Don't Be A Barnacle Mom

I remember the day I delivered Zuki to Pre-K and he assured me he was okay - that I should go now. I was proud and yet a little disturbed that my baby was becoming independent. Then came no-joke Kindergarten and it's don't step over the yellow line parents, let go of your kid and get the hell away from the door! The strict divide and conquer tactics were more for the parents than the children.

Although, I wasn't one of those clingy moms creating a Meryl Streep scene with my baby being ripped from my arms - I did wish for a little more drama. Instead Zuki just marched in without so much as looking back or waving goodbye. Sigh.

Two years of him leaving me to go to school - you'd think I'd get used to it by now. But no, today I escorted him to his first class at College For Kids, a summer reading program at the La Guardia Community College. I entered the classroom with the other parents, you know- to make sure everything's okay and gawk at the children. As soon as the teacher told the parents they were free to go, Zuki shooed me away.

Like I was some stray cat hanging around for scraps - a spy disguised as a fly hanging on the wall - an over protective mother cramping a five-year-old's style, as if he had any.

If I'm this hurt now, what's going to happen when he starts going places without me? Am I going to be a barnacle on his side like my schoolmate Nancy Chung's grandmother who walked her to school up until the seventh grade?

I better not! I tell myself to get a grip. Zuki may only be five but he's allowed to have his own little world that I'm not part of. Accomplishing feats of which I will never know the play by play details. Singing songs that I don't know the words to. Having his own inside jokes.

Sob.

Those experts who say that being a parent is never easy were not kidding. From the day he was born, I knew there'd come a day I'd have to let him go - but did it have to start this soon? I figured I had at least another six years before I had to actually get a life. WTF?

June Milestones

It's happening again - June is gone and the rest of the summer threatens to be gone in a flash. I have a theory why the summer feels like it's only three weeks long. It's because summer is the only season where you actually live in the present moment.

You don't spend it thinking about last Christmas or the snow or even the first spring day. At the same time, you don't waste it living in the future either because nothing else seems important. It's Fun-in-the-sun-time! The sprinklers are waiting (can you tell we live in the city?). The sidewalk tables at Bar 43 are breezy and inviting. Spontaneity is in the air and about the only preparation a person needs is remembering to slap on deodorant.

Now that the weddings and graduations and recitals are done, here's a little recap of events gone by.

My Sister-In-Law's Big Catholic Wedding:

From left to right: Mr. Joe Peters & Mrs. Rachel Peters and Mike (Rachel's brother/My husband)

Because their father passed away, Mike walked Rachel down the aisle and gave her away. What a brother, eh? He even wore his Red Wing boots to give him some height and man, did he look spiffy (it's still legal to use that word, right?).

Although, this is Rachel's second marriage, Rachel and Joe have been best friends like, forever. So even if he's new to the family he's not exactly new to us - we're thrilled just the same.

And as far as relationships with Rachel's first marriage...

This is Rachel and Mike doing a shot with the former hubby, Kenny. How often does this happen, ya think?

Rachel & Joe are happy and we're happy that they're happy and happy that we still get to see Kenny - cuz we like him a lot - and the boys are even happier because they get two uncles.

Auntie Rules!










After School Final Showcase:

No, these guys aren't mini hit men, they're the Kindergarten graduates performing in the final show organized by the Sunnyside Community service.

As much as my little guy loved the After School program he was brimming with joy that it was all over. Unfortunately, it may not be around next year as the program's funding was cut. Looks like it's back to hangin' out on the streets and latch key kids for our school. Hey, I grew up like that and I didn't turn out that bad...

It's A Small World, After All...

Kazuki, on the left and his buddy Louis are the only two boys in their ballet class.

While the girls cleanly executed the recital number, the boys looked as if they were getting ready to moon the audience.

They were adorable nonetheless as only boys can be surrounded by lots of pretty little ballerinas. Women think men who can dance are irresistible and I guess it applies to five-year-olds as well.


The Graduate ...okay, so it's Kindergarten but so what?

Tell me this pose isn't hilarious. I'm thinking about sending it to Dr. Heckle.

This is Zuki on Graduation Day. Despite the fact that it was just Kindergarten, families were only allowed two tickets to attend. And to add insult to injury, children counted as one person, which meant siblings needed a ticket, too.

For college, even high school I can understand the limitation but for Kindergarten? Think of all the grandparents who couldn't attend because mom and dad wanted to attend.

Well, there's always YouTube.



Zuki with Daddy and the Last Hairbender.

The Future Rat Pack? Atlantic City, here we come!

Zuki with his teacher, Mrs. Mifsud.

She's nothing short of a miracle worker. He learned in leaps and bounds and she kept his wackiness in order...who else could do that, Jesus?





And speaking of wackiness...Here is K4 of 2010!

Good Luck In First Grade!

Genius Pants

This is an open letter of thanks to all the public school teachers for staying late and meeting with us bewildered parents last night. I'm truly inspired by the dedication and passion with which our children are taught. I can only guess how hard it must be to mold twenty little minds whose only desire is to play and eat snacks but so far, you are doing an awesome job.

My heart goes out to you for trying to work with the unrealistic standards our education system now deems necessary. In truth, I just want my kid to be happy in school - I don't care if he can write a novel in Kindergarten. But what can we do if we're competing with China or Sweden or whats-his-land? Blame Canada, I guess.

Most of the parents with boys were given the same lecture: he needs to focus, less fooling around, finish what he starts. And the teachers know what we want to say, "but they're boys." But they know that's not going to work for First Grade.

The next school year, my five-year-old (he turns six in October) will be required to copy down his own homework and collect the required workbooks to bring home. I'm thinking to myself, are you f*cking kidding me? My kid can hardly remember to come home with all his clothes, how can I expect him to copy down his homework? I might as well ask him to start shaving.

It is a little outrageous and the teachers seem flustered. They want to teach - not drill. And now that I think about it, all those times I used to threaten my boys that I'd send them to Military school if they didn't behave may actually be happening. But we've been blessed with good teachers - knock on wood(I'm knocking my head).

As for the verdict in last night's Parent-Teacher conference, our son is doing surprisingly well. He would do better of course, if he wasn't so busy being the class clown or the gossip king. His teacher, Mrs. Mifsud was quick to tell us that she hates sending him home with a sad face on his behavior sheet but sometimes she just has to. And I understand, especially when she tells us that even the janitor checks in on him during class to make sure he's being good.

So, we voted to give him more responsibilities at home. I'm fine with that, nothing disciplines a child better than hard labor, I say. Maybe have him clean out the fireplace. Oh - we don't have a fireplace. Okay, then make him dig out a fireplace first, then clean it out everyday. Let's see them try that in China.