Four Thoughts on Thursday

1. Milly Molly Mandy made me tear up this morning. The chapter I read aloud was about a village fete and MMM's friend Billy Blunt had been training for the race. Father paid for a "shabby boy" who didn't have any money to compete, and the shabby boy won. Instead of being upset that he'd lost, Billy Blunt told the shabby boy what a good runner he was and told him he'd like to run together. Then, some time after the fete, MMM and Billy were walking and saw a man waiting for the bus. His hat blew off and he called to them to see if one of them was a fast runner. MMM, with great admiration, said Billy was, and Billy ran after the hat, caught it, and gave it to the man, saving the man from missing his bus and having to wait another hour for the next bus. And then Billy said was happy because he had been useful. I want to live in that little village, in that nice white cottage with the thatched roof.
2. We went to a Classical Conversations open house this week. We might be doing this in the fall. Because I am a Charlotte Mason-ish-ist, I don't plan to go hardcore CC. If we do join, we will be "playing" CC, the way I like to watch/play Jeopardy on TV; my plan is to add listening to the memory work CD into our day, that's all. Some families do go hardcore CC and base their entire curriculum around which CC cycle they're in.  (CC homeschooler Nicole at Half Mom Half Amazing is all mom and all amazing, and puts together 100% amazing lessons for her three adorable boys.) For our family, CC would be a children's class, like ballet. Compared to other children's classes in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, CC is not expensive - about $500 for 24 weeks. However, for other areas, CC is considered expensive, especially if a family has multiple children. On top of CC tuition, there are books and workbooks and flashcards and CDs that a family can buy to use in their homeschool... My daughter loved presentation time (which, for the littles, is like show-and-tell). During presentation time, my daughter looked at me and whispered, "Mom, it's almost my turn to do my presentation," and I panicked. I thought, what on the earth do I have in my purse that she can present? Cashews? Cheese? My phone! An app? A photo! I whispered back, "Hurry, pick one picture you want to share. One." She quickly decided on the photo of her playing the Make a Splash 120 math floor mat game. She jumped up and talked about her game and how it has inflatable dice and how it's so much fun, and then she - like the other littles - said, "That concludes my presentation. Are there any questions?"
   
3. I'm taking my daughter to the dentist for the first time on Tuesday. My dentist said not to bring her in until she could spit, so now that she can spit, it's time. I have some anxiety about this. I'm trying really hard to assure her that it will be great. (I actually like getting my teeth cleaned. They rub banana flavored numbing gel on my gums and then I'm fine. I used to hate going to the dentist, but that's another story.) I scheduled my appointment first, so she can watch and ask questions, and see that Mommy is fine; Mommy even enjoys it. When I told her about the appointment, she cried, so I told her she could be the Junior Dentist. I'm not at all sure if that's going to work, but I'm hoping they'll be cool and let her do things like press the button on the X-ray machine and give her a q-tip so she can help numb my gums. I'm also going to see if they'll let her hold a clipboard and tour the office. You ready for super crazy mom? I ordered her a little lab coat, because I know my child, and the first argument she's going to make is that she's not a dentist because she doesn't have a lab coat. Well, now she will.
4. At Sunday School, the preschoolers got to take turns riding Daisy the Donkey into Jerusalem.
   

   

   (Yes, she likes that hat.)