Saturday, June 11, 2011
Kansas Children's Discovery Center
Today we made a visit to the recently opened Kansas Children's Discovery Center. Overall, my impression was favorable. There were at least a dozen different activities for kids to enjoy, and each center allowed them to explore a different facet: art, music, auto tech, science, carpentry, engineering, etc. It was pretty clear once we arrived that the target age group was a bit older than Owen Ray and Chandler, but they had taken pains to make sure that they had something for children of all ages, including babies and toddlers. The staff was great with the kids, and I was really impressed to learn that they were all volunteers.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Our Visit to the Topeka Zoological Park
Yesterday the boys and I had a very kick-back day. I tried to recover from the fractured sleep I'd gotten the night before. It appears Owen Ray is not able to sleep in one spot. He rolls around all night long and sometimes even talks in his sleep. This makes for one tired mama come morning time. As a result, we lolled around the apartment for the better half of the day.
Owen Ray, however, had not forgotten my promise to go to the zoo. So after nap time I loaded the boys up in the car and we made the 10 minute drive to the Topeka Zoological Park. It was well worth the $5.75 it cost for admission. They had lions, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and an adorable baby hippo. Ray loves animals, and the compact nature of Topeka's zoo allowed him to get closer to the animals than he can at the Fort Worth Zoo. We went into the enclosed Rainforest exhibit, and he could hear the birds overhead. He pointed up at the "birdies" and I was freaked out to see a whole cluster of bats hanging upside down. Those winged creatures just make me shudder. I obviously need to read through Stellaluna a few more times. We rounded a corner in the rainforest and Owen Ray found himself just a foot and a half from a flamingo! He was thrilled to get to see the large bird up close, but he didn't dare touch it. Do flamingos attack? I guess neither of us wanted to find out. All in all it was another beautiful day in Topeka ;)
Owen Ray, however, had not forgotten my promise to go to the zoo. So after nap time I loaded the boys up in the car and we made the 10 minute drive to the Topeka Zoological Park. It was well worth the $5.75 it cost for admission. They had lions, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and an adorable baby hippo. Ray loves animals, and the compact nature of Topeka's zoo allowed him to get closer to the animals than he can at the Fort Worth Zoo. We went into the enclosed Rainforest exhibit, and he could hear the birds overhead. He pointed up at the "birdies" and I was freaked out to see a whole cluster of bats hanging upside down. Those winged creatures just make me shudder. I obviously need to read through Stellaluna a few more times. We rounded a corner in the rainforest and Owen Ray found himself just a foot and a half from a flamingo! He was thrilled to get to see the large bird up close, but he didn't dare touch it. Do flamingos attack? I guess neither of us wanted to find out. All in all it was another beautiful day in Topeka ;)
Monday, June 6, 2011
School's out... again
The 2010-2011 school year has finally come to a close, but it was such a whirlwhind I hardly realized it. Now I'm sitting here wondering how it all went down.
A recap: I have the 2nd coolest job ever. I teach English as a Second Langauge to a diverse group of students who have varying degress of proficiency in the English language. While their English might be limited, they seem to have a never ending supply of creativity, motivation, and gratitude. In addition, they are brilliant. This makes my job super easy. As one of the ESL coordinators, I also get to do a fair amount of record keeping, testing, data entry, and filing which I also find to be satisfying work. There is something almost delicious about striking through all the items on a checklist, and that is what ESL paperwork is for me. Writing down a list of all the things that need to be gathered, analyzed, and finalized, and then watching that list get smaller and smaller until it finally disappears. I have a superior administrator and a master teacher colleague who make my job nearly effortless. Now that the year is over, I am already looking forward to meeting those newcomers that will be on our campus next year; the students who have just arrived in the United States and are desperately hoping that someone is going to take an active interest in them and not let them fall through the cracks.
However, now that the 2nd coolest job in the world is on hiatus for the summer, I can fully devote myself to the #1 coolest job, being a mother. Can I confess to you that this task is so much more daunting, demanding, and draining than being out in the work force full time? I've had to manage a class of 35 unruly 9th graders before. I did it; and I did it fairly well. It is an entirely different animal to manage a 2 year old and a 6 month old. But why?
Ultimately, I am not responsible for the students in my class; their parents are. I may see a student for 50 minutes a day, every day, but that is nothing compared to the formative, life-molding experiences that those kids are (or are not) having in their home. This is somewhat comforting when it comes to my classroom students, but terrifying when it comes to my own kids. The buck stops here, my friend.
I have a divine commission from God to raise up my own children in "the way that they should go". That's not even overstating. That's a solid truth. I really am accountable before God to wisely, reflectively, lovingly rear these little ones in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It is the role of a lifetime; and it inspires fear. While the ultimate outcome rests in God, the daily "raising" and "rearing" are very much expected of me.
What does this mean for me this summer? It means that I need to be ready to battle with sins of laziness, complacency, and wastefulness. I will have more time than ever with my boys, but how am I going to use that time? It means I need to try harder to be reflective, something that does not come naturally for me. I'm afraid the unexamined life is just the status quo as I watch it flit happily by. It also means that I need to continue to pray for moments, moments of time between an action and my response where I think, really think, about what the best course of action is... when Owen Ray throws a fit (in public or in private), when he's jealous, hurt, joyous, frustrated, elated.
A recap: I have the 2nd coolest job ever. I teach English as a Second Langauge to a diverse group of students who have varying degress of proficiency in the English language. While their English might be limited, they seem to have a never ending supply of creativity, motivation, and gratitude. In addition, they are brilliant. This makes my job super easy. As one of the ESL coordinators, I also get to do a fair amount of record keeping, testing, data entry, and filing which I also find to be satisfying work. There is something almost delicious about striking through all the items on a checklist, and that is what ESL paperwork is for me. Writing down a list of all the things that need to be gathered, analyzed, and finalized, and then watching that list get smaller and smaller until it finally disappears. I have a superior administrator and a master teacher colleague who make my job nearly effortless. Now that the year is over, I am already looking forward to meeting those newcomers that will be on our campus next year; the students who have just arrived in the United States and are desperately hoping that someone is going to take an active interest in them and not let them fall through the cracks.
However, now that the 2nd coolest job in the world is on hiatus for the summer, I can fully devote myself to the #1 coolest job, being a mother. Can I confess to you that this task is so much more daunting, demanding, and draining than being out in the work force full time? I've had to manage a class of 35 unruly 9th graders before. I did it; and I did it fairly well. It is an entirely different animal to manage a 2 year old and a 6 month old. But why?
Ultimately, I am not responsible for the students in my class; their parents are. I may see a student for 50 minutes a day, every day, but that is nothing compared to the formative, life-molding experiences that those kids are (or are not) having in their home. This is somewhat comforting when it comes to my classroom students, but terrifying when it comes to my own kids. The buck stops here, my friend.
I have a divine commission from God to raise up my own children in "the way that they should go". That's not even overstating. That's a solid truth. I really am accountable before God to wisely, reflectively, lovingly rear these little ones in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It is the role of a lifetime; and it inspires fear. While the ultimate outcome rests in God, the daily "raising" and "rearing" are very much expected of me.
What does this mean for me this summer? It means that I need to be ready to battle with sins of laziness, complacency, and wastefulness. I will have more time than ever with my boys, but how am I going to use that time? It means I need to try harder to be reflective, something that does not come naturally for me. I'm afraid the unexamined life is just the status quo as I watch it flit happily by. It also means that I need to continue to pray for moments, moments of time between an action and my response where I think, really think, about what the best course of action is... when Owen Ray throws a fit (in public or in private), when he's jealous, hurt, joyous, frustrated, elated.
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