HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS PAUL! I hope your day is a beautiful one!!
Your Blues Ain't Like Mine... a good book I just finished by Bebe Moore Campbell. Ms. Joyce sent it down from Atlanta for me to read. It basically is a retelling of the Emmet Till tragedy from several perspectives, all which capture the caricatures and probably, many actual perspectives and sentiments. THe historical accuracy of the injustices is right on and there are too many to list here. A difficult read but juicy in its own way.
The migraine is at bay, at least enough to where I can feel my energy coming back and I feel like laughing. Which I did yesterday when two of the cutest little two year old darlings followed me around in the kid pool section at the Tunica Aquatic Center. The "big pool" wasn't open yesterday when we took the children "swimming", so I gave mini lessons in floating, face in water, water will not hurt you if you do it like this, and let me hold you while you lay on your back like this or hold the side like this. I did notice that all of the white kids in the pool could float, really swim, etc. Things we kind of take for granted at Pop's Lake. Only one, maybe two of our Jonestown children can sort of float without sinking to the bottom after 3 seconds...but that is A LOT better than when we started. I have some questions for my sisters and sisters-in-law--how did you start your kids out with swimming lessons? I know each one is different, but I was thinking lovingly of Joey all day yesterday. He would love Jonestown. His energy would be infectious with the children here and he has such a big heart for sharing what he can do. He would make it fun. I think one Joey here for swimming would do more than 4 weeks of Mih Ern. It was cool yesterday also to see the white kids and our kids mixing it up in the pool and playing together for awhile. I like the swimming lessons best. We also had a program rehearsal yesterday. The program is today with all of the children and the Girls to Women. I have managed to open the Learning Center up for two days now without setting off the alarm. We had our last set of tennis lessons yesterday. I have not had the energy to want to move, sweat, or care about it for the last three days. Yesterday, I started to feel like myself and played a little tennis and also ran some. We are finished with soccer. The girls couldn't handle more soccer after the dance rehearsals they have been having. It is interesting to note the contrast between dancers who are trained and expected to rehearse for hour-plus times to kids who are not trained and who have not had to have that expectation. We had a talk yesterday about what it means to polish a dance piece. I do not like nor do I speak to the children here like some other grown-ups. I think it is brusk, unprofessional, rude, and in some respects, illegal. Here, it is the norm. I do not call children names in front of them except when I forget ( like calling that kid "goofball" at school). I also do not like to single out children for making mistakes. I have the little ones doing my wee chant "Mistakes are how you learn". Some of these children have very sensitive sides and when they are singled out for harsh correction, they shut down. What am I really fussing about? The contrast between the great Village Love Thing that goes on here with the children and the Harshness that comes from some of the instructors who don't know better... and I know I am judging this with my Seattle eyes and heart. They do know better. They live here. By choice.
I did okay with my first night alone at the house last night. Stayed up too late watching "Return from Snowy River". Sister's Kitty is fine. If you think Cedar is spoiled, look again. Speaking of Cedar, Lydia has done an amazing job of keeping him happy, healthy, and DOG! I can't wait to spend time with him, walking, talking, playing, goofing around.
Today is Pizza and Program day. I have some things to mail and then I get to pack. IT is supposed to storm later. Soon to be home...more to blog but the kids and staff are coming in and I have to get the Juggling Station ready. It's really math but don't tell them!:)
Your Blues Ain't Like Mine... a good book I just finished by Bebe Moore Campbell. Ms. Joyce sent it down from Atlanta for me to read. It basically is a retelling of the Emmet Till tragedy from several perspectives, all which capture the caricatures and probably, many actual perspectives and sentiments. THe historical accuracy of the injustices is right on and there are too many to list here. A difficult read but juicy in its own way.
The migraine is at bay, at least enough to where I can feel my energy coming back and I feel like laughing. Which I did yesterday when two of the cutest little two year old darlings followed me around in the kid pool section at the Tunica Aquatic Center. The "big pool" wasn't open yesterday when we took the children "swimming", so I gave mini lessons in floating, face in water, water will not hurt you if you do it like this, and let me hold you while you lay on your back like this or hold the side like this. I did notice that all of the white kids in the pool could float, really swim, etc. Things we kind of take for granted at Pop's Lake. Only one, maybe two of our Jonestown children can sort of float without sinking to the bottom after 3 seconds...but that is A LOT better than when we started. I have some questions for my sisters and sisters-in-law--how did you start your kids out with swimming lessons? I know each one is different, but I was thinking lovingly of Joey all day yesterday. He would love Jonestown. His energy would be infectious with the children here and he has such a big heart for sharing what he can do. He would make it fun. I think one Joey here for swimming would do more than 4 weeks of Mih Ern. It was cool yesterday also to see the white kids and our kids mixing it up in the pool and playing together for awhile. I like the swimming lessons best. We also had a program rehearsal yesterday. The program is today with all of the children and the Girls to Women. I have managed to open the Learning Center up for two days now without setting off the alarm. We had our last set of tennis lessons yesterday. I have not had the energy to want to move, sweat, or care about it for the last three days. Yesterday, I started to feel like myself and played a little tennis and also ran some. We are finished with soccer. The girls couldn't handle more soccer after the dance rehearsals they have been having. It is interesting to note the contrast between dancers who are trained and expected to rehearse for hour-plus times to kids who are not trained and who have not had to have that expectation. We had a talk yesterday about what it means to polish a dance piece. I do not like nor do I speak to the children here like some other grown-ups. I think it is brusk, unprofessional, rude, and in some respects, illegal. Here, it is the norm. I do not call children names in front of them except when I forget ( like calling that kid "goofball" at school). I also do not like to single out children for making mistakes. I have the little ones doing my wee chant "Mistakes are how you learn". Some of these children have very sensitive sides and when they are singled out for harsh correction, they shut down. What am I really fussing about? The contrast between the great Village Love Thing that goes on here with the children and the Harshness that comes from some of the instructors who don't know better... and I know I am judging this with my Seattle eyes and heart. They do know better. They live here. By choice.
I did okay with my first night alone at the house last night. Stayed up too late watching "Return from Snowy River". Sister's Kitty is fine. If you think Cedar is spoiled, look again. Speaking of Cedar, Lydia has done an amazing job of keeping him happy, healthy, and DOG! I can't wait to spend time with him, walking, talking, playing, goofing around.
Today is Pizza and Program day. I have some things to mail and then I get to pack. IT is supposed to storm later. Soon to be home...more to blog but the kids and staff are coming in and I have to get the Juggling Station ready. It's really math but don't tell them!:)
posted by MihErn @ 5:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home