Here It Is, Your Moment of Zen...

This would be mine

The Problem

The Solution

Possibly my Favorite

Clever!

(but not usually at the same time)

Photos compiled by The Huffington Post.  There are more than 400 more posted here.  Make sure to take a look.

Stay Sane, America!

Always Say "Thank you".

Dear Mrs. M.,

As the school year draws to a close, I wanted to thank you so much for everything you’ve done this year. As we've discussed, the transition from preschool to kindergarten was a particularly rocky one for HRH (perhaps more so for his mommy). We had originally looked to St. Somewhere’s due to a misguided belief that the public schools in Manickville could not meet the needs of our son. We could not have been more wrong. In every area where St Somewhere’s failed, New School has flourished! I’m so happy to have found a community of caring, respectful, involved parents and a school ready and willing to accept my help, my opinions, and my neuroses.

Most especially, I am thankful for you. I so appreciate your hands-on, “treat them as individuals” approach to your class. From day one, you have greeted each child, looked into his eyes, and called him by name. It was obvious you wanted to get to know our children in order to teach to their needs and you have more than met that goal.

HRH enjoys school. He is genuinely happy to go every day, just as he was in preschool. One of my greatest fears was that his time at St Somewhere’s would destroy that enthusiasm. I can’t thank you enough for resurrecting it and for fostering it.

As we look to second grade – and kindergarten for Gremlin, I am optimistic. I am confident that, as with this year, my boys will be given teachers who will best meet their needs, who will show them that learning can be fun, and who will provide them with the gentle guidance you have this year.

With warmest regards,

Christine Manic

They Might Be Geniuses

The curse of all parents; the dreaded kids' music playing in the car. I thought I had it licked when I found All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids. It wasn't exactly like listening to The Fab Four but at least when a song go stuck in your head, you didn't want to gouge your eyes (ears?) out.

A couple of years ago, my neighbor turned the boys and me on to They Might be Giants: Here Come the 123s. It's positively adorable. And catchy. This year, as Santa was making his list, he was very pleased to find TMBG's latest installment, Here Comes Science.

Big hits include I Am a Paleontologist and (my personal favorite) The Bloodmobile, which talks about "the delivery service inside us, carrying oxygen, nutrients, things that fight infection and the trash collection..."



Don't get me wrong, the reason my kids watched Baby Einstein videos was because they (the videos) were innocuous, bright, and allowed me to shower, vacuum, or make a meal without a child strapped to me. But with lyrics like "the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma" I'm pretty sure these guys might be geniuses. And I can't help but wonder if their music might be spreading just a little of that super-brainpower around.

At a minimum, my boys are comfortable hearing and sometimes using words that wouldn't enter their lexicon for quite a few years to come.  Best case scenario is that we're opening discussions about science and the physical world in ways that I simply wouldn't have come up with.

And I don't want to gouge my ears out.  That's what I call a win/win.



* The preceeding was not a paid post.  Simply me expressing an opinion. :-)