WWW Wednesdays – May 16, 2012

My bookshelf

- What I’m currently reading
Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West. So far I’m enjoying it, especially since I have no idea where the story is going.

 

- What I recently finished reading

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. What a wonderful book, mixing  words, detailed pencil illustrations, even a few photographs so well. What a beautiful story, where strangers find out they’re all connected in one way or another. What a great mystery to be solved, piece by piece, just like the gears of the automaton Hugo tries to fix. And what great homage to the history of cinema. I recommend this amazing works of art to all children from 8 to 99.

 

 - What I think I’ll read next

My to-read bookshelf is almost empty so I’ll have to see if something new arrived at the library or if I need to pick a book from my own collection.

 

My kids’ bookshelf

- What they’re currently reading
- Stuck by Oliver Jeffers. We LOVE this book as it is simply hilarious! Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, so the boy tries to knock it down by throwing increasingly larger and more outrageous things. You’d think when he grabs a ladder, and later on a saw, he’d finally use them right. But no, he keeps throwing them up the tree!
- Bedhead by Margie Palatini. This book is for anyone who’s ever had a bad hair day, and forgot it was picture day…
- Bad Boys Get Cookie! by Margie Palitini. The Bad Boys are back! Wolves Willy and Wally try to satisfy their sweet-tooth craving by chasing down a runaway gingerbread man. Unfortunately they try to attract it by dressing up as Hansel and Gretel, only to run into a witch in front of her gingerbread house who offers them to come inside for some sweets. Very funny!

- What they recently finished reading
I’d like to recommend a few books for the younger crowd (age 2-4) we recently read because we really liked them, even though my kids are getting too old for them.
- Jazzy in the Jungle by Lucy Cousins. In this book full of die-cut pages, the jungle animals help Mama JoJo find her baby lemur Jazzy.
- Wow City! and Wow School! by Robert Neubecker. We’ve read them before so this was a request for seconds (probably thirds). In Wow City! Izzy takes a trip to the big city with her father, and in Wow School! she starts her first day at school. In both books, a yellow dog is hiding somewhere in the picture on every spread. My kids just requested Wow America! again and I just saw that a brand new Wow Ocean! is coming out tomorrow. I’ll have to check my library for this one…

- What I think they’ll read next
I ordered a whole bunch of early reader books so we’ll find out if they’re any good soon enough. What about you? Any books you or your kids are reading you’d like to share?

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I love you, Mama!

My early Mother’s Day card from art class

In honor of this upcoming Mother’s Day, I’d like to share a funny story about my personal journey through motherhood.

I love hugging, kissing and cuddling my kids throughout the day. And without prompting they often will do the same to me, even to each other. Watching these two brothers hugging will always be my favorite part! Every night before the kids go to sleep, I spend a few minutes in each bed, cuddling with them individually.

Here’s how things usually go with my four-year old when I’m about to leave his bed for the night. 

“Je t’aime beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup,” I’ll say.

If you don’t speak any French, this means I love you very, very, very much. 

To which my son will always (ALWAYS) respond, “I love you, caca liquide.” 

Again, if you don’t speak French you may need me to translate this one. Are you ready for it? It means, I love you, liquid poop. Lovely.

To his defense, you have to understand that over the years we’ve endured many bouts of digestive problems, stomach viruses and gross toilet stories. Diarrhea has been one of the many symptoms, but caca liquide is a lot easier to pronounce for a little one. And so it’s stuck with him as a “tender” term to call his own mother. It’s one of those jokes we’re both in on. Er, I think…

A couple of days ago though, the routine suddenly changed. Maybe my son was very tired and had already put his funny hat down for the night.

“Je t’aime beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup,” I told him.

“I love you, Mama,” he replied.

Say what? Oh my gosh, I love this kid! He finally admits he loves me, just me, no toilet jokes included. Ah, it felt so good.

So last night, I got myself ready for a repeat. I know, I do have high expectations for him, but it’s good to try to reach for the stars.

As I was leaving his bed, I whispered “Je t’aime beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup.”

That’s when I heard, “Je t’aime beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup, caca liquide.”

What can I say? The kid said it all in French! I’m a proud, beaming Mama…

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms around the world, whether you’re celebrating this weekend, or did earlier this week (year) or will do so later this month.

Oops, did I just hear the F word?

A few days ago my four-year old got in trouble at preschool for bossing the other kids around. The teacher was getting the classroom ready for an obstacle course and the kids were being pretty loud and rambunctious. So my son decided to take the matter in his own hands and tell his classmates to “shut up!”. I don’t know if he was effective but it didn’t go well with his teacher, who relayed the incident to me. He seems to be going through a “testing” stage right now and likes to assume his individuality and test boundaries, which can get on my nerves but I know he’ll eventually get over it.

I figured out the best thing to do would be to have him apologize to his teacher about telling the other kids to shut up. So we walked into the classroom the next morning while the teacher was alone and the other kids were standing outside. I asked my son what he had to say to his teacher.

“Sorry,” he said in a shy voice.

“Sorry for what?” I asked.

“Sorry for saying f&*^%ing.”

Oops, did I just hear the F word? Fortunately his teacher seems to have a good sense of humor because she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. As for me, I thought it was pretty f&*^%ing funny too! What can I say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree… This one will definitely make it to my Kids Say the Darndest Things list.

WWW Wednesdays – April 25, 2012

My bookshelf

- What I’m currently reading
Michael Scott’s The Warlock (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). Will Sophie and Josh help save the world? Argh, I can’t wait to find out…

 

- What I recently finished reading
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip & Dan Heath. This book is full of very interesting information but most of it comes from research studies you can find in other books. I’m not sure how much research the authors did themselves. I found this book a little long, as it includes a lot of facts. There’s not much about implementation in general, rather a lot of individual examples showing how to implement change. To implement change, you need find the right trigger (the hardest part), then pave the way. I personally think this book is more useful for businesses trying to change their employee behaviors, and less for individuals.

 

- What I think I’ll read next

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. I can’t wait!!!

 

My kids’ bookshelf

- What they’re currently reading
Mo Willems, one of our favorite children’s author, has two new books out so far this year and they’re both very funny. In Listen To My Trumpet, Piggie tries to impress Gerald with her trumpet blowing, but he feels he needs to give her an honest answer when she asks about her performance. In Happy Pig Day!, Piggie celebrates her favorite day of the year, but Gerald is sad, thinking he can’t join the fun since he’s an elephant. A great lesson about differences and inclusion.
We’re also re-reading Mo Willems’ Should I Share My Ice Cream? This is one of the funniest Gerald & Piggie books and I love reading it out loud to my kids. Gerald needs to decide if he should share his ice cream with Piggie or keep it all to himself. But you know what happens if you wait too long to eat your ice cream… A wonderful and very funny lesson on sharing and guilt.

- What they recently finished reading
I recently discovered a wonderful series of books for early readers (Level 2) about two cat siblings called Harry & Emily by Karen Gray Ruelle. They are perfect for my kindergartner reader, as we take turns reading (I read the left pages, he read the right ones). There are many books in the series, but our favorites so far are:
- April Fool! Harry, Emily and their parents all play tricks on each other for April Fools’ Day. But Emily keeps the best tricks for her brother until the end of the day. My kids love the surprising ending!
- Dear Tooth Fairy. When her tooth becomes loose, Emily starts writing to the Tooth Fairy every day. She wants to make sure the tooth fairy knows what she likes so she can bring her a great present when her tooth falls out.
- Mother’s Day Mess. You can guess what this book is about from its title. And it’s very funny.
Now I just need to order more books in this series!

- What I think they’ll read next
I’ve ordered more books on dinosaurs and some on good manners, so I’ll probably highlight the good ones next week.

What about you? Any books you or your kids are reading you’d like to share?

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How to have a memorable start of the week

After a two-week hiatus for Spring break, my boys went back to school this morning. My five-year old starts at 8:15am so his brother and I drove to school to drop him off first. The two of us then go back to my car and read books while waiting for preschool to start 30 minutes later.

I had parked a little far away from the school so I gave my son the option to drive into the school parking lot when the time came. Except, I didn’t plan on my car not to start. Nooooooooooo! I had power and I could hear some electronic noises as I turned the key in the ignition, but it was still a no-go.

So we walked to class while the wheels in my head started spinning. I had planned to stop by my P.O. box to collect an overdue client’s check, bring all of my payments to the bank, stop by the library to drop off books and get new ones, inquire about summer camps, even do some work… Of course it would all have to wait until I found out what was wrong with my car. 

As we were walking, I heard my little guy express some concern. If my car was going to need repair, how would I pick up his brother from school and get everybody home? I loved to see how concerned he was about his brother’s well-being. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he gets picked up two hours before his brother, so I may have a problem…

Back in my car, I called Ford Roadside Assistance. They promised me a tow truck in 45 minutes. It arrives in just 20. The tow truck driver inquired about my car trouble. I demonstrated the no-start feature and he guessed the battery was probably dead. But I still have power, I said! Can you guess I don’t know much about cars? For my defense, the last time I had a dead battery, the car was completely dead – no vital signs whatsoever. The driver brought jumper cables over, connected them to my battery and asked me to start the car. Vrooooom! Halleluyah!

Damn car battery, dead after only 20,000 miles. I’ll blame three people for this. My two kids for leaving the overhead lights on overnight too many times. How many times have I asked you to turn off those lights? You’re going to drain my battery. Well, you’ve done it now! Of course, I should also blame myself for leaving the car doors and trunk open all the time when the car is parked in the garage. And for leaving the radio and fan on every day when I stay in the car with my youngest before preschool.

I thanked Akram, my Middle-Eastern tow truck driver, for saving the day. This guy had the most mesmerizing golden eyes I’ve ever seen. So cool looking I really wanted to take a picture of them. Come on, what’s my chance of meeting someone with such rare eye color ever again? But I didn’t want to look more looney than I already appeared, so I got back in my car and drove off. Instead I took a picture of this very cute rabbit, who was having a feeding frenzy while I was waiting for the tow truck.

White tail jack rabbit in San Diego

I drove to Pepboys and got a new car battery in just 45 minutes, leaving me enough time to run a few of my errands before picking up my four-year old from preschool at noon. Not bad after such a bumpy start.

Happy Monday, everyone!