First Day of Kindergarten

Today is the big day: first day of kindergarten. Yay! Sasha was not so excited. The most he would admit to is feeling "kinda good, kinda bad" about his first day of school.  We walked him to school and even got to go into the classroom for a few minutes.  He was hesitant about where to sit because half of the seats were already occupied.  Then he saw his new friend Ronan who said, "Hey dude, what's up?"  Happily, he sat down next to him and put his backpack on the back of the chair like Ronan showed him. Then he turned to me and Mama and said, "I think I'm starting to like school already!"  He waved goodbye and didn't look back. 

Visitng Vermont

I am blogging by proxy today.  We had family vacation in Vermont and Aunt Margot documented the trip with her camera.  So I set up a slideshow with her photos.  I hope to add captions, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.  The slideshow is an experiment.  So here goes:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l2k1qxkitz8k1e8/Vermont%202013.m4v

Cruising the Wild West

Meet Cowboy Joe, "the famous cowboy," and his horse, Rusty.

Red Flags: Red for a Reason

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping with Sasha at our usual store.  He is old enough now to be generally well-behaved and I can give him small tasks to "help" me out and occupy him for a while.  He loves to grab his favorite yogurts and toss them in the cart, pick out lemons and apples, and help scoop things in the bulk aisle.  Yesterday, it was popcorn, sugar, beans.  He was sorely tempted to taste the sugar from the bin and I told him NO twice, finally taking the scoop from him and shutting the bin.  His lucky day, however: another shopper asked him if he would help her, too, by scooping some sugar in her bag.  Incredibly kind of her to ask, given the quality of the help.  I chuckled to myself as she politely tried to stop the sugar from falling all over the floor while he vigorously shoveled.  Task accomplished, he stood there next to the open bin, looking longingly at the crystalline sweetness.  Trying to gauge how he could get away with sticking his face in it, I'm sure.  I hustled him out of the aisle and we continued through the rest of the store.

We stood in line together, chatting about ice cream and baby wipes-- items that we passed while waiting on line.  When we finally reached the front and we're next to unload our cart (RED FLAG), he said to me, "Mamu, I'm going to find that woman who let me help her and say goodbye."  An unusual request for him (RED FLAG), but I thought it was a nice thing to do so I said OK.  I began to unload the cart, keeping an eye out for Bub because he may not know which lane I am in; but he didn't return immediately (RED FLAG).  Then I saw the woman who he was looking for, but no Sasha (RED FLAG).  I finally got suspicious enough to start to go look for him-- midway through unloading my cart.  But at that moment he came running (RED FLAG) back.  I finished unloading and asked him to return the cart.  As I made my request, however, I noticed sugar stuck to his cheeks and his sweatshirt.  My jaw dropped and I heard this over the P.A. system:

"Will the [manager] please come to the bulk aisle."

Everything became clear.  I've been made a fool by my four-year-old and he's just been grossing out the nearby shoppers.  Or, as Nerdy put it, "We've become one of those people."  You know, the ones that let their angelic child run wild and unattended in a commercial establishment.  As mortification sunk in, I decided that there was nothing I could do.  Clearly, the problem was identified and being taken care of, and the time for me to do something helpful had passed.  I was furious.  But quite happy to leaving the store aboutthisfast.  Though Sasha got an earful on the way home, I figured a punishment to suit the crime would take some thought.

Later that day, I received the following email:

It was brought to our attention today (by several shoppers) that your child had been in the bulk aisle (without you) and helped himself/herself to the sugar in our bin.  First with bare hands, then licking the scoop and stuffing that back into the bin.  Unfortunately, that makes the sugar un-sellable to others....so we needed to remove the product.  Hopefully you'll understand, under the circumstances, that we need to ask you to pay for the 'damaged' product that became a loss to the Coop.  We removed it to a bag and placed it in the offices in case you would actually like to have the product once you pay for it.

One hundred and eighteen dollars later, we are the un-proud new owners of 70 pounds of sugar, only slightly spitty.

And Sasha lost the contents of his piggy bank.

Who Wants Some Yummy Pineapple Juice?

Pineapple juice for sale!  One dollar!  Would you like some?

--No thanks.

Pineapple juice for sale! One nickel!  Would you like some?

--No thanks.  It's not that it's too expensive.  I'm suspicious of your source.  I think it was already in your mouth and you spit it into that cup.

Free pineapple juice!  There's no spit in it.  I take a drink, then I put it here where the machine takes the spit out, and makes it organic, then I put it in the cup.  So it's totally organic.  It's fine.  Want some?

Space Time Continuum Explained

Beauty in WI

Fun times in WI

American Horror Story

The little man and I went shopping for a sled in preparation for last night's snowstorm.  Afterward, we had a nice post-sled-purchasing lunch at the donut shop.  He was sitting there chomping away on his bagel, seemingly happy and content.  He looked at me and said, out of the blue, "Remember when you told me that when you went to the bookstore you didn't get the Brothers Gim book of fairy tales and got the other one instead?"

"The Brothers Grimm? Yes."  [I cannot believe he remembers this.]

"Why didn't you like the the Brothers Grimm?"

"Well, they tell stories that are very violent and have really mean people in them."

"Oh...
       ... I know one Brothers Jim story called Blah Blah Blah."

"Really?  What happens in Blah Blah Blah?"

"I don't really want to tell you because it's really violent."

"Can you tell me anyway?"

"Well, I can't really remember.... oh, let me call Annabelle and ask her."  [Pretend dials.]  "Hi, Annabelle?  Can you remind me what happens in Blah Blah Blah story?"  [Pretend listens.]  "So a guy who sells guns decided he wants to use one.  So he goes to school with a gun and shoots the kids.  Then he shoots coffee.  Then shoots kids, then coffee, then kids."

"What happens when he shoots the coffee?"

[Laughing] "It turns green and icy.  Then the mamas come to school and see blood all over the chairs.  But then Martin Luther King Jr.'s dad comes and sprinkles water on them, and fixes them. Then everything is better!  So the ending is good."

"Wow.  That is definitely violent and scary." [WTF?!  What do I do or say?  Anything?]

Air Baguette

Sometimes grocery shopping with a 4 year old can be a fun experience.  Usually not, but sometimes.  This weekend we went suburban grocery shopping (complete with parking lot!) and we were entertained by our Little Hammy.  King Coffee Bean greeted me among the sacks of coffee beans and offered to get some coffee for me.  Sure, I said, as the real coffee guy ground my French Roast.  The king demanded that I address him properly.  Okay, King Coffee Bean, what kind of beans do you have?  He then gave me a tour of the beans of the world, including the popular blends mint chocolate chip, coconut, cocoa 215, forty-one forty-nine, black, dark brown, and blueberry muffin.  I ordered a pound.  Then he led me to the left-hand side of his kingdom, ducked down behind a burlap sack, and emerged as the Service Master.  I didn't understand and addressed him as "King."  I AM NOT THE KING.  I AM THE SERVICE MASTER.  Now, here is your coffee.

After we checked out, we naturally put all our bags in the cart to take it to the car.  Little Hammy offered to carry the baguette.  It annoys me to no end that Fairway insists on putting 2 feet of baguette into 10 inches of plastic bag, but they always do it.  Immediately he started playing air guitar like a rock legend.  All the way out the store and down the sidewalk.  Thoroughly entertaining, especially since we have no idea where he learned his moves.  I caught the last little bit on video, but unfortunately missed the bulk of the performance.  For your viewing pleasure:

Later in the evening after we got home, our neighbor saw us in the hallway and gave Sasha a little Diego doll. He was thrilled and started dancing Diego all around our apartment. I thought I'd join in and grabbed Dolly Doll to dance, too. He stopped short, rolled his eyes, and said, "Mamu, there's no Dolly Doll in this part. It's the opening credits."

Color Scheme

Nerdy has just brought today's purple theme to my attention. No, I did not coordinate the new blog colors with the Obama family's inaugural outfits.

Robot Function Bird

Behold Sasha's latest creation.

Zayde's New Chapeau

Waiting to see the chipper

Reading with Zayde