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| the schoolkids |
ME!
School. Coaching. Family life. How to balance it all? By not taking a full course load, by limiting my in-the-gym time to a few times a week (but remaining flexible), by not going to bed on time, by planning and making time for... for what? Everything. Somehow. I'm enjoying my classes and going with the ebb and flow of it all. Things have changed so much since I was in school 12 years ago (!!!) with that omnipresent thing called le internet. Class platforms and research tools are entirely online, and getting to know these tools is something wholly independent from class content and assignments - there is much to learn. I'm hoping I can get into the flow of writing soon, but finding time for it all and delegating time for it all (kid-free) is not the easiest of things to do. What else? I'm still loving the house, the gas stove, the yard and the neighbourhood, and I'm looking forward to meeting friends and making some connections. The neighbours that we have met are amazing: friendly, welcoming and kind (Liz, our neighbour to the east, brought us a housewarming gift of wine and a homemade beautiful blanket). Being (and feeling like) a part of a community is something I've been looking forward to for a long time, and it will be great once we really settle into the swing of things and start spreading roots.
STEVE
Steve isn't as busy as I am in the sense that I'm out there with external commitments - but really, he is just as busy as I am with the kids and around-the-house jobs (internal: he works in-house). When I have school commitments and/or practice, he's in charge of drop-off, pick-up, and Alana. He's also thinking of little jobs and projects he can do around the house, and upcoming trips to Gatineau (to ready our place for renters, deal with our car) and Calgary (Athletes CAN conference) mean his schedule is about to get busy. I think he's enjoying time away from volleyball, but there are aspects that you can't help but miss, and hopefully he can either join a knitting guild or a hockey league to get some of that team aspect that has been such a big part of his life.
(Also, he's pretty pumped about the fact that we have TV (as of this morning), and that he can watch all World Championship matches ON TV. Poland and Italy are playing right now in front of 30,000 + people. Crazy! Amazing.)
HENDRIK (3 years + 10 months)
Our school boy! I swear he's getting bigger every day. How's it going? I think it's going well. He seems happy at pick-up and eager at drop-off (better than unwilling, sad, etcetera etcetera), but it tires the little guy out, we think. He's been pretty well-behaved at home in the evenings, but we've had more challenging moments in the last week than in the previous two, and I think it's just because he's tired. Going from zero hours of school to a full five and a half hours of different is a lot for a three year-old! Also, he won't tell us what he did - a la teenager: "Hendrik! How was school? What'd you do today?" HIM: "eh, not much." This is the extent of his answer, and it (the complete lack of information) was/is unexpected for me. His teacher told Steve that they did a little project on worms the other day, and that Hendrik knew all about them; he told the teacher (Mrs. B.) about how worms poop out the leaves that they eat under the ground and their poop is called casts (learned from Outside Your Window - a fabulous book that I'm in LOVE with) - he gave us nothing on the subject! I suppose we'd better get used to it... right?
We're hoping to get him into swimming and skating lessons, but we'll take it one thing at a time. He's still super into dinosaurs, books, riding his bike, and doing things on his own; he loves chocolate, dessert, pasta, thinking of words that start with "B" and he asked me the other day if I would still look the same after I finish library school. There's more, I'm sure, but I'd better move on to....
ALANA (2)
This girl - this beauty! I love her to bits. She can be pretty whiny though, and I certainly don't love the whine factor. She does mostly everything that Hendrik does, and it'll be no surprise that she also loves dinosaurs, books, and riding her bike. Cheese is still a big hit on the food front, but she'll pound back sandwiches and wraps, ham, granola, grapes, strawberries, avocado... nearly anything you put in front of her at mealtime. We're not big into the snack thing, so perhaps that's one of the reasons our kids really put it back at the table. She wants to do things by herself and gets right into the dirt and smears it all over her face and we practically have to bathe her after any and all backyard sessions. She's still napping in the afternoon (save for right now - boo) and she loves loves loves babies and other kids her size and smaller (she's in awe of the biggers). And just as keen as Hendrik's sense of smell is Alana's tendency to sympathize with and encourage others when they are sad, injured or expressing dismay. Really! You stub your toe and scream OUCH! and she'll come over and put her face in yours and actually ask if you're okay. It's adorable, and exactly the opposite reaction you'll get from Hendrik (he'll run away or remain oblivious).
That's all for now folks - I need to go make dinner. And then study. Arriba!
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