Grade-A Students Do Their Parents Proud

Without sounding like a braggart, we had some amazing parent-teacher conferences this month, starting with Brigid (yes, they do parent-teacher conferences at preschool). Teachers lover her; kids adore her. They said all the kids clammor to play with her, and one kid in particular has already started the mean-girls, jealousy thing and tries to manipulate Brigid if she talks to or plays with other kids. The teachers intervene and tell Brigid to stand up for herself and tell this girl to back off and let her play with whomever she chooses. She's doing well developmentally and socially and loves the center.

Margaret's conferences and report card pick-up came next. We were able to get in to see all of her teachers except her social studies teacher, who was booked solid that night. All of her teachers said what a delight she is and had high praise for her. A 99-point-something overall GPA was high praise as well. She's doing exceptionally well and seems to genuinely enjoy her classes, especially her chorus and select vocal ensemble classes. We made sure to stop by and say hello to her chorus teacher and convey her feelings to him. He had some very nice things to say about her voice and was very impressed with her audition for select.

Patricia's conferences and report card pick-up was last in the series but was by no means the least. First, because she's on student council, she served as a student guide to help the hapless find their way around that confounding middle school. So while she was off helping people out of the corners, we found our way to her team teachers, who were mercifully all in the same room. It's almost embarassing to hear the praise each one expressed for our girls, but we're so proud. Like Margaret, all the teachers gushed about Patricia. Her grades, too, reflected this praise. The middle school doesn't give out numerical grades, so Patricia took home an A+ overall GPA. Can't get much higher than that. Her science teacher really sang her praises for the leaf project and said she knew when she picked it up it was going to be great. Patricia worked very hard on it, so it was good to hear.

We couldn't be more proud.

Heading to Buffalo for Thanksgiving after the girls get out of school today. Looking forward to seeing family, eating turkey and visiting friends. Life is good.

Singing the Praises of Singing, and Thanksgiving in Buffalo

Brigid is our songbird. She sings all the time, whether it’s something she’s learned, something she’s made up or a combination of the two, which is more often the case as she forgets the original lyrics. She sings in the back of the car; she sings in her room; she sings in bed; she sings while watching a movie. And the kid can carry a tune. And a beat. It’s very cute, and it’s hard not to laugh because she’s always so earnest.

She’s probably just trying not to be out-staged by her big sisters. Margaret is agog this year about chorus and the select vocal ensemble. Part of it is a healthy crush on the teacher – can’t say as I blame her. He’s not too hard on the eyes. The other part is she, too, loves to sing and recognizes what a good chorus is supposed to sound like. The select group went to the local PBS station to record a holiday number for a program they air several times throughout December. A bunch of choral groups and bands perform for the Holiday Extravaganza program. It’s conveniently packaged around a membership ask because if you join the station, you get a copy of the DVD. The group will also go out caroling this season as well. I’d rather have a DVD of that.

Patricia enjoys her chorus experience at Stafford as well, but probably not to the same extent that Margaret does. We have to face facts – the high school chorus is spectacular. The middle school, not so much. But Patricia is one of the few voices that can carry the tune.

Something else to sing about in the household – everyone seems to be well and/or on the mend. Patricia rebounded well after the flu, and so far (knock on wood) no one else has succumbed. She is back on both feet as well, having gotten over her sprained ankle. We’ve all been complaining about runny noses or sore throats in the morning, but other than that, nothing has come of it. Brigid goes back for her booster H1N1 shot the last day of November – something to look forward to after the Thanksgiving vacation. We’ll be spending it in Buffalo again this year. Our social calendar is already filling up, with so many people to visit and so few hours in each of the few days we’ll be there. Between pool parties with family, Thanksgiving dinner at Mom’s and (hopefully) dinner with Chet and Marilyn, we’re filling other holes in the schedules with other visits and trips to the many thrift stores we enjoy in Buffalo. Jack has to work on Sunday, so we’re trying to stretch our time as much as we can.

We’ll be taking Tessa to the kennel this year now that she’s had a visit there once before. Last year, we had only had her about a month and we didn’t want to kennel her after rescuing her from more than a year at the pound. She’s fully ensconced in our family now, and she had a good experience there when we went to Cape Cod in the summer, so I have no worries. I’ll ask our tenant to feed and check in on Brin – she’s a cat lover and has two of her own.

After Thanksgiving, it’s a slippery slope to Christmas. It will be here before we know it.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Well, I had misplaced optimism that our door would be passed over with the plague. That swine flu hit our pig pen four days after the last blog post. Patricia started coming down with a low-grade fever as of Halloween evening and by Sunday morning, it was a full-blown fever with cough and nausea. Since seasonal flu hasn’t hit our area and won’t for another month or so, the health department and hospital are saying all flu is the H1N1 strain right now. Patricia has been out of school since, and although she had a break in her fever yesterday morning, it was up again last night. Down this morning, we’ll see what happens tonight. She’s very sad because she doesn’t like to miss school, and she has a chorus and band concert tomorrow night. If she is well enough to go to school tomorrow, she’ll be able to be in the concert. But if her fever spikes again tonight, she has to be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Our concern now is having the flu abate only to return with pneumonia. That’s the scary thing with this flu. Perfectly healthy kids have presented with breathing problems down the road and then it’s catastrophic. Most of us over 40 have been exposed to a similar strain of swine flu. I know I had it in the late ‘70s when it came ‘round. It was also around in the 1950s. It’s the younger kids who are particularly susceptible. But so far, Patricia is the only one to take a dive. This from a kid who got the H1N1 vaccine. The other two did, as well, so maybe it’s helping their immunity to Patricia. Brigid has had a cough, but so have all the kids in her preschool. It’s amazing she hasn’t been sick considering the sneezing, coughing and snotty noses she’s been faced with at school.

Halloween was a lot of fun, even though Patricia was coming down with her fever that night. She was dressed as a hunter of Artemis (don’t ask – it has to do with Greek mythology). I made her dress for her; she made her quiver, bow and arrows. Margaret was a great hobo, dressed in things I found at the thrift store. I darkened her face to make it look like a combination five o’clock shadow and dirt. Jack was a little insulted that she wore his cap – one of the caps he always wears – as part of a hobo costume, but she looked great. Brigid was a pumpkin. I had to cop out this year and buy her one through Ebay, but it was adorable and she loved it. She really got into trick or treating this year, running up to the doors and yelling “Trick or Treat!” then she’d say “thank you!” when she got her candy. She did very well and had great restraint not to sit on the sidewalk and start horking it all down. We’ve been giving her a piece or two a day, and she’s been very good about it. We paid a visit to Uncle John at the rectory, and visited Kathy so she could see the munchkins in their costumes. The weather held off – raining before and after we went out but not during – and it was fairly mild. A definite plus. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get them.

The weekend also brought an audition for Margaret for the drama club’s production of “West Side Story.” She won’t know if she made it for a few days, but she has a great attitude. She said if she doesn’t make the cast, she’ll become involved in sets or costumes. She also said as a freshman, she has lots of time to be involved. She is also very excited about being in the select vocal ensemble. They participate in a recording at the local PBS studio next week from which a holiday concert show is produced. Wish it was aired across the state, but you’ll have to take my word for it – the select chorus is fabulous. The general chorus is outstanding, but the select is incredible.