Use Your (Kind) Words. Period. The end.

Now, Fans, we have to admit to you that Mrs. Dvorak also noted that Joe does not always use his kinds words and actions.  (These glimpses into his Walter Mitty life can be fascinating--and cringe-inducing.)  She hastened to add that on most days, he did and when he did not, he accepted responsibility for what he said or did.  So she was not overly concerned about his occasional lapses.  But it is true that of late, he's been rocking the big kid attitude and what all, especially with Birdie.  Last week, Julie was busy driving when all hell broke loose in the backseat because, as she discovered, Joe had covered his ears so he wouldn't have to listen to Clara "repeat herself over AND OVER!!!!!"  Julie noted--once she'd ordered Joe to take his hands off his ears "BECAUSE THIS WAS HIS MOTHER SPEAKING TO HIM"--that Clara might be repeating herself because he was not responding which makes it difficult for others to understand if he's heard them and that, in any case, what he was doing was rude so he wasn't to do it, period.  The end.*  Then there was the moment, also last week, when Joe told Clara she was being a brat.  (Clara, for the record, retorted: "I not a brat!  I a GIRL!")  The parenting lesson we have learned here is that it's no longer enough, right, to say "Use your words."  No, now words needs a modifier: "Use your kind words."  It feels like a given, right, Fans?  But it's not.  Turns out, you never have to stop using your kind words.

*As a sidebar, Joe has, by now, picked up on a number of our expressions and mannerisms, and chief among them are saying "Period.  The end."  We whip it out on him, and Clara, and he whips it out on poor Clara who is getting it from three people and probably wants to tell us all to insert a comma, and take a breath.

Also On Friday

Due to conferences, Joe didn't have school on Friday.  Julie took the day off to spend with him.  They had a coffeehouse morning after they dropped Clara off at the KinderCare for her day.  They tok No Stress Chess and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with them to the Starfoxes and settled themselves into a pair of chairs over a table with their hot chocolates.  In the end, they saved Charlie for another day because they played three fierce games of No Stress Chess which drew a number of questions from other customers.  Julie bested Joe all three times, but as is the case with No Stress Chess, much of the winning is in the luck of the draw.  (Now tomorrow, Joe will begin going to chess club and then all bet's might be off.  We will keep you posted, Fans; we will keep you posted.)

After that, it was off to home for a bit of pattering about before heading out for lunch and to go to "the pillow store" (Crate & Barrel).  The new furniture for the back room was arriving on Saturday and Julie wanted to get some throw pillows for it.  Joe said he would go to the pillow store "even though stores are not my favorite thing."  (It was so noted.)  But Friday was November 1, which meant the holiday decorations and wares were out, and Joe does enjoy the holiday trimmings.  It wasn't long before he'd glommed on to a small, plush polar bear ornament.  He carted it all about the store, hanging it here and there while Julie considered and decided on some pillows.  Poler Bear has no name, but he did come home with one very happy boy who agreed that perhaps the pillow store wasn't so bad after all.  It might even have been fun.

Our First Real-Deal Conference

In other news, we went to our first non-preschool parent-teacher conference.  Parents were instructed to bring their kindergartners, so at three o'clock on Friday, we set off with Our Hero to meet with Mrs. Dvorak.  Joe likes Mrs. Dvorak so much that he could barely speak because he was smiling so much.  So we confirmed that he likes Mrs. Dvorak, he likes kindergarten, and he has some buddies.  These are not insubstantial things in that before Joe began kindergarten, we were asked to write a hope or dream we had for Joe in kindergarten, and we somewhat clumsily perhaps packed all of ours into "We just hope he likes school."  We figure life's a little easier if you can like he thing the law requires you to do for 13 years at least.  So check: he likes his teacher, the other kids, and school.

We also learned that Mrs. Dvorak has Our Hero pegged: really bright, knows a lot of things, but not always able to focus on what she would like him to focus.  Mrs. Dvorak walked us through where Joe was at with respect to the kindergarten outcomes and how she is challenging him in the areas where he has reached the outcome.  For example, instead of writing just one sentence, he'll be asked to try to make up and write two.  So there's no moss on him, but sometimes he's terrible busy thinking about the moss--or whatever--and can't be bothered to think about what the class is doing.  Mrs. Dvorak told us that often, at group time, Joe will often be looking around the room, and that she can tell it's because he's reading all the words he sees--which is great--and that he's usually tracking what she's saying, but that he's not showing her that by focusing on her.  That all sounded very, very familiar.  Additionally, Mrs. Dvorak said, "Now, I know he doesn't like to color [No!  Again--she's got his number.], but we do need to learn to focus to be a 'three-star' colorer*."  So we have to focus on focusing!  (And perhaps coloring.)

*A three-star colorer stays in the lines, colors an area completely, and does something else that we can't remember.

Keen-eyed observers will note that the figure in Joe's self-portrait has no arms.  Must be somewhere with the focus.

Hola Amigo

Joe doesn't reveal too much about his school activities, but sometimes a certain lesson catches his attention such as this little song in Spanish. He either doesn't know or won't tell us what it means as his parents don't habla espanol!

Halloween in the Vista

Joe, looking more like a knight than a ninja due to the ninja mask being pulled down, and Birdie, bedazzled.

Ready to trick and treat it up!

Well, Fans, Halloween is a bit more of a to-do in the Vista than it was on the Hill.* Kids swarmed the sidewalks to block after block of pretty tricked out houses (pun intended; oh pun intended). We met up with Joe and Clara's friends Eli (Batman) and Emma (Rapunzel). Joe was a white ninja known as Storm Shadow; Birdie was Tiana, one of the many Disney fairies though Princess to Birdie. She added extra sticker bling sent by her Grandparents Trump to her costume, as well as glowing bangles.

We headed out a little after six and trick-or-treated until about 7:30, beating the rain that rolled in a little while later. Fans, Our Hero is all big kid now. He wanted Julie to go with him to the door at the first house but after that, he was intent on candy acquisition and had to be reminded to do things like speak. You know, to say "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you."

And Fans, you should have seen our Bird. So polite. So confident. She and Julie moved a little slower because Clara chatted it up on nearly every front stoop. Among her queries:

"Do you have a brother and sister?"--?!?!

"What you brother's name?"--?!?! (Bill, as it turns out)

"Why you got balloons?" (Charming this neighbor out of a balloon)

" What color is you chair?"

See? Charming! Hilarious, but impossible not to find such self-possession--in a three-year-old dressed up as a fairy--completely appealing. And always departing with a "Thank you! Happy Halloween!"  (It is also worth noting that she has a greater than larger proportion of Nerds and Good 'N' Plenty in her pumpkin--pink and purple boxes, you see.)

Once we were home, the bambini tasked themselves with out handing out candy.  Joe manned the door and the bowl, and Clara would open up her musical Halloween card, also from the Grandparents Trump.  This one played Purple (!) People Eater.  Joe kept staring out the window willing people to come to our house.  The rain conspired against him.  In his heart, it might be Halloween forever.  Thank goodness for Christmas.

*New neighborhoods: Minnekahda a Vista. Old neighborhood: Fern Hill.

Birdie with balloon.

Back home, waiting for the Purple People Eater cue in her usual cutting edge fashion.

Waiting. . .