School Struggles and Solutions

I missed my son's (preschool) parent-teacher conference. Really. It would have been last week but I just found out today.

How did this happen? "It was announced in an email, and there was a sign up sheet on the door," the teacher said. 

I didn't see that email or the sign up sheet.

I was pissed. Disappointed in myself for missing that email. Angry at the failure of the school to communicate better. I went home and searched my email. The only mention of parent-teacher conferences was one line in a list of things in an email sent at the end of October. Sign up sheets on "the door" are just white paper tacked with one thumbtack to a white door, they curl, they are indistinct. Drop off and pick up times are chaotic as the tiny and cluttered entryway fills up with kids, younger siblings and parents. We shuffle to get out of each others way while changing shoes, putting on winter gear, packing backpacks and admiring artwork.

I talk to the teacher almost every day. Didn't she notice I had not signed up and perhaps thought it was worth a check in?

Maybe I'm at fault here and being overbearing by expecting better communication from the school, except I know this stuff happens all the time. Just last month some parents showed up for pick up and were surprised that it was the Open House Luncheon.

But I'm a proactive person. Rather than stewing on the failure, I noticed that there is an underused bulletin board above the parent mailboxes already. I asked the teacher if she would post all the parent information there: announcements, sign up sheets, daily activities, and a list of upcoming important dates. This would just reinforce the emails and put all the info in one convenient spot.

She thought it was a good idea and said she would do it. Problem solved.

Blogging is Dead! Long Live Blogging!

One of the recent perks of being a BurlingtonVT Moms Blog contributing writer was getting to take a writing class with some of the other fabulous mom bloggers. I left my family on Saturday morning and headed, solo, to the Renegade Writers' Collective in Burlington for three hours of me-time.

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The course was taught by Kate Sykes and designed specifically for us. It explored how blogging as an art form has, perhaps, seen its peak. The original bloggers all wrote books already. (Blogging is dead!) Then again, maybe blogging is making a comeback in a new form. Blogs are trending more to long form (like this blog by yours truly) whereas short-form used to be more the way things went.

We got to do fun writing exercises. For example, writing a list post inspired by tarot card emotions and banana-gram letters to inspire topics. We then read our quickly written pieces with a group of supportive colleagues. Positive critiques were given, and tips for improving not only our writing, but connecting with a larger audience. It was really fun, and I felt like I was rediscovering a piece of myself. I began to think of myself as a writer who would potentially go on writer-type retreats.When was the last time I had taken a creative class like this? I honestly can't remember. But I know I would love to do more.

Blogging is a great creative outlet. That's why I have taken such a liking to it. It's also a way to share your message (hello climate change!) and connect with a community. Long live blogging!

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My Opposition to Hunting Culture

It didn't sound quite like a bang, more like a loud tear that echoed as the bullet sliced the air towards its target. I hoped for the deer's sake that the hunter missed his mark. There was barely any daylight yet so I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep in my warm bed.

Opening day of deer rifle hunting season.

Waking up to gunshots, hearing them throughout the day, seeing pickup trucks parked (creepily) along all the roads, and the sight of recreational walkers and their dogs wearing fluorescent orange vests while getting their daily exercise walking down our road. All these sites and sounds don't unnerve me quite as much as they did when I first moved to this rural Vermont county three years ago. Mostly I find the season annoying because I can't safely take my kids for a hike on local trails through the woods....and all those gunshots shattering the peaceful silence.

I am not opposed to hunting. Hunting wild game is the most sustainable and environmentally-friendly way to eat meat. Venison is delicious. The only time I had it was at a fancy restaurant in Los Angeles, but boy was it good. Hunting permits fund state conversation efforts and it's true that herd management is an important task done by hunters. Have you ever driven through states where suburban areas are common and deer populations are too high? Dead deer on the highway are ubiquitous. It's awful.

I am opposed to common hunting culture. I hate the pictures of hunters with their trophies--holding up the dead animal's head while the hunter mugs for the camera. Mounting heads, antlers and hooves on the wall just seems disgusting and disrespectful. Hunting should be for food, not sport or show.

Many Vermonters use deer meat to feed their families over the winter, and that's a good thing. My ideal hunter would be one who hunts because of their love of nature, and because they want to feed their family, and they really like venison. S/he would say a prayer for the animal once it was killed, thank it for the nourishment it would provide, forgo taxidermied trophies, and leave the camera at home.

What do you think?

Like Nails on a Chalkboard

Image from: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1072390

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The sound of my kids fighting and it's not even 7am.

Competitive screams. Longer. Louder. Higher and higher pitch.

"Noooo! I wouldn't!" is how my 3 year old protests.

"Mommy you carry ME!" said while clawing at my clothes or clasping my ankle while lying dead weight on the floor as I carry Lil Sis and a bag of groceries.

Endless tantrums over a missing trinket.

3 year old wanting to be a baby. 1 year old wanting to be a big kid.

In some ways parenting gets easier...in other ways it gets WAY harder.

But they're so angelic when they're sleeping...

Cloudy Bear

My son has struggled a bit with sleeping in his own bed at night for several weeks now. We hoped that moving his sister into his bedroom with him would solve our nighttime challenges, but he sometimes has bad dreams.

On our pediatrician's advice, I talked with my son about how everyone dreams. Sometimes we have bad dreams, but they are just pretend. If a bad dream wakes him, he can simply "change the channel" on his brain and go back to sleep for a new dream. As I explained this, I turned a pretend knob on my temple while making a clicking sound. My son thought this was hilarious. I told him he could do it too, and hoped this strategy just might work.

It didn't.

One night I was on solo duty putting the kids to bed. After I got Little Sister to sleep my son asked me, "Can you tell me a story about me being brave?" Oh my. What a mature request for a 3 year old boy to think of on his own. The only talk of bravery we had ever done was telling him he was brave for putting his face in the water when swimming. "Of course I can tell a story about you being brave, Sweetie!" I did, and it seemed to help.

That was several weeks ago. Then again other night my son was afraid during the bedtime routine. With some coaxing I got him to tell me why. "I'm afraid of that Cloudy Bear that is there when we're downstairs at nighttime!"

"Cloudy Bear? There's no Cloudy Bear, we don't go downstairs at nighttime. You are safe in your cozy bed in your cozy room." I assured him.

"How about I tell you a story about you being brave?" My husband suggested. It went something like this:

Big Brother and Little Sister were visiting in Candyland. Suddenly they heard some barking. They looked around and they saw Pepper was stuck in a hole that was guarded by Cloudy Bear. Cloudy Bear was not being nice, but Big Brother was brave and told Cloudy Bear that he wasn't being nice and he had to let Pepper go. Then, since Cloudy Bear is only made of clouds, Big Brother took a deep breath and blew Cloudy Bear away into the sky.

Then Big Brother and Little Sister fetched some sticks from the Peppermint forest to put in the hole so Pepper could climb out. Then they went to the Giant Ice Cream Cone to eat ice cream.

"Are the goats stuck on the Ice Cream Cone again?" My son asked.

Apparently Big Brother and Little Sister have been to Candyland in Daddy's stories before. They always rescue Pepper, and once they did rescue the goats from the top of the Giant Ice Cream Cone.

The story worked, and my son fell happily asleep.

Big Bro & Lil Sis in Candyland drawn by Mama of Ma'at

Inspiration from a Storybook Moose

Children's books are great. They expose kids to new places and ideas, increase their vocabulary and inspire creativity. They can also inspire great activities to do with your kids on a cold, November afternoon. Recently my kids and I went to the library for story time and to to pick out some new books. One of the several books we picked out was:

In it, the moose (as one of his many activities in the story) wants to make sock puppets and then paint scenery so he can put on a puppet show.

"Let's do that, right now!" My son said.

"Sure," I said, "great idea!"

Luckily I had a large cardboard box in my recycling and plenty of acrylic paints. After donning each child in their art smocks, and placing a drop cloth on the floor, they went at it. They used regular brushes and used packaging styrofoam to apply the paint. My son described it as "a beautiful sunset." My daughter loved painting, it was actually her first time doing it.

Next came the sock puppets. I found mismatched socks in my own drawer. My son said he wanted a dog, cat, and mouse. He drew the faces in permanent marker and I sewed appropriate ears on each one using pieces I cut from the bottom of each sock. I think they look pretty awesome....though the mouse looks a bit more like a monkey or an alien due to the weird shape and placement.

The kids love the puppets. My son's favorite is the dog, my daughter's favorite is the cat, leaving mommy to play the mouse/monkey/alien.

It was fun watching my son try to learn the art of puppetry in our makeshift theater (a wicker ottoman), and I did my best to keep little sister from climbing on the stage during each performance. Here is the show they put on with their dad when he got home:

                                    

A Dumbledore's Army, of sorts

My passion about climate change comes from a desire to protect my children's future. I have always been a green-minded person, but after my babies were born I would lay awake at night worrying about climate change and how it would negatively affect their future. Will their world as adults resemble the world I have known? What can I do now to help them have a safer future?

My first answer was to become a Climate Leader.  I attended The Climate Reality Project's Leadership Training in Chicago and it was empowering. Suddenly I felt like I had permission to go out and do what I already wanted to do: be a leader in the fight against climate change. By giving me access to Al Gore's slideshow and asking me to do a minimum of 10 community presentations over the course of a year I felt powerful, like suddenly I was a member of Dumbledore's Army, except it was a Climate Army. 

The Climate Reality Project aims to restart the grassroots conversation about the threat of climate change so we can win the conversation and get moving in the right direction despite the recalcitrance of our world leaders and the fossil fuel industry. The Climate Reality Project is strong on climate change science, challenging climate change deniers, and offers broad solutions (wind and solar).

Then I saw a quote from Jim Hansen, a top climatologist and former head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies who has now devoted his time to being an activist for the cause of global climate change. His recommendation is for concerned citizens to join the Citizens Climate Lobby.

Citizens Climate Lobby strives to help people to feel powerful on the issue of climate change, instead of fearful. Turns out, Marshall Saunders, the Founder of Citizens Climate Lobby, was also trained as a Climate Leader by the Climate Reality Project. He came to the same conclusion I did, and started a non-profit organization that is growing in size and influence to speak with community, state, national, and even international leaders about climate change and its solutions. Current Citizens Climate Lobby members have talked to leaders at the World Bank convincing them to stop funding new coal projects; talked to Mayor Bloomberg in NYC about climate legislation, and is even in contact with the Pope.

The Climate Reality Project gave me the power to start the conversation with the community, Citizens Climate Lobby will give me, and You, the power to talk with our leaders, at all levels, and win them over on this paramount issue.

So my next project, dear readers, is that while I am going out in the community to give my Climate Reality Project inspired climate talks, I am also going to recruit concerned citizens like me and you to start a Burlington VT Citizens Climate Lobby (VT doesn't yet have one). But I can't do it alone. Will you please join me? Please 'Like' this post, comment, or message me if you are interested in joining the Burlington VT Citizens Climate Lobby!