Spell it out: Part III

I am a proud parent, a very proud parent. It is just part of the job description and I see no reason for humility. What's the point? Do you want me to go around picking on his flaws? The kid isn't even three yet. He has to at least be in school before I can become the nitpicking mom, right? I can say, however, that our friends have children with lots of gifts that are different from Zeke's. I know children Zeke's age who speak in full paragraphs, essays and treatises, children with great physical talents, children with great emotional sensitivity and startling imaginations, and, most enviably, children who are fully potty trained. But, still, I take pride in my offspring and what I perceive to be his gifts. If you think it is unbecoming for me to brag, I simply suggest you read another blog...right now.

In my estimation as a parent, education professional (haha) and recovering English major, I think my child is on his way to being a great reader. At my last count, he can recognize over 60 words without any prompting from someone else. About 45 of those words come from a DVD series that he is obsessive over. (I wouldn't have ever thought to get these DVDs, but friends loaned us other DVDS from the same company teaching color, shapes and numbers. After watching them, he was absolutely crazy for them and started pointing out that stop signs were octagons, which pretty well sold me on them.) He loves pointing out words that he knows from the DVDs, including from signs, boxes and books that he can almost read by himself like Are You My Mother? He also enjoys reading words from Where the Wild Things Are, though there is a lot more parent participation involved there. He also seems to be picking up words from places other than the DVDs at a surprising clip. After a few times of reading Where the Wild Things Are, he is picking out "Max" and finding it in the word "maximum" from some packaging left in the living room. In some of the educational settings in which I have worked, it would be miraculous to see a 9 year old -- and probably the 19 year olds I tried to teach -- reading a book, but here my toddler is making a good effort at it. Yes, how my child does benefit from the low expectations I have inherited from our public schools. Maybe other toddlers and preschoolers do this, too, but he is mine, so I remain fixed in my little bubble of pride.

It is often difficult to engage Zeke in an independent activity that does not involve constant supervision or a television, which makes it difficult to get dinner made. Usually, though, I can get him really focused on the refrigerator letter magnets and challenge him to spell different words by himself that I know he can read. Here he is with his name and then one of the words from his DVDs "play".

I promise I won't let this swell me up too much, though. We have a long way to go before we really know whether Zeke is going to be a kid who enjoys and is good at reading. Also, when Zeke first spelled out his first name, he tried to follow it up with his last name. Apparently, our last name is now spelled "IEEEXUFGYRL."

Brand new day

I'm sure you've probably heard by now that we have a new president and, by God, it is great. Maybe better than I could have expected. Yes, it was exciting to have the candidate we were supporting win and the inauguration last week was pretty cool, too, but this first week of policy announcements has been deeply satisfying.

This may not come as a surprise to anyone who knew that our family was pretty invested in this presidential campaign. I don't like even making a call to order take out, but I mustered up enough guts to do some phone banking from the kitchen table and Aaron and I spent a few days doing "get out the vote" canvassing in nearby neighborhoods. Zeke got to go out with Aaron and Grandma Trish one day and I went out canvassing with parents of one of Zeke's classmates, a great way to make new friends. Then Aaron and I went out together knocking on doors -- some date! In general, the campaign was really filled with emotion for me. I was checking websites every few minutes and feeling moved to tears by the extreme displays of hatred one on side and then by the hope my friends and I shared over speeches and polls and promised policies. As an aside, I can truly say I didn't vote for someone based on race, but I can admit my heart rose looking at Obama family photos and identifying with that picture. Okay, my family is not nearly as diverse, but it has a couple of similarities in its multiethnic and multicultural make up that resonate for me as my family in its different doses Asian, black, white, Christian, Jewish. Example: Obama's sister is half Asian/half white. That sort of identification was really powerful for myself and my mixed friends.

I voted early. Experience now shows that we would have been better off voting on November 4, but I was as eager as everyone else I knew to make sure I avoided any Election Day problems and also Aaron and I committed to working at polls on that day. I brought Zeke with me to vote and snapped a few photos of him. When we first got there, the line was moving very quickly and very efficiently and we anticipated only an hour wait. However, it ended up taking over three hours as the voter verification system kept crashing. Lucky for me, Zeke and everyone else with me in that line, I had packed Zeke's backpack full with enough food, toys and books to occupy him and a dozen other toddlers. It wasn't until the last 15 minutes or so in line that he got antsy and I had to bring out the iPhone (Zeke likes to correct me and say "No, it's My Phone!") and let him play with it and stream YouTube videos of Peter Rabbit. Our new friends in line -- you get to know a person after 3 hours -- kept saying how amazed at how patient and well behaved Zeke was. They felt he was coping better with the wait than many of the voters lined up with us! Even though it is probably not how most parents should plan an outing with a toddler, it feels like a badge of honor that we did wait and that Zeke got to be there with me. A tad silly, but completely honest.

In October I started investigating going to the Inauguration and got on the waiting list of one of our state senators, as did a thousand other people. If I had requested the tickets in February, I might have been granted the tickets, because that is when people started requesting them from this senator. Instead we stayed in town and decided to brave the elements and meet up with friends downtown to watch on Jumbotrons in the park. It was fun to be there with 1,200 other people, but it was so cold that I lost feeling in my upper lip, the wind was whipping up dry grass, and the sound was cut at the poem and benediction. All in all we would have been able to view it better from our nice warm house, but it was great to celebrate with other people. Also, afterwards we stopped at Whole Foods for groceries and some soup for lunch. It was great: it was absolutely a ghost town, the least crowded I have ever seen. Guess all the arugula eating, latte sipping liberals were busy doing something else that day. I am hoping we can make plans to be in DC for 2013!

I'm fine if Zeke grows up to have different political views from his father and me. And, even with taking him out for canvassing one day, I did my best to keep him free of any pins or shirts. (I saved all the merchandising for me with my "ObamaMama" shirt and "Mama loves Obama" totebag.) Still, this kid can really get down to will.i.am's "It's a New Day" and seems to relish saying "Barack O'Mama." We will be enjoying all of this for some time to come.


Here is the note that I wrote myself on Election Day:

I was about five or six when I developed an awareness of the American presidency. The first president I remember was Ronald Reagan. The first president that my child will remember? President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama.

That brings tears to my eyes.

Of course I've been crying a lot recently. I make no bones about being an unabashed liberal. I've already told you that I am an Obama Mama (my shirt finally arrived!). I have spent the past few days with friends and family knocking on doors, calling, talking to people and waving signs for Obama. I don't shed tears, however, because I am a liberal and happy to be on the winning team. It is out of tremendous pride of being an American and having renewed reason to believe in the promise and future of America.

I'm sure there is a good caption here

If you have a clever caption for these photos, let me know. There has got to be something to say about showing your child for the first time that only the top portion of their favorite Sesame Street characters exist.

These photos are from the current Jim Henson exhibit at the Atlanta History Center. If you are a Henson fan, you still have a chance to see it through this weekend. (Just don't try to take any photos in the exhibit or you will be accosted by a security guard like Aaron was.) We went the week before Christmas for a special showing of Jim Henson's Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas that included some outtakes and the participation of a Henson employee and one of Henson's daughters. Oh, how I do love the old Jim Henson stuff. It stands up darn well to the test of time, even when many other of my childhood favorites do not. While Zeke enjoyed the show and seeing some of his favorite muppets, I probably enjoyed it more, proving yet again that so much of his childhood thus far is more about me and not as much about him!

It's a puppy!

But, of course, you knew this without anyone having to tell you. (Zeke had to tell us.) Art from December 17.

Back on the wagon

I'm back. Posts to resume. By the way, it is really hard to get started when you get out of the habit. Don't let this happen to you.