i had some great plans for today.
we were going to head downtown to the post office, send some letters and then to the craft store to see if i could find pom poms and pipe cleaners for cheaper than 1 for a dollar. (no lie, these kiddy craft things were out-of-control expensive at the department-type-store we do most of our shopping at... and things that should be expensive were not. por supuesto).
it was a pretty bold plan - two kids into the city. especially since the stores we'd go to don't have shopping carts and it'd be a lot of walking for samil.
but we have been locked in this apartment with nasty colds for a week now. and i think the weather has finally changed for the better. bye bye frio hello calor!
we also had plans to meet a friend along the way. she cancelled.
so i rethought mis grandes ideas and realized i'm sick. and went to bed well past midnight helping amalio with his project and reading A Wrinkle in Time to help a student study for his test (can you believe i've never read it before?).
all those great plans down the tube.
maybe monday, right?
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
the nastiness that is cold remedy.
this is the nastiness i was prescribed for this nasty cold i've got.onion.
radish.
honey.
and, don't forget the oil of herring.
one of those days...
this morning was one of those mornings that the forces of the universe all combined and agreed to let me sleep in. the kids have been fighting a nasty cold since friday, and amely hasn't slept through the night since then.
the poor baby wakes up, nose full of snot, coughing her little lungs up. we suck the snot out, but despite what those other mommies say, i don't think any baby will ever appreciate having a tube of rubber stuck up their nose to suck away snot. ever. so, she screams because there is something stuck up her nose, because she can't breathe right and her little chest hurts from the coughing.
samil just hasn't slept well. tossing and turning all night. it's been cold here and samil doesn't like blankets. or socks. so we wake up and cover him up like ten times a night. but since he's not sleeping well, he wakes up cranky and grumpy.
tired mommy. grumpy baby. not a good combination.
but alas! last night, samil fell asleep at a normal hour with no fight. amely went to bed at a normal hour with no fight. we went to bed at a normal hour. and amely didn't wake up until 5am, to eat. a little stuffy but nothing like it's been for the past week. and after eating she went back to sleep!
samil's still asleep and there's a million things i should be doing, but instead i'm toolin' around on the internet. because it's one of those good days. where the universe let me sleep. and i'm takin' advantage.
the poor baby wakes up, nose full of snot, coughing her little lungs up. we suck the snot out, but despite what those other mommies say, i don't think any baby will ever appreciate having a tube of rubber stuck up their nose to suck away snot. ever. so, she screams because there is something stuck up her nose, because she can't breathe right and her little chest hurts from the coughing.
samil just hasn't slept well. tossing and turning all night. it's been cold here and samil doesn't like blankets. or socks. so we wake up and cover him up like ten times a night. but since he's not sleeping well, he wakes up cranky and grumpy.
tired mommy. grumpy baby. not a good combination.
but alas! last night, samil fell asleep at a normal hour with no fight. amely went to bed at a normal hour with no fight. we went to bed at a normal hour. and amely didn't wake up until 5am, to eat. a little stuffy but nothing like it's been for the past week. and after eating she went back to sleep!
samil's still asleep and there's a million things i should be doing, but instead i'm toolin' around on the internet. because it's one of those good days. where the universe let me sleep. and i'm takin' advantage.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
brrr, it's cold out there
last week was a long one. little sleep, less naps. cold weather here means colds and basic discomfort.
i know, i know. it's not really cold here. but, consider this. wednesday's temperature reached 98 degrees fahrenheit. thursday it barely made it to 70.
today, well, today it barely made it to 60. and 60 is lovely when you're coming out of a long, nasty, snow-filled winter.
60 is not lovely when yesterday was 90 and manana? who knows?
add to that a cement house with tile floors and "venetian" windows. no heating, not even enough blankets for everyone. samil has every fleece baby blanket piled on him and amely is wearing like three pairs of pijamas.
this global warming sure is making us all cold, huh?
i know, i know. it's not really cold here. but, consider this. wednesday's temperature reached 98 degrees fahrenheit. thursday it barely made it to 70.
today, well, today it barely made it to 60. and 60 is lovely when you're coming out of a long, nasty, snow-filled winter.
60 is not lovely when yesterday was 90 and manana? who knows?
add to that a cement house with tile floors and "venetian" windows. no heating, not even enough blankets for everyone. samil has every fleece baby blanket piled on him and amely is wearing like three pairs of pijamas.
this global warming sure is making us all cold, huh?
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Tot School - Ireland
living in a homogenous society is a little hard sometimes.
i saw this idea on several olympic tot school posts, where they printed the logo and and cut it apart. here, we traced our hands and then i made a template for samil to glue everything down. he liked this activity and next week we have a more elaborate claddagh planned that involves glitter and paint handprints.
we practiced counting with our shamrocks. samil's not really too into counting yet, but he did this activity twice this week on his own.
i cut out some "gold coins" and clipped them with a paperclip. then i hid them all over the house and gave samil a magnetic wand - he had to fill the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow, but decided his bike was a better place for them. he l.o.v.e.d. this activity and we did it over and over... and i'm sure we'll be doing it again next week.
we spent time in the park looking for four-leaf-clovers.
we also made some yellow, glittery playdough and made gold coins. it was for a treasure hunt, but samil decided the coins would be better if he poured water on them and they fell apart.
non-theme activities.
we did puzzles and colored in our "notebook". we practiced the letter A, but we never did get around to the A craft. Maybe next week.
I also saw this great idea on someone elses page and have wanted to get some nuts and bolts for awhile. i can't remember where i saw it, but if it's yours, let me know and i'll link back to you!
we went to the local hardware store and i picked out 5 nuts and bolts. samil put them in a bag and paid for them all by himself. i got the box at the supermarket and stuck some stickers on it. less that 3 US dollars! woo hoo!
and it's getting harder to blend cultures as samil gets bigger. obviously there are things that are givens - but the little things, the little gems of both worlds are going to need some work and dedication to make sure the kids get it.
we want samil and amely to know that they are not just dominican and not just american. and that their ancestors came from other places, too! last month we spent a lot of time working on the dominican side of things since it was independence month here. this month we're celebrating IRELAND!
we want samil and amely to know that they are not just dominican and not just american. and that their ancestors came from other places, too! last month we spent a lot of time working on the dominican side of things since it was independence month here. this month we're celebrating IRELAND!
we made shamrock suncatchers for our sliding glass doors. it was samil's first time working with contact paper and he like it. but he kept piling up all of the tissue paper on top of itself like he does with his stickers!
i saw this idea on several olympic tot school posts, where they printed the logo and and cut it apart. here, we traced our hands and then i made a template for samil to glue everything down. he liked this activity and next week we have a more elaborate claddagh planned that involves glitter and paint handprints.
we practiced counting with our shamrocks. samil's not really too into counting yet, but he did this activity twice this week on his own.
i cut out some "gold coins" and clipped them with a paperclip. then i hid them all over the house and gave samil a magnetic wand - he had to fill the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow, but decided his bike was a better place for them. he l.o.v.e.d. this activity and we did it over and over... and i'm sure we'll be doing it again next week.we spent time in the park looking for four-leaf-clovers.
we also made some yellow, glittery playdough and made gold coins. it was for a treasure hunt, but samil decided the coins would be better if he poured water on them and they fell apart.
non-theme activities.
we did puzzles and colored in our "notebook". we practiced the letter A, but we never did get around to the A craft. Maybe next week.
I also saw this great idea on someone elses page and have wanted to get some nuts and bolts for awhile. i can't remember where i saw it, but if it's yours, let me know and i'll link back to you!
we went to the local hardware store and i picked out 5 nuts and bolts. samil put them in a bag and paid for them all by himself. i got the box at the supermarket and stuck some stickers on it. less that 3 US dollars! woo hoo!
Friday, March 5, 2010
slowing down.
So, I’m not really a fan of public transportation. I do it when it’s necessary, but otherwise I avoid that mess like the plague, especially when I’ve got the babies in tow.
It’s not really the idea of public transit that gets me. It’s the hassle of carrying two babies all over the city. It’s not like the states where there are buses, big spacious, air conditioned buses. Instead, we’ve got little hoopty cars driving around like clown cars. How many payasos can we get in the car today?
Even the full-to-the-brim experience isn’t that bad. But have you ever walked with a two year old? It’s the slowest walking on earth. I mean, I understand that their legs are shorter and generally they’re just slower. But it’s not that.
Samil stops to look at everything. Oh, mami, look! A rock! A leaf! A piece of dog poop.
So, we take the bus, I mean, car to the city. And spend twenty minutes walking the two blocks to the store, twenty minutes in the store and twenty minutes back to the bus stop. An hour! One whole hour to buy a piece of chewing gum! Yes, please!
on days when you’re in a hurry, it’s the last thing you want. To notice all those small, tiny things that fascinate them. The kids. But maybe it’s on those days that we can learn the most from those tiny little hands pointing out tiny little things.
A day like we had today – the rush to get everything done, to hurry through the actions, to forget about those around us, the beautiful world we live in – needs little people most. If it wasn’t for Samil’s dawdling walk, stopping to look at everything, forcing me to slow down, I would have missed out on the butterfly he delighted in, the conversation he had with an elderly woman, the joy he took in showing his sister everything in the shopping cart.
It took us longer to get things done. A trip that should’ve lasted an hour, took two and a half, but I wouldn’t trade it. The to-do list is still half-full, but it’ll get done. Not today, maybe, but there are more important things than that today.
It’s not really the idea of public transit that gets me. It’s the hassle of carrying two babies all over the city. It’s not like the states where there are buses, big spacious, air conditioned buses. Instead, we’ve got little hoopty cars driving around like clown cars. How many payasos can we get in the car today?
Even the full-to-the-brim experience isn’t that bad. But have you ever walked with a two year old? It’s the slowest walking on earth. I mean, I understand that their legs are shorter and generally they’re just slower. But it’s not that.
Samil stops to look at everything. Oh, mami, look! A rock! A leaf! A piece of dog poop.
So, we take the bus, I mean, car to the city. And spend twenty minutes walking the two blocks to the store, twenty minutes in the store and twenty minutes back to the bus stop. An hour! One whole hour to buy a piece of chewing gum! Yes, please!
on days when you’re in a hurry, it’s the last thing you want. To notice all those small, tiny things that fascinate them. The kids. But maybe it’s on those days that we can learn the most from those tiny little hands pointing out tiny little things.
A day like we had today – the rush to get everything done, to hurry through the actions, to forget about those around us, the beautiful world we live in – needs little people most. If it wasn’t for Samil’s dawdling walk, stopping to look at everything, forcing me to slow down, I would have missed out on the butterfly he delighted in, the conversation he had with an elderly woman, the joy he took in showing his sister everything in the shopping cart.
It took us longer to get things done. A trip that should’ve lasted an hour, took two and a half, but I wouldn’t trade it. The to-do list is still half-full, but it’ll get done. Not today, maybe, but there are more important things than that today.
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