A Magic Moment

The following moment occurred while we were on vacation. Alexis is quite a spitfire. Like most toddlers, she is constantly going, going, gone. Add a fun new location to the mix and we had a little tornado on our hands! However, on our last day in San Francisco, we went down to the waterfront and Alexis played in the sand. She was calm, tranquil, and happy while she watched a ship in the port. It was impossible not to watch her, completely mesmerized. It was magical.

This is my link-up for Shell's My Magic Moment.

Suburban Hell--Keeping Up With the Joneses

  I am not immune. I find myself constantly noting where Alexis falls on her age scale. Is she big enough? No. Is she verbal enough? Yes, she could give grade-schoolers a run for their money. Is she coordinated enough? No, total klutz (Nick's genes). Is she artistic? Musical? Competitive?

  I heard it at the park the other day when I was chatting with a couple other moms about preschool. Mom A was discussing the advantages of a $395/week Montessori over a "cheap" daycare with a curriculum. I am pretty sure cheap is still around $200/week. She was talking about how she felt totally uncomfortable even walking around the daycare, in fact, I believe her actual phrase was "I wanted to shower as soon as I got home" followed by peals of giggles. When Mom A made that remark I glanced at Mom B assuming she would mirror my slight horror at what was just said, but she was laughing too. Mom B responds with "I don't even know why lower income kids bother with preschool. They will be behind in school anyway." Why am I talking with these women?!? Oh, and for the record, I was at a park in a wealthy suburb where there really aren't any low income kids and the daycare is likely more immaculate than my house. Wait, that doesn't say a whole lot. Well, either way, by no means is the daycare filthy, gross, or unhygienic. And I bet it has the same educational standards at the Montessori school down the street.

  Anyway, this conversation continued with both mothers comparing their preschoolers. They asked how old my daughter is and when I said "She is only two and a half, so no preschool for us yet! We are just doing ECFE once a week", I was promptly mentally dismissed. How tragic. I stayed to listen though because I couldn't believe how arrogant these two women actually were, essentially just because their husbands make a lot of money which affords them luxuries others aren't privy to.

  This was the conversation, with some mild paraphrasing due to the fact I am not a journalist and don't own one of those nifty recorders.

Mother A: "Bella actually counts up to 2 now. I could just listen to her all day counting her dollies, 1-2."

Mother B: "That is so precious! Eddy won't count. It might bore him. He is much more physically active. He tries so hard to tie his shoes like his older brother, but they are velcro!"

A: "How adorable! I am sure Bella could tie her shoes if we were working on that. But we are encouraging her to follow her interests. She could play with her dollies all day. Just counting them. We should get her more dollies so we can hear her count higher! Does Eddy say his alphabet yet?"

B: "Yes of course. He almost writes his name too! It looks a little like squiggles but he knows what he is trying to write."

A: "My Bella just won't sit long enough to learn to write. I bet she could write her name if she had more focus. But if she is not a focused kid, then we will just learn to deal with that. We are very loose in our house, we give Bella her freedom. That is why she needs Montessori. They can help her focus."

  I could go on and on because this inane conversation went on and on. Mercifully, Alexis came over shortly after and asked to swing. In fact, she said quite clearly in her piping little voice "Mom, can you push me on the baby swing?" She is very articulate and I love that I can communicate so clearly with her (and have been able to do so for months!).

  Yes, she now calls me Mom and yes, I can brag too.