“Yes Sidney the alphabet soup went to Martha’s brain. If mommy buys you alphabet soup, it will not go to your brain and give you more words. No, alphabet soup cannot make a dog talk.” So was the dialog coming back from preschool this morning for the fifth time this week. Sidney is convinced alphabet soup can actually go to a dogs brain instead of its stomach like Martha on M*rtha Speaks on P*S. She’s obsessed with the cartoon right now. Sidney asked if she could eat alphabet anyway. How was I supposed to know it’s been replaced by characters and stars? At least I tried. 

Snow! Is that an ornery face or what?

Sidney spent an afternoon in “playtime” yesterday. We have difficulty getting her to eat in different environments, and with kindergarten next year, we decided it might be a good idea to help her learn to eat at school. Thankfully, the adult in charge has experience in this area. She’s gone to the extent of leaving small plastic zipped bags of treats out, so she knows it’s there. This is one of the many reasons we continue sending our kids to private school.

This leads me to Eli. He’s in fifth grade this year. We have a public school, but there were a couple of things that happened when he was in kindergarten that lead us to private education. Beyond 8^th grade, the grades cut off, and he goes to public high school. His class size continues to shrink. I’ve also observed that kids sometimes have a tough adjustment to go from this small protected environment in 8^th grade to public high school in 9^th. Thankfully, if we make this choice, he already has a good friend in the public school that he hangs out with.

My trombone player.

Tonight we are on the second concert of the week of three. Miss Sidney is more than excited to stand on stage and sing her heart out. Anytime she is the center of attention and singing, she is happy. And music and singing have always been a constant for her. I’ll never forget her coming home from China and singing a haunting melody with theatrical motions. Of course, I didn’t understand a word and was totally blown away. She was only 16 months, but it was obviously something rehearsed that she’d learned.

Okay, time to break Eli the news that he will be taking a shower before his concert.  I don’t know what doesn’t register about good hygiene for a 10 year old boy.