This guy has had some definite changes this year. Oscar has had a pretty great year. I have seen him become more outgoing and had his first sleepover at a friends. He hangs out with the neighborhood kids and is loving his bike. He has done really well in school and read almost 6000 minutes this school year. He is really becoming a "pre teen brave" and can always be counted on to throw a witty comment in at the end of anybodies sentences. He is my detective and reports any and all goings on, even as they are unfolding in front of me. He is like having a stenographer on hand and I often refer back to him for conformation on what had been said. Next year Oscar will be taking the bus with Siobhan and taking playing cello in the Orchestra at the middle school. I am so excited to see him learn a string instrument. I have spent a lot of time with Oscar this year and we have had a lot of fun together. I know that I embarrass him to no end and it is going to be difficult to not have someone keep me in check this next month. I will miss him and all the cool things he creates. Have fun Oscar, I love you so much and I will be waiting for you to come back to me quickly. Enjoy your Nan and Grandpa.
So, there is only two days left of school. Oscar gets out tomorrow and Siobhan on Friday. I am looking forward to a long, lazy summer. Not too different from my long, lazy winters. I know it will go fast, and then we start all over again. But for now we are enjoying those last couple of fun days. No school work, just fun games and signing yearbooks. I enjoyed that when I was in school. The promise of things to come, hanging out at the beach, the Boardwalk, Feast of Lanterns. I am glad the kids will get to be in California for these things. It brings me back to my childhood and so today let's share 5 memories from grade school.#1. Mini Olympics. In elementary school we held a mock Olympics at the end of each year. You earned gold,silver and bronze ribbons and there was treats and it was just so fun.
#2. Once a year our principal in elementary school, Dr. Takigawa, would come to each class and talk about the Japanese interment. His family was interred and I always looked forward to hearing his story and also dreaded it because I always felt it so unfair.
#3. Back to school shopping at the Esprit Outlet in San Fransisco. Lately, I have been on a huge nostalgic 80's kick. I miss the old Esprit clothes, especially the ads. recently I found some Esprit patterns and can't wait to try and talk Siobhan into a new look.
#4. In fifth grade we did an art project with poster paints. I loved them so much that I put a cup of each color in my lunchbox and carried it flat as I started to walk home. Unbeknown to me, the boy that sat behind me had dipped the ends of my braids in his paint and it was all over the back of the jacket my mom had bought me that weekend. She ended up picking me up about half way to my grandmas, where I would walk after school. She was furious! I was so scared she would find out about my contraband paint that I buried it in the backyard. Somewhere in the backyard at 208 Alder is a Mr. Peanut metal lunchbox with a poster paint bounty enclosed.
#5. I remember one day that was really warm me and my friend Gina threw basketballs at each other as hard as we could so we could get a bag of ice from the nurses office.
#6. I have to add one more. My mom made the last day of school so fun. It was like a holiday and I looked forward to it all the month of June. We would go to the beach, or Dennis the Menace park. One year we went to Swensons Ice Cream Parlor and she bought the Earthquake. A huge, mixing bowl size bowl full of ice cream and topping and whipped cream and we all sat and talked about the year and plans for the summer and I will never forget that feeling of last day of school with my sisters and my Mom.
6 comments:
1. I remember in Ms. Leathams class we would keep track of all the books we read, when you got to a certain number she would take those kids to Thrifty's and buy them ice cream.
2. Mini olympics. The games were always fun and they would give us coupons to buy popcorn and baked goods.
3. passing notes in class. Check the box if you like me!
4. Field trips! Dad came on one of trips and all the girls were jealous. My friend Katie insisted on sitting with him.
5. Handball. Do they even play that anymore? Are you better at hotdog or hamburger?
Luisa,
I originally had handball down as my #3. Oscar said he has played a couple of times at school but they call it wallball. I don't think it is quite the same. I remember having to stand in line to play the winner. Sometimes those lines were long! I play hot dog!
At my school, they play both wallball and handball. I collected quite a few handballs this year. This is a hard list for me as I am still in grade school, but crossed over to the dark side. Listing my top five would be kind of be like a parent telling their teen about their high school days. I just can't do five. But I did like taking my sticker book to school and trading stickers with my friends. My students don't do that, and that makes me sad. It's too bad that childhood innocence is lost so soon nowadays.
I feel like I have a lot to catch up on...I was only gone a week and you've posted four times! First, Matilda, I hope you and Team Lindgren have a wonderful and safe vacation. Second, Happy Fathers Day to all you guys. John, we missed you, but I'm definitely not sorry for any grief I caused or still cause you. Third, I would like to include my list of memories of our grandpa Fred, but it's too difficult for me right now. All I can say is that I really treasure the time I spent with him, especially these last 8 years. Our relationship meant a lot to me, and I feel I need to thank our grandparents Paredes for making me aware of that. So on to some light-hearted school memories:
1. Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We were lucky that we got to go to Disneyland every summer as well, but we went here a lot, and usually got to bring friends.
2. Sleepovers. A lot of them. And birthday parties where your whole class is invited and nobody gets left out.
3. Handball, indeed. And yes, I have also heard it referred to as wall ball nowadays (April, could you explain the difference?). Either way, it rules, and tetherball is for losers (except for us this past weekend Dad). And you only have to stand in line when you aren't winning (don't forget about toothpicks). I still have a scar on the back of my left hand from playing on the 2nd level at Forest Grove with my best friend Katie Gotch.
4. Reading. A lot.
5. I loved that we celebrated each "holiday" in class. There was a dedicated group of mothers (including ours) that made sure we had treats for every occasion possible, and there were always coordinating art projects.
Oh, the other thing I wanted to mention was your comment about the phone ringing off the hook for Siobhan. Don't forget when you were dating Patrick long distance, Matilda. Dad and Sharon made me pay for my own phone line just so that I could receive my own phone calls. I suggest Hans and Olive start saving their money.
What a great blog. I am going to miss my babies too, but I'm thrilled for Grandpa Bill, Nan, and Auntie Norah. I know that they have missed them too. Thank you for redeeming me, after the furious comment about your jacket, I also enjoyed the last day of school. Celebrating was such a part of family life...last day of school, your Fathers payday, Fridays, you name it, we celebrated. Well, here goes my list.
1. I was all time champ at teterball. Contrary to the loser comment made by my baby girl. For shorties, like me, you needed to have a lot of chutzpah to play against the big boys...I often won and had the black and blue arms to prove it. I even made a boy cry once. Life was sweet.
2. Catching the public transit to get to the Catholic school we attended. We would walk three blocks from our house to catch it. I can still see my Mother waving to us until we couldn't see her anymore. We encountered some different types catching that bus. Like an old black man, named Pat, who had quarters in his ears. It's also where I first heard the word, #*@%, from an older boy who also went to our school, Rusty Claussen, the name says it all.
3. Mrs. Magraff. She was the only lay teacher at our school. She was older and lived with her spinster sister. She had an English accent and wore tweed and cameos. Her fingers were stained orange from cigarettes. But, she was such an exciting teacher. Lot's of fabulous stories. Even one on meeting the Beatles at the Liverpool airport. I loved her.
4. The Nuns and their clickers. click, click, click....the whole time at recess. Sisters Angela and Catherine, twins, were the all time abusers of the clicker.
5. Columbus Day. We always got a 3 Musketeers bar on Columbus Day. It was a perfect dessert to my bologna sandwich on white bread.
"Rusty Claussen"....I don't get it...why does that name say it all?
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