Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk

For my cousin Amie and other moms on their first day of school! This is exactly how I felt last year when I tried swallow the lump in my throat on Bella's first day of preschool. I got this from her teacher here, and I thought other moms would like the encouragement!


Thoughts at the Bottom of a Beanstalk
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack who was about the climb his very first beanstalk. He had a fresh haircut and a brand new book bag. Even though his friends in the neighborhood had climbed this same beanstalk almost every day last ear, this was Jack's first day and he was a little nervous. So was his mother.
Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk. She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day and how nice his giant would be. She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day. For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk. To Jack it seemed much bigger than it had when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week. His mother thought it looked big, too. She swallowed. Maybe she should've held Jack out a year... Jack's mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder, and smiled down at him.
She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing. Jack didn't say a word. He walked forward, grabbed a low growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother. She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared. There was no rustle, no movement, no sound to indicate that he was anywhere inside. "Sometimes," she thought, "it's harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk."
She wondered how Jack would do. Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down an urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing. "I'd better not. What if he saw me?" She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own. She reminded herself that, after all this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk, and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had outstanding qualifications.
"It's not so much that I'm worried about him," she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's just that he's growing up and I'm going to miss him." Jack's mother turned to leave. "Jack's going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life," she told herself. "Today's the day he starts practicing for them... and today is the day I start practicing something too: cheering him on and waving
good-bye."

Back to School

This was the 2nd year that Bella shared in the excitement of Jilli's first day of preschool. We just happen to still be here in Brownsville, so we enrolled Bella again at Fort Burd Preschool for the month of September.
This year was much different than last year, when Bella was nervous and apprehensive for the first day. This morning the girls ran up to the door and couldn't wait to get started!
Bella had a great day, and said that she "loves Mrs. Popsickle." (Her name is Mrs. VanSickle, and she just happens to be our cousin.) It looks like she will be enjoying her time there until we move at the end of September!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Little Flipper

The kids spent most of Labor Day in the pool. Thanks goodness my dad won't be closing it just yet! I just thought I'd share our little fish, Bella's swimming progress - I took this video after she suprisingly did what she calls a "flip dive" off of the diving board! I thought she did a great job... it won't be too long before she gets all the way around!

You can also hear her negotiating for a popsicle. Oh, well... sometimes bribery gets you videos!