Non Stop Saturday

7:15 am
Mommy, wake up.  
I want chocolate milk.
I want bread.
I want more milk. 

8:00
I'm going to do a pee pee. 
Mommy, come play with me in my house.
Mommy, when are we going to Bernie?
Mommy

8:45
Let's go to Bernie.
Do you want your scooter?
It doesn't open for 10 minutes.
We can wait outside. 

9:30
Let's go to buy fruit.
What do you want?
Strawberries, Corn, Peaches, Apples, a pear, that green apple.

10:40
Where's the pool guy?
Mommy, where's the pool guy?
Mommy, are we going to your school?
Mommy, when are we going?
Get your stuff on.  Let's go.

11:10
I want to go on that slide. 
You can't go on that slide without me.
Come on, let's go on that slide. 
Wait in line with the other kids.
Wooooaaa.

12:00 pm
I want to go to the happy park. 
Let's go to the happy park.
I want to go inside. 
Let's go inside.
I want to go to the blocks. 
Let's go to the blocks.
I need to go home.
Why Mommy?
I'm so hot.

12:30 pm
Swimming pool. Swimming pool. 
I am going to get changed, Pablo.
Okay, I'll go change too. 
Mommy, can you help me take off my shirt?
Mommy, can you help me put on my swim suit?
Mommy, let's go. 
Mommy, we need towels. 

1:00 pm
What do you want for lunch?
Fish.  
Do you want fish or chicken?
Fish and French fries
You are having fish and vegetables or chicken and french fries.
Chicken and french fries. 

2:00 pm
Time to go to sleep, Pablo.
No momma
Get in the bed
Can we read these books?
OKay, get in the bed.

2:45 pm
Go to bed Pablo.
No momma 

3:30 pm
Mommy, wake up. 
Pablo, I am right here, awake, alive.
I am just tired.
Why mommy?

4 pm
Do you want to play in the water?
Yes. 
Do you want to play with your table?
Yes.
Do you want to go in the pool?
Yes. 

5 pm
I want pizza. 
The pizza shop doesn't open until 7
Mommy, where's the pizza guy?
We can't order until 7.
I'm hungry

6 pm
I want pizza. 
Okay, let's order but it's going to take some time.
Why?
Because the shop doesn't open until 7

7:30 pm
Where's the pizza guy?
Let's look at my phone.  We can track him.
He's not moving.  Where's the pizza guy?
Where's the pizza guy?
Where's the pizza guy?

8:30 pm
Brush your teeth, Pablo
Why? 
Because you just ate chocolate ice cream.
And...
Because your godfather's a dentist.
What?

9 pm
More books, Mommy.
No Pablo, it's time for bed.
Why? 
Because it's late and time to rest.
Voy a dormir. 

#SOL20 #day7 #tiredmomma 

Nostalgia Soundtrack- Part 1

Trying to figure out an idea for today's blog while listening to music and one just penetrated my brain.  There are a probably number of other songs to add to this list but here are some in no particular order that generated small moments instantaneously.

1994- March- All 4 One: I swear... A definite sign of how much my music choices have evolved over the years since my wild days as an 8th grader.   I remember this song because it was the only time I ever called a radio station to request a song and actually got through.  After I hung up the phone with the radio station, I called a number of my friends who were listening to the radio to listen for my voice and the song to come on.  

2010- March- Coldplay concert:  Fix You... Oh what a beautiful night outside of Emirates Palace when it sprinkled down rain upon us in the steamy desert, followed by a steamy night with the Syrian and a personal day to recover from it all.  It was a night I will never forget. 

2012-June- Christina Aguilera and Pitbull: Feel this moment... I was teaching 5th grade and the kids had been doing a dance unit with the PE teacher.  During the dance unit, they did a flashmob to this song in the lunch room, which was gorgeous and full of energy, which overflowed to the end of the school year and was played almost every hour during our 5th grade class trip in the Pyrenees.  

2016- July- Twenty One Pilots: Ride.. This one was popular during the summer Andres and I visited the US before we had Pablo.  We went to the lake.  We drove from St. Louis to Greenville, North Carolina stopping in Nashville and the Smoky Mountains and we went to Heather Rich's wedding in New York City.  It was a great last summer couples trip for awhile as we became parents the next summer.  

2019-December- Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats: SOB... I heard this one just as I was rounding up the most recent season of Atypical.  It was featured during a chaotic scene which featured the main character getting married to his best friend in a Vegas Chapel.  The whole thing was comical but the speed of the song paralleled our entire Christmas vacation and us chaotically moving from one country, house, bed to another over 3 weeks... More importantly, it introduced me to this artist whom I have fallen in love with sense. 

#SOL20 #Day6 #Theweekendshere

The Borges Plaza

Down brick laid streets, canopied in birch and oak trees, lies the Borges plaza,  a unique little place in my neighborhood where so much transpires.   You should think the 1930s, because quite frankly, with everything in Argentina, you should think of this time period when things were alive, blossoming and Europeans were seeking Argentina out as a dream destination.   But, while you think 1930s, add 2020,  the trendy 60 year olds in one corner dressed in flowy cotton pants and white shirts are doing Tai chi.  And while we're on 2020, go back 30 years to the early 90s,  those are the teenagers lurking around the central fountain in the plaza, lying in one another's laps, dressed slightly goth, slightly grunge, looking for love and/or trouble.  So back to the 30s, which would be the place, my son and I spend most of our time, the playground.  There is a carousel, imagine creepy amusement park, old metallic forms of transportation, parts literally hanging by a thread or actually so decrepit that they fall off, and tacky colors, meaning too many of them.  Whether it be a preschool, or a playground, Argentines love their colors but the schemes are never aesthetically pleasing.   How can a city that built one of the most stunning downtowns in the world fall apart when it comes to playground equipment?  And oh how it does.   Beside the carousel, is a little 3 meter by 3 meter cage, filled with balls, that my son goes into, and with the slightly anal retentiveness of his mother, often proceeds to pick out all the broken balls and put them in the corner because he believes they should be taken out of the ball pit.  Finally, there is a sand pit, often filled with someone's left toys and very dirty small children, so of course my toddler gravitates there. Fortunately, today, he just wanted to slide, but still we ended up covered in sand, warranting this evening's bath.   The plaza is a weekly event and a charming little bike ride away, a trip back in time, and a reminder of how the kids of this generation still just need simple fun. 

Wednesday Poetry inspired by Mini Lesson Writing

I am knee deep in writing a 5th grade poetry unit.  With luck, I had some resources to support the unit's development, another coaching friend gave me their 5th grade collaborative planning unit and the If/ Then curriculum in the Lucy Calkins 5th grade writing resources has some good suggestions for teaching points.   On top of this, nowadays, there are a number of great websites dedicated to poetry on top of the plethora of books you can find in your schools library, making resources accessible and ready to connect to teaching points. 

• Poets.org 
• Poem Farm
• Poetryforkids
• Poetry Foundation

One of the lessons I wrote was under the teaching point: Poems can and usually evoke strong emotions. 

The teaching is planned to go as: 

Teaching: 

Start by studying a Prelutsky poem: I made a noise this morning

After you read, think aloud. 

• Poems evoke strong emotions.  Which one does this evoke?  
• Poets use words to convey emotions. Which ones show (emotion name?)
• Poets use craft moves to convey emotions.  What does the poet use to convey these emotions? 

Name and notice.  

Then, approach the lesson as a writer.  

1. Scan your notebook identifying patches of feelings and emotions- nostalgia
2. Select a topic that you may have a certain emotion around -summer camp nights
3. Brainstorm precise words that go with that emotion and topic -fireflies, the lingering smell of campfire and mosquito spray, the taste of burnt marshmallows always on my mind, the joy of rolling down the hill in tire tubes hair flying in the air, the agony of swim class and ice cold, bone chilling water
4. Brainstorm craft moves: the line breaks should be soft, no need for rhyme, maybe repetition to show how the memories are joyful ones 
5. Write a poem/ Share one you wrote

Today's poem is inspired by this mini-lesson.

Summer Camp Nights

Fireflies glow

Intermittently

Piercing the dark sapphire

Blue sky

Marshmallows roast

Sparking 

Embers dancing in the fire

Blackening

Heads tumble

Fluttering 

Hair flops up and down

Spiraling

Threads weave

Uniting

Colors, friends and

Memories 

Abyssal water

Chilling 

Limbs floating free

Tranquility

Laughter permeates

Bunk bed 

Corners, pillow talk

Joy

#SOL20 #day4 

Dear Mom 2020

Dear Mom,

I wish you were here because it's girl scout cookie season and somehow, by some miracle, you would find a way to get that little piece of home to me in whatever strange corner of the world I was in.

I wish you were here because whenever I called you, I felt every emotion, good and bad, and you validated feeling emotions, even when it was hard and there was a lot of crying.  I never felt bad about being sad or full of emotions.  You taught me to hold on to them, and fight for them and with them.

I wish you were here because I worry about Dad.  I worry about him falling.  I worry about him eating too many microwave dinners or canned pasta sauce.  I wish you were here for your chicken enchiladas and your sporadic baking extravaganzas you would sometimes have.  It's a miracle that none of us are overweight.

I wish you were here to take out for a glass of wine or sit on the porch and smoke one of Dad's or Andres cigarettes as a guilty pleasure and special treat, as we talk about life, traveling, galavanting and love.

I wish you were mostly because you were my mom and I feel like I turned out pretty well and you passed away just as Pablo turned 1 and was turning into a real person.  I wish you could know him.  I think of you every time he does something new and wonderful.  I think of you when we call Grandpa or when we look at pictures and he sadly doesn't know who you are.   It breaks my heart that he won't know you and your grandmother talents that you clearly graced Noah with, who was crying buckets throughout your entire funeral.  I think of that day when Pablo wasn't able to sit still, being a new walker, and wish you were there to see him cruising around the funeral.  You would have laughed and been whispering at me or him to come to you.  You would have taken him and played with him outside and made him giggle his magical laugh. 

I wish you were here because no one will replace you.  No one except you and I remember the day we were at the immigration office all day with my stomachache which eventually became appendicitis.   No one except you will remember how it felt to arrive on top of O'Cebreira after one of the longest, hardest hikes we had both done in awhile.  No one except you will love me the way a mom does.

Yours,
Heather

#SOL20 #day3

My Argentine 20...

So as much as I love this challenge, I hate my Argentine Internet equally.
My dedication is real because I am sitting here on my phone, which is trying to code switch between Spanish and English, which is even more frustrating, trying to write a blog.

There are things I will miss about Argentina
1. Asados
2. Amazing, cheap, wine
3. A blossoming theatre scene while still maintaining a trendy vintage one simultaneously
4. Working with the Spanish language teachers, creating Units of Study from scratch, often integrated with Social Studies and layered with inquiry
5. Our wonderful nanny who loves Pablo to the moon and back and takes good care of me too
6. Our quaint, little neighbourhood, a cross between the 1950s and a hippy American town
7. The talented group of teachers I work with in general and their incredible resilience, all the while, not complaining about things nearly as much as they could
8. Friends always
9. Riding my bike to school
10. Plentiful green blended with city
11. Our beautiful backyard with pool, barbecue, greenery and patio
12. Ice cream
13. Ángela, the masseuse, Heaven

And there are things I will not:
1. The fairly bland, meat based diet
2. Shotty Internet
3. Preschool mediocrity
4. Grocery store annihilation, meaning messy, rotting food, empty shelves
5. Extremely inconsistent  service
6. Cockroaches
7. The volatile currency situation

Still, the good outweighs the bad but man, if I can make it through a SOL challenge without having to blog on my phone, and am downright craving a pen and paper and other platform, I will be a happy camper.

Sleep well friends. More stories and passion from a better device with better Internet tomorrow.

#SOL20 #day2 #annoyed

Mi Panza Duele/ My Tummy Hurts

A week that has seemed like forever is drawing to an end or in other words, a new more positive sky has risen. 

It started last Monday night, I woke up to go to the bathroom, while sleeping in my friend's bed with my son.  Travelling nomads we are, this is not a rare occasion for us, but when I crawled back in the rolly polly roll around seemed more like a wrestling match with a monster and then a "Mama, mi panza duele" which in Argentine Spanish, means: My tummy hurts. I got Pablo some water.  Still, he kept saying it, "Mi panza duele."  And as he said it, in dreary Mom mode, I got frustrated as it was 1 am in the morning.  "Go to sleep, Pablo."  And the reaction to those words was projectile vomiting, all over the sheets, on the floor, in the bathroom.  It's bad when it's in your house but when it's in someone else's house, in the middle of the night, you just kind of cave in and think 'Is this really happening?' 

The next day, we took it slow, no milk, more carbs, Pablo was lethargic.  I was convinced it was food poisoning.  Too many peaches. Typing it makes me realize I think like an old wives tale.  So when we went to fly and Pablo took a super long nap, I breathed a sigh of relief.  He'll sleep it off. But as I ate my lunch and my glass of wine didn't seem so right and my fish tasted too fishy,  I would be lying to myself if I wasn't worried something else was lurking in our tummies.    As we landed, Pablo asked for a little milk, and I indulged, knowing I was breaking every doctor and mommy rule in the book, but I wanted him to be soothed, comforted.   He drank it, seemed fine.  20 minutes later as we were looking up to the screen for our luggage information, the exorcist returned.  Vomit everywhere, milky, curdly vomit and the little food he had eaten all day.   Bless his heart, Pablo was more chill about it than his mom.  He strutted through the airport shirtless until we were able to get our suitcase. 

Wednesday hit, and my stomach and body started to twist and turn, shrivel up, slow down.  "My tummy hurts" was becoming common conversation with Pablo and I throughout the day.

And on Thursday, I could barely move and was walking around nauseous when I decided to call it a day, and take a family trip to our pediatrician.  She strictly prescribed "No sugar, no raw foods, rice, bread, crackers, liquids... and rest.. plus a capsule of liquid probiotics a day."  

It's Sunday morning, and we seem to be on the up and up, but I missed some quality adult foodie experiences (Korean and Julia) I needed this week and am going on week 5 of single parenting so I am hoping and praying that today will be the last day we share the phrase "My tummy hurts" for awhile. 

#Day1 #SOL2020 #Sliceoflifechallenge