Miss Fine end-of-year question review

Miss Fine

It's been a year since the the previous questions to the nearly 9 year old. This week Miss Fine is celebrating her 10th birthday. We are so proud of her. She has done so well at school, and it seems she knows who she is and what she wants.

Mon asked her a few questions, and I wrote it down as is. Thank you for the honest answers. We learn more from you, than you from us.

Daughter, wishing you only the best on your birthday

Birthday girl

Dearest Daughter

It is such a great journey to have lived with you for 23 years now! I wish you the best on this day and into your future!

I am so proud of you for finally getting that last subject (and getting those marks!), and that you are enjoying your new life as a working adult! (I can't call you The Student anymore, although you have already signed up for an online course...) Although still under "probation" at work, but I am sure it won't be a draw-back! Most probably helping you along the way!

You are the reason I don't get despondent about parenting that much! ;-) I raised you as the perfect example of what we want our kids to become! Self-sufficient, able, happy, life-affirming go-getters in life!
If I did it right once, surely we can do it right this time?
But I do realize it's more about you and the person you are, and not about our parenting successes or failures!

Littler Miss was very excited about your birthday! She could not wait to give you the earrings she made for you from the Kids Emporium breakfast stash. (See photo above) She also insisted to buy you toothpaste, because she does not want to share her toothpaste with us.
That's why you got your present with the toothpaste! (We cannot dream up these things, even if we tried... ;-0)

You are very special to us and Little Miss! She was a bit sad that we can't go with you tonight when you see your friends, but the restaurant outing last night made up for it!

Enjoy your day!
Love you!

Wordless Wednesday #275 - Traveler

Wordless Wednesday #272 - Watching television

(Photos by Dad)

Grade 1 - we did the right thing!

As parents we are always second-guessing ourselves, and hoping we make the right decisions for our children.

But we also know our children, and know them at their best!

I am so glad we decided to send Little Miss to Grade 1 this year. The school readiness results last year indicated that she was not emotionally ready, and we were sent for occupational therapy as well as visual therapy. We have completed a series of visits to the OT as well as visual therapy. Both therapists have given her the "go-ahead" for Grade 1. The last of the visual therapy was on Saturday and Little Miss drew a heart picture to give to Penny (see picture above). I am amazed at how well she can now control her eyes. She can bring pictures together by only moving her eyes around. (I don't think I can do it, and I am too afraid to even try...)

The first week of school has also been a bit hectic with Little Miss being very tired at the end of the day, and clingy to start with! She also got quite confused with the extra-murals, and we are still searching for lost clothes that gets lost on an almost daily basis.

But, by the third week she started very good with Little Miss saying goodbye at the gate. There are less "Not a lekker day"-remarks that we have to hear at the end of each day! We are still walking her to the class, but she is happy to go off and play. Especially if she has a coin or two to spend at the Tuck Shop... (Which we try not to give in to, but yesterday I was weak again when I had to drop her off!...parenting fail much!)

She has been loving her teacher and her class. We decided not to say anything to her teacher about the extra OT and visual therapy, and to see how it goes! There has not been any complaint or negative feedback from school. Her school work also looks very good when it gets sent home!

She loves learning to read, and she is trying to spell all words she comes across. Out of her own free will, and without any push from us! (She is actually irritating us with trying to spell everything, and of course asking us to help her with it! Sorry, Little Miss! I will try harder at the end of my working day when asked to spell something/e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g for you!!)

She is also doing very well with the maths, and that we can definitely link back to her doing CMaths since last year! It has given her the edge that I have been hoping for! She is not a CMaths whizz-kid, but she has a better grasp of maths than her peer group. That's all we want!

There is a large amount of homework. It keeps her busy for at least an hour to two hours each day which I think is a bit much! But the after-care helps in doing most of it with the children, and we only have to quickly retrace some of it in the evenings. Luckily it is Hubby and I who are there to follow though! We can focus on her alone, which makes it easier on all of us!

I was talking to another mom the other day about her daughter that she kept back for another year, and I realised that I could say that we also did the right thing! Just as her daughter is still not ready for the huge leap into Grade 1, our daughter are now enjoying her Grade 1 year to the max!!

"Phew!"

Wordless Wednesday #258 - Girl in the mirror

Wordless Wednesday #234 - Ice-cream smile

Big girl

She is Big! in so many ways now!

- We are seeing less of those tantrums. (I hope Murphy is not around!)

- She has lost her first tooth, and it was so much fun enjoying the first visit of the tooth mouse in our house. The Tooth Mouse  got a letter from her, and she was extremely impressed that he left her a small thank you letter as well. (He wrote to say thank you for the very well preserved tooth, and that he can see that she brushes her teeth!)

- She thinks that R10 ( 0.95 USD) in coins is a lot of money! *Phew!*

- It is an absolute pleasure to take her to a play area nowadays. She goes off and plays on her own for most of the time. Just sometimes she still needs her dad to come and watch something that she is doing.

- She is doing hand- and head stands all the time, and getting it right some of the times. She is mightily impressed that she can swing upside-down hanging from her legs, although her hands must still be able to touch the ground.

- She plays on her own at home as well. If left to her own devices, she will be found painting, colouring, playing with her dolls, building Lego, or trying to jump rope. "Because my teacher said I must practise!"

- She tries to understand how stuff works, and how the universe is put together. We have to really think about our answers.

- She has an in-built "wisdom", and sometimes you just have to nod and say: "Yes, that's how it is!" Because disagreement is not worth the arguments that follow! She KNOWS how it works!

- She asks constantly when it is going to be school again! She loves it!

- She still argues about clothes, and wanting to wear shorts when it's cold. I sometimes just put in the warmer clothes, because she is the first to complain when the cold air hits her legs!

- She still loves her pasta. She had pasta for breakfast just this morning at her grandmother's house. (It was supposed to be for lunch...)

- We are loving having social responsibility conversations with her. "I would never steal other planet's resources!" (While watching Avatar.)

- We love our Big Little Missy!  She was small just the other day, and we sometimes miss it!
But we love the personality unfolding!


Photo: At the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens yesterday. She spent most of her time collecting the dandelion seed pods and blowing them away!

The Tooth Mouse is visiting tonight

The first milk tooth is finally out!

The tooth is in her boot, with a message to the Tooth Mouse and an arrow to indicate where it us.

The teacher pulled her tooth today and stuck the tooth in her school note book with a message to the Tooth Mouse. 

Related post:

- Great excitement about a loose tooth!

Sounds from Saturday evening

Little Missy entertains us on a regular basis with her "songs" she makes up as she is singing them. It can go on for hours and hours... (Or so it feels, sometimes!)

I know we will miss these "creations" when she stops doing it!

It is not the Miekanese (her own language) of earlier, because we can now distinguish the English phrases, but it is still very cute!

(She is Afrikaans, but tries to sing most of her songs in English. Perhaps because we listen to mostly English music in the house?)

Wordless Wednesday #219 - Swimming lessons

Wordless Wednesday #215 - Zip Line Slide at Granny's Garden

iCarly's Spaghetti Tacos are great for children's parties

Last Saturday we were invited to a 7-year old party where the requested food was Spaghetti Tacos, as was demonstrated on iCarly.

We were all a bit taken aback by the strange combination, but it was surprisingly good.
The children loved it, of course!

It is also not that difficult to prepare to put together:

Spaghetti Tacos

Ingredients: 

(quantities depending on number of party goers – 1 Taco for each child, and up to 3 for the adults)

spaghetti

beef mince

freshly prepared tomato and onion sauce

corn taco shells

grated cheddar cheese

guacamole

Directions:

Prepare spaghetti.

Prepare mince with seasoning, but not too spicy for the children.

Prepare tomato sauce with fresh chopped tomatoes and onions and seasoning.

Prepare guacamole with extra chillies kept separate for the adults.

Put all the prepared ingredients on the table, and party-goers assembly their own tacos.

Warning: Prone to breaking and spillage! (Keep the serviettes close-by!)

There is another version of a Hungry Spaghetti Tacos recipe on the iCarly Wiki. 

It is worth a try! And a re-try!

 

Nintendo 2DS - a great Christmas present

I was invited to a Nintendo 2DS launch a while back. I was intrigued as I am not a gamer, and usually get bored after a few tries with a new game. Although I personally think it is great to be into gaming, and that I usually look at gamers with a little bit of awe.

I accepted because I thought this would be great to check out for a Christmas present for the Little Missy. Her birthday and Christmas are around the corner, and this year we haven't decided yet on what to buy for her...

The Nintendo 2DS is part of the Nintendo 3DS family, and all the games and features of the 3DS are also available to the 2DS, minus the 3D viewing. The rest of the tech details can be Googled in a jiffy. (It sounds awesome to a layman like me.)

"Work is catching up with the way we play." 

"Love it or hate it! We are always "on"!"

These two quotes are true of the times we are living in!

I was surprised at the many features that are already available on the Nintendo. It is great that it connects over Wi-fi and updates automatically. Every time I have played with it, I have discovered a new feature. I welcome the idea that there is a lot to discover. I know that it will keep Little Missy busy for years to come. (Mom as well...)

It has a two-sided camera, and a sound recorder. And a shop. And settings that allows parents to ensure that their children does not incidentally opens up it up in unwanted websites...

Little Missy immediately gave us some Miekanese when playing with it for the first time.


  (Warning: the sound is a bit loud when switched on)

We also got the Mario Bros game with it. That is one of the most well-known games, apparently? Now I won't go all blank when Mario comes up in conversation, as I did previously. Mario is keeping us busy already!

The games are going for R79, which also makes it great future presents that is not heavy on the budget.

The Nintendo 2DS is available for R1500 in the South African stores. It is not that cheap, but compared to other gaming consoles and tablets on the market, it is a reachable amount as well as a durable present. It does not break when it there is an accidental fall on the floor. (Big score!)

I am telling my friends about the Nintendo 2DS to consider as a Christmas present this year!


Disclaimer: We got this Nintendo 2DS to play with, with a Mario Bros game included.

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Wordless Wednesday #203 - Nintendo 2DS keeps 'em busy

Wordless Wednesday #200 - Random

Wordless Wednesday #199 - Garden fairy waiting for the school concert to start

Wordless Wednesday #198 - Watching the rugby

Wordless Wednesday #195 - Summer play

Wordless Wednesday #186 - Check my shoes! #fashion

Wordless Wednesday #176 - Playground antics