Double digits!

Our baby boy turns 10 today! I can't even remember what our days were like before he came into the world. It has been so amazing to watch him as he goes through each phase, from being a cuddly baby to being a tween. A tween! It's crazy!

Reed's interests have expanded over the last year, he's now really into football. He still pores over the newspaper every morning, but now instead of sticking to the comics, he also studies the sports page. He's into stats like you wouldn't believe. He also loves playing Madden on Xbox – and when he disappears into the basement for hours, it turns out that he likes making his own lineups and doing drafts as much as he likes playing the actual game, if not more.

Reed still reads as if his life depends on it. Today, for example, he was excited about having gotten new books yesterday so he was up sometime around 5 a.m. to read a few of them. We still haven't had the greatest success with getting him to read non-fiction books, but hopefully that will come in time.

Ten years old. The time has breezed by. When the typical household noisiness that goes along with two elementary-school age kids sometimes drives us crazy, I try to remind myself that happy noise won't be around forever. It's not going to be long before they're grown. So we'll try to keep our sanity amid the chaotic noise and enjoy every minute!

Farewell, Ddaddy

On October 27, my grandfather Lee Allder passed away, a little over two weeks after receiving the news that he had cancer in his liver, kidneys and lungs.

During the few years that my Mom was a single parent working two jobs (NALC and the Grand Union grocery store), we were frequent visitors at my grandparents house. We'd have fried chicken or spaghetti, then watch the Andy Griffith Show, the Carol Burnett Show, or M*A*S*H. We'd pull the hair on Granddaddy's legs when he'd fall asleep in his recliner. These are good memories.

The photo above is from our only recent trip to my grandparents' "farm" - not really a farm, but more of a place in the country. It's in the Stanley, near Luray in the Shenandoah Mountains. It's 90 acres of quiet and solitude. We also spent quite a few weekends there growing up, bored to tears, just as my Mom and Wanda had been when they were dragged there as kids. It was a place that made him happy, and the place where his ashes will be spread this spring, just as he asked.

Historic

I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try. - from President Obama's 2012 victory speech

I am so very happy that our kids are going to grow up in a United States where having a black President is not the least bit out of the ordinary. They are never going to think it's something that's impossible, or at the very least unlikely, as I had. If you'd told me 10 years ago that we would have a black President, I doubt I would have believed it. But here we are, with Obama winning a second term. Incredible. I am proud to have voted for him in 2008 and again this year.

This is not to say there is no racism in America, or that minorities have an easy path. But the mere fact that it's a reality that a minority has won the White House not once, but twice - wow. 

And it was also a historic day for women. There will be at least 19 women senators in the next Congress, which is a record. It's still not enough, but it's progress. 

We are getting there!

The kids' "office"

It used to be that I wondered when it would occur to Reed that he could bring a book into the bathroom with him. I mean he's always reading, I couldn't understand why it didn't occur to him to bring a book when he knew he was in for a long bathroom visit. He'd log a considerable amount of time in the "office" but would just entertain himself however a kid entertains himself in the bathroom. Then I guess it was probably a year or two ago when he started bringing books in with him. We thought he spent a lot of time in there before! It's even more now. And Amy's not been shy about bringing a stack of books with her into the bathroom for a while now as well. Many days after school, both kids pretty much head straight to the bathroom, books in hand. Don't they go to the bathroom at school? Maybe I don't want to know. :)

Hey they're happy, they're quiet, and they're reading. Who could complain!

Boy are they going to be embarrassed to read this one day.

Back to school!

Okay so I'm a month behind with this, but oh well!

I think both kids were excited to head back to school, despite Reed's protests to the contrary. I think by the end of summer, they've had more than enough of camps and field trips and want to use their brains a little more.

First day!

Amy's teacher, Mrs. Maynard, seems to be a good fit for her so far. Amy's pal Guiliana is in her class, along with a couple of other pals from previous years. She has fallen into a pretty good routine with her homework, doing it at CASA many days, and finishing at home others. The dreaded Word Searches that caused Reed so much consternation are still part of the spelling homework, much to my chagrin. She's handled them much better than he did (thus far, anyway) and hasn't complained a whole lot.

Reed's homeroom teacher is Ms. Coughlin and she is new to the school. Everything seems to be going well so far, his grades are good and he gets a lot of positive feedback. He also has Mrs. Sgroi for Virginia Studies and math, and I think this might be his first real connection with a teacher. He's been really into learning about Virginia, and I think it's due in part to Mrs. Sgroi (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she's beautiful? maybe!). He's even done EXTRA homework for Virginia studies, which is unheard of. He also decided to join the chorus, which meets weekly after school. I'm looking forward to their first appearance of the year, which is next week.

By now we've mostly settled into our routines and things are going well. The rhythm of the school year is comforting for all of us, I think. It's hard to believe that Reed has only one more year of elementary school!

Will they remember?

When I try to think back to my own childhood, I don't remember a lot of details. Did my Mom read to me? Play with me? What were our evenings like? Did I have homework in elementary school? Sadly, I can't remember. I have a few early-ish memories - falling off the monkey bars at Blake Preschool and needing stitches in my forehead (I was 5), being scared out of my mind on Space Mountain in Disneyworld (I was also about 5), driving trips to Florida in Mom's Firebird or Grandma and Graddaddy's big conversion van (probably ages 7-9).

When Tod's sister Martha visited this summer, she talked about when she and their sister Jennifer made the HUGE trip from Montana to Florida to go to Disneyworld with their kids. This had to have been a big financial commitment for them, they probably saved for a year or more. Martha was sure they'd be making memories that would last forever. They stayed at a Disney resort ($$$) and were there several days. Martha recalled her oldest, Derek, was about 7. As it turns out, the kids have zero memories of this trip. Zero. Not one.

Which makes me wonder about the value of all the trips and activities we do with our kids. Will they remember that we have read to them pretty much every single day of their lives up until now? That each of them got a trip to Disney (and Sea World, etc.) when they turned 5? That we spend time checking in with them on their homework, giving help when it's needed?

I guess only time will tell if they'll remember these things or if they'll only have memories that are based on the photos we've taken. But I hope that all these things we do are helping our kids to know they are secure and loved, and giving them life experiences they can build on.

It's worth it.

It used to be us!

I guess with the new school year just underway, I must be feeling a little nostalgic.

Every work day, I see the parents dropping off their kids at the Employee Child Care Center. Families that weren't even there at the same time as us. I see the kids happily playing out on the playground and remember when those were my kids. It seems so long ago!

The couple that lives across the street, who we've only met a time or two, had their first baby recently. A boy. I see them going out for evening walks, carrying their new little son, and it makes me think of when that was us. It used to be us!

Floppy little one month old Reed.

Which is not to say that was a better time. It was great...but different. We'll never again have a new baby to stroller around the block with. Never drop another kid off for their first day of kindergarten.

But these kids, they are great. They are growing up more and more every day, and much faster than I'd like. Now it's our turn to have the big kids, making their way through elementary school and learning more about the world every day.

Wouldn't trade any of this.