tables.

Set up our sheet under his classes tent.

Carry over the cooler and into the classroom to help Mrs. B apply tattoo's on all of Schmoogie's classmates' arms.

Out to the field for the day to begin...

Second place in the 50 yard dash.

First place in the 400 meter race.

First place for the three legged race he so eloquently won with his pal from his class!

Now it's time for tug of war. I lead the class in chants to encourage their enthusiasm, have them flex their tiny muscles to arouse their adrenalin flow, chicken dance their finger tips to get them ready for an ultra tight grip on that rope. One of the Dads spell out some more strategy. First you dig your feet, then lean back and pull! And they are on. Mrs. B's Bolts are strong, the girls turn up the girl power and the anchors are secure.

PUUUUULLLLLL! The parents, janitors and other school staff cheer them on.

They were psyched. They did really well, blew away the first competitors, and were ready for the next. Only, the next team was big, they had been practicing, they looked ready, I was nervous, but our kids were ready too.

PUUUULLLLLLL!

They got us, but hey, we did well, 2nd place, not too shabby!

At the conclusion of the morning activities, I make my way to my office. Big D will stay and enjoy the afternoon's water events.

The most wonderful day of the school year was exciting, fun and a great time for the kids to let loose, and have some fun. It was great! Congrats Schmoogie, you rock!!

Peace.

Sixty Degrees of Shorts

Schmoogie would wear shorts all year round, if he could.

He would never wear a coat, jacket or even a sweatshirt, if he could.

Silky shorts and t-shirts would be Schmoogie's ideal dress attire every single day, if he could.

On the North Fork of Long Island, we experience varied temperatures of the seasons and all their splendor. Most years, from late April to early October, the temperature tends to be around sixty degrees or more. Sure there are those chilly, rainy April (and May) days, (which seem to be never ending this year) but for the most part, from Spring to Fall, the thermometer tries to reach sixty each day.

Since Kindergarten, when Schmoogie discovered that "Coach," the Physical Educator at his Elementary, wore shorts year round, the negotiations began.

"Why cant I wear shorts in the winter, Coach does?"

"Schmoogie, it's way too cold to wear shorts in December, it's ten degrees outside."

"But Coach wears shorts."

It was at that time, I became my mother.

"You're not Coach, you're Schmoogie, and you cannot wear shorts in the winter."

"That is soooo unfair, then, when can I wear shorts?"

As I reminisced about the soon to come Spring, I said, "In the Spring, when it's warm."

The ever so clever, at the time, Kindergartner replied with, "Well, how many degrees is that, because if I cant wear shorts when it's ten degrees, how many degrees does it have to be?"

"Sixty, sixty degrees to wear shorts, now that's enough, lets talk about this in the Spring."

So, just as soon as the sun makes it's way from behind the miserable clouds of winter, just as soon as that pretty sun peeks her face out onto the North Fork, the question comes, everyday. Every. Single. Day.

"How many degrees is it going to be today, can I wear shorts?"

I used to worry about it, now that he is in third grade, and NEVER, ever show signs of being cold, I have conceded that once that mercury hits 60, it becomes Spring in Schmoogie's world and the shorts come out to stay.

Here we are in May, and he wears shorts to school every day, together with a long sleeve polo (in accordance with the dress code) until the mercury surpasses 60, then it'll be a short sleeve polo.

This morning, after dressing myself in long trousers and a long sleeve blouse, complete with a cardigan for when I get a chill later, I lay out clothes for Noodle, a sweatshirt and sweatpants, with an undershirt. Just then, Schmoogie emerges from his room in his shorts. I just shake my head and continue on.

The boy will not freeze, he is comfortable, I repeat in my hear, over and over.

As I get into my car to make my way to my office, and glance at the digits reading 51 degrees, I shake my head, and again, remind myself that he wouldn't wear shorts every single day if he were cold.

Sigh. If I have learned one thing in my nine years of motherhood, it is to choose your battles, in this case I have chose not partake in a battle.

Peace.

Freezing H2O

The science fair exhibit took place last Thursday at Schmoogie's school. Participation is voluntary, but because we never have enough to do (wink) participation is a self induced requirement for Schmoogie.

I encouraged a simple, easy to controlled science project that could be done in a very short time frame this year. We, and I say we, because he didn't do the project on his own, had some spare time the weekend before, so we set up our project.

The objective was to find out if water temperature has an impact on the rate at which water will freeze. I wanted to know, because I remember being told that warm water is a must if you need ice cubes in a hurry.

Three clearly labeled cups in the freezer. Set the timer. Schmoogie flies back upstairs to get back to Wii bowling. I watch the timer and straighten the kitchen. Timer buzzes. Schmoogie runs down, checks the three cups, gleefully records his data, snaps some photos, back up to Wii bowling.

This process continues every four minutes for some time. Results: cold water is the winner. Cold water freezes faster than warm or hot. Go figure!

The Tri-fold Board arranged so eloquently (if I do say so myself) to display our hypothesis, data, pics, etc.

While every effort was made, we missed the science fair this year due to lacrosse practice and my kickboxing class, just far too much to do that night.

The next morning at school, all students that participated in the science fair were invited to a special bagel breakfast.

Much to Schmoogie surprise, when he was called up to receive his participation certificate he also was the proud recipient of the second place ribbon for third grade projects!!

Go Schmoogie!

Peace.

It's a Pleasure to get a Report Card

Schmoogie’s report card came home yesterday. It was exceptional and unmatched to any he has ever brought home. He has always done well academically; sometimes he floors me with his astuteness. But this report card was different, it was special.

He acheived his first “Schmoogie is a pleasure to have in class” comment, which brought a tear to my eye. Schmoogie has an amazing teacher this year, she is really awesome, the type of teacher that you remember for a lifetime.

We had a Report Card Celebration. It doesn’t take much for me to have a celebration, I just love to celebrate. Life is too short, celebrate all it has to offer! I picked up a Cavel Cake with some inspirational wording to reflect the pride Big D and I felt for the Schmoog~master.

After dinner I grabbed the cake out of the freezer, and made the announcement. Schmoogie and Noodle looked up at me with that wide-eyed “but Mom, it’s Wednesday, what could you be celebrating now?” look. I briefly explain, place the cake in front of our little brainiac, hand him a knife and we had a celebration!

He was beaming, he was proud, he was excited, and so were we. It was truly a pleasure.

During the car ride to daycare this morning, Noodle asked Big D why we didn’t sing Happy Birthday to Schmoogie last night. The answer , well, obvious, and Noodle wondered, why then, did we have cake in the dining room??. He then turned to Big D and said “Well Daddy, then we should have sung Happy Report Card Day to him”.

Peace

Beaming with Pride

I am beaming today.

Nothing can bring me down.

My Schmoogie has always made me proud, but today I am the most proud of him that I have ever been.

In a meeting yesterday with his teacher, who I adore, respect and love, and his counselor, yes, he has a counselor, I was given some of the most amazing news ever.

Schmoogie scored the highest score of all the third graders in his school, on a standardized math pre-test. He too has been offered an art scholarship to attend an Art Camp at East End Arts Council over the winter break next week. His behaviour has improved, and in the last year has excelled in baseball, football and basketball.

He is not only athletically inclined, he also excels academically, and now he has unearthed an art talent. I am so proud of him.

A well rounded, happy child, what more could you ask for!

Peace

A little Funny

After he had shoveled a path from the garage door to my car. After he had changed out of his snow boots and shovelling gear and into his school sneakers. After his snack and backpack were packed. After all that, he went to put his lunch money in his pocket, and Schmoogie comes up to me this morning and says:

"Hey Mom, did you notice something different about me today?"

Not wanting to disappoint the excited boy that definably has something different about him, I look him up and down and go through the obvious:

"Did you forget to brush your teeth?"

"No" he says, with his delicious smile.

"Your hair is not done", Schmoogie gels the hairdo every morn.

"No, Mom, look!" with that, he looks downward at his pants.

"What, they look fine to me" I say this totally confused at this point.

"LOOK!"

Then we both burst out in hysterics. He had his pants on backwards!

It was really silly, but it struck us as really funny and I am still smiling about it now.
Peace

It hit the P House

The stomach virus hit the P house. Schmoogie and I had it, me worse than him....Big D and Noodle are safe so far.

Schmoogie was beside himself about the virus, not because he was sick, but because he missed a day of school, and more importantly, a day of testing and "ruined his perfect attendance, just days before the 100th day of school".

See, Schmoogie is in third grade, and this is the year for the big ELA testing, two day that the kids and teachers prep for for four months. Its a tad stressful for the average kid, as there is so much emphasis put on this test, and less on everyday school work that it really gets to them.

While he never misses school unless he is sick, and that one day when we went to the North Pole, he really wants to achieve that "Perfect Attendance". He did it in kindergarten, and got a sweet little certificate and notoriety from the principal way back then, and that hype has stayed with him. Plus, he's a bit of a perfectionist, and since the word perfect is contained in the award, well, you do the math!

Last night when I was about to fall asleep, Noodle turns to me and we had a short, sweet conversation about the virus.

Hey Mommy?
Yeah Noodle?
If you still sick tomorrow, you need-a go to the doctor.
Yeah, baby, I will.
You know Mommy, the doctor will make you feel better, and he will tell you "No More Monkeys jumping on the bed".

Good Night Noodle....Good Night Mama, hope you feel better.
I went to sleep with a smile on my face, feeling much better today.
Peace,
P