Friday, August 9, 2013

7 Quick Takes Friday




I have a three year old wandering around the house aimlessly with three crayons, a half eaten apple and a Dora "spotting scope" in her crowded little hands, crying like the world is about to end.

I think it has something to do with the fact that I told her fifteen minutes ago to keep her crayons on the two pieces of paper I'd given her and that she was absolutely not allowed to write in her sister's favorite book.

I also told her that scaling the fireplace to retrieve an icon of Jesus and the Virgin Mary was not on her list of things that were going to be allowed today.  I know.  I'm a mean mom.  Apparently taking her to the park and letting her have rice and beans for lunch today (her all time favorite food) counts for nothing.  These horrible no book coloring rules are just too much.  And don't even get her started on my fascist wall coloring rules...


Patrick had his nine month check up today.  He's 29 inches tall, his head is 18 inches around and he weighed in at 22 lbs.

He also pinched the doctor when the doctor tried to examine him after trying to swat his hand away about ten times.

In the last three months he's definitely developed some opinions about doctors (and really strangers in general... although he was all smiles with the female dentist and hygienist when we found out that his tooth is just fine earlier in the week... they think that his gums had just swollen up over the tooth when he fell and that it was fine all along!).


I think I have a favorite pediatrician at Patrick's doctor's office now.  We have to take these huge surveys to make sure that he's on track developmentally before each appointment (think six page questionaire.  He was explaining to the student with him that they aren't particularly accurate since the questions include things like "can your child get a cheerio out of a clear plastic water bottle" and a lot of people don't know the answer to that question.

I did chuckle as I told Paul about the part of the "test" that Patrick scored particularly low on.  On the "social" part of the test there were questions along the lines of "if you ask your child for the toy he's holding will he hand it to you."  The choices were always, sometimes and never.  I checked never.

Here's the thing.  When Patrick is "asked" for a toy he's playing with, he clutches it with both hands and lets out an ear splitting scream.  He has two sisters.  One is three.  He knows what being "asked" for a toy means in the play room.  And that squeal causes his sisters to back off right away.  No one wants to get in trouble for stealing a toy from the baby and making him cry.

I thought it was kind of odd that there were sharing type skills on the nine month old "test."  I thought the squeal alarm he has makes much, much more sense in terms of nine month old play room skills.


We went to the Museum of Modern Art at Paul's school today.  I had another field trip planned but the place we were heading to was having an event, with a $20 a person entry fee and so our plans changed.

I should know better.  I should know that MOMA's everywhere make me feel like I've died a little bit inside after visiting them.  Paul said he was pleasantly surprised because he hand no expectations.  I agreed that I had absolutely no expectations but the fact that 10 piles of dirt is considered "art" makes me lose a bit of faith in man kind and particularly a civilization in which people stand around looking at the aforementioned piles of dirt and musing on the deepness of the exhibit.

There was an exhibit that was a bunch of rubber bouncy balls on strings attached to motors that made them bounce up and down from the ceiling that made Mae's little face light up.  So it wasn't a total loss. But yeah.  In a few years when I think going to some MOMA somewhere is a good idea remind me that it's not ever.  Natural history museum, yes.  Fine arts museum, absolutely.  Exhibit on piles of dirt... run.


I've been playing with some of my favorite fabrics lately and coming up with new snoods.  I layered lace over dupioni silk, made a snood out of a rabbit hair and wool sweater that's simply luxurious and have have been playing a lot with different silk and lace trim combinations.  And of course, I just had to share some of what I've finished these past few weeks since I've reorganized my sewing area!

From a lovely scarf that I just had to turn into a snood!

Blue dupioni silk with a satin and velvet ribbon trim!

Dupioni silk with lace!

More dupioni silk with lace!

Lace over dupioni silk!

More lace and silk!

Rabbit/Wool/Spandex that will be perfect for winter!

As we waited for the museum to open today I found myself looking at the various science buildings we were walking past and lamenting the uselessness of my degree.  "Is there anything more useless I could have chosen?"  I announced.  Because pretty much every class I'd taken science was my favorite class of the moment until it became time to apply to college and I got all dreamy eyed about politics and "changing the world."

Now we walk around Paul's school and I'm like "botany," sigh... "I should have done Botany... Oh look Paul Bacteriology!  Isn't that amazing?  Look they're doing a bee study in that building...and... and... and..."  And he looks at me like I'm nuts as I ramble on about how maybe in twenty years I'll go back and get my degree in math... or botany...

I know, I know, some people are probably wondering what degree would be particularly useful at this time in my life (if I was going to school right now it would definitely be for a degree in education).  But... it would be nice to have a degree in a subject that I actually still like.  And not one that just makes me feel especially pessimistic.

Anyways here are a few of the awesome buildings that inspired that rambling paragraph and what the signs on each building say (since the signs are actually in the brick I'm not sure if they're all actually still these particular buildings...):



We just finished our seventh week of school.  My scheduling plan is that we do field trips on Friday's and class Monday through Thursday, but both girls are sitting down and doing school by themselves at the moment.  I've learned a few things in these past seven weeks however.  #1 is that my kids do much better when we do school first thing in the morning. In the afternoon the I-need-a-nap-but-won't-take-a-nap grumpiness takes over and all bets are off.  #2 is that no matter what I do there will still be one day every couple of weeks where I end up working on reading with Sadie with a three year old hanging around my neck and a nine month old tugging at my skirt and yelling.  Most days are calm but oh... the days that are crazy are sooooooo crazy.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

5 comments:

  1. Wow, Patrick is getting so big!! And those developmental questions sound a little wacky to me.

    You couldn't get me in a MOMA if you paid me! It's a little insulting, some of the things people try to pass off as art. Give me beauty, not just "unique " or "innovative" creations (when they even bother to create anything). Haha, rant over!

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  2. I am convinced that many of the "artists" whose "installations" are in MOMAs are having a good chuckle at the expense of the public. It reminds me of "The Emperor's New Clothes", wherein everyone is too afraid to speak up about the fact that the emperor is, in fact, naked...

    We went to the Tate Modern (free) the last time we were in London. While there were some intriguing exhibits (the one where hundreds and hundreds of pieces of flattened silver tableware, instruments, plates, etc., hovered over the floor, hung from nearly invisible string, was actually kind of pretty and fascinating.) There was, however, an exhibit that incorporated actual human blood into the "paintings". Blech.

    Marie

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  3. 6 pages? Sheesh. I've never seen a test like that before for little ones. Ours has a 1 page of yes or no questions just to help spot possible signs of autism or other possible developmental delays, but nothing like what you describe. For Brigid I'd answer we never get a chance to find out if she'd give us something… someone else always takes it first. :)

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  4. Elsa does the screech and super strong clutch of toys (or non-toys) as well. She's not too good at sharing, but she's really good at grabbing!

    And, I think it's pretty common to think "oh, I should have majored in something different". I did have a science major and took all those science classes, but I wish I had majored in something more practical like nursing (which I guess is still science) or education.

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  5. I agree with you, I think mastering a defense mechanism with older siblings should rank higher on a development questionnaire, lol!

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